Sorry there has not been new content posted since Sunday. My evenings are getting more and more full, so I'm going to try to work ahead in some cases, OR just make the content I do post up much better.
For what I have done recently, I just posted my own little report of the tournament for Warhams that I took second place in this past weekend, so if anyone's interested in that, here's the link
www.ritesofbattle.blogspot.com
I wish I had pictures to show my movements and deployment, and generally I think I did blocking and advancing decently. I'll see if the TO has any pictures.
Expect a decent write up on Shienar this Friday evening. Tomorrow is full, and Friday I have a meeting at 5 p.m., and won't get done til maybe 7 or so.
Hopefully I'll have the WoT RPG books in the next week!
As an aside, if anyone wants me to address a philosophy question, or even just give an opinion on something, shoot me an email at dominobi@gmail.com
Ya ta! Ishamael
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday Updates
Yesterday was my first real reintroduction into 40k after my summer hiatus, and gradual decline in desire to play. A more full write up will appear on Rites of Battle, both from the TO, and from myself. I took second place with my Space Marines, and was only 5 points behind the person that won. What was most interesting is that an Ork player took first place, and I cannot help but think that it was due to his generalship more than anything.
Last time I wrote, I was going on about how the correlation between the White Tower and its ease of access through waterways and whatnot keep its influence constant. What I wonder after this is this: does the fact that the Aes Sedai have so much power directly affect gender roles? I'm going to sit for a while on this one, because you have places like Ebou Dar, which is out of the way for Aes Sedai, yet women take command, but the places I would like to read about, Arad Domon and Falme, are further in the story for any decent analysis to be done, and Falme's already been contaminated by the Seanchan invasion.
BUT, just to have something to assert and motivate me, I am going to say that generally in Randland there is an overall equality between the genders, whether it be through the One Power, or the fact that Goodwives in the Two Rivers have complete control over the house, while the men spend their days farming and hunting. For other places, the ones that are already invaded or torn apart by Dragonsworn, I will have to look outside the normal series to find information on.
Oh, and I'm hoping to get ahold of the 3.5 D&D rendition of the Wheel of Time RPG. Honestly, it looks pretty damn good with how it approaches characters, roleplaying, the world, and the One Power.
I think I'll talk about Shienar soon. At least I can come up with material for that crazy place. :D
Quad-autocannon Dreadnoughts are awesome! Ishamael
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Divisions of the Land
The significance of the Tower since the Breaking lies mainly in its services to Randland. Rulers give tribute, the amount of which seems to be relatively staggering, considering the stipend Aes Sedai are given to live off of per year, along with the fact that there are about a thousand in the Tower, along with all the servants, guards, and general upkeeping of the Tower. I think the amount was something like a thousand gold crowns per Aes Sedai.
So, men that can channel can appear just about anywhere, and tribute to the Tower seems to afford rulers a couple things: Reds will come to gentle false Dragons and channeling men, or rulers are entitled to have an Aes Sedai advisor available, and even get the services of a Gray when a treaty must be brokered between nations. The Tower as a whole also seems to be more than willing to browbeat nations into complying with the Tower's wishes. This is evidenced by how pissed Gareth Bryne is that Siuan told him to quit whatever border dispute was going on, forcing him to kneel in submission. Latently, as evidenced by how Aes Sedai determine rank in a combat situation, the White Tower is still, on some level, a military order, and their attitudes towards the world and eachother reflect that.
Next on the gender question is related to geography.
So, how do the nations of the western lands act towards Aes Sedai and channeling?
Considering the immensity of the Misty Mountains, the fact that Amadicia is controlled by the Whitecloaks, and how Far Madding is special in its own way, the amount of respect given to the Aes Sedai is directly dependent on the landscape, since that generally dictates where Aes Sedai can go easily and influence events.
For example, in Shienar early in The Great Hunt, the Amyrlin and everyone from the Tower are afforded every courtesy. Far to the west, in the Two Rivers, Aes Sedai are given the status and respect worthy of women who are in the Women's Circle. At least partially, given that half like Moiraine in The Eye of the World, and the other half look at her with suspicion. To the south you have the unique Power-negating guardian of Far Madding, where Aes Sedai don't want to go, and Tear, where channeling is outlawed.
Further from the Tower correlates with less authority, although there seems to be a minimum amount afforded Aes Sedai.
This portion is important because the role and status of women, I will assert, is directly related to how easily an Aes Sedai can travel to a certain place. Shienar, relatively easy, The Two Rivers, not so much, but hardly impossible.
Alright, it's time to hop off here to get some business done, more to come!
My Madness rating is 20, Ishamael
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Age of Legends
I realized earlier that I should get ahold of the Wheel of Time encyclopedia for some more research material concerning gender, but here I am going to give a brief overview of the world as it was before the Breaking.
So, we are told that in the Age of Legends, strength in the One Power between the genders was balanced overall. Women are better generally with Water and Air, while men are better with Fire and Earth; Spirit is equal between the genders. Yes, this is material we all know, but it needs to be stated for framing my approach. So, the best things done in the Age of Legends required men and women to work together, but everything goes tits-up when Lanfear makes the bore to the Dark One.
Then we have the War of the Power, then Lews Therin tries to get women to help him go seal the bore, but for some reason they opted out of the best chance they had to seal the Dark One's evil ass up. So, Lews and the Hundred Companions, all men, fight their way to the bore, make the seven cuendillar seals, then the Dark One taints saidin. All the men go mad, the Breaking begins, and we end with the first scene in The Eye of the World.
What follows are three thousand years of cultural development and change, in which the only real constant is the White Tower and the taint on saidin. Symbolically the Aes Sedai change, going from the quasi-yin-yang to the Flame of Tar Valon, as well as the Dragon's Fang. Three thousand years of Aes Sedai hunting men, or even rumors of men, that can channel. As it turns out, even though Lews Therin and the Companions essentially sacrificed themselves in order to keep the Dark One at bay for any period of time, wilder men are just sought out, and executed. Oh, I'm sorry, "gentled." They cut him off from magic, and he loses the will to live. Fear of men that can channel becomes so ingrained in the culture, even though the Aes Sedai know the Prophecies, that even when Rand does use the Eye to touch pure saidin, the Aes Sedai that know what he is still feel that tug that he should be gentled.
So, I think here I will make my first assertion: the truth that men cannot touch the Source without being tainted, while Aes Sedai can still channel it, lessens the status of men in the various cultures of Randland. Now, I think it would be better to consider the issue of gender-status macroscopically, but in what comes next I will go over the various countries, their laws, if any, they have concerning channeling, and how men and women interact in these cultures.
I'm going slightly mad, Ishamael
So, we are told that in the Age of Legends, strength in the One Power between the genders was balanced overall. Women are better generally with Water and Air, while men are better with Fire and Earth; Spirit is equal between the genders. Yes, this is material we all know, but it needs to be stated for framing my approach. So, the best things done in the Age of Legends required men and women to work together, but everything goes tits-up when Lanfear makes the bore to the Dark One.
Then we have the War of the Power, then Lews Therin tries to get women to help him go seal the bore, but for some reason they opted out of the best chance they had to seal the Dark One's evil ass up. So, Lews and the Hundred Companions, all men, fight their way to the bore, make the seven cuendillar seals, then the Dark One taints saidin. All the men go mad, the Breaking begins, and we end with the first scene in The Eye of the World.
What follows are three thousand years of cultural development and change, in which the only real constant is the White Tower and the taint on saidin. Symbolically the Aes Sedai change, going from the quasi-yin-yang to the Flame of Tar Valon, as well as the Dragon's Fang. Three thousand years of Aes Sedai hunting men, or even rumors of men, that can channel. As it turns out, even though Lews Therin and the Companions essentially sacrificed themselves in order to keep the Dark One at bay for any period of time, wilder men are just sought out, and executed. Oh, I'm sorry, "gentled." They cut him off from magic, and he loses the will to live. Fear of men that can channel becomes so ingrained in the culture, even though the Aes Sedai know the Prophecies, that even when Rand does use the Eye to touch pure saidin, the Aes Sedai that know what he is still feel that tug that he should be gentled.
So, I think here I will make my first assertion: the truth that men cannot touch the Source without being tainted, while Aes Sedai can still channel it, lessens the status of men in the various cultures of Randland. Now, I think it would be better to consider the issue of gender-status macroscopically, but in what comes next I will go over the various countries, their laws, if any, they have concerning channeling, and how men and women interact in these cultures.
I'm going slightly mad, Ishamael
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Roleplaying Madness update
Y'know, I really don't think that a good adaptation of channeling from The Wheel of Time can occur within 4th edition D&D. This is the ONE time I have ever seen spells per day work out in any context, especially considering that D&D doesn't even explain how magic works!
I have taken a look at the WoT RPG that came out in 2001, and it seems surprisingly well-designed, considering the detail on the One Power required. I must acquire this and the Prophecies of the Dragon expansion to play some games.
This is unsatisfactory as an update, so I think what I'll do to generate WoT content is to give an update on where I am in the series, and some things I may notice.
I think I may even begin my gender analysis.
Workin on my Latin, Ishamael
I have taken a look at the WoT RPG that came out in 2001, and it seems surprisingly well-designed, considering the detail on the One Power required. I must acquire this and the Prophecies of the Dragon expansion to play some games.
This is unsatisfactory as an update, so I think what I'll do to generate WoT content is to give an update on where I am in the series, and some things I may notice.
I think I may even begin my gender analysis.
Workin on my Latin, Ishamael
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Roleplaying Madness
This evening I had a thought occur that will take some work to alter the current framework in D&D's fourth edition to bring about:
Adapting it to coincide with The Wheel of Time campaign setting. Mainly this will deal with how to approach channeling with the advent of at-will, encounter, and daily powers, but I think I will do something like what the Psion class has with its power points.
Simply put, divide the characters into those that have magic, and those that don't. From there, consider how those classes work, and name them to correspond with maybe a particular Ajah, or even an Asha'man. Heck, off the top of my head, the Avenger or Paladin classes can easily be altered to be considered Warders.
Honestly, I'm quite excited for this, and I think my ideas about this will be my first real project to show here about The Wheel of Time.
I just started Lord of Chaos today, and I think this semester I will begin writing my thoughts on gender and Power.
Kiss me, I'm ta'veren, Ishamael
Adapting it to coincide with The Wheel of Time campaign setting. Mainly this will deal with how to approach channeling with the advent of at-will, encounter, and daily powers, but I think I will do something like what the Psion class has with its power points.
Simply put, divide the characters into those that have magic, and those that don't. From there, consider how those classes work, and name them to correspond with maybe a particular Ajah, or even an Asha'man. Heck, off the top of my head, the Avenger or Paladin classes can easily be altered to be considered Warders.
Honestly, I'm quite excited for this, and I think my ideas about this will be my first real project to show here about The Wheel of Time.
I just started Lord of Chaos today, and I think this semester I will begin writing my thoughts on gender and Power.
Kiss me, I'm ta'veren, Ishamael
Conan Part 2
Before I begin again on this movie, let me state that one of the trailers for this movie is easily the most unnecessary, sickening remake that does not deserve to exist.
They are remaking John Carpenter's The Thing. Instead of a great suspense film, it looks to be more like a typical monster movie, and the Thing itself seems to have its own regular form...which means the creators did NOT see the original fucking movie. I have never had one of those moments in the theater before when I was literally saying, audibly, "no...no...they didn't!" I am fearful of this trend.
Back to slaying! So, big bad villain man is apparently looking for someone that has "pure blood," and his freakish daughter, aside from being able to sense bits of that mask, can somehow taste the purity of another woman's blood by pricking them with her goofy, Freddy-esque metal nails. So, they raid some place called the Shaipur Monastery, where apparently the "peaceful monks" learn how to defend themselves Shaolin style. Bring tha' Ruckus, I guess. Suffice to say, they get their asses kicked while Conan comes searching for the big bad. Yet, the monks somehow secure a friggen wagon with the mask's emblem on it for some random chick, and cart her away in the middle of the battle. Conan, seeing that emblem, immediately uses his first daily use of Barbaric Rage to get on top of the vehicle, only to find some chick in there. Then some evil dudes come and kill the monks that were supposed to protect her, they all die, and then Conan gets a pretty cool horseback scene and kills every one of them.
Except where he knocks out the commander to get information out of him. The woman, in true Conan fashion, is relatively helpless. And annoying. BUT, at least she has spunk, and won't take shit from the barbarian in the ruins. Mind you, during the last fight scene of the movie, the little bitch will not shut up, and nearly kills the scene entirely. When tattoo-face wakes up, he tells Conan that the woman is worth a ton of money, and he will show Conan where the caravan will be so he can turn her in. Conan, showing his pension for creativity, decides to wad the bad guy's face with cloth, after writing a message concerning where to meet him, and promptly launches the bad guy into the weird land-boat thing while strapped to a chair.
Entertaining.
So, apparently there's some abandoned city where Conan wants to meet the big bad, and when he arrives, Conan tells him he wants no money, just his head. He brought along his weird daughter- there's some implication of incest in the film- and she promptly summons what I can only call sand elementals in the shape of humans to fight Conan. One thing great about this scene is how it shows, once again, that Conan is quite a climber, and has the agility to fight unnatural things. Eventually he kills them all, and fights the big bad. The choreography is fine, but the main villain's weapon is rather strange. It's one of those katana-like swords with two blades side by side so you can't stitch it up, but in the hilt is a screw or something to either whip one end around, or separate them. Seems like a lot of effort when the man could just use two swords...and he does. Anyway, his daughter poisons Conan, and he promptly gets high as hell, and has to retreat with the girl in tow, by jumping off a cliff where his friends are waiting for him.
After they're on the ship, they all go to sleep, and the ship gets raided by a bunch of henchmen. Two things: why the fuck were they not very far along the coast, and why in the nine hells was no watch posted when you have the one thing keeping the main villain from world domination? But the chick gets woken up, screams like the bitch she is, then Conan bursts through the fucking wall to get him off her. They eventually repel the attack, and Conan decides he's had enough shit, and will go after the bad guy again, so long as his buddy takes the girl away.
However, when Conan goes ashore, his buddy gives a map to the chick so she can go say "bye," albeit with her lady-parts. Somehow they found a shack on the beach, which I'm pretty sure was in the perfect position to get fucked by the tide daily, and start to go at it, Cimmerian style! I'll admit the scene was pretty tasteful, yet when the girl wakes up she goes into the freaking forest...away from where the ship was, and immediately gets captured. I know Robert E. Howard didn't depict women as all that sensible in his stories, but they must be channeling his spirit for all this damsel in distress crap. Conan comes upon the aftermath of the kidnapping, and with the most random horse in the frame that trots off, Conan decides to run off towards the huge skull cave. Honestly, I wanted some good footage of Conan running, if only to show off his barbarian stamina. Those that have read The Frost Giant's Daughter know what I'm talking about. Except that that particular story was creepy in its own way, since Conan attempts to ravage a woman against her will, which is contrary to later when Robert Jordan (read: God of fantasy) wrote Conan books.
So, Conan comes upon the ritual in which the blood of the damsel has to be drained into the mask to activate it, since she has the blood of ancient necromancers flowing through her veins. Apparently, the big bad wants to use her blood and body as material components to bring back his dead wife of a bitch, whom is a sorceress that tried to conquer the world. Then the mask starts wiggling with the blood inside, and I actually thought he might get a Cthulhu face or something weird like that, but no, even though Conan is pretty much in continuity with the Lovecraftian lore, you never get the feeling that there are things in the world that are beyond the stars and understanding. Conan, remembering that he can sneak like a boss, snaps a neck, steals a cloak, and makes his way to the place where the chick is dangling above a lake of lava...which is too reminiscent of Temple of Doom to be a coincidence.
So, he halts the ritual, the weird wheel-thing the girl was on falls down the strange, cylindrical shaft, only to be caught. Conan goes to get her, and the villain jumps down, and there's a bit of a topsy-turvy fight scene on the wheel thing. Then everybody ends up falling down. The girl runs off to hide, and Conan stalks around, while the bad guy calls out after him "rawr!!! barbarian!!!!" Freakish daughter then tries to kill the girl again, only to find Conan, whom immediately chops her damn hand off, then throws her off a ledge to get impaled on a piece of railing. Big bad then comes across her, and I thought that the ANCIENT NECROMANTIC HELM OF VECNA would be able to bring the little bitch back, but no.
There's a quick fight scene where Conan and the mask-wearer fight, he gets his father's sword back (LAUUULL, YOU TOOK MY FATHERS SWORD, YOU KILLED MEI PEOPLE!), so he knocks him back and takes off.
So, we come to this bridge, the chick falls down, and Conan catches a chain to hold on to the girl. The bad guy then comes along the bridge all smug-like, and immediately summons the soul of his dead wife to supplant the one in the love interest. Bad man then tells Conan that all he has to do is let go of the chain, and it's over. Hell, even the woman tells him to let her fall so she can die and destroy the last vestige of "pure" necromancer blood, whatever that means. But, Conan destroys the planks beneath the bad guy, he falls down, Conan takes the girl to her destination, and Conan goes off to find more adventure.
While I didn't go into much detail with Conan taking his thief buddy up on his offer to sneak into the baddie's castle, wherein lies some squid-thing, some of the action sequences blend together so they're hard to distinguish.
So, that's Conan The Barbarian, and there are two real problems I have with it, the first being that Conan never really learned what it means to use fire and ice to make steel- like knowing when to be a cold killer or hot headed-, and that damn necromantic artifact never paid off. How dare they build up something like that, only to make it not import any powers on the main villain, and then he just dies like a bitch? Really?
Tell you what they did do right, even when continuity is suspect, and the girl is practically railroaded into the plot to give Conan some tail, and that is that I think Conan, the character, was done pretty well. Physically he strikes me more as barbaric over Arnold, and he certainly doesn't come off as stupid.
As such, if you like action films, or the Conan character, go see this movie, it ain't bad.
He didn't swear by Crom much, but I will, Ishamael
They are remaking John Carpenter's The Thing. Instead of a great suspense film, it looks to be more like a typical monster movie, and the Thing itself seems to have its own regular form...which means the creators did NOT see the original fucking movie. I have never had one of those moments in the theater before when I was literally saying, audibly, "no...no...they didn't!" I am fearful of this trend.
Back to slaying! So, big bad villain man is apparently looking for someone that has "pure blood," and his freakish daughter, aside from being able to sense bits of that mask, can somehow taste the purity of another woman's blood by pricking them with her goofy, Freddy-esque metal nails. So, they raid some place called the Shaipur Monastery, where apparently the "peaceful monks" learn how to defend themselves Shaolin style. Bring tha' Ruckus, I guess. Suffice to say, they get their asses kicked while Conan comes searching for the big bad. Yet, the monks somehow secure a friggen wagon with the mask's emblem on it for some random chick, and cart her away in the middle of the battle. Conan, seeing that emblem, immediately uses his first daily use of Barbaric Rage to get on top of the vehicle, only to find some chick in there. Then some evil dudes come and kill the monks that were supposed to protect her, they all die, and then Conan gets a pretty cool horseback scene and kills every one of them.
Except where he knocks out the commander to get information out of him. The woman, in true Conan fashion, is relatively helpless. And annoying. BUT, at least she has spunk, and won't take shit from the barbarian in the ruins. Mind you, during the last fight scene of the movie, the little bitch will not shut up, and nearly kills the scene entirely. When tattoo-face wakes up, he tells Conan that the woman is worth a ton of money, and he will show Conan where the caravan will be so he can turn her in. Conan, showing his pension for creativity, decides to wad the bad guy's face with cloth, after writing a message concerning where to meet him, and promptly launches the bad guy into the weird land-boat thing while strapped to a chair.
Entertaining.
So, apparently there's some abandoned city where Conan wants to meet the big bad, and when he arrives, Conan tells him he wants no money, just his head. He brought along his weird daughter- there's some implication of incest in the film- and she promptly summons what I can only call sand elementals in the shape of humans to fight Conan. One thing great about this scene is how it shows, once again, that Conan is quite a climber, and has the agility to fight unnatural things. Eventually he kills them all, and fights the big bad. The choreography is fine, but the main villain's weapon is rather strange. It's one of those katana-like swords with two blades side by side so you can't stitch it up, but in the hilt is a screw or something to either whip one end around, or separate them. Seems like a lot of effort when the man could just use two swords...and he does. Anyway, his daughter poisons Conan, and he promptly gets high as hell, and has to retreat with the girl in tow, by jumping off a cliff where his friends are waiting for him.
After they're on the ship, they all go to sleep, and the ship gets raided by a bunch of henchmen. Two things: why the fuck were they not very far along the coast, and why in the nine hells was no watch posted when you have the one thing keeping the main villain from world domination? But the chick gets woken up, screams like the bitch she is, then Conan bursts through the fucking wall to get him off her. They eventually repel the attack, and Conan decides he's had enough shit, and will go after the bad guy again, so long as his buddy takes the girl away.
However, when Conan goes ashore, his buddy gives a map to the chick so she can go say "bye," albeit with her lady-parts. Somehow they found a shack on the beach, which I'm pretty sure was in the perfect position to get fucked by the tide daily, and start to go at it, Cimmerian style! I'll admit the scene was pretty tasteful, yet when the girl wakes up she goes into the freaking forest...away from where the ship was, and immediately gets captured. I know Robert E. Howard didn't depict women as all that sensible in his stories, but they must be channeling his spirit for all this damsel in distress crap. Conan comes upon the aftermath of the kidnapping, and with the most random horse in the frame that trots off, Conan decides to run off towards the huge skull cave. Honestly, I wanted some good footage of Conan running, if only to show off his barbarian stamina. Those that have read The Frost Giant's Daughter know what I'm talking about. Except that that particular story was creepy in its own way, since Conan attempts to ravage a woman against her will, which is contrary to later when Robert Jordan (read: God of fantasy) wrote Conan books.
So, Conan comes upon the ritual in which the blood of the damsel has to be drained into the mask to activate it, since she has the blood of ancient necromancers flowing through her veins. Apparently, the big bad wants to use her blood and body as material components to bring back his dead wife of a bitch, whom is a sorceress that tried to conquer the world. Then the mask starts wiggling with the blood inside, and I actually thought he might get a Cthulhu face or something weird like that, but no, even though Conan is pretty much in continuity with the Lovecraftian lore, you never get the feeling that there are things in the world that are beyond the stars and understanding. Conan, remembering that he can sneak like a boss, snaps a neck, steals a cloak, and makes his way to the place where the chick is dangling above a lake of lava...which is too reminiscent of Temple of Doom to be a coincidence.
So, he halts the ritual, the weird wheel-thing the girl was on falls down the strange, cylindrical shaft, only to be caught. Conan goes to get her, and the villain jumps down, and there's a bit of a topsy-turvy fight scene on the wheel thing. Then everybody ends up falling down. The girl runs off to hide, and Conan stalks around, while the bad guy calls out after him "rawr!!! barbarian!!!!" Freakish daughter then tries to kill the girl again, only to find Conan, whom immediately chops her damn hand off, then throws her off a ledge to get impaled on a piece of railing. Big bad then comes across her, and I thought that the ANCIENT NECROMANTIC HELM OF VECNA would be able to bring the little bitch back, but no.
There's a quick fight scene where Conan and the mask-wearer fight, he gets his father's sword back (LAUUULL, YOU TOOK MY FATHERS SWORD, YOU KILLED MEI PEOPLE!), so he knocks him back and takes off.
So, we come to this bridge, the chick falls down, and Conan catches a chain to hold on to the girl. The bad guy then comes along the bridge all smug-like, and immediately summons the soul of his dead wife to supplant the one in the love interest. Bad man then tells Conan that all he has to do is let go of the chain, and it's over. Hell, even the woman tells him to let her fall so she can die and destroy the last vestige of "pure" necromancer blood, whatever that means. But, Conan destroys the planks beneath the bad guy, he falls down, Conan takes the girl to her destination, and Conan goes off to find more adventure.
While I didn't go into much detail with Conan taking his thief buddy up on his offer to sneak into the baddie's castle, wherein lies some squid-thing, some of the action sequences blend together so they're hard to distinguish.
So, that's Conan The Barbarian, and there are two real problems I have with it, the first being that Conan never really learned what it means to use fire and ice to make steel- like knowing when to be a cold killer or hot headed-, and that damn necromantic artifact never paid off. How dare they build up something like that, only to make it not import any powers on the main villain, and then he just dies like a bitch? Really?
Tell you what they did do right, even when continuity is suspect, and the girl is practically railroaded into the plot to give Conan some tail, and that is that I think Conan, the character, was done pretty well. Physically he strikes me more as barbaric over Arnold, and he certainly doesn't come off as stupid.
As such, if you like action films, or the Conan character, go see this movie, it ain't bad.
He didn't swear by Crom much, but I will, Ishamael
Saturday, August 20, 2011
That Vanilla Librarian
Dude looks legit, why shouldn't he be leading a company of Ultramarines?
The funniest thing I've done in Warhammer, aside from deciding to play Ultramarines, is to finally have a use for my Ahriman model. To go from his fat base to a normal one, and get powers that are worth a damn, is so fulfilling that I'll overlook his eight-pointed stars. ;)
Why is it the case that, at least where I have gamed, nobody brings along Librarians from the regular Space Marine codex? The other codices' Librarians are brought quite often, Rune Priests being the most popular due to perceived power inherent in its powers. Just remember that Jaws only really helps against Tyranids. Living Lightning is a pretty cool one, and it would be hilarious to see an army with four priests that have that particular spell.
Yet, let me go on to the regular old codex. So, he has the regular statistics line, a couple wounds, and does not come with an invulnerable save - major fuckup there, GW! His powers are mostly meh, except for two, which constitute a utility available to this book, and not another one.
So, this guy has two worthwhile spells- Null Zone, and Gateway of Infinity. The former gives me such a hard counter to every single over costed melee unit that has an invulnerable save that I don't need to worry all that much about it. Null Zone goes up, meltaguns and missiles fly, any invul saves they make, re-roll that shit! I feel bad and like a scrub for mentioning this, but this one power is such a counter to Chaos Daemons it's near cheating. Jaws is only really effective against large 'nid monsters, this power is useful against anyone with an invulnerable save. Funnily enough, that's not many units in the 'nid codex. lol
Now for Gate. So, what's rule number one of war, behind information? Mobility. Excepting the units I need to be stationary for fire support, my army is decently mobile, with the Razorbacks to forward my pawns, and Speeders to Deep Strike for opportunity shots. Even the Dreadnoughts could advance easily. Yet, what if it is turn five, objectives are tied, and there is one objective left, within 24 inches of you? Teleport and grab, baby! Or, in case of kill points, teleport in and frag. About to get assaulted in one turn from something nasty? Teleport away!
Mercy of the dice though, lol.
I don't think there's much more to say on the matter. The Librarian in this particular book is full utility, and that makes him a game changer, and very possibly a game winner. I'll be reporting on his performance after the tournament next Saturday, the 27th.
I'll collect my thoughts on Conan later.
Telefrag! Ishamael
Conan The Cimmerian
Last evening I went to go see the new Conan the Barbarian movie. It was my first experience with the new 3d technology that has been becoming more and more saturated in just about everything. 3d is decent, but it gave me a small headache, and I think that it takes one out of the film, since it's trying to impress you by having things on the screen pretend to have depth. But anyway, time to start my first real movie review, which is about one of the most iconic sword and sorcery characters ever!
Before we start on the movie, let us consider the character of Conan. Contrary to movies, his people were not killed by a raiding run, he just got the wanderlust to go see the world, and took off from the rough lands of Cimmeria. The only real skills he had was the capacity to stalk and kill anyone that got in his way, and he turned that into a career. Being a mercenary, warlord, rogue, pirate, and, like in The Phoenix on the Sword, a king. The character is everything, in my opinion, that youthful men want to be, especially in a game like D&D. There are so many places and people that he encounters, and while he picks up on civilization's rules, he still has a core of barbarian principles. The foremost of which is: don't insult a man unless you want him to attempt to kill you. The man is pure adventurer, and let's see how the movie went.
The film begins with some back story concerning an ancient necromantic artifact that held the power of some ancient horror long before humanity crawled from the oceans. The wielder of this mask enslaved the people of the lower country, and eventually the barbarians of the north banded together, killed the sorcerer, and broke the mask into several pieces to be hidden so that such a horror could not be visited on the world again. This set up is not bad, given that Stygian wizards were generally the bastards that summoned evil terrors to do their bidding in the story, and ancient items of Power are also part of the mythology. Why the barbarians didn't just...I don't know, toss the damn mask in a volcano, or simply throw the pieces in the sea. Having an INT of 10 didn't help them there.
This movie then moves on to Conan's birth, which is something I was not expecting in this movie. I can only assume the village was under attack, and Conan's mom fought against the invaders, and takes a stomach wound. Conan's father, as played by RON FUCKMOTHERING PEARLMAN has to cut the child out in the Cimmerian version of a C-section as his mother dies. I gotta admit that putting this small scene in was pretty awesome for the movie, given that Conan's birth during a battle was referred to a few times in the stories. We are then treated to a scene later when he is a young boy. There is a competition going on where the boys of the village that want to fight must run a large lap around the hills with an egg in their mouth. To "win," the egg must remain unbroken, and you have to fight off the other little bastards that want to win. The movement of these boys, and especially Conan, is nice to watch, since it will help later with what Howard described as Conan's feline grace when moving. So, eventually some enemy scouts catch up withe boys, and on reflection I wonder if they were supposed to be the Picts. The other boys turn back, but Conan fucking guns forward, and proceeds to take out all four, decapitate them, then take the heads back to the village to show his father, and then spit out the egg that never broke.
Pretty cool scene, but little Conan was apparently told that he still lost the race, and has to content himself with practicing surprisingly sophisticated Cimmerian kata shortly thereafter. I'll comment on Conan's swordplay later, it's something specific I want to address when he's an adult.
So, at this point in the movie little Conan is nothing but a little fireball, and Daddy Pearlman wants to teach him...the mystery of steel. Everyone will remember this from the first movie, which they called the riddle of steel. I still have no idea what the hell that meant, other than iron and carbon together is badass. What we get is a rather nice scene of Pearlman advising Conan on tempering himself, and uses the blacksmithing analogy of "fire and ice must go together to make a proper sword that will not fail you." That's actually one of the "cool" things things about Conan- the man can switch from fire to ice to both in mere moments.
But, since this is a fantasy film, someone's village is going to get razed.
Some southern lord comes looking for the last piece of that headdress from earlier, and captures Ron Pearlman. Little Conan finds the smithy where they're holding him, and, like a boss, waits but a few seconds before hopping in there, hacking off a man's nose, and giving a scar to the main villain. But, he gets caught, and the lord's freaky-ass weird daughter, who can somehow sense the necromantic helm's bit's presence, finds it beneath the floorboards of the smithy. See, I thought it was going to actually be IN the forge, under the furnace. In barbarian fashion, Ron told the villain to go fuck himself, and gets set up with one of the most painful Bond Villain-like deaths I've seen. His hands are chained to a pail used for pouring hot iron into the forge, suspended above his head. Then his legs get cut. There is another chain on the other side of the pail, and little Conan escapes the villain to hold the other end while his father slowly gives out. The smithy and forge then gets torched while the villain leaves. When Ron Pearlman decides to pull the liquid iron onto himself for Conan's sake is surprisingly heart-wrenching. The man's acting combined a father and chieftain quite well, and it makes Conan's desire for revenge more heartfelt to the audience.
Now we transition to Big Conan, whom we are told has done some of his thieving, reaving, and pirating, and has companions that he adventures with. Also, he likes to fuck with slave traders and raid their caravans to free them. At least it's something I could see Conan do. So, we get our first look at Conan's movements and swordplay in the film. I personally find his swordplay a bit too fancy, but you believe that the man is a professional killer, and his movements are light enough that I can also believe that Jason Momoa pulls of Howard's description of Conan well. After freeing the slaves and getting plenty of titties in the face, Conan and his buddy, whose name I forget, dude looks Stygian, go to get drunk and have fun with the ladies they saved. Here we are treated to Conan's boisterous drinking, as well as his mirth.
Then the fat fellow from the beginning, the one Conan took the nose from, comes in with men looking for an escapee that sits next to Conan. He then decides to piss the guards off then turn himself in so he can get into the prison where fatty tortures people. I have a couple problems with this, the first being why the hell Conan turned himself in in the first place, when he could just follow them, do some actual sneaking- they DO mention the story of The Tower of the Elephant- so the man does know how to sneak around like a boss. Second, after he gets captured, every single man around him is chained to the wall, yet the GIANT barbarian in the room only has hand shackles on, and those are so damn long it could be a flail. I guess since he was compliant he was given leeway? Bullshit either way, even if he was next in line. Suffice to say, he breaks free, and tortures fatty for information concerning the man that killed his people. He then promptly takes the master key, sticks in it fatty's mouth, then washes it down with wine, takes him outside, and tells the slaves that the key to their freedom is in his belly. So yeah, pretty fucking cruel.
Apparently the one-eyed escapee from earlier is some famous thief, and he tells Conan that he can call upon him when needed before taking off.
Guess I should change this to a Part 1 type deal, because there's more movie and annoyance on its way, mainly in the form of a damn broad.
I live, I love, I slay, and I am content, Ishamael
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Predator
Is it just me, or has has nearly everyone been turning to Devastator teams in their Heavy support since the Space Wolves codex came out? Yes, Long Fangs are exceptionally nice for what they do, and the capacity to split fire is quite awesome, in which your three units actually threatens six. Looks to stun someone's parking lot quite a bit.
Recently, I have seen some builds even in the regular Marine book that are using Devastators more and more. And, for 150 points- 5 Marines with 4 missiles- that's quite a deal. Mind you, they can not do the split fire, BUT, and people forget this, their sergeant has the signum, which allows for a single BS 5 missile shot per turn. So, three targets per turn, but they have a small buff to BS. So, signa shots totaling three per turn, pretty cool. Outfit them with Razorbacks, and you can get some utility for late-game mobility or some weight of fire for finishing off small infantry squads left.
Devastator teams are easy to understand, and before I finally get to the much-overlooked Predator tank, another common choice for Heavy Support is the Vindicator tank. For 115 points, you get a 13/11/10 tank with the capacity for fire a str 10 ap 2 at 24 inches. Comparatively, I do not find the Vindicator worth much. The way to take it out is simply taking its flanks, then pelting it with missiles/autocannons, even just to stun it, and then it becomes pretty much worthless. Furthermore, 2/3 of the time you will scatter, the deviation going as far as 8 inches in a random direction. Lastly, IF-IF-IF you are playing on a good table...y'know, one that actually has midfield terrain for at least a 5+ cover save for infantry, then its effectiveness goes down. Or...I dunno, bring your own cover, or just sit in a smoked tank. Just gotta watch the center blow off, then you're sitting decent. Could one be using its points for something more effective at anti-infantry and anti-tank? I think so. Devastators, for their range, sustainability, and versatility, easily outclass the Vindicator as as a unit.
The Vindicator could work better if it had better defenses. Change it to a 14/12/10, and then we will talk. People seem to like buying them in triplets. If so, cross fire into side armor, get cake.
Time to move on to the Predator. So...why don't people take them? They certainly are not flashy like the Vindicator or Devastators, but I think it has a wonderful price point. For those that know I was considering a Thunderfire Cannon list, I was spending 300 points on a ridiculously easy to kill unit that only really can do anti-infantry duty, or light anti-tank, say AV 10-11. Oh, and the cannon is AV 10, and dies if it gets glanced OR penned. Don't roll, it just goes. Then the techmarine runs around and jerks off for the rest of the game. Now, let's compare the aforementioned Heavy Support choices to the Predator.
So, it's a tank with 13/11/10, so the same defenses as the Vindicator. For 60 points, it comes with an autocannon on the top. The option I prefer is to take the Heavy Bolter sponsons, which adds on 25 points. So, for 85 points, I have a tank as survivable as the Vindicator, is cheaper, and doesn't run the risk of drifting into allied units or off-target. It also has longer range, 36 and 48 inches respectively, giving it a large effective distance on the field. Before someone states it, yes, the Vindicator can move 6 and fire, but I do not plan for the Predators to move, except for maybe late game, or early, depending on the scenario. So, I get more consistent anti-infantry through all the weapons- 8 shots, more reliable anti-tank since it doesn't depend on blasts, and it works as a late-game blocker for objective holding. For 85 points. So, with all those points being saved, what can I get?
Well, I have been working on this list for a few months now, so 'ere we go:
HQ
Librarian- Null Zone, Gateway of Infinity 100
Troops
4x 10 Tactical Marines- Meltagun, Combi-Melta, Missile Launcher 740
4x Razorbacks 160
Fast Attack
3x Land Speeders- Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melta 210
Elites
3x Dreadnoughts- 2x Twin-Linked Autocannons 375
Heavy Support
3x Predators- Heavy Bolter Sponsons 255
So, all this junk here amounts to 1840, which isn't a bad list for an 1850 event. Question being, 2000 points is my favorite level to play at, so what to do with the 160 left? While it is within my points to convert the Razorbacks into the lascannon/twin-linked plasmagun deal, I think that would make them too obvious a target turn one, when I need the opponent to have his attention dispersed. So, what I think I will do here is add in a Scout Squad, with a heavy bolter, sniper rifles, and camo cloaks. This adds 100 points, leaving me with 60 points to screw around with. Yet, what if I alter this deal to add in Sergeant Telion to the squad? Well, that effectively gives the Scouts Stealth via the FAQ, so add in his 50 points, then I have 25 points to spend. Then I will give the Librarian a combi-melta for a teleport and dive manoeuver, and add a hunter killer missile to one of the Predators that takes a flank.
As far as the list goes and my reasons for taking things, this is pretty much it. Been working on this for quite a while, and I can't wait to get this into action now that I have the advantage of being able to get to the gaming store.
WAAAGH, Ishamael
Recently, I have seen some builds even in the regular Marine book that are using Devastators more and more. And, for 150 points- 5 Marines with 4 missiles- that's quite a deal. Mind you, they can not do the split fire, BUT, and people forget this, their sergeant has the signum, which allows for a single BS 5 missile shot per turn. So, three targets per turn, but they have a small buff to BS. So, signa shots totaling three per turn, pretty cool. Outfit them with Razorbacks, and you can get some utility for late-game mobility or some weight of fire for finishing off small infantry squads left.
Devastator teams are easy to understand, and before I finally get to the much-overlooked Predator tank, another common choice for Heavy Support is the Vindicator tank. For 115 points, you get a 13/11/10 tank with the capacity for fire a str 10 ap 2 at 24 inches. Comparatively, I do not find the Vindicator worth much. The way to take it out is simply taking its flanks, then pelting it with missiles/autocannons, even just to stun it, and then it becomes pretty much worthless. Furthermore, 2/3 of the time you will scatter, the deviation going as far as 8 inches in a random direction. Lastly, IF-IF-IF you are playing on a good table...y'know, one that actually has midfield terrain for at least a 5+ cover save for infantry, then its effectiveness goes down. Or...I dunno, bring your own cover, or just sit in a smoked tank. Just gotta watch the center blow off, then you're sitting decent. Could one be using its points for something more effective at anti-infantry and anti-tank? I think so. Devastators, for their range, sustainability, and versatility, easily outclass the Vindicator as as a unit.
The Vindicator could work better if it had better defenses. Change it to a 14/12/10, and then we will talk. People seem to like buying them in triplets. If so, cross fire into side armor, get cake.
Time to move on to the Predator. So...why don't people take them? They certainly are not flashy like the Vindicator or Devastators, but I think it has a wonderful price point. For those that know I was considering a Thunderfire Cannon list, I was spending 300 points on a ridiculously easy to kill unit that only really can do anti-infantry duty, or light anti-tank, say AV 10-11. Oh, and the cannon is AV 10, and dies if it gets glanced OR penned. Don't roll, it just goes. Then the techmarine runs around and jerks off for the rest of the game. Now, let's compare the aforementioned Heavy Support choices to the Predator.
So, it's a tank with 13/11/10, so the same defenses as the Vindicator. For 60 points, it comes with an autocannon on the top. The option I prefer is to take the Heavy Bolter sponsons, which adds on 25 points. So, for 85 points, I have a tank as survivable as the Vindicator, is cheaper, and doesn't run the risk of drifting into allied units or off-target. It also has longer range, 36 and 48 inches respectively, giving it a large effective distance on the field. Before someone states it, yes, the Vindicator can move 6 and fire, but I do not plan for the Predators to move, except for maybe late game, or early, depending on the scenario. So, I get more consistent anti-infantry through all the weapons- 8 shots, more reliable anti-tank since it doesn't depend on blasts, and it works as a late-game blocker for objective holding. For 85 points. So, with all those points being saved, what can I get?
Well, I have been working on this list for a few months now, so 'ere we go:
HQ
Librarian- Null Zone, Gateway of Infinity 100
Troops
4x 10 Tactical Marines- Meltagun, Combi-Melta, Missile Launcher 740
4x Razorbacks 160
Fast Attack
3x Land Speeders- Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melta 210
Elites
3x Dreadnoughts- 2x Twin-Linked Autocannons 375
Heavy Support
3x Predators- Heavy Bolter Sponsons 255
So, all this junk here amounts to 1840, which isn't a bad list for an 1850 event. Question being, 2000 points is my favorite level to play at, so what to do with the 160 left? While it is within my points to convert the Razorbacks into the lascannon/twin-linked plasmagun deal, I think that would make them too obvious a target turn one, when I need the opponent to have his attention dispersed. So, what I think I will do here is add in a Scout Squad, with a heavy bolter, sniper rifles, and camo cloaks. This adds 100 points, leaving me with 60 points to screw around with. Yet, what if I alter this deal to add in Sergeant Telion to the squad? Well, that effectively gives the Scouts Stealth via the FAQ, so add in his 50 points, then I have 25 points to spend. Then I will give the Librarian a combi-melta for a teleport and dive manoeuver, and add a hunter killer missile to one of the Predators that takes a flank.
As far as the list goes and my reasons for taking things, this is pretty much it. Been working on this for quite a while, and I can't wait to get this into action now that I have the advantage of being able to get to the gaming store.
WAAAGH, Ishamael
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Terraria
What is there to say of a sandbox game that has no story, no real help through a tutorial, and all that happens is that you are given one copper sword, pickaxe, and axe, and told to just "go??
Awesomeness*
*refer to picture
NOW, this game is fashioned in such a way that every newly generated world is completely different than the others one plays. One can alter the size of the world- small, medium, large- and the only limit to what you do in the game is your imagination. Who would have thought that a game like this would be the closest thing I have done on my computer that is close to playing with friggen LEGOs? Now, I know some would instantly think of Minecraft. From what I understand that game is 3d, but I'm an old cod and I prefer my smexy sixteen bit graphics. Makes my SNES as happy as it is when I pray to it for dice luck. :D
So, from what I understand, there's a hierarchy of materials, where armor gets better from certain metals being used. I do not think that alloys can be made, BUT, the hierarchy goes something like this:
copper
iron
silver
gold
Then there's this crap called Demonite ore. It's rare as all getout, and it takes a lot to make any items out of it. As a side note, it seems to occur more where the corruption and crap is, except the monsters there are a bunch of whores, and it is hard to come by even then. :P
I think the most appealing aspect of this game is that one can just make a server, which is a pain in the ass process to do, and bring in some friends to explore with. I think this is the most interesting part of the game. You find a cave, then start delving until you can go down no more. Then, you have to ask yourselves which direction you want to go, then you continue on until you want to change direction, you come across a large reservoir, OR, if you're a damned fool and dig straight down past the rivers of lava, you find a demonic stronghold of things that will kick your ass right back up to the surface. Suffice to say, I haven't had the opportunity to kill many demons. Beneath the ground also happen to be treasure chests- both wooden and gold, for your classicists and ballers- as well as these crystal hearts that will give you +20 maximum hit points when broken and used. Above ground there are also fallen starts that, when you collect ten, increases your maximum mana by twenty. So far I have only found a single flaming spell, and it's this magic mirror that will teleport me back home for 20 mana. Pretty sweet when you've been digging the wrong damn way and end up on Satan's lawn as he's mowing the hair of the dead.
So yeah, watch out for demons underground.
As for the building aspect, which is the best part of the game as far as I'm concerned, you have various building materials. These range from sand to dirt, mud, clay, gold, silver, and stone. No marble, as far as I know. Know that large Fortress you wanted to build in a videogame for as long as you can remember? You can do that here. I even made a recent addition to my home that was several tiers of stone with a basement that led into what used to be an underground lake. So now it's a swimming pool. Win.
I still have a lot to go through on this game, given that I only just got it, BUT it's damned fun, and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys the freedom to pretty much do whatever the hell you want.
Glory to the builders, Ishamael
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Roles and Role-Playing
I want to begin this article with a couple distinctions regarding the term "role-playing game." The first of which I will refer to as the "original," the later being the "newer" style. The original is associated with the beloved tabletop RPGs that many of us have played, whether it is D&D, Rifts, Shadowrun, or even a Cthulhu RPG. In these older games, "role-playing" refers to the acting that a player does while in a gaming session, whether it is being surly and bellicose as a barbarian, or snooty and snarky as a wizard that started the game out with an 18 in INT. Unfortunately for me, my experience with these older RPGs stems from 3.5 and 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, but from conversations I have had with older players, the acting is what is key in role-playing. Next I am going to cover what I consider to be this "newer" RPG style.
At some point is gaming's past, the acting aspect, which I would almost refer to as the real social aspect of tabletop gaming, was altered to just refer to which character class one is playing. Now, I would think that most of us were introduced to the concept of classes during a videogame at some point. Assume that the benchmark of this was the first Final Fantasy game for the NES. You have six character classes with different combat abilities, and you just bop about the world killing the people that get in your way to restore crystals that maintain the balance of the world. After this game, the RPG videogame genre exploded, which was lucky considering that Final Fantasy was the last card that Square could play before it went bankrupt. But hey, it pretty much made the market from which we have had some great games, but these days only a few companies or games try to incorporate any real notion of role-playing. The Ever Scrolls series, virtually anything by Bioware, and the Fallout series happen to be some good examples.
"Where am I going with this?" you may ask, and really, this is just a brief background for one of my favorite gaming genres. One thing that I doubt many would contend with me on is that in these later games, players pretty much just want to play high damage dealing classes when it comes to party type games. We are all familiar with what is referred to as the "classic" party consisting of a front line armored fighter, a spell-slinging wizard, a small thief type person, and a cleric of some god that can heal people. I cannot say I know when this came about, but it is often referred to. Problem being, in League of fucking Legends, people only want to play the high damage dealing bozos, without thinking ahead and co-operating with the team to actually have a good spread of abilities. I am referring to the auto-lock in pricks that grab whatever and whichever carry is available at the time. Xin Zhao, Ashe, and Anivia all come to mind. The damned issue is that you do get some players once in a while that will play a tank, and example being last night I saw a Lee Sin tank for the first time, and it worked out surprisingly well, yet rarely does anyone play a support character.
I have read up on a few things concerning support characters in ranked matches, like they do ward coverage rather than buy items, but as of right now I have not attained level thirty, so I have no experience there. What I do have a bone to pick with is that not enough teams grab someone that can heal well, or even just heal, let alone take those items that give area buffs to team mates, like Aegis of the Legion. Most recently I have been playing support more and more. Although my favorite character is Poppy, too many play assassins as is, so I have been playing Soraka quite a bit. This support character is Utility incarnate. She has an immense heal, a silence/mana regeneration spell that costs no mana, an aoe that has a short cooldown, yet reduces magic resistance with each hit, one of the few global ultimates left that heals a lot, and even her passive gives nearby champions an extra sixteen magic resistance. This chick will keep your team in the fight, in the lane, and keep you alive. Team players like this are needed to succeed in matches in League of Legends. With Dominion right around the corner, I think that supports will have a tougher time in-game, given that they generally need a teammate to lane with in order to be effective. We will find out, I suppose.
So, in those games where you're itching to play the super damage-dealer, yet all your teammates are locked in and nobody could be arsed to play a still-needed "role," grab a tank or support to help your team succeed.
Accurate, Brief, and Complete, Ishamael
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Let's Talk Space Marines
What is left to say of the first book that was the herald of fifth edition? Various other blogs and websites have given advice of varying levels of usefulness concerning the viability of the army. Most recently, I have heard more talk about how this particular old book is outdated and powerless. Well, those familiar with the website Yes the Truth Hurts will see the thoughts behind the following list:
HQ
Librarian- Gateway of Infinity, Null Zone 100
Troops
4x 10 Tactical Marines- Meltagun, Combi-Melta, Missile Launcher, Rhino 920
5 Scouts- Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks, Heavy Bolter, Combi-Plasma 110
Elites
3x Dreadnoughts- 2 Twin-Linked Autocannons 375
Fast Attack
3x Land Speeders- Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer 210
Heavy Support
3x Predators- Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Hunter Killer Missiles 285
2000 points on the nose. I have to ask forgiveness as of right now, I do not have the requisite skills as of yet to show deployment and battle plans though something like VASSAL. I am working on it though! SO, as for deployment of this craziness, here are the general notions I have for deploying:
Always combat squad, double meltas in the Rhinos, missiles in back, on my objectives.
Two Rhinos rotate in front of the other two to give cover to the ones in the back. Here's a great article on it http://yesthetruthhurts.com/2011/05/rhino-tactica/
The Librarian will deploy with the Scouts, whose duty is anti-infantry. They will teleport when the game requires it.
The Dreadnoughts will deploy primarily in the open to draw shots. I hope to garner a 5+ cover save when possible.
Predators to the flanks for side shots.
The Land Speeders will Deep Strike.
What does this list have as far as tools are concerned? Thirteen vehicles certainly is not bad. I have plenty of mobility in the form of my Rhinos, Deep Strikers, and my Scouts for late-game grabs. My fire support is fine, and here's the breakdown:
6 twin-linked autocannons
3 regular autocannons
7 missiles (4 every turn)
3 multi-meltas
7 heavy bolters
4 snipers
Of the models required for this list, I am missing the Predators, one Speeder, and the Scouts. I hope to pick them up sometime in the near future. Later I will put up a list I hope to have up and running in time for a local 1750 tournament. It will be a scaled-down version of this list.
So, although this is brief, I hope I got the bottom line across about this list. While I did not address the power problem people claim about this book, I will either write a lengthy article about it later, or just go out and compete in tournaments and do battle reports about it. Probably both.
Turning the Wheel, Ishamael
Goals and Purposes
As one can tell from the banner I have chosen, I happen to be a fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. As such, thoughts I have on the series will be posted here, along with other materials. I also do quite a bit of gaming. Specifically I play Warhammer 40,000, League of Legends, Dawn of War 2 Retribution, and the latest edition of Dungeons and Dragons. When Space Marine comes out September 6th, I will be picking that up as well.
And so, welcome to Stout and Bearded. I'm your dwarven host, Ishamael!
And so, welcome to Stout and Bearded. I'm your dwarven host, Ishamael!
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