A Very Trollful Menothmas

Deck the hills with Wracks of heretics,
     Fa lalalala la la la la
Feast on the flesh of a Seige Animantarax
     Fa lalalala la la la la
Menoth's coming to purge with fire
     Fa lalalala la la la la
Pray you don't wind up on the pyre
     Fa lalalala la la LA LA!!!!

That's right, it's that time of year again... time for festive songs, twinkling lights, and a deep, bone aching cold that makes you understand why ancient peoples worried about whether or not the sun would ever return.  I hate the cold.  But I do love the festivities!  Whether you believe in the big red guy coming down your chimney with a sack full of toys, Menoth of the Wall, or even the Eternal Emperor of Mankind, there is no better way to show your devotion than throwing some models down on the table!

For your holiday enjoyment, I bring you ... a Menothmas Stand Off between the Trollkin led by Madrak 3 and the Protectorate led by the Testament of Menoth.  I realized that we don't have much in the way of Holiday-ish terrain, which is a total shame, as it would lend a little pizzaz... not that there is much sold in the way of seasonal terrain, which is why I have decided to make my own for next year.  As you may know, the Privateer Press store has a section of pins available, which I really adore.  And every Christmas, they have a special holiday pin... for example, the Santa Butcher, the Christmas Snow Troll, or the New Year Siege.  Well, one of their Christmas pins was Wurmwood, Christmas Tree of Fate, and I am going to try and make that model for a Holiday objective next year.  Maybe it will be enough of an adventure to write about right here!  Anyway, we'll see how it goes and I'll let you know.  For this year, though, no special terrain (awww, man!).  But let's have a festive throw-down and see who Santa is coming to give presents to this year!

Announcements:
Have a joyous and safe holiday season, everybody!  We'll see everyone back a the Fukuyama Gaming Club on January 21 to kick off another great year of gaming!

Our scenario for our Menothmas battle came up as the stand off... Lots and lots of zones.  Two circular zones for units to hold on each side, and two rectangular zones between them for beasts and 'jacks to hold.  In the middle of each rectangular zone is an objective.  Ugh, if I know DTB, I know at least one or two gargantuans is going to make it into this list, which is going to make it a bit more difficult for me to contest the rectangular zone on his side of the table.  So, it's time to take a look at just what he's going to be throwing at my poor, oppressed Menites today!

Army List, Trollkin:

Look at this bunch of Grinches

 Haha, yup.  There it is.  I guess it's just not the holidays without a giant frosty giant trying to freeze everything around it!  This is my first game against Madrak 3 (that's the Madrak after he lost his giant mind controlling axe and is back to being a sane person).  Actually, I kind of like him!  He's got a lot of interesting rules that make him an amazing leader for his people.  For example... Madrak has Shield Guard.  That means he can jump in front of one of his companions and take a shot for them!  Hahaha!  Usually warcaster and warlocks have 'jacks or beasts near them with Shield Guard to protect them!  Not Madrak, nope, he'll throw himself into danger for his dudes.  Also, Madrak acts as a Kriel Stone!  For any focus he is storing, he can project a Stone Aura to grant benefits to nearby Trollkin.  Hey, Madrak!  You got it backwards, buddy!  Everyone else is supposed to protect you!
     Warlock:  Madrak 3
                      Glacier King
                      Swamp Troll
                      Impaler
                      Boomhowler & Co.
                      Scattergunner (Maximum unit)
                           Officer and Standard bearer
                      Pyg Bushwackers (Maximum unit)
                           Mortar and Officer
                      Fell Caller Hero

This is the Kriel Company Theme force, which means that DTB can add the Boomhowlers as a Partisan unit, he will get +1 to the starting roll, and his units can shoot through friendly models.

Army List, Protectorate:

We just want to decorate our tree!

Look at this magnificent army!  As I mentioned before, I am wavering between either an exemplar themed army or a paladin themed army to use with the Testament, so here is the Exemplar Interdiction Theme... we will see if they can save Menothmas for the Protectorate!
                       Warcaster:  Testament of Menoth
                                          Templar
                                          Reckoner
                                          Exemplar Knights
                                               Officer
                                          Exemplar Errants (Maximum Unit)
                                               Officer and Standard bearer
                                          Exemplar Errant Seneschal
                                          Warder Gade
                                          Cinerators (Maximum Unit)
                                          Bastions (Maximum Unit)
                                          Bastion Seneschal
                                          Carvolo, the Piper of Ord
                                          Wrack
                                          Mechanic
The theme force gives me 2 extra inches on my deployment zone and my warjack's weapons gain Blessed!  Not super helpful against Trollkin, but all warjacks with Blessed weapons could turn the tide against a Grymkin or Cryx army!

Setup, Trollkin:

Holiday wreckers are go!

This is a pretty big army!  I mean, are you going to be able to fit everything on the board?  I kid, I kid.  About two year ago, I was playing a Vindictus army that had so SO many models, (this was Mk. II, and Vincictus loved to have units around him, so a ten man squad of zealots, ten Flameguard, etc.) 
The Glacier King got dropped in the center of the zone next to Madrak, and the Scattergunners and the Fell Caller Hero went on the left of them.  On the other side of Madrak went the Swamp Troll and the Impaler.  Boomhowler and his buddies made a skirmish line next to the Swamper, and behind them was a line of Pygs.  This army stretches from one side to the other!  A little intimidating, I'll admit, but a Kommissar never retreats!

Setup, Protectorate:

Save Menothmas!

I'm clearly outnumbered, but I'm not worried... Trollkin are a dime a dozen, and I'm leading an army of one of the most elite forces in the Iron Kingdoms!  Time to show Immoren what the Exemplar knights are made of!  The Bastions and their Seneschal went in the center, my unbreakable wall!  Next to them on the right went the Reckoner, and on the other side of the forest I put the Cinerators, who should be able to hold their own without much assistance.  TOM and the Vanquisher went on the left side of the Bastions, and the Knights Exemplar spread out next to them, the Officer behind them.  The Piper settled in near the Knights to help them with that forest ahead of them, and the Mechanik took position next to the Templar.  And since the Trollkin don't have any advanced deployment today, I went ahead and put the Errants and their Seneschal in the zone, since they're speedy like that!  And the Wrack got placed in the forest, within TOM's control range, but out of the way of units moving up the field.

We are not afraid of you!

Our Story:  On this blessed day, the Testament of Menoth and his force of Exemplars were taking a day off from making war and enjoying decorating a Menothmas tree in a remote village on the boarder of the Protectorate.  Just as they were putting on the finishing touches, Madrak and his pillaging blue ruffians appeared, hoping to disrupt the festivities with a holiday dedicated to Dhunia!  As the Stand Off of holidays stretched across the field, it was only a matter of time until violence erupted!

Round 1, Trollkin:

Pygs hiding in the fog?  Typical!

Boomhowler took the lead, running forward with his men and using the Call of Defiance to keep Tough even when knocked down.  The Pygs ran forward into the fog, managing to get all of them into the terrain.  The Impaler riled and ran forward, and behind him the Swamp Troll walked up.  Madrak walked forward, casting Fortune on Boomhowler &Co., Swarm on himself, and keeping the rest of his fury to put up a 6" protective aura (silly living kriel stone!).  The Fellcaller Hero used March on the Scattergunners, and then moved up to not get left behind.  The Scattergunners ran forward, ignoring all terrain thanks to March, and the Glacier King walked forward and cast Frozen Ground, making a giant skating rink around his feet.

Round 1, Protectorate:

Speedy Menoth army!

The Cinerators ran forward toward the zone.  The Piper gave March to the Knights before walking up his full move.  The Errants moved up past the zone onto the hill and took some pot shots at the Howlers coming towards them, managing to kill 3!  First blood to me, then!  Not something I'm used to with the Protectorate, a notoriously slow army, but I'll take it!  The Seneschal and Gade moved to keep up, but had no targets for killing stuff.  The Reckoner ran forward, as did the Templar, and the Mechanik followed.  The Bastions ran into the middle zone and got ready to hold strong!  TOM moved up until he was lipping the zone and put Cloak of Ash on the Errants to help protect them in the next round and Hallowed Avenger on the Vanquisher.  To finish, the Knights ran forward.

Round 2, Trollkin:

The Glacier King needs a Santa hat

Madrak upkept Fortune, and the round began.  Boomhowler used the Call of Defiance again.  The company moved forward and took some shots at the Exemplars.  They managed to kill one Knight, but missed all the Errants in their Cloak of Ash.  Madrak walked forward and put up another Protective Aura.  He then cast Farstrike on himself and lobbed a spear at an Errant who was promptly impaled, and then cast Fortune on the Scattergunners.  The Scattergunners moved forward into the central zone, and proceeded to kill off 4 Errants.

Argh, growl, smash, EAT!

The Impaler moved up and used Farstrike on a boosted attack to hit a Bastion, dealing 9 damage that was spread around.  The Swampie moved up again, as did the Fell Caller Hero.  The Glacier King walked again, killed another Errant with his Frozen Breath, and made another skating rink.  With the exception of three very cowardly Pygs, the Bushwackers moved out of the cloud and made 4 3-man CRA's, missing one, hit one but did no damage (hahahaha, suckers!) and 2 dead Errants. 

Round 2, Protectorate:

Errants, taking it in the teeth

Vengence!  But, only a 3" movement, since they were too far away for an attack.  TOM upkept his spells, and the round begins.  The Piper gave tough to the Knights.  TOM moved into the middle zone, raised a dead Errant, and took a focus off the Wrack, which promptly EXPLODED!!!  Luckily, there were no troops nearby.  The Errants charged, their Standard bearer showing no fear as he came face to face with the Impaler.  5 Howlers were knocked down by making their Tough rolls, one died, and Boomhowler himself took 7 damage.  The Knights pressed forward, one managing to make it's charge and the rest ran forward.

Shield guard for TOM

The Cinerators also charged, and one Scattergunner died while a bunch of other gunners were tied up.  The Reckoner took a shot, killing another Scattergunner.  The Bastions spread out in the zone, trying to be as irritating as possible.  The Templar moved back to make sure TOM had some protection while the Mechanik snuggied up to it.  And that makes one CP to me for completely controlling the bottom rectangular zone!

Round 3, Trollkin:

Madrak upkept Fortune, and leeched up to his full 6 fury.  The Scattergunners fanned out and killed 2 Cinerators and 2 more Errants.  Oof, 2 Cinerators is brutal!  Yikes!  Madrak moved forward and put Fortune on the Boomhowlers.  Sneaky, sneaky, DTB, getting double use out of that spell this round!  The Howlers killed off two MORE Errants, knocked down one of the Knights, and KILLED GADE!!!  Noooo!  Not Gade!  Luckily, one of Gade's friends saw the danger and selflessly lept in the way of danger, keeping Gade on the board.  Phew!  The Fell Caller Hero sprayed through his own friend to hit a Cinerator.  His friend disappeared in a welter of gore, but the Cinerator was untouched.  The Impaler made a critical hit on a thrown spear at one of the Bastions... I decided it would be better to just let that single Bastion perish rather than try to keep spreading around so much damage.  The Swamp Troll, for the third turn in a row, simply moved up and looks repulsive.  I guess that's what it's supposed to be doing?  I don't know.

Who wants to go ice skating?

Anyway, the Glacier Grinch... I mean, King, slid forward a bit and punched a Cinerator so hard he wound up in the City of Man before he even knew he was dead!  And to wrap things up, the Pygs made a 9-man CRA into one of the Bastions, killing him instantly as well, and a 3-man CRA into a Knight, who was only knocked down due to Tough from the Piper.  And as this turn ended, DTB fully controlled his rectangular square with the Glacier King taking a CP for it, and I fully controlled MY rectangular square with both jacks holding it, giving us one control point each and bringing the total to 2-1 Protectorate favor.

Round 3, Protectorate:

I think, with a mere one remaining Errant, it was time to let go of Cloak of Ash... also, since most of the troops had left the two jacks behind, I let Hallowed Avenger go as well.  Time to start bringing some troops back!  The Piper gave tough to the Knights again.  The Knights charged the Boomhowlers killing two, and the most awesome of Knight Officers finished off Boomhowler himself!  And I'm claiming the victory right there!  Oh, no, I guess we keep going, but with Boomhowler dead, I've got the moral victory clinched!  The Reckoner shot the Impaler for 7 damage, which wasn't as good as I wanted, but could have been very much worse.  The Cinerators CHARGED!!! AAAAAND.... whiff on the attack on the Fell Caller Hero.  D'oh!  But one of the Scattergunners fell to their mighty attacks.  Then the Bastions left their Seneschel to hold the zone behind them and charged the scattergunners as well AND.... BEEPBEEPBEEP... time over.  Noooooo!

Conclusion:
Victory for the Trollkin.

The Madrak who stole Menothmas

The Exemplars did their best, but the blue skinned Scrooges would simply not budge.  Finally, the Testament had his Templar vent a blast of steam, a sign to his valiant warriors to quit the field.  If the worshipers of Dhunia would not budge, then he and the Interdiction would move on to find a more fitting site for their festivities.

Come on, guys, let's go somewhere else!

Always fun to play against the Trollkin.  I like the new Madrak, and I hope DTB had a good time with him.  As for the Exemplar theme force... I liked it a whole lot.  It's hard to argue with 31 high MAT weapon masters.  Next month I'll give the Faithful Masses theme a whirl and then decided which list I'm going to go with.

That's it for this year!  We've had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to another great year of gaming with the Fukuyama Gaming Club!
Happy New Year, everyone!

Widowers Wood, Chapter 3.5

Winter, dear friends, is creeping up upon us... and here in Japan, that means that It. Is. Cold.  Brrrrr.  No central heating means that inside the house it is only nominally warmer than outside.  Good news for your models, I guess, since there is no danger that you may accidentally leave them near a heating vent and come back to find them a bit droopy... bad news for pretty much everything else.  It's hard to work up the motivation to start painting when you don't want to leave the protection of your warm spot on the couch.  Luckily I'm looking like I won't have too much to work on.  I'm almost finished with the Testament of Menoth, and then I need to finish one more warcaster, a few solos, and maybe one unit, plus two and a smidgen models for DTB that I've been working on.

So, to chase the chill away, gather close, and listen in to the continuing tales of our heroes of the Widower's Wood, and we impart on our next step in their story... and I have only two exciting words to describe the next chapter.... Kickstarter.  Exclusive.  WOOOOOT!  That's right, when I got my kickstarter for Widower's Wood, it came with a zillion goodies, and several of them were extra adventures, three for Widower's Wood and another three for the Dead Man Walking expansion.  The Widower's Wood exclusives came with a additional chapter for after the 3rd chapter, the 5th chapter, and a floating extra that can go anywhere before the finale.  We've been rolling a die after each chapter to see if we're going to play the floating chapter, but no luck so far, and so here we are, chapter 3 finished, and time to bring on Chapter 3.5, Treasure Hunt, our first kickstarter exclusive.  But before we jump into it...

Announcements:
We have the next set of dates for the Fukuyama Gaming Club!  Yes, it's going to be a great new year!  New Year in Japan is a busy time, but this is definitely something to look forward to through the trying times ahead!
December 17
January 21
February 11
And that will bring us to the end of the winter!  Also, the Saijo Gaming Club in Hiroshima City will be meeting for the last time this year on December 10.  And don't forget about the Las Vegas Open January 26-28 that some of our good friends from Iwakuni Air Base will be attending!
And a quick announcement about the new skirmish game from Privateer Press, Company of Iron.  Now, I don't really know much about Company of Iron, but after reading No Quarter Prime #1, I'm pretty excited to learn more for one very, VERY good reason... Agata, the Farrow Slaughterhauser that I've been playing in Widower's Wood, my piggy princess, IS A MAIN CHARACTER IN COMPANY OF IRON!!!  Squee!  And she is known, now and forever, as the "Queen of Carnage."  So, if you've fallen head over heels for our porcine heroine, you may want to check it out!

The Story so far...
Last time we met, our intrepid heroes had stopped the Gatorman ritual to raise an army of Swamp Shamblers that Rasheldonak, the power crazy, water fearing Gatorman Witch Doctor was going to use to take over the swamp.  Continuing their way to find Rasheldonak, our team moves along the river in the falling rain and comes across a team of Gatormen and Swamp Gobbers trying to free crates of weapons from the muddy embankment.  Certainly those would do more good in our hands than theirs, so it's up to us to get to the crates first!

As usual, the Queen of Carnage came to me (I'll bite the fingers of any who try and take her from me, HA!) DTB took over Olo, and Leland got both Vaskis and Skarg.  We had quite a bit of XP saved up, so Agata picked up Meat Thresher, Skarg got Marksman, and Olo took Wily, Outrider and Trailblazer, all of which will make him "Side Quest Guy."  We got the Side Quest bug last chapter, and now we must have more!  And Olo is just the Croak to get them for us.

Chapter 3.5, Treasure Hunt (KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE MISSION)
At the bottom of the game board is a chest marker for each column on the map.  As we play, these "promising locations" will be moved up their respective columns.  It's us against the two Gobbers to check the locations to see if they hold either of the two chests.  We need to open both chests before the Gobbers can leave the board with either one of them to win the game.  Woot!  This is a great chance to pick up some goodies!  But there could be some trouble... reoccurring Bokors... that could be a problem... And we lose if even a single crate makes it off the board... the good news is that there are only two Gobbers, and they don't respawn after they are killed, so looks like we might want to take them out first... then we just have to worry about Bokor and Gatormen and Tatzelworms, oh MY!!  Well, better get to work!

Bokor sure are a pain in the ....

 We started the game at the bottom of the board.  Since we didn't know where the promising locations were going to end up, Olo took advantage of his new abilities to go after the nearest of the side quest cards, just on the other side of some impassable terrain from us.  Everyone else tried to just move out towards where we might be helpful in later rounds.  Round 2 brought some High Water as our event card, flooding the board and making it hard for all of us except Olo to move around... and as Olo tried to keep going towards the Side Quest, of course he got jumped by no less than two Gatormen and a Tatzelworm!  Poor Olo!  Agata charged another Tatzelworm, using her great power that allows her to ignore rough terrain, and smushed it into fish food!

Choppa choppa into fish food!

Luckily for Olo, Skarg's got an ability that lets him shoot into a melee combat without having to worry about hitting his friends, and cleared out some of the awfulness that was threatening Olo, freeing him up to get closer to the side quest card...

Round Three saw the waters recede and the Swamp Gasses come out, making us take hazard rolls if we charge this round.  A Gatorman near Agata moved a space, and the Slaughterhauser used a feat card to immediately charge and kill him, and passed her hazard roll to take no damage from the gas!  Skarg and Vaskis got a little stuck in the back field, but they were doing a good job of killing Gatormen and Bokor to keep them off of Agata and Olo, who finally made it to the first side quest card.  Turns out, this side quest is actually a QUEST!  It's the first of a set of three cards, and it came with a ton of XP... the other two cards may show up in later games!

Skarg lets loose!

One of the Gobbers made it to the first of the promising locations, but after digging around for a moment, realized that there was nothing there, and the first of the six location tokens vanished from the board.  And this brought us to this games' first Menacing Ripples event card... sigh.  At least we didn't tie.  The second Gobber tried a location chest and it vanished as well, but not before he was dangerously close to Agata, who promptly killed him for his efforts.  This left her a little exposed and alone, but hey, she can handle it, right?  Another Mendacing Ripples card, the second in a row!  WTH?  And of course, this time there is a tie... between Skarg and Vaskis!  Uh-oh, they look like they could be in trouble!  Vaskis is pretty slippery, though, and instead of getting stuck in a huge melee, he whisked away and checked another location for a chest that promptly vanished... three locations left, two of which have chests!

Don't worry, Skarg's got this

Agata found herself in a little bit of trouble now, surrounded by two Gatormen and a Tatzelworm... with a Bokor just a space away, egging on the Tatzelworm and literally standing on one of the location markers... she does have her great power that allows her to take a melee attack against every character in her space for every attack she makes, but this might be a little out of her ability, and she started taking some pretty heavy damage... though she did manage to kill off one Gatorman and the Tatzelworm, leaving one in her square and the Bokor staring over her shoulder.  Vaskis started making his way her direction to help out while Skarg continued to bring the pain to all the villains around the back of the board.

Hey guys!  Nice weather, eh?

Olo made it to one of the remaining markers, and not only did he find a chest in the space, but managed to break it open and found an Orboros Dagger hidden inside!  Ooohh, that's a good find for Olo!  It'll help him a bit in melee where he's a little bit weak.  Only two possible locations for the last chest left!

Loot!

Round seven... only three rounds left... still one Gobber left on the board... but we're in not too bad of a shape.  Except for Agata, who is in a bit of trouble.  The event card gave us one we haven't seen before... Buzzard Beetle Swarms!  They attack any character who is in a space with another character, making those people take hazard rolls.  We all made it out okay, but it could have spelled the end of the line for Agata if she had rolled badly.  Vaskis moved into Agata's square to help withstand some of the punishment she was getting.

You got this one, Vaskis?

Skarg made it to the location marker near him, but turned out to be another red herring, leaving the marker next to Agata definitely containing a chest!  The Bokor charged into Agata and Vaskis' space, but because of the targeting priority, he attacked Vaskis, who, sneaky little Blackclad that he is, managed to evade the attack.  And lovely Agata waltzed out of combat, passing both of her combat checks, and found the final chest!

Looky what I found!

 In the same action as finding a chest you can make a strength challenge to break it open, and, of course, Agata is strong as only a Farrow Slaughterhauser can be, and broke it open no problem.  Inside, amazingly, the perfect loot for a Farrow, the Bone Fetish!  I mean, what are the chances that she would find the card that fits her background story that well?  It must be fate!

More loot!

And with that, our heroes claimed the victory!

Conclusion:

We got a bit scattered!

Bokor are sure a pain in the booty... three wounds each (guaranteeing that a single character cannot kill them in one round), beast master to push nearby beasts to greater ferocity, and a magical attack that makes you lose feat cards.  But you do get a lot of XP for killing them.  And we killed a LOT of Bokor this game.  By the end of the game, our treasury tile was full to bursting! 

Yummy XP, drool drool

 Looks like the start of next game is going to see all of us getting some new abilities that will help turn the tide in our favor!

Anyone who's looking for a game, we'll catch you on the 17th!

AAR - Reconnaissance at the Border

Another month, another great meeting for the Fukuyama Gaming Club!  With the end of the year fast approaching, it was nice to take a day away from the hustle and bustle of real life and relax with some good games!  And even better news, no typhoon or bad weather to try and stop us!  In fact, it was a beautiful fall day!  Finally!  Even in October, we were just missed by a typhoon on game day.  That one was going to really disrupt our plans, but just before it hit land it swung to the South and missed the mainland by a good amount.  This month... nothing.  Yes!  And with nothing to stand in our way, we managed to get in a couple of games of Warmachine/ Hordes, and completed another chapter in our ongoing quest in the Widower's Wood.

Leland is doing a great job of little by little painting up his Cygnar forces, and they are really staring to come together.  He's almost able to field a completely painted 75 point army... I'm almost certain that that will be a reality before the end of the year!  Of course, since we are a friendly club, it's not a problem to play with unpainted mini's as long as it's not tourney time (and as long as you don't mind taking a bit of heat from DTB, that is, haha!).  DTB and I are continuing to fiddle around with completely new lists, and I think we're really narrowing down at least the first of two casters.  After this month, I have for sure decided that the Testament of Menoth is going to be one of mine for next year's tournament... I'm just trying to decide between the Exemplar Interdiction and The Faithful Masses theme forces.  I adore the Exemplars... they are why I decided to play the Protectorate in the first place, and Kreoss, the most exemplary of Exemplars, is my favorite of the Protectorate casters!  But even more than the Exemplars, my heart belongs the the Paladins of the Order of the Wall.  I have often debated with DTB over the years the idea of having a Paladin based army, but it was never viable since there is a field allowance of 3 Paladin solos, and no other Paladin models.  Well, all that is changing!  A Paladin dragoon solo is being released as part of PP's 12 Factions of Christmas, and they have been included in the newest theme force, The Faithful Masses.  Imagine a bunch of chaff warriors (zealots, deliverers, etc.) and Paladins to bolster them.  Yesssssss!!  I've given both of them a turn, but I'm still working out how I feel... both of them are strong, good lists.  I've narrowed down my second choice to between Malekus and Sovereign Tristan Durant.  This month I got Tristan out, and I really enjoyed it!  Next month, Malekus' turn, and then I'll make a final decision... And this brings us to, drum roll please....

Announcements
The end of the year is fast approaching!  In Japan, that means that all Hell is breaking loose and we are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off, especially in my family... birthdays, anniversary, a very secular Japanese Christmas, all culminating in the busy disaster of getting ready for Japanese New Year... seems like there's hardly any time for painting, list tweaking, or playing, but we are going to squeeze in another meeting of the Fukuyama Gaming Club before the end of the year.  Saijo Gaming Club in the suburbs of Hiroshima City are also meeting once more before the end of 2017!  So here are the dates to save!
Fukuyama Gaming Club - December 17
Saijo Gaming Club (Hiroshima City) - December 10
Also... Some of our friendly Marines from the Iwakuni Air Base are going to the Las Vegas Open gaming convention, January 26-28, 2018!  It's at the Bally's Casino, and it's going to be three days of crazy, with a veritable tide of tournaments, narrative events, seminars... in short, everything!  Brought to you by Frontline Gaming, you should check it out if you're in the neighborhood, are looking for an excuse to get to Las Vegas, or would like to meet a few of the Iwakuni marines, some of America's finest! 

For our report today, I bring to you for the first time Leland's Cygnar army!  At long last!  Against the boys (and girls) in blue, I have decided to bring Sovereign Tristan Durant, hero of the recent Skull Island Expedition novel "Godless."  Durant is one of my favorite characters in the Protectorate along with Kreoss and Dartan... the good guys for Menoth.  The Protectorate is full of a lot of people who don't really care about the majority of the people in the country, seeing them as mere cogs in the wheels of faith (I'm looking at you, Feora).  But those three (Durant, Kreoss and Dartan) actually care about the little guy, and will go to great lengths to try and protect them.  I decided to try out another of the theme forces, the Guardians of the Temple theme which uses Flameguard units and solos.

And with that, I give you the forces for today's battle!  We rolled the Recon 2 scenerio, so Warjack zones on each side with an objective on each, and 2 flags in the middle of them.  I won the starting roll, and chose to go second, on the side that didn't have all sorts of terrain trouble!

Army list, Cygnar:

Pretty in Green

Nice green paint scheme!  I love it when people decide to deviate from the studio paint scheme. Keep up the good work, Leland!  This is a Heavy Metal theme list, which gives Leland an extra 2 inches on his deployment zone, some free models, and solos and Mechanik's get reposition 3.
 Warcaster - Major Beth Maddox
                    Defender
                    Ironclad
                    Firefly X2
                    Lancer
                    Charger
                    Sword Knights (Maximum)
                    Boomhowler & Co. (Maximum)
                    Journeyman Warcaster
                    Alison Jakes
                    Runewood
                    Murdoch
                    Squire

Army list, Protectorate:

Tristan, hero of the people

Would you look at that army?  11 months to go until the tournament, and the only model I need to paint before then (if I go with this list) is Tristan!  Yee-haw!  This is a Guardians of the Temple theme force, so I'll be benefiting by my Flameguard troopers getting Tough and cannot be knocked down as long as they are in B2B, and my Daughters of the Flame will get Ambush.  AMBUSHING DAUGHTERS!!!!  Fear them, for they are sharp and pointy!  That plus their anatomical precision ability will make them a force to be feared!
   Warcaster - Sovereign Tristan Durant
                      Reckoner X2
                      Vanquisher
                      Repenter
                      Redeemer
                      Revenger
                      Choir of Menoth (Minimum)
                      Daughters of the Flame
                      Temple Flameguard
                                 + Officer and Standard bearer
                       Pyrrhus, Flameguard Hero

Setup, Cygnar:

Capture the Flag?

Well, Leland has a little bit of terrain issues to think about in his setup, but with Archduke Runewood in there, he'll be able to mitigate the difficulty a little bit.  Runewood and the Sword Knights set up on the left behind the forest, trusting in Runy's March ability to get them through in good time.  Boomhowler and his boys, along with Murdoch, set up opposite them on the right, to the left of the lake, with Alison on the other side of the lake with a Firefly.  The rest of the 'jacks and Maddox clumped in the middle of the table, ready to charge straight at their flag.  And the little Journeyman, so far out of her depth, huddled behind Maddox, hoping for the Major to protect her!

Setup, Protectorate:

Tristan joins the Interdiction of the Dawn

Temple Flameguard in the center!  In Base to Base, for all their yummy bonuses that they get from Shield Wall and the Theme Force benefits!  Yeah!  Pyrrhus got tucked in with them in the second line of Flameguard, ready to help out where needed.  Next to them on the left I set one Reckoner, the Revenger, and the Redeemer, and on the right the other Reckoner and the Repenter.   Behind the front line, Tristan set up with the Vanquisher and the Choir, spread out to catch as many jacks as they could.  The Daughters stayed off the board, ready to Ambush any unwary Cygnarians that get too close to the board edge.

Our Story:
Beth Maddox, on orders from High Command, is infiltrating the border between Cygnar and the Protectorate, trying to get Reconnissance on the redistribution of Protectorate forces after the dissolussion of the Norther Crusade, when chance (or is it the will of Menoth) brought newly appointed Sovereign Durant with a force of Flameguard patrolling the area face to face with the Cygnarian warcaster.  Will Tristan be able to defeat and recapture the former POW, or will his gentle spirit give her the chance she needs to escape back to Cygnar lands?


Round 1, Cygnar

Go go go!

Runewood activated first, giving March to the Sword Knights to give them Pathfinder.  He then moved up into the forest.  The Sword Knights then ran forward into the forest.  The Defender, Lancer, Charger, Beth's Firefly and Ironclad ran.  The Boomhowler's did a kind of snaky dance/run to keep out of the lake, ending up near the zone behind the cloud.  Alison's Firefly walked forward, and Jakes followed it, casting Sidekick on it.  The Journeyman walked forward, casting Arcane Shield on the Ironclad.  Maddox moved up, cast Dauntless Resolve on the Sword Knights and Snipe on her Firefly.  The Squire whizzed and whirred and moved up behind Maddox.

Round 1, Protectorate 

A slow march up the field

To start things off, the Revenger, Repenter, and both Reckoner's ran.  The Temple Flameguard moved forward, splitting into three groups to stay in their Shield Wall order, continuing to get their bonuses from the theme, and Pyrrhus went with them.  The Choir moved up, and put passage on the left hand Reckoner and the Vanquisher.  The Redeemer moved up, and shot 3 incredibly inaccurate shots at the Boomhowlers, and managed to put some damage on Jakes and kill a Howler!  Woohoo!  First blood to me, then!  This may be the first time I've gotten to actually make an offensive on the first turn!  The Vanquisher moved up behind the Shield Wall.  Tristan moved up next to the Vanquisher and cast Inviolable Resolve on the Flameguard, bringing their ARM to a whopping 19, plus Tough!  Holy moly, these are the toughest Flameguard there has ever been!  Just wait until the Officer uses his mini feat!

Round 2, Cygnar:

Sword Knights on the Offensive

Beth upkept Dauntless Resolve on the Knights, and Jakes upkept Sidekick on her Firefly, and then Leland's turn began.  The Lancer ran to the corner of the cottage near the Repenter.  Beth moved up just behind the zone and cast Assail on the Ironclad, before Electroblasting the Repenter for minimal damage.  Maddox's Firefly moved in front of Beth for some security.  The Howlers ran forward and dug into the zone.  The Charger moved forward and shot the right most Reckoner for 2 damage.  The Defender walked behind the flag and also shot the same Reckoner.  The Journeyman moved up "a smidge" and put Arcane Shield on the Charger.  The Squire move up and cowered behind Maddox... who knew that a robot could be so afraid?  The Ironclad also moved up a smidge and stood around looking intimidating.  Runewood again gave March to the Knights before moving out of the forest.  The Sword Knights ran around the cabin and one managed to make it into melee with the Repenter.  Jakes' Firefly ran forward, and Jakes herself moved behind the Howlers.

Round 2, Protectorate:

Flameguard, holding the center

First things first, Tristan upkept Inviolable Resolve on the Flameguard, allocated two focus to the Reckoner that got shot up, and two to the little Redeemer that was facing an angry Firefly.  Then, the fun stuff... AMBUSH!!! Oh yeah, it's Daughter time!  They came in on the left board edge, ready to charge in and try and kill off Jakes... if they could do that, then that Firefly on the move won't be any more of a threat.  And so they lead off my turn, 3 charging into Jakes and the other three fining Howlers to poke at.  Jakes managed to soak all the damage from a combined melee attack with some focus, but the other three all killed their targets due to anatomical precision.

Pokey death

 The Revenger moved to the edge of the forest, hopefully able to make use of it's arc node next turn.  The Repenter did indeed charge Jakes' Firefly, dealing a whopping 6 damage... oh well, it's better than I expected!  The 3 Flameguard groups moved up, and the officer laid down his mini feat... hello, ARM 22!  Good luck getting rid of them, swannies!  The Choir moved up and prayed for BATTLE on both Reckoners and the Vanquisher.  The undamaged Reckoner took a shot at the Charger and did a respectable 12 damage.  The Vanquisher also took a shot at the Charger, but missed.  Being an AOE, it still hit a Howler and a Flameguard, doing no damage to them but setting them both on fire.  The Repenter squished the Sword Knight foolish enough to get into base to base with it, and then waited for the upcoming hurt to be brought.  And now, the crux of my plan, saved for last... the damaged Reckoner could see Maddox peeking out from behind her Firefly guardian.  She was well within range, and she had NO FOCUS on her!  I could end this game quickly, and all I needed to do was roll a 10 on three dice... which I should have been able to easily do... but did I?  NO I DID NOT!!!  In fact, I rolled a 4.  That's right... a four on three dice.  Go ahead an do the math... that's 1, 1, 2.  Oh man, stupid Reckoner!  Are you going to get charged by that Iron Clad next turn, and boy, do you deserve it!

Round 3, Cygnar:

Cygnar bites back

Maddox upkept Assail and Jakes upkept Sidekick, while the fire on the Howler went out without any damage, and the round began.  Runewood walked forward and gave Path to Victory to the Sword Knights.  The Lancer attacked the Repenter but failed to damage him, and then the Sword knights stepped up.  They didn't manage all to get charges in, but several made it to the Repenter, and one made it to the Objective, dealing 9 damage to the 'jack and 5 to the objective.  The Ironclad beat up on the Reckoner, leaving it with only two damage boxes.  Maddox moved up into base to base with the flag and FEAT!  If only she had done that before the Ironclad went, the Reckoner would be nothing but scrap!  The Firefly charged in then and finished off the broke down Reckoner.  The Charger took a look around and turned tail and moved back behind the safety of Beth (hahaha), and took a shot at one of the Flameguard, who proceeded to shrug the shell off like it was nothing!  The Defender moved B2B with the Charger and shot the Vanquisher for minimal damage.  Boomhowler & Co. let loose a bloodcurdling howl and charged several targets with their assault ability allowing them to shoot as they charged in at the Daughters, Flameguard, and the Redeemer.  Boomhowler himself led the way by MISSING THE DAUGHTER HE WAS CHARGING WITH ALL ATTACKS!  Oh, yeah!  At the end of everything, all the Daughters were safe (it's hard to hit DEF 14 in melee) the Repenter took another 11 damage, and one Flameguard was destroyed despite being as hard as a 'jack.

Two on one, eh?

 Jakes took a swipe at the Daughters crowding in on her and killed two of them.  The Squire, who had yet to do anything this game, continued to do nothing but cower behind Maddox.  The Journeyman Warcaster cast Arcane Shield on Maddox and then hid behind the Defender.  Jakes' Firefly ratcheted it's arm back, ready to put the final touch on the Redeemer, when Leland's clock went off, bringing this game to it's end.




Conclusion:
Victory for Menoth!  As Maddox and Tristan finally closed, the unmistakable jangle of mounted troops floated across the field, several units of Exemplar Vengers riding to support the Sovereign and his forces.  For one moment Tristan looked over his shoulder, Veritas held ready to strike.  He glanced at the approaching Exemplars, then back to Maddox before lowering his weapon and mentally commanding his 'jacks to stand down.  "Go," he said, pulling off his mask of office and gazing at the former POW.  "Hurry!  Before they get here!"  Beth glared at him, expecting foul play, but when their eyes met, all she could find was sincerity.  As the Daughters of the Flame and Temple Flameguard repositioned to form a protective wall around the young caster, he gestured frantically towards the distant Cygnaran boarder.  "GO!" he said again, more forcefully, and this time, Beth turned, calling her remaining troops to follow.

This is going to hurt!

Hmmm, Tristan seems like he could be a lot of fun!  I didn't get the chance to feat with him, but I'm loving the ambushing Daughters and the tanky Flameguard!  Thanks for the game, Leland!  It's difficult to get used to playing on a death clock, but it is a necessary skill that you can only acquire one way... practice!  I had a great time, and the boys (and girls) in blue...er, green.... look great!

Widower's Wood, Chapter Three

Hey there, everyone!  Sorry for the long break between posts.  What can I say?  When your family travels over 5,000 miles to spend some time with you, you put everything else on hold!  So, a look back at what's been going on with the Fukuyama Gaming Club since the tournament.  What an amazing tournament we had!  I can hardly wait until next year to meet everyone again.  Thanks to everyone who made it down and took part in the fun.  Our next gaming day was October 29, and I tried out the first of a couple of different casters to see who my picks for next year are going to be.  Right now, I'm leaning towards the Testament of Menoth and either Soverign Tristan or Intercessor Kreoss... but there are so many that I want to work with... Malekus, Durst, and Thyra are all in my "want to use" list.  On the 29th I got in a couple of games with ToM, and I LOVED him!  So, I think he's definitely in!

But before we get into another great year to tabletop battles, it's time for a little breather, and chapter 3 of our Widower's Wood Campaign!  Our continuing quest to save the wood from the ravages of a water fearing, crazed Gatorman Witch Doctor.  But first!

Announcements:
Not too many announcements this time... the next several meetings for the Fukuyama Gaming Club are as follows...
November 19
December 17
And that takes us into next year... holy crap!  Is it really that late in the year already?  Ugh, where did it all go.  Anyway, we'll be getting in some Warmachine/ Hordes games, probably a little more Widower's Wood since, you know, it's awesome, and possibly some other small games.  Feel free to pop by and grab a game!
Next... this is more of a public service announcement... No Quarter, the Privateer Press bi-monthly magazine, has changed!  It is now No Quarter Prime, and it is chock full of awesome.  Mine even came with a little model of Eilish, a member of the Black River Irregulars who also does a cameo in the Strangelight Workshop novel Wicked Ways, and I will NOT say no to that!  Anyway, check out the new magazine (and the novels), it's good reading!

The Story So Far...
Last time, our intrepid heroes saved the Mist Speaker of a Bog Trog tribe in an attempt to convince the Trogs to help them find out what Rasheldonak is planning.  As they make their escape from the Gatormen that had been herding the Trogs, the Mist Speaker tells our great leader Olo that Rashedonak's bokor's are about to start a ritual to make an army of Shamblers.  So, looks like it's up to us to stop them!

We've heard that this is one of the hardest chapters, so fingers crossed that we can get through this in one piece!  We'll be using two new pieces this time around, a ritual circle and some bone piles... should be some good times.

DTB retained control over Olo, Leland continues his work with the enigmatic Vaskis, and I kept on with my darling Agata and since there were only three of us this time, Skarg got handed over to DTB.

Chapter Three:  Bring Out Your Dead
Once all the Trogs were safe, the Mist Speaker appeals to Olo, the group "good guy", to help liberate the rest of their tribe.  Rasheldonak is using them to dig up as many corpses as possible for his Bokors to use to raise an army of Shamblers.  And these shamblers will help him to take over the entire Wood!  Though Vaskis was against it, the others realized that saving the Trogs will be one step closer to saving the Widower's Wood, and head further in to the wilderness to assist the enslaved tribe.

More trogs, grumble grumbel.  But stopping an evil zombie making ritual seems like it could be fun!  I have a feeling that the difficulty that we heard about is an unending swarm of shamblers coming to eat our BRAINS!!!

The board is set and ready, so off we go!  For this chapter, our four heroes have to kill the Bokor and interrupt the ritual by destroying the circle.  Once two of the bone piles are destroyed or the Bokor is taken to half his health, the finale is triggered, spawning two Club Gatormen.  We've got 10 rounds to get this done, so we've got to bring our A game!  To destroy the ritual circle, you need to pass an Intelligence 13 check, so we sent Olo off to take care of it, and Agata went with him to put the hurt on the Bokor as early as possible.  Skarg was tasked with trying to keep the shambling horde off of our backs, and Vaskis was going to fill in as needed.  Maybe this time we can actually get a hold of one of the side quest cards on the board!

Alright team!  Let's disrupt this ritual!

The heroes started out in the middle of the board.  The Bokor was across a square of immpassable terrain, so we would have to go around through some forests to get to him.  There were two side quests on the table at opposite ends, and WE ARE GOING TO GET ONE TODAY!!!  Plus, four bone piles that are going to make zombies every round while the Bokor is active and unoccupied with one of the heroes.  So we need to destroy them ASAP.
First off, our event card for round one!  Wouldn't you know it.... I mean, could you even guess... Menacing Ripples AGAIN!!!!!  Argh!  The bane of last game.  Okay, okay, all we have to do is not tie on the roll for who gets the spawned gatorman.... HOLY CRAP WE TIED AGAIN!!!!  Hahahaha, I can't believe it!  Ugh.  Okay.  Everyone got into position to do some damage next turn.  Olo set some traps to kill anything that moved into his square, and Vaskis did the same with his new spell, the Sunhammer.

And boom!  Both Vaskis and Olo managed to wipe a couple of the first swarm of Shamblers off the board.  Several more were just knocked down, but it was a great start to our game!

Agata managed to destroy one of the bone piles on the way to catch up with the Bokor... with her mighty power to move through rough terrain as though it was open terrain, she should be able to make it to the Gatorman next turn!  Vaskis began to lead all the Shamblers and Gators on a merry chase around the forest on the right side of the board... as long as he keeps them busy.

Piggy Power!  Agata got a charge off and dealt 3 damage to the Bokor, launching us straight into the final.  Wow, this is the first time that we've been this ahead of the game... third round in and we are on the final!  The best thing is that though we spawned the two Club Gatormen, we don't have to kill them, just avoid them until Agata can finish off the Bokor and Olo can take down the circle.

Well, well, well.... Vaskis, as he made his way around the forests, managed to pick up this lovely gas mask!  Great work, Vaskis!  Our first Side Quest of the campaign!  (Due to some group discussion, we changed the Side Quest to Article 1135 to avoid a rule that we wern't sure on).Skarg decided to make a run for the other side quest... we'll see if he can get there in time... six rounds to go. 

Another Menacing Ripples card, and since we were out of Gatormen to spawn, one of the Gatormen closest to Vaskis activated... no problem!  Vaskis has his side of the board well in hand!  And with that, Olo unleashed upon the shamblers around him!  Abilities and feat cards, and Olo was literally standing on a pile of dead shamblers, ready to come across and destroy the circle as soon Agata could do in the Bokor.  And then he proceeded to get smashed by the Bokor and his stupid hand of glory!  If he hits you, then you lose a feat card!  But I need them to keep on track to kill him!  DON'T TAKE MY FEAT CARDS!!!

Skarg made it to the side quest card on the left side of the table, but was not able to make the intelligence check needed to find it!  Oh Skarg!  Why are you so oblivious!  It's right there!  Sadly for Skarg, he then got jumped by several bad guys, and wound up knocked on his ass in the corner. 

But in better news... it's Agata's turn to bring the pain!  I was down a couple of feat cards thanks to the Hand of Glory attack, but I still think I could do it.  On a nine or better on two dice, I would kill him outright.  Her first attack did one more damage, but there was one more to go... and BOOM!!!  Piggy power!  Agata takes down that scaly monstrosity, and paves the way for Olo to do his thing!

With four rounds to go, we were ready for Olo to take a try or two to break the circle.  Having the hightest initiative of the group, Olo went first.  If he failed to break the circle, then Skarg was going to try to drag his sorry corpse closer to us so that Vaskis could use his restorative potion on him.  But Olo, our mighty Olo,  broke the circle in one try!  Wow!  That was an amazing roll!  He needed a 10 on two dice, and DTB managed an 11!  And just like that, on Round 7 of 10, the game was over!

VICTORY!!!

Conclusion:
 Wow!  For a chapter that was supposed to be the hardest of the entire campaign, we crushed it!  This was by far the best game that we have had so far!  We had luck with the dice, and a good solid plan to get us to the end.  And!  We hit a side quest!  May next game go as smoothly as this one!  Leland looks like he's really starting to settle in with how to use Vaskis, and my piggy princess continues to shine as the melee power house that we need her to be!

Next gaming day is November 19th!  Come down to get in a game!