6th Annual Japan Open Warmachine/ Hordes Team Tournament

Welcome, welcome, welcome! I know you have all been as excited as I about the tournament, and finally... finally it is here!!!  That's right, once again, the Rumble Round the Ramparts, the Clash at the Castle... Last weekend, 22 players for 7 teams assembled from all corners of Japan... well, almost all corners... from Kyushu, Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Okayama and Fukuyama at least!  A mighty battle reigned, but at the end, only one team stood above all others!  We were expecting a typhoon to blow through and disrupt everything, but in the end, the weather was amazing... sadly, due to the warning of the typhoon, the sports festival at my poliwog's kindergarten was moved from Saturday straight on to Sunday.  NOOOOOOOO!!!!  Kindergarten sports festivals only last half a day, but half a day was two rounds of a three round tournament, and that means that I had to withdraw from my team, and our fearless alternate, The Kid, took my place.  Thanks, Kid!  Good luck!  I managed to arrive perfectly in the down time between round 2 and 3, and since we had only 7 teams, one team each round had a by round, and I managed to catch a game with the guys stuck with the pass.

And now, let's take a look at our teams!

Team 0.3 Ton (Saijo) 

Our good buddies out of one of the suburbs of Hiroshima City, this team is made up of classmates from the local university.  These guys are some of the loyal members of our sister group, the Saijo Gaming Club.

Beru, with his Cygnar army, using Captain Allister Caine and Commander Coleman Stryker

Ryosangata, with his Retribution army, using Issyria and Vyros, Incissar of the Dawnguard

Tetsu, with his Mercenary army, using Ashlynn d'Elyse and General Ossrum

Band of Heroes (Osaka)

The Osaka Troll trifecta returns!  Three amazing players, with amazingly painted armies, have banded together to make sure everyone knows the power of the Trollbloods!  Since players on a team cannot use the exact same caster, the Band of Heroes members each use a different incarnation of Doomshaper!

Daizo, with his Trollblood army, using Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia and Captain Gunbjorn

Genki, with his Trollblood army, using Madrak, Great Chieftan and Doomshaper, Dire Prophet

Tabibito, with his Trollblood army, using Grim Angus and Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls

Dhunholy Alliance (Fukuyama)

My intrepid team.  Sorry for not making it to the fight, but luckily The Kid from the Saijo gaming group was there, just waiting for a team to jump into!  He fought bravely for the Dhunholy Alliance!


DTB, with his Trollblood army, using Kolgrima, Winter Witch and Madrak, Great Chieftan

Sarge, with his Cryx army, using Goreshade the Cursed and Asphyxious the Hellbringer

The Kid, with his Convergence army using Forge Master Syntherion and Axis the Harmonic Enforcer

Eternal Journeymen (Tokyo)

This year only one team made it from Tokyo!  We were glad to see them, especially since Mitchell is one of my favorite people to play against OF ALL TIME!!!  Good luck, boys, and thanks for coming all the way to Fukuyama... it's a long trip!

Aoichiro, with his Convergence army, using Aurum Locke and Eminent Configurator Orion

Mitchell, with his Cephalyx army, using Cognifex Cyphon and Exulon Thexus

Yamazaki, with his Legion army, using Fyanna, Torment of Everblight and Anamag

Signs and Portents (Hiro-saka) 

A mix of two Osaka players with the strongest player from Saijo, Signs and Portents is the team to beat at the tourney this year!  These are very, very good players who make very few mistakes, and know your army better than you know it yourself!

Rantei, with his Skorne army, using Dominar Rasheth and Makeda & the Exalted Court

Kimtaku, with his Cryx army, using The Witch Coven of Garlghast and Wraith Witch Deneghra

Vladamir, with his Khador army, using Old Witch 2 and Vladimir, the Dark Champion

Team Kyushu (Kyushu)

Another team from far far away, the Kyushu team is made up of great veteran player and a couple of newer additions to the gaming world.  We were happy to have them, and hope the new guys had fun and stick with it!


Hai!  Yamanaka-desu! with his Mercenary army, using Magnus the Traitor and Ashlynn d'Elyse

Ryo, with his Khador army, using Koldun Kommander Zerkova and Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff

Zweifel, with his Cygnar army, using Major Prime Victoria Haley and Major Victoria Haley

Trick or Treat (Osaka)

Who let these Dread Rots in here???

Triple Grymkin!  Squee!  I love love love Grymkin armies, and I have been in love with Enzo's army since he showed up with it last year!  I was super excited to see it again!


Enzo, with his Grymkin army, using Zevanna Agha, the Fate Keeper and The Child

JC, with his Grymkin army, using The Wanderer and The Dreamer

NiwaNiwa, with his Grymkin army, using The King of Nothing and The Heritic

The Tables:
We had some really great tables set up this year... last year's tables were already amazing, but we got a couple more mats, a lot more terrain, and there were some amazing themed tables ready to turn into hellish battlescapes!  Twelve tables were prepared, nine of them as thematic masterpieces.  We tried to throw in some tactical importance as well when it came to choosing tables... some were fairly open terrain, while others were very hard to navigate.  Here are some of our favorites!

     The Beach -

Pretty neat, huh?  I love this new mat!  We toyed with the idea of making the ocean side of the map rough terrain, but in the end decided that that would be too much. 

     Farm Fields -

This is one of the super wide open ones.  Anyone with a colossal or a gargantuan probably would want to take this board.  There was some debate with the wheat field terrain pieces if they should be rough terrain or forests, but most of us decided to use it as a forest.  Just cause, you know... funny!

     Thornwood Hell -

Orgoth towers are always fun terrain.  Add a million forests and you've got a battle that's bound to get bogged down!

     Taiga Circle -

A little table dedicated to the Circle Oroboros, who did not make an appearance this year!  Those pesky ley lines were harnessed on the dais in the upper right corner, with a wizard's tower near the middle.

     Cityscape -

Nope, your eyes aren't tricking you, the board is tilted!  This mat was made before pre-measuring was allowed, so to make sure that you couldn't just eyeball distances, the mat was designed to be slightly off center.

After that, we had the four main warmachine faction tables (Cryx, Cygnar, Khador and Protectorate), and then three "basic" mats.  The most hated mat of the day?  Khador (of course, haha).

     Khador -

It was just too hard to maneuver around the positioning of the big gun in the back and the ammunition crates and extra shells.  So much hate!

Our Gracious Sponsors:
No tournament is complete without prizes.  And for us, we had some amazing gifts from several great companies!
    - Privateer Press  https://privateerpress.com/ 
          Privateer Press donated several models, templates, markers, and etc.

    - Broken Egg Games http://www.brokenegggames.com/ 
          This is an awesome company that makes incredible products.  They offered a massive discount
                and convention exclusive items TO EVERY PLAYER!!!  Amazing!

    - Discount Games Inc. https://www.discountgamesinc.com/ 
          Discount Games gave us gift certificates to the three members of the winning team!

    - Frozen Forge https://frozenforge.com/ 
          Frozen Forge also gave gift certificates for the three winning members!

Thank you so much to all of the sponsors!  The tourney wouldn't have been a success without you! 

Round 1 - 

And now, on to the gaming!  Yeah!  Here are the match-ups for the first round!

     0.3 Ton VS Eternal Journeymen
     Dhunholy Alliance VS Team Kyushu
     Trick or Treat VS Signs And Portents
     Band of Heroes takes the pass this round

This round, we used the "Pit 2" Scenerio.
Good games were had all around... Dhunholy Alliance, my poor team, managed to get three wins out of the round, even though I wasn't there, so good work, boys!  The Kid really jumped in with both feet!  DTB's battle was a long semi-bloody slog, where no units were fully destroyed on either side, and the only solo death WAS THE PATROL DOG!!!!  Hahahahahahahaha!

Winners for the round - Eternal Journeymen, Dhunholy Alliance, and Signs And Portents!

And Now For Something Completely Different:
No, no Monty Python today!  After the end of the first round, teams headed out to find themselves some rations to keep their energy up into the next round, and our intrepid TO Leland took a look at the armies to determine the prized Best Painted Army!  Some (but sadly, not all) of the armies up for the honor:

Rantei's Skorne -

Daizo's Trollbloods -

Mitchell's Cephalyx -

Enzo's Grymkin -

Genki's Trollbloods -

Vlad's Khador -

The Kid's Convergence -

That's all for now!  Tune in to find out who will take home the coveted Best Painter award!

Round 2 -

As the JOTC is a three round tournament, round 2 is mega important as it will determine who is going on to the championship game!  The match-ups for round 2!

     Dhunholy Alliance VS Signs And Portents
     Eternal Journeymen VS Band of Heroes
     0.3 Ton VS Team Kyushu
     Trick or Treat takes the pass this round

This round used the Mirage scenario, which is also one of my very favorites, though it can lead to a brutal and quick finish for teams that are not used to scenario play.  This scenario uses two circular zones and three... yes, that's right, THREE flags!!!
Dhunholy Alliance managed to scrape out another round victory, with DTB and The Kid wresting victory from the hands of our enemies.  Surprisingly, Sarge lost his game, but since it was a team effort, the Dhunholy Alliance was rocketed into the finals!  YES!!!

Winners for the round:  Dhunholy Alliance, Eternal Journeymen, and 0.3 Ton!

Round 3 -

Well, well, well... the whole last week before the tournament started, the Dhunholy Alliance was working out strategies, match-ups, anything to help us take our game to the very top.  Then, I was out, and it looked like all of out hard work went out the window... and then The Kid swooped in and saved the day, helping lead our team all the way to the championship table!  That's right, we're in the finals, baby!

     Championship: Dhunholy Alliance VS Eternal Journeymen
     Trick or Treat VS Band of Heroes
     0.3 Ton VS Signs And Portents
     Team Kyushu took the pass round this time

As the fates of all lay in the dice on the table, I had finally arrived in time to cheer my teammates on in their games.  I ALSO got to get a game in with Zweifel from Team Kyushu, a relatively new player who had a by this round.  He was a super nice guy, and we had a great game, but sadly for him, he was unaware of the AMAZING POWERS OF THE TESTAMENT OF MENOTH who walked through his front line and smashed Haley 3 in the face repeatedly until the submitted.  A big pile of souls reclaimed from his fallen comrades gave him so many shots at her that it was almost impossible that she would survive.  And she did not.  VICTORY!!!!

Winners of this round:  Trick or Treat, Signs And Portents, and.....
                                                                   and....
                                       and...

Results - 

Eternal Journeymen WINS!!!!!!!

Yes, the Tokyo team pulled out a victory over our very own Dhunholy Alliance!  In an amazing 2-1 victory, they really proved that they deserve to be the Team Champions of Japan!  In fact, only The Kid managed to pull out a victory for our team, so it was a GREAT thing that he was our alternate!  Good Work, Kid!  Thanks again!

Taking second place, DHUNHOLY ALLIANCE!!!

In fact, only The Kid managed to pull out a victory for our team, so it was a GREAT thing that he was our alternate!  Good Work, Kid!  Thanks again!  You all fought the good fight!

Arriving in third place, Signs And Portents!

Amazing work from this very strong team.  The second and third place standings all came down to points, and Signs And Portents has just too few to squeek out the second place spot.  A very strong showing from these guys... I know they'll be back with a vengence next year!

And finally... the winners of the Painting contest!

Taking Bronze - Rantei with his Skorne army!

Taking Silver - Mitchell with his Cephalyx army

 

Taking Gold - Vlad with his Khador army!  Congratulations on this great army, Vlad!

 

And finally, because I can never get enough of this army and how amazing it looks, the Commissarial award (this blog's best painted category), here are more shots of Enzo's great Grymkin army!

And with that, the 6th Annual Japan Open Team Championship is officially closed!  Thanks so much to everyone who came to take part, and especially to Leland for taking over the TO position.  It went great!  I can't wait to see everyone again next year!

Commissarial Snap Inspection - Astral Games

Well, well, well!  Back again after a long, well deserved vacation in the States.  Some of it was amazing!  And some of it was... well, less amazing, but all in all, a successful holiday visiting family and friends.  I will say this, almost nothing in my life has been more stressful than hustling two very small children across an ocean all on my lonesome.  Yikes!  I do NOT recommend that.  Definitely not for the faint of heart.  Luckily for me, I am an Imperial Commissar, and not one to fail in my duties!  Ergo, everyone made it there, and everyone made it back, all safe and sound.  Success!!!  All praise the Emperor.  But before I get into what an amazing trip it was, a few things.

Working Hard or Hardly Working
What's a vacation without a little painting, am I right?  Okay, no I did not bring my models with me all the way to the other continent, but I did do some for a stress relief after returning home... I give to you the last of my Paladins!  With him out of the way, a single model stands between me and two fully painted lists in October... well, I guess a single character with two models.  The Champion of the Order of the Wall is the last to go, with both his mounted and dismounted forms.  And then we shall be complete!!!!  Mua-hahahahaha!
     Working Hard:  Paladin of the Order of the Wall

A third Paladin?  Don't mind if I do!

Man, I love these models.  This is hopefully the last one I'm going to have to paint though, since even with the Paladin theme force, three seems to be the limit.  Add to that Dartan and the Champion, and my TOM list is simply lousy with Paladin strength!

     WIP:  Champion of the Order of the Wall

One model to go!

There he is!  The last of the models for this year!  A few more painting sessions and he should be all finished!

Announcements:
This is it!  October is literally right around the corner, and so it is time to start seriously turning our thoughts towards the upcoming 6th Annual Japan Open Team Championship!  It'll be held October 7 in Fukuyama at the community center behind the castle!  Spaces are starting to run out, so NOW is the time to register your team!  After the tournament will be a nomikai (drinking party) and the 8th will be a free gaming day.  And remember, if you couldn't find a teammate, let us know and we can help match you with a team, or you can be a stand-in in case we have a no show.  And at the very least, you could get in some games during the free day!  So hurry and register, it's going to be great!

In preparation, the Fukuyama Gaming Club will have it's last meeting before the tournament on September 9, so stop by if you want a game.  

Right.  Well, with that out of the way, it is time for trip details!  I saw lots of good people... ate lots of good food... enjoyed being in my home country for a welcome change of pace... and got to hang out at some amazing places, two of which were our local gaming stores.  The area I live in is called the Rogue Valley (I know, it's the best name for a place to grow up, right?  Guess that explains my love of pirates, haha!) and in the valley are a collection of several smaller towns.  The two biggest each have a gaming store... Fun Again Games in Ashland, which I visited with my dear Inquisitor, and Astral Games in Medford.  So today, let's take an in depth look at one of our friendly neighborhood gaming stores, Astral Games.

Snap Inspection:  Astral Games

Astral Games

125 S. Central Ave. Suite 110, Medford Oregon  

Awww, I love to see that logo!

Astral Games... if I still lived in town, they would be taking a whole lot more of my paychecks than they rightfully should.  Since I don't, I make sure to drop a significant amount of cash there whenever I find myself in town.

Astral was opened years and years ago by this guy...

Imperial Selfie!

Aaron.  Aaron is one of my best friends from many many years ago.  More years ago than I care to remember, to be honest, haha!  We even were housemates for a while before I made the big move across the ocean.  He opened Astral Games in it's original location in 2008.  After doing amazingly, he relocated it to it's current location... near the local college.  Oh man!  What THAT a good decision.  Since he moved there, he's doing so well that he was able to rent out the whole space NEXT TO THE SHOP, and doubled the size of the place, adding a video game corner, since, you know, college kids literally within walking distance!  So here we are,  years since the new location opened, and Astral is one of the strongest gaming shops I know!  Allow me to show you around!

First off... introductions!

Astral Games is now staffed by a whopping 5 people.  Here, you have almost the whole team.  From the left, Sean (Board Game Specialist), Aaron (King of All He Purveys), Emily (Magic Specialist), and Crystal (Store Management).  A delightful crew!  Not seen here is Josh, the Warmachine Specialist... I just missed getting him in this shot!  Too bad!

The shop is separated into several areas to ease your ability to find stuff!  First up, as I already mentioned, the video game room!

So roomy!

So, here we have the video game alley.  You can hang out on these comfy couches for $5 for the whole day.  The.  Whole.  Day.  They have all kinds of systems and all kinds of games, so go nuts!  On the right, we have rows of card/ board game tables, and way WAY in the back are a couple of Warmachine/ Hordes tables!  But that's not all!

VR and Arcade Games and Wamachine tables, oh my!

The room is topped off with a couple of arcade games, and two (that's right, TWO!!) virtual reality consols!  Haha, I want to try it!  These bad boys are $5 per hour, and they next time I'm in town, you can bet that I'm going to try it!

Southern Oregon Warmachine Group

Warmachine tables!  And a bunch of people to play with!  It's like a dream come true!  More on the Warma/Hordes community here in a minute!

Board games and card games take up the front of the store.

Back in the main room, you are confronted with a veritable wall of board games!  So, so many board games to look at.  There's only about ten or so that I'm desperate to try, but it's a little too hard to carry them back to Japan, so I'm going to have to try resist the urge to buy them!  Also in this corner are a couple of displays for magic, Monster Hunter, and a couple of other card based games and accessories for them, like card mats, carrying cases, and so on.

You need a plushie... and YOU need a plushie!

Woot!  Who doesn't like plushies!  Also, comic boxes, and on the top shelf is art from local artists.  This was a part of the store that I didn't know about before this trip back home, but Astral Games is doing a whole lot of partnerships with local artists, which is an amazing thing!  Art prints, leather dice bags, and a whole bunch of other items are on sale, giving local artists a great stage to offer their goods to more people!

Mmmmmm, new comics!

New comics!  Once a week (Wednesday, I believe) the new comics are unbundled and rolled out onto the racks!  It's been a long time since I liked any comics enough to collect them, but after an incredibly long hiatus, Neil Gaiman has restarted his Sandman series, and I'm back in the game!  I managed to be just in time to snag the first one, but looks like I'm going to have to play catch up from here!

Guess how many characters there are!

The center floor space is given to many many displays of Funzo Pop figures, and my mind is blown by how many there are!  From comic book characters to cartoons, movies and games, any characters that you might be into are probably in Pop form.  I even managed to score a Death Pop from the old Sandman comics (mostly due to the fact that Aaron and I and a group of friends went as the Endless in New Orleans one memorable Halloween). 

Warhammer... my first love

Ooooh, now we're getting closer to the good stuff!  Warhammer from Games Workshop, the gate way drug to wargaming!  Like most people, I'm sure, I began my wargaming life in the 40K universe when I was sold a Grey Knights army and my friends started teaching me how to play.  Since then I've worked on several Warhammer armies... a Sisters of Battle army I got from the previously mentioned Inquisitor, a Lizardman army for the Fantasy game, an Escher gang for Necromunda, and a Norse Blood Bowl team.  I turned away from Games Workshop for a couple of dubious business decisions they made, but now the company seems to be rectifying it's former mistakes, and the Nighthaunts from the Age of Sigmar game are calling my name!  In a seperate room from the Warmachine tables, there are several Warhammer tables set up with some really spectacular terrain!

And finally the good stuff!

Ahh, yes!  There it is!  The Warmachine/ Hordes wall!  Woot!  While I have dabbled in other games, Warmachine is where my heart lies!  I was lucky on this trip to meet the Warma/Hordes group that meets here once a week, and man, am I jealous!  Once a week!  The Fukuyama Gaming Club only can get together once a month!  I can't imagine how good we would get if we could meet more often.  And not only that, but there seems to be a whole lot of events, like Caster Drafts, Tournaments, and possibly narrative leagues?  Not to mention that they have a whole lot of members.  I didn't manage to get a game in, but several of the players have multiple armies, and I was offered a loan of a Menoth army, but alas, due to timing I wasn't able to work it out.  Now, thought, I have that most important of assets, contacts!  Thus, when I come into town next, I'll be able to get in some games for sure!

Southern Oregon Warma/Hordes group

Believe it or not, this isn't everyone!  Jealous!  I'm looking forward to having some good times with these guys next time! 

Conclusion:
Since this is the first ever Commissarial Snap Inspection, let me explain the rating system.  The spectrum ranges from "Warp-storm Spawned Disaster" to "Imperial Excellence" with several middling levels in the middle that include "Industrial Hive World" "Inquisitor Hang Out." And now, drumroll please...

Astral Games will receive the grade of .... "Imperial Excellence."  Congratulations, Aaron!  This store is amazing, roomy, friendly, full of goodness, and has a strong customer base of people that enjoy gaming and having fun.  Until next time, Astral!  I'll be back to spend all of my money next time!

If you want to check it out for yourself, you can find out more here! www.Astralgamesonline.com

Widower's Wood, The Final

Well, well, well!  My trip to the USA is looming ever closer!  I can't believe that in just a few short days I'll be on a plane and heading out for a long trip home... gonna get some games in with some old friends, gonna do some shopping, and eat lots of my favorite snacks!  But I'm most looking forward to spending a lot of time with some of my favorite people.  Before I can get on that plane, however, I have a little more Commissar business to take care of... and at last, what you all have been waiting for, the Fukuyama Gaming Club finally took a swing at the final chapter of Widower's Wood!

To tell the truth, I was a little sad to see the game come to an end... seven chapters and three kickstarter exclusive missions, and I never got tired of the game.  I had such a good time playing!  I'm really looking forward to playing the Dead Men Walking expansion sometime next year, and I'm debating whether or not to pick up the Undercity game that is the urban parallel to our swamp romp.  For this final chapter, Sarge joined us, making it so that no one had to double up on a character, and we could all focus on beating up on some immortal booty!

A fourth player for our final chapter

Announcements:
The Fukuyama Gaming Club will be meeting next on July 22 and August 5.  I myself will be absent from both meetings since, you know, America!  So come and get a game to fill in my absence!
October is fast approaching, and with it the Japan Open Team Tournament, so make sure that you are registered and ready to go, since space are filling up!

And now... drum roll, please... the final chapter of the Widower's Wood campaign.  I know you've been waiting with baited breath, and here we finally are, at the knife's edge between success and failure.  The characters have been upgraded as far as we could get them... the players are on edge and ready to roll... the dice have been promised first born children for good rolls in the game... and... GO!

Invincible Deathless, Invincible Schmethless

The Story So Far:
As our last chapter ended, the characters had successfully interrupted the ritual that Rasheldonak was performing to resurrect an immortal Deathless.  As the group was sharing a high five on a job well done saving the swamp, one last prayer from a dying Mist Speaker cracked the seal on the the Deathless' prison, and he appeared.  The good news... Rasheldonak I guess took a blow to the head and realized what a mistake he made.  Full of shame, the Gatorman Witch Doctor strode forward to banish what he had summoned, but bad news... he can't control the Deathless, and to show its displeasure at Sheldon, it promptly cut him in twain.  Oops, well, that's what you get when you try to control and ancient evil!  Time to send it back to sleep!

Chapter 7, More or Deathless:

Even the villains are after it!

Time to get to work!  So, the Deathless, living up to his name, is in fact immortal, unless you can tempt him to come over to the Druid Stone circle on the opposite side of the board from where he starts.  As he passes over the Druid Stones, he becomes vincible, and it's time to lay the smack down!  Once he's not invincible, you roll a dice, and then place that much XP on the clock tile.  Each time the Deathless activates (and if you pull an Impending Doom event card you roll a dice and remove that much XP).  When the XP runs out, the Deathless is once more invincible, and then the whole thing starts again with you having to lure him across the stones.  The good news is, he hates everybody on the board, so he'll kill Gatormen just as much as he will the heroes.  In red priority rounds, he'll target villains first, and in blue rounds, he'll target heroes first.  While it seems that we'll never get him across the board in 10 rounds, he will move the direction of anyone who attacks him, so I think it's time for Skarg to show off his ranged attack skills!  And in addition to the big baddie bearing down on us, we also have to worry about Stranglevines and Cane Leeches!  Truly, a finale of epic proportions is in the making!  Let's get to it!

Menacing Ripples, I hate you!

 Round One - Our old nemesis, Menacing Ripples!  DTB and Leland tied, spawning 2 Gators in our place.  Olo started us off by throwing a glue bomb in the Bog Trog/ Gator space, killing the Trog and gluing the Gator in place!  Vaskis stepped in to help out, killing one of the buddy Gators, before Skarg burst out the big guns and killed a Trog and a Gator.  Agata FLUBBED her first attack!  Gah!  But she did kill one Gator on the second attack!  The villain action had a Gator charge at Olo!!  Oh no!  Luckily, Olo's poisoned glands were working in fine form, and killed off the Gator.

Brave little Croak staring down an eternal Deathless

The next round brought another Menacing Ripples, and Leland took the Gator this time.  Olo moved into the swampy area and used his Fettershot Rifle into the Deathless and Gators surrounding him, killing the Gators!  Yes!  Awesome work, Olo.... oh no!  Those undead eyes are turning your way!  Look out!  Vaskis noticed a couple of Shamblers heading our way, and shot a Chain Lightning at them, killing one.  Skarg moved up one square and shot the Deathless TWICE IN THE FACE!!!  Too bad it's invincible, that was great shooting.  The good news, the Deathless moved twice, once after each shot, leaving little Olo out of the line of fire next round.  The bad news... he's literally standing in the square with Skarg!!!  Agata put her sights on two Gatormen and sent both of them off to Kossok.

Skarg is FEARLESS!

Skarg, Skarg, Skarg... the Boss event card activated the Deathless, who attacked Skarg twice for 3 damage... ouch!  Olo moved up to try and keep the Trogs at bay so they wouldn't distract the Deathless, but on his villain action he got charged twice!  Luckily, he had some traps handy to get one of the Trogs, and the other one missed him!  Vaskis followed suit, but missed his charge attack.  Then, the Deathless again attacked Skarg, dealing another  damage, leaving Skarg stumbling with only one left.  Skarg then decided to get the heck out of Dodge, but he got caught on the free strike, and went down in Olo's square!  Nooooooooooooo!  Hang in there, Skarg, we're gonna help!  Seeing her buddy in arms go down, Agata moved in and slammed the Deathless closer to the stones.

The Gators tried to stab it in the back... no luck!

Olo took his action to revive Skarg!  Phew, it's lucky that he had an alchemical restorative on him!  Vaskis continued his attempt to keep the Shamblers at bay, shooting more Chain Lightening into the bunch, knocking down 2 and outright killing one!  The Deathless stood and moved up into the space NEXT TO THE STONE!!!  So close, but how are we going to get him to move onto the stones themselves... 

Out of the way, Trog!

 Skarg moved out of combat (taking no damage this time!) killing a Gator and a Trog cowering in the forest, trying to keep the path for the Deathless clear.  Agata Hoofed It into the forest, killing off the last Trog and Shambler anywhere near the Deathless. 

How does Olo always get in these situations?

A Perilous Journey card brings out some Cane Leeches, but we're going to try and ignore them for now... Sadly, Olo is in a bit of a pinch... trying to get out of trouble, he dropped a Corrosive Slime bomb in his own square, since he's immune to poison, and amazingly DID NO DAMAGE!!!  Oh man!  How is that possible!  Let's hope he's slippery enough to survive!  Vaskis moved into Agata's square, on the other side of the stones from the Deathless, and cast Razorwind, hitting him and causing him TO MOVE ONE SQUARE CLOSER TO VASKIS, STRAIGHT INTO THE STONES!!!  Yesssss!  He's vulnerable!  Let's go!   We rolled a 4 on the dice, so we've got 4 Deathless activations to get this done!  Then, to show off a little bit, Vaskis used his Hand of Glory to knock down everything in a square next to him, so of course he knocked down the Deathless and the Trog standing with it.

Down, foul creature!

In the villain action, the Trog stood up, and a Shambler charged the Deathless!  Hahahaha!  Take that!  3 damage from the undead villain on our right!  Thanks, Shambly!  The Deathless, on his turn, stood and killed both the Trog standing with him and the Shambler that just shanked him in the guts with its bony fingers!  Skarg took aim and shot the Deathless twice for 4 damage, leaving it with only 3.  As the Deathless moved toward Skarg, Agata used Pursuit to get out of the forest and into charge range of the villain!  Then... the moment we've all been waiting for... our Queen of Carnage, the great finisher, charged the Deathless!  With the Finisher ability, she'll roll an extra dice against models that are already damaged, so all she has to do is hit!  First attack... makes it!  Three dice on the damage... and she rolls a zillion, which means SUPER DAMAGE!  So, that means two points on the Deathless... one attack to go.  She hits... and does the final damage, winning the game!

Conclusion:
VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to sleep, Deathless jerk!

With the threat to the Widower's Wood vanquished, our valiant heroes go their separate ways.  But as Olo returns to his nest, his mate, and his polliwogs, a human is waiting for him, an old friend in need of his help... a professor from the university in Corvis...

And thus, we can't wait to play the expansion, Dead Men Walking.  I'm so looking forward to it, but with the tournament and everything coming up, I'm not sure when we'll get to it.  I promise, you'll all be the first to know!  Widower's Wood was a great game, and I think could have a pretty high re-playability.  All in all, I give this game and its campaign a flat 9.5 out of 10!  Go play it, people!  Enjoy!

Well, that's all for now.  Hopefully I'll be able to hit up a computer in the States to keep you up to date on all the good gaming I'll be having, but if I can't then it's going to be a couple of weeks until next time!  Fear not!  Another Duty Log will be up in the not too grim future!  Until then, keep facing forward... you never know when the Commissar will be along!

AAR - Fishing for Cryx

June has brought with it summer.... Oh, Japanese summer... my immortal enemy.  Heat, humidity, cottonmouth snakes, poisonous centipedes, and bees that can quite literally kill you.  Oh yeah, what's not to love, right?  Luckily for us, there was also another meeting of the Fukuyama Gaming Club.  And luck was with us, as Sarge made his second appearance this year!  And then she promptly left us again as Leland was stuck at work all day at his school's sports festival.  Ugh!  Well, we missed having him, but were glad to see Sarge again!  We were really hoping to get another board game in, but as our friend The Kid says, we've entered "War Season."  With Boundless Charge and the Japan Open coming up quickly, side games are being pushed to the, well, side, and tournament prep is taking over.  In a great use of time, all three of us managed to get two games in!  Sarge Vs. Kommissar, Kommissar Vs. DTB, and DTB Vs. Sarge... and we did it all in time to grab dinner before heading home!  SUCCESS!

My first match of the day was against Sarge, and it was a pretty good game!  I'm still working to get comfortable with my Tristan list, and am once again tweaking it to see if I can get a little bit of a better fit before go time... All of my units are pretty set, but I seem to have a little bit of a revolving door on what 'jacks I'm going to go with.  I felt comfortable enough with the new set I used in today's game, but... I'm not sure if I'm totally happy with it.  We'll see.  My next game was against DTB, and though I lost again, I did feel a bit more comfortable with the list, and I managed to spear me a big ole' bear!

A nice bear skin for Tristan's new cloak!

Announcements:
The next gaming days for the Fukuyama Gaming Club are July 22 and August 5!
Registration for the Japan Open Team Tournament in October is rolling along!  Make sure that you reserve your place if you're want to join!
And now, the big news... in just three weeks, my polliwogs and I are going to visit family in America!  Yeah!  Because of this, August may see some breaks in our regular posting schedule... and content!  I may not be able to get any games in , but I will definitely be visiting some of my favorite local gaming stores, and they may find themselves with a write up in the Duty Log!
Look forward to it... that's an order!

For the first time in... boy, maybe three years, I finally got a game in with Sarge!  Woot!  The last few years he hasn't been able to make it up our way for anything except the Japan Open, which he has been running.  It is a long way from Fukuyama to Iwakuni, and if he brings up some of the boys from the base, there are a lot of restrictions on them, especially that they have to make curfew (and I really mean HAVE TO.... the American military does NOT mess around with that kind of thing).  But the last two meetings he has made it up, and much fun was had!  I decided to take one more turn with Tristan to face off against his new Cryx army... sadly, Menoth is not a great match up against the undead horde!


Army List, Cryx:

The Bastard's Dark Host

     Warcaster - Goreshade 2 (Goreshade the Cursed)
          Desecrator
          Death Ripper
          Defiler
     Skarlock Thrall
     Wraith Engine
     Bane Lord Tartarus
     Scrap Thrall X 2 (that's 6 thralls, y'all!)
     Bane Warriors (Maximum) X 2
          + Officer X 2
     Bane Riders (Maximum)

This list uses the Dark Host Theme Force, which will give Sarge's Bane models prowl (they'll get stealth when they have concealment) and he'll also get 2 4" fog clouds, which of course, will help his prowling Banes!

Army List, Protectorate:

Tristan's Guardians of the Temple

     Warcaster - Sovereign Tristan Durant
          Reckoner X 2
          Templar
          Crusader
          Purifier
          Redeemer
     Daughters of the Flame
     Temple Flameguard (Maximum)
          +Officer and Standard
 
This is, naturally, a Guardians of the Temple theme force, which will give my Daughters of the Flame the ability to Ambush (and let me tell you, that has really come in handy a few times!) and the Temple Flameguard will gain Tough and can't be knocked down when in B2B with models in their unit.

Setup, Cryx:

A ghostly horde

 We ended up rolling the Spread the Net scenerio, so that means we had a unit scoring zone in the center of the board, and a Jack/ Beast scoring zone on each side of it, and flags on opposite sides from the 'jack zones.  Sarge set his two fog clouds touching each other right next to the obstruction on the edge of the middle zone, and then proceeded to flop down that giant awful monstrosity of a Wraith Engine right in the middle!  Next to it on the left, his unit of Black Banes, with the Defiler on the outside and the BLT (Bane Lord Tartarus) a little behind them.  In front of the Engine came Goreshade and his Scarlock, with the Colorful Banes next to them on the right.  The Desecrator and the Bane Rides came next, with the Death Ripper finishing out the right flank.  Behind everything, six Scrap Thralls brought up the rear...okay, I know in the picture it looks like five Scrap Thralls and one blue marker, but use your imagination! Haha!

Setup, Protectorate:

Flameguard, ready to go!

I started with my Temple Flameguard in the Shield Wall order in the middle of the board.  Behind them, the one of the Reckoners started far on the left to try and deal with the Bane Riders that were going to be charging at me.  Then, the other Reckoner, the Redeemer, Tristan, and the Templar lined up with the choir filling in where they could fit.  On the hill behind the wall of Flameguard I set the Crusader, and finally the Purifier on the edge.  Usually I would then take the chance to set up my Daughters with advanced deployment, but since they have Ambush now, and Sarge has, like, a million Bane Warriors that are going to KEEP COMING BACK TO LIFE, I think they'll Ambush.

Our Story:
After stealing the sword of Nyssor, Goreshade and his troops are hastening back towards the Thornwood to reach the relative safety of the Cryxian tunnel system.   Under cover of night, the eldritch was moving in the direction of Bainsmarket, when suddenly a force of Flameguard from the Protectorate appeared before him, cutting him off from his destination.  Several Scrap Thralls that had been following his Wraith Engine shuffled forward and informed him that more Flameguard were moving up on all sides, trying to catch the Cryxians in a net of spears.  Sovereign Tristan Durant was in the lead, having had a vision from the Creator of Man commanding him to stop the undead horde before they could escape.  If Goreshade was to keep his prize and reach safety, he was going to have to cut that net open and lose himself and his forces in the looming woods.

Round 1, Cryx:

Forward, to the concealing fog!

The Desecrator accumulates for one focus (stupid rule!  What does it think it is, a Cyrissian?)  Then it ran 10" into the fog.  The Colorful Banes ran next to the Desecrator.  The Black Banes ran behind the obstacle.  The Defiler ran in front of the Black Banes, between them and the rocks.  The Bane Riders ran into the left zone, while the giant Wraith Engine ran between the two units of Bane Warriors.  The Skarlock did a little cross and ran to the other side of the Wraith Engine.  Goreshade moved up and cast Occultation on the Riders, and BLT ran behind the Colorful Banes, and the Scrap Thralls moved up to not be left behind.

Round 1, Protectorate:

For Menoth against the zombies!

To start things off, the Flameguard moved forward and got into three groups of Shield Walls.  Tristan moved up and FORGOT TO ALLOCATE FOCUS!!!! Haaaaaaaa, okay, this is going to be a long game.  He put Inviolable Resolve on the Flameguard and then hung his head in shame for the rest of the turn.  The Light Reckoner moved up, followed by the Choir who put Battle Prayers on the Dark Reckoner, the Redeemer, the Purifier and the Crusader.  The Dark Reckoner moved up and.... just stood there, looking intimidating.  The Redeemer took three shots with it's very inaccurate rocket and managed to kill one Bane Warrior!  Yeah!  First blood to me!  The Templar ran to join Tristan to give him some of the good Shield Guardness, and the Crusader ran behind the Flameguard.  Finally the Purifier ran into the right zone.

Round 2, Cryx:

Banes, Banes, everywhere...

The Desecrator accumulated again, then inched forward and shot at the left hand group of Flameguard, killing 1 and leaving behind a cloud of corrosion.  The Bane Riders ran forward to block both of my Reckoners, which is going to be a huge pain in the butt... how am I going to get into the zone now?  The Defiler moved to the edge of the right zone, spraying the right Flameguard shield wall with acidic goo.  They all survived, but 2 got stuck with continuous corrosion.  The Black Banes ran forward, spreading out, and the Colorful Banes followed suit in the central zone.  The Death Ripper nudged forward to lip the zone.  BLT moved into the fog, and the Wraith Engine moved a smidge closer to the zone.

Ooooooh, scary!

Goreshade moved up, and using the arc node of the Defiler he shot the Purifier with an Abyssal Gate, dealing 8 damage and moving the light 'jack out of the zone and facing backwards... ugh!  Stupid Goreshade!  The Scrap Thralls continued to shamble forward like good little zombies, trying to keep up.

Round 2, Protectorate:

Step one... get in the way!

Ambush!  Aha!  I remembered!  Yes!  Okay, pack up the game, I already won!  Oh, no, wait, that's right... let's keep going.  The Flameguard pressed forward, charging into the mass of Bane Warriors... while 3 died in a corrosive mist, they managed to kill off 2 Warriors.  The Choir got their activation right!  yay!  and put Battle on the Light Reckoner, the Redeemer, the Crusader and the Templar.  Then, the Light Reckoner killing the Bane Rider up in it's face, as did it's Dark brother.  Tristan lipped the right zone and cast Manifest Destiny!  Oh my gosh, you guys, I'm getting my activations right this game!  This is going great!  The Redeemer shot BLT for 2 points of damage and killed another Warrior.  The Crusader ran forward to guard Tristan's left, and the Templar did the same in the zone on Tristan's right.  Finally, the Daughters charged into the Black Banes, killing 4.  Sadly, as this is the bottom of the 2nd round, Cryx will score a Control Point for the left zone that I couldn't get to thanks to those meddling Bane Riders!

Round 3, Cryx:

And a point goes to the Skarlock on the right!

The Black Banes retaliated against my Daughters, killing 5 of my girls... and then the Officer used his mini-feat, bringing back 4 of the Banes I killed.... NOOOOOO!!  BLT then charged the middle huddle of Flameguard, putting 4 damage on the Captain.  Then the Colorful Banes had their chance, putting 24 damage on the Redeemer and killing 4 Flameguard... oof!  The Bane Riders ran forward to get in the way again, and then.... then the worst.  Goreshade moved forward and FEAT!!!  Damn!  Those 6 Scrap Thralls that were shambling in the back?  Goreshade killed all six of them and used their corpses to revive EVERYTHING THAT I KILLED LAST TURN!!!!  No!  Nonono!  The Desecrator moved into the left zone to torment me, and the Skarlock moved into B2B with the Flag... giving Cryx another 2 Control Points... 2 to go to win the game... I've GOT to disrupt his control game, or I lose at the end of my turn!

 Round 3, Protectorate:

Step 2... revive your ENTIRE ARMY!!!

The Flameguard started my comeback by killing 3 Banes.  Then, the last remaining Daughter killed one Bane and knocked down another.  Tristan moved up and cast Manifest Destiny, and then FEAT!!!  Then, he took Veritas, his trusty spear in hand, and killed a Bane Rider, and cast Hand of the Creator to heal 3 points to all models in his control area.  So, I realized my mistake... the Redeemer couldn't get a focus from Tristan's feat because it's Cortex was broken... I should have cast Hand of the Creator first instead of Manifest Destiny, and then cast Manifest Destiny after the feat... live and learn!

Tristan fears no death horsey!

The Choir moved up and prayed for Battle on both Reckoners, the Redeemer and the Templar.  Both Reckoners again killed the Bane Riders that kept harassing them, the Light Reckoner edging around to try and get closer to the zone, but he's not going to make it this turn to stop the Desecrator from getting another control point... I MUST make it to the Skarlock at the flag!  The Templar charged the Defiler and killed it, along with one Bane Warrior.  The Purifier killed the Bane in front of him, then used his Overtake ability to move up to the next Bane... killed it and Overtook again, then killed another and Overtook again!  Wow, MVP for the game!  He didn't make it to the Skarlock, but he got within 4" of the flag, so the Skarlock can't get a point from it this turn!  The Crusader ran into the middle zone to keep it safe from scoring, and the Redeemer knocked down one of the Bane Warriors attacking him... Cryx scores 1 more Control Point... one left until game over!

Round 4, Cryx:

Step 3 ... stall, stall, stall

The Black Banes spread out into the right zone.  The Wraith Engine FINALLY did something and charged the last remaining Daughter, killing her and spawning a Machine Wraith, which then took over the Purifier, forcing him to move out of jamming range of the flag.  2 Control Points and the game to Cryx!

Conclusion:

Victory for Cryx!


Tristan fought valiantly, but with Goreshade and the Bane Officer's abilities to reanimate the fallen, he was being overrun... quickly it became apparent that he was not going to be able to hang on until the rest of his trap was sprung, or risk the lives of his remaining men and women.  Though it hurt deep in his soul, Tristan signaled his last few troops to fall back, clearing the way for Goreshade to escape.

A punishing blow for Menoth, but a fun game nevertheless.  I really enjoyed my first game against Cryx in many many a year!  Long long ago we had two Cryx players, but the Dark Lady had to return to Spain, and our other player got a new job that really ate into his playing time, and he had to stop coming.

Thanks for the game, Sarge!  Next time, the light of Menoth's holy flames will prevail!