Tuesday, May 15, 2012

OFCC Around the Corner

Each year during the summer, Ordo Fanaticus hosts a huge 2 day Warhammer Fantasy tournament called the OFCC (Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge).  It is a fun, laid back event where you bring a team of at least 4 people and achieve or fail to achieve various accolades together.  Last year, the Order of the Black Sheep attended for the first time, and were the only 5 people there from the Salem area.  This year, Salem's ranks are bolstered by another member to the Black Sheep team, plus two other teams with players from Salem.

Me at OFCC 2011, getting ready to roll tons of 6's! (more pics from Blustorm)
The Order of the Black Sheep has returning members, Ben (playing Warriors of Chaos again), Chris (playing Daemons again), Eli (playing High Elves again), Josh (Playing his new Vampire Counts army), Paul (playing Lizardmen again), and a new team member John (playing a Dark Elf army).  Teams "Put a Skull On It", and "Mongering Mongrels" are new to the OFCC this year and bringing some Salem players too.  I'm glad we've got more local players participating, it would be great to see it grow even more in the coming years.

You can find more details about the tournament format here.  If you're not coming this year, I encourage you to start planning and working on an army for next year.  It is the ultimate in west coast Warhammer in my opinion.  If only we had more events like this...


Thursday, March 8, 2012

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic, the new massively multiplayer online game is a (somewhat cartoony) theatrical masterpiece melded into a standard MMO engine.  While they have done something unique and wonderful, the underlying game is not much different from most other popular MMOGs.  Is following the formula good or bad?  Depends on the judge of course.  For me, I like sandbox environments and unique game mechanics, so I'm not too thrilled about that part.

Making a game that is so focused on telling a compelling story seems like a waste of a persistent online world.  I would like to see an MMOG made that takes advantage of the medium in a powerful way, but still remains a game.  The cool thing about having a virtual world that grows is the ability for players to make a mark in it.  Why do most games have some magical trading post where everything in the world is searchable?  Why can't players make stores that other players could visit?  Why do most games have no way for the players to modify the landscape in areas by constructing buildings, or strip mining, or planting crops?  Why are there no consequences?  If I die, I can just magically come back to the same place with nothing lost.  If I fail a quest, I don't get berated by the quest giver, I just go back in time and try it again.  It's great that you can make a permanent impact on your character though the story interactions, but other than your own character, the world is a fairly static, re-spawning obstacle course.


It seems that part of why the game makers have opted to go with a game mechanic base very similar to the World of Warcraft formula may have been a strategic move to not only appeal to a wide audience, but to appeal specifically to the audience of the players of the largest MMO out there right now.  With such a big production and initial investment, I suppose it would be financial suicide to try something innovative enough that would risk making a game that is for a niche audience.  So, in a way, I cannot blame them, but at the same time, I can't see the game holding my interest for long.  So long, and thanks for all the stories, Bioware.


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Doubles Tourney

Wow, I can't believe I have neglected posting here for so long.   Nothing too new going on in regards to Warhammer.   I am slowly painting my Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge army and have played a couple games since the Brawl. 
This weekend though, I am playing in a doubles tourney with Paul at Borderlands Games.   Players get 1500 points apiece.  I am going to run my Daemons and Paul will be rolling out his Lizardmen.   I will post how we did on Monday.  For now though, feel free to enjoy the short story I wrote, explaining our strange alliance.  Let me know what you think.
-Chris

 Zaxslann's Gamble

            Omnix, the last remaining skink priest of Lord Zaxslann’s retinue, paced about nervously.   The losses that their troop had sustained on their journey were beginning to take their toll.   Even with the healing magics of Lord Zaxslann,  they had been unable to save their host of skin braves.   The great kroxigors, already few in number, had all been captured or killed in a devious skaven raid.  Their last ancient stegadon succumbed to wounds taken during that same battle as well.  All said, their force was unlikely to make it to the city of Mextonatl, Lord Zaxslann’s goal.  
            “Omnix, make ready.”   The command echoed through the skink priests mind.  Omnix shuddered as he thought on Lord Zaxslann’s plan.  Bartering with anything that has been touched by chaos was bad enough in Omnix’s experience, but dealing with daemons themselves, that was an abomination.   Lord Zaxslann knew how daemons work and though they are creatures of chaos, they still follow certain rules.   One such is the rule of contractual obligation.   Once a deal has been brokered, very few things could break it.   In exchange for a minor plaque of knowledge, the daemon balefire, agreed to help safeguard the remaining forces of Zaxslann.  
            Lord Zaxslann brooked no argument on the matter, and it wasn’t in Omnix’s nature to argue with his lord.   His task during the remainder of the journey was to shadow the daemon force using his enchanted cloak of feathers.   For while Lord Zaxslann was confident in the bargain that had been struck, balefire was a creation of Tzeentch, The Changer of Ways, who is known for his treachery and plots.  If any sign of betrayal was to appear,  it is Omnix’s duty to either strike down balefire, or prevent as much damage to Lord Zaxslann’s host as possible.   How Lord Zaxslann planned to deal with the Mage-Priests of Mextonatl, was not a concern that Omnix was prepared to think on.  First the host must reach the city alive.  
 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Black Sheep Brawl Photos and Full Rankings


Check out the photo's from the Black Sheep Brawl over here: http://www.bluemelon.com/ioscode/blacksheepbrawl2012

The full list of rankings can found up on RankingsHQ now as well.  Just visit the tournament page here:  http://www.rankingshq.com/public/tournamentprofile.aspx?TournamentId=2782

Bonus Round
  
Subscribe to the feed here to get updates as we plan for next years Black Sheep Brawl!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Quick Thanks and Black Sheep Brawl Results

First off, thanks to everyone who made it. A 32 person Warhammer Fantasy event without the roots of the OFCC wouldn't have happened a year ago. Fantasy is on the rise again, and all of the friends that the Order of the Black Sheep have made this past year have made it possible. Here's to the next year, bigger and better.

Thanks to all the guys who brought terrain; Eric and Ordo, Moses Jones, and the Kiefts. You guys rock and definitely helped us with some awesome looking tables. Thanks to all of the guys who helped paint pony carts, and everyone who helped clean up. A big thanks to Evil Bryan who hung out with us all day, and assisted us in paint and army judging. Speaking of Evil Bryan, thanks to the Deployment Zone, Ordo, and every other group that has helped us with advertising for this event. Finally, thanks to Borderlands games with providing prize structure and the venue.
Every little bit that people did, helped to make a truly awesome event.

Winners:
Overall: John "The (former) Points Pinata" Kersey
Brush Master: Moses Jones
Exalted General: Maurice Maynard
Most Excellent Opponent: Ellie


Again, thank all of you who attended.

More Brawl stuff to follow later.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Black Sheep Brawl Rules Pack

The rules pack for the Black Sheep Brawl this Sunday is complete and can be found here.  The document will also be distributed at the event.

The tournament has also been posted on RankingsHQ, and we'll be posting results up there afterwards.  Go there and sign up before the tournament if you want to have your results recorded to your user id on the site.  Totally optional though, if you do, include your userid when you sign in on the day of the tournament.

We have received 30 army lists so far, so we will be full.  If you have not sent in your list yet, there's a chance you can play if you show up we have a couple of last minute openings or are able to squeeze in and extra table or two.

See you at The Brawl!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Black Sheep Brawl Rulings and Scenarios


Black Sheep Rulings


  • If an item or ability grants a special rule to a unit or model, it affects the whole of the models in the unit or model.   Example:  Mark of Khorne and Banner of Rage affect both mounts and riders.
  • Open Terrain is a terrain type for spells and abilities.   Example: Curse of Anraheir from the lore of Beasts.
  • No More than 12 power dice can be generated in a magic phase.   Even abilities that would allow you to add dice beyond the total of 12 are affected by this.  Examples are Focused Rumination, Sacrificial Dagger, Death Magic’s ability, etc
  • Scouts count towards deployment. If you deploy scouts and your opponent does not, no +1 to going first for you.




Scenario 1: Head them off at the Pass.

Battle for the pass with the additional special rules:

At the center of the table, a dwarven pony cart will be set up.   The cart may not be targeted by spells, shooting attacks, or abilities that function in similar ways.   If charged, the cart always flees 3d6 inches in an opposite direction.    The cart may only be captured if successfully charged.
A unit that successfully completes a charge against the pony cart will capture it.  Place the pony cart to the back of the unit, indicating that it has been captured.   If the unit that has captured the pony cart flees, is destroyed, or broken in combat, the pony cart will flee 3d6 inches away from whatever caused the capturing unit to flee or be destroyed.   The pony cart may be captured by overrun moves.
The army that has possession of the pony cart at the end of the game is awarded an additional 500 victory points.




Scenario 2:  Take it to them.

Battleline with mysterious terrain rules in play.    



Scenario 3:  Something’s Burning


The third game in the Brawl is a Blood and Glory Scenario from page 148 in the basic rule book As a special terrain feature during the game, each table will have 3-4 Smoke Markers.

The Smoke Markers have the following rules:

1) Each turn the smoke clouds will move 1d6 inches in a random direction. If a hit is rolled on the scatter dice, the cloud does not move this turn. If the movement would take the cloud off the table, remove it from the game. Clouds can also be moved by the Heavens Spell: Wind Blast.

2) Smoke Markers affect line of sight. To see if a friendly unit is affected by a smoke cloud, draw a line from any point on your unit and an opposing unit you wish to take an action against. If a line would pass through the smoke cloud, the unit will be affected by the smoke. Models affected by the smoke will be affected by the following rules:

A) Missile weapons which use ballistic skill are at-1 to hit due to the obscured visibility. This stacks with other modifiers, such as cover, range, etc.

B) Stone Throwers and models that use the Stone Thrower rules (page 114 of the basic rule book) count as firing indirectly.

C) Cannons, and other attacks that fire using rules for cannons will add 2d6 inches to their initial artillery dice roll due to inability to find range.

D) The range of magic missiles will be halved.

E) Models attempting to charge through a smoke cloud will roll an additional d6 and subtract the highest result from the rolled distance. Models with swift stride will roll four dice and discard the lowest and highest results. Example: Swiftstride unit rolls a 2, 3, 5, and 6 when attempting to charge through the cloud. The unit would add 8 to its movement for the charge, discarding the 2 and the 6




 Any questions about these, please don't hesitate to ask.