Geek Day Diary Entry #2: "Slightly Improved Performance"

Dear Diary,

The day had finally arrived - our second Geek Day. My game group recently began hosting a monthly Geek Day. We rent space at a nearby church and organize gaming for an entire Saturday. We aren't playing any more than usual, however, these gaming days give us time to play in a closed-off location, with no interruptions from jobs, spouses, or children.

Another Warmachine tournament was the order of the day. This time, we adjusted our scoring system. The victor earned 2 victory points for winning in the first three turns of the game, and only 1 victory point for a win in the latter three turns.

Stryker w/Squire, Lancer & Sentinal, JWC w/Hunter, Strangeways w/Defender,
Black 13th Strike Team, Mechaniks x 3, and a single Stormsmith

Last time I took Major Victoria Haley as my warcaster. I came in 4th place (out of 4 players... call it last place if you will). I still think she's an excellent caster, however, I wanted to try someone new, and on Keir's advice, I took Stryker for a spin. We played 33 points this time round (to match Chris H.'s painted total) and strangely, the games seemed to go faster than last time.

After three games, the outcome was as follows:

• 1st place: Menoth (Epic Feora) played by Ken
  2 wins; 2 VP; 0 draws, 1 loss
  
  
• 2nd place: Cryx (Skarre) played by Marc
  1 win; 2 VP (turn 3 victory), 1 draw, 1 loss
  
  
• 3rd place: Cygnar (Stryker) played by me (aka JET)
  1 win, 1 VP, 1 draw, 1 loss
  
  
• 4th place: Khador (Sorscha) played by Chris H.
  1 win, 1 VP, 0 draws, 2 losses

Game #1: vs. Khador

I started the morning off by facing Chris H's Khador force. Since the last Geek Day, he has acquired and painted his Man-o-war Shocktroopers. This game was very interesting in terms of manouverability. What I mean is, I could cause damage and negative effects to the Khador army without getting close to danger. Stryker kept casting Earthquake to neutralize the big jacks while I concentrated the rest of my force on the Khador flank that contained Sorscha. In the end, a well-timed Earthquake knocked down Sorscha and her bodyguard, while Cygnar shooting finished the job.

Sorscha advanced on the right with her Man-O-War bodyguard.

The left flank advanced towards the Cygnar line.


Earthquake slows down the heavies and makes the light troops easy to hit.

The battlefield mid-game.

Stryker and Strangeways hold back and support their warjacks.

The Hunter took shots at the Destroyer and drew the Khador line towards it.


The Sentinal acted as a point-guard against Eiryss. I didn't care if it was disrupted,
but it kept the magehunter away from Strangeways and Stryker.


The Black 13th cleared out the Khadorean snipers and
helped the Defender keep the left flank at bay.


The big set-up.


With the whole line, including Sorscha, knocked down, two Arcane Bolts from Stryker
(and a little help from some shooting), took out the Khadorean caster.

Game #2: vs. Menoth

My second opponent was Ken, leading his Menoth force with the newly-painted Epic Feora model. I had never played against her during MK I, so I had nothing to compare her to. Suffice it to say, she is a terror on the battlefield, with many abilities that allow her to cause and manipulate the Fire continuous effect.

Ken and I were rather aggressive this game, as both of our flanks bashed each other around the impassable, forested hill. Near the end of the game, I made an assault that included knocking Feora and company down and doing considerable damage. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough damage, and Ken struck back with a vengence. Stryker was damaged badly, and being caught on fire, he died of fire damage during the next turn.

The Cygnar force begins a cautious advance.


Ken used Gorman di Wolfe to cover Feora with cloud effects.


The Redeemer is a terror with Epic Feora. Its rocket shots cause Fire.


My Defender on fire.


Mid-game action.


Ken's right flank advances. The Temple Flameguard are well cleaned-out by Cygnar shooting.


The Repenter gets in range with its flamethrower. Fire, fire, everywhere!


Stryker made a very good attempt at taking Feora out. However, she survived
with a few wounds, and he was left standing in the danger zone.


My left flank was doing well, but with Stryker moving into the danger zone, it didn't matter.


Ken's final assault. Feora and her warjacks move in and cause a lot of Fire.


Feora moves her the Fire token from another model to Stryker. Although the
Reckoner didn't kill him, Stryker burned up during his next control phase.

Game #3: vs. Cryx

Marc and his tryxy Cryxy ways... oh how I hate them! (but how I enjoy them) Marc took Skarre to the field, and the entire army was focused around a pile of thralls and two heavy helljacks. Like a fool, I put a lot of effort early in the game into killing mechanithralls, but misjudged my ability to kill the Necrosurgeon. Needless to say, they kepy coming back, and soaking up resources I should have been directing elsewhere.

Like the game against Menoth, I made a good run at Skarre, caused damage, but never killed her. This time, we both recoiled from the failed assassination attempt, and although there were some blows traded between units, the game ended in a draw.

The Black 13th spent most of the gaming taking out Mechanithralls and Scrap Thralls.


The armies prepare to engage.


Stryker knocks the Mechanithralls down.


The Hunter's damage roll against the Harrower. Ouch!


Stryker's magic, assisted by the Black 13th, messes with the Pistol Wraiths.


Seconds before the storm.


Magelock pistols crack and recoil, stopping only to reload.


The Chief Mechanik and his Bodgers have their hands full.


Back to life for the third time, the Defender does his best to stay operational.


At the close of the game, the Black 13th find themselves set upon by the undead.

The Day in General:

Warmachine wasn't the only game being played. Chris E. and a newly-discovered geek named Jeff played a 1000-point game of Warhammer 40k. It's always nice to discover new geeks in area, especially those in our age bracket and who function (relatively) normally in the outside world. In any event, Jeff plans to take part in our Battlefleet Gothic tournament next month, so we'll see how it unfolds.

Although most of the close-up game shots didn't come out, Chris sent his own synopsis of the game action which I post here for your amusement:

"We played two games over the course of the day. In the first we rolled 'Secure & Control' and 'Dawn of War' which allowed my DG to set up right in his face. Highlight for me was my leading squad being hit on turn one by an assault squad led by a chaplain who failed to kill a single PM (the rest of the squad following his example like good Astartes)! Not only that but he managed to repeat this feat on the second turn as well and the squad was wiped out. The game ended on turn five with me in control of both objectives and only a single intact squad remaining in his army. Gloat gloat!!!

The second game was an Imperial victory. 'Pitched Battle' & 'Annihilation' allowed him to set up a gunline with his two tactical squads beyond my range. He then proceeded to crucify me with his plasma cannons until turn four when one of them blew up. I did manage to destroy his deep-striking terminators with massed bolter/plasma fire and his jump-packing Chaplain once again won the title of "MUT" ("Most Unbelievable Tit") for the game, his assault squad following suit like good Astartes. Assaulting on turn three and failing to wipe out my squad by game's end (turn five) AGAIN! I swear this is the guy that spent most of his seminary training falling on his own Crozius. You had to see it to believe it. Anyway, suffice it to say I struggled to get to grips while his PC's won the game for him: Two Kill Points to one. A great day out all in all and an a good sporting opponent. Well done Jeff!"

The guys laying out their table.


The Warmachine tables ready for action.


Chris has the full modular industrial sludge river from Armorcast.


Chris (left) sent his Plague Marines against Jeff's (right) Space Marines.


Get your geek on!


A scene of one of the 40k matches.

Reflections:

This monthly Geek Day is turning into quite a success. With the first two under our belt, we are ready to move on and start some new tournaments. Our next one will be a Battlefleet Gothic tournament, and the following one will likely be an all-day Old West campaign. All in all, everyone has been enjoying themselves, and perhaps because we are paying money to geek, everyone is a little bit more driven to complete their projects.

Thanks for reading,
JET