My First steps into Magic The Gathering

My First steps into Magic The Gathering

I had first started playing a few years ago with eighth edition but i didn't really play enough to really say that i knew the rules or even that i played the game. Also with not that many people in my social circle that played Mtg, the games stopped.

I'm no stranger to CCG's being a players of the original Yu-gi-oh! and Pokemon (along with other less known/popular games)

I tried last year to start Magic in getting myself a Commander deck from Highlander games one of Dundee's Local gaming stores, which the staff were more than helpful in getting me started and i really enjoyed playing, even picking up a Mirrodin besieged: Doom inevitable intro deck, but with work and home life i found it hard to get time to play at the LGS. so yet again Magic flickered out.

With the Opening of Major Arcana, a new LGS in Dundee by one of my friends most of the people i regularly played with started to pick up the game. This was great as i was able to play people on the same newbie gaming level as i was, playing with a standard sixty card deck. The other player were mostly using M13 starter sets and i got to use my Mirrodin besieged deck (blue/black) which played differently to how the other players were use to. Mainly things like Proliferate and living weapons. Unfortunately this didn't help me much against Krenko's goblin horde who was generating more tokens than i could kill or block. 

So after a good few games i decided to try a new deck and got myself the Slaughterhouse  deck from Avacyn restored. Its a red/black deck which if i am being honest i still really enjoy using. Blood artist being my favourite card in it.

The next step for me was to create my own deck from scratch

From this collection i started to build a Red/blue deck. It was a fairly simple burn deck but it lacked any really punch, with too many low mana cost cards. To help with redesigning the deck i registered with www.deckbox.org to help with keeping all of my cards in order and helping to visualise my Mana curve and a few Return to Ravnica cards. 

Here is the final result : Red/blue Millburn

I wanted to have both a Mill element (Throwing cards from their library to their graveyard) and a burn element (direct damage to either player or creature) so if one is cancelled or countered i could rely on the other. 

 The first game i tried it out on was against a Golgari deck which my milling actually helped my opponent who can salvage (cast creatures from their graveyard) and a well placed Stuffy doll.

I was eventually defeated, but my opponent was only one turn from losing all of the cards from their library making me win the game.

My First Draft:

At this point i had never been involved in a booster draft before and Major Arcana had never run one before. There was eight players in the pod and only one player had ever drafted before and even then it was only once before. The set we drafted was the Return to Ravnica set. 

After the first few cards i decided to go Rakdos guild (black/red) 

This being one of the first cards i drafted

The first Game i came up against an Azorius deck (blue/white). I won the first game but lost the other two.

The next Game was a less dedicated Azorius deck which i managed to defeat 2-0.

The final game was against a Golgari deck (green/black) which i lost 2-1 to a Stab wound and being mana starved. 

So i was happy with the games i managed to win at least one game against each opponent.

 I landed in fifth place out of eight. 

The Return to Ravnica set really got me wanting to try out some of the other guilds, so with the help of one of my friends i went about making a Selesnya populate deck.

In a booster pack i managed to get a Armada Wurm so that was my reasoning behind going selesnya as a next guild choice.

The deck can be seen here on deckbox and here on Tapped out

The Next draft

For this one i drafted a Selesnya guild deck.

The first Game i came up against an Rakdos deck (black/red). and i was soundly beaten 0-2 he was killing more creatures than i could produce, unleashed creatures turn really scary on the attack

The next Game was another Rakdos deck which i managed to defeat 2-0. Mainly due to my opponent becoming mana starved in the second game and the Selesnya keyrune

The final game was against an Izzet deck (red/blue) which i lost 2-1 to being denied with instants and Conjured Currency using my creatures against me

 The deck wasn't as strong as my first draft with the Rakdos, but i had fun and am happy with the results with a few games quite close. The Centaur healer became quite a good card for a low mana cost. The rares i managed to pick up were Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Grove of the guardians and Growing ranks for my Selesnya deck.  

 I landed in joint fourth place out of fourteen. 

The next steps
I'm tempted to try and make a nice sixty card Standard deck for Rakdos.
I have also been quite fond of the Mirrodin artwork and when i happened across The Moons of Mirrodin novel i just had to pick it up.

Mirrodin Glissa Deck 
After reading the novel I'm wanting to make a deck up from all the Mirrodin sets based around Glissa Sunseeker and her companions and even some of the bad guys.

Well thats the story so far.... stay tuned for more.

November update 2012

November Update

Quite a few things on the plate this month.

so First up is....

Rasputina's  35SS crew:

Rasputina
Ice golem

3 x Ice Gamins
3 x Molemen

December acolyte

The Crew is now fully painted along with some ice pillars. The one game i have used them against the Ortegas i found Rasputina and her crew to be quite slow movement-wise. The Molemen are quite endurable and good for reaching objective while burrowing. The next game i am looking forward to getting to use the December acolyte.

Outcast 35SS crew
Viktorias
Bishop
Taelor
Sue
Ronin
Convict gunslinger

This was my original crew i worked out , it wasn't until after i had bought Sue that i found out about his Man in black rule which means he can't be in a crew with someone with either the Ruthless or Wicked abilities. which means my Convict gunslinger and Sue can't be in the same force.

As a replacement i am thinking either an additional Ronin with two spare soulstones or an Orain. 

This months sees me playing a lot of new card games, the first one being Warhammer invasion. As a long time player of all things Games-workshop this game clearly got my attention. So i took the plunge and bought the core set and two of the deluxe expansions ( Assault on Ulthuan and March of the Damned) and a battle pack (The fall of Karak Grimaz).

This gives me the option to play with eight of the races from Warhammer. They are separated into two categories.  Forces of Order and the Forces of Destruction

Forces of Order:
High Elves
Empire
Dwarves
Lizardmen (Neutral faction)

Forces of Destruction:
Dark Elves
Chaos
Orcs
Vampire counts (Neutral faction)

Each faction have a distinct way of playing that keeps well with Warhammer lore. So far in the games i have played i have really enjoyed the games and I'm sure it has potential to be played multi-player.

The other card game that i have started to play with other people in the same level of playing experience is Magic the gathering. I have always had some cards i had picked up in eighth edition but no-one i knew really played it on a regular basis so i kinda stopped playing. But with the opening of the new Dundee gaming store Major Arcana in October, Magic the Gathering (Mtg) has taken off in a big way. 

The Current set we are playing with is as the title says Return to Ravnica.  It focuses on the guild system and multi-colour cards.

The returning guilds will be featured in the Return to Ravnica block, with five guilds — the Azorius Senate (blue /white), Golgari Swarm (Green/black), Izzet League (blue/red), Cult of Rakdos (red/black), and Selesnya Conclave (green/white) 

 Ravnica, a plane comprising a singular megalopolis in which a vast and diverse variety of inhabitants co-exist.

The Guild i have chosen to play in Standard is a Selesnya View my tapped out deck here  and in the last booster draft i played using a Rakdos deck.

Major Arcana is a new Gaming store in Dundee city centre,

Available at Major Arcana:
- Graphic novels and manga.

- Games:
           loads of Board games, (Horus heresy, Settlers of Catan)
           Card games (Magic the gathering, Pokemon)
           Role playing games (Savage worlds, Dark heresy)
          Tabletop war games (Urban war, Malifaux, Hordes and Warmachine)                                     
- T-Shirts and Artwork

All this in an environment that is friendly, bright, and clean! Round it out with some sofas and coffee tables, so you can sit and read, or play some games with your pals.


Visit the Facebook page Here

Battle of Helion - Urban war league

The Helion sector deep within the giant war -torn city continent of Iskandria has erupted with conflict, all of the factions have descended upon it. The robotic Syntha have unleashed their elite combat cells. The native Triads are retaking their homes one block at a time. The swelling ranks of the Junkers swarm in to enslave the Iskandrian population. Alien Koralon cause terror, hiding in the depths and striking out with lightning raids.. The Gladiators have been causing havoc in the urban streets, ravaging the populace with their warbeasts. The Viridians in the form of the Iskandrian Defence Force (IDF) take to the warzones to quell the conflict with unflinching brute force. On the streets Patrols of the V.A.S.A fight furiously to crush the rebellion and restore Iskandrian peace in the sector. Each faction needs help to conquer the sector, which will you choose?

175 points starting force (the same points as a starter box set)

Starting Feb 2013, Those interested sign up in Major arcana store with their chosen faction (don't worry you can change it before the league starts)

If you need anymore information contact me at marc.s@urbanwarthegame.com

SKELP 2012

SKELP 2012

 The Angus Wargames Club ran a

A Miniature Wargames Exhibition known as 

SKELP 2012 on the 

Saturday 20th October

I went there to run intro games of Urban mammoth's sci-fi skirmish game Urban war. I left in the morning with a stonking sore head, but i left anyway hoping that i would feel better as the day progressed as i would be there on my own.

Here are a few pictures of some of the games and gaming tables on display.

Space crusade ran by Edinburgh league of gamers

A band of brothers game by RAF leuchars

Aberdeen Wargames club ran a game using the Dux Bellorum rules

I'm not sure who ran this table (below) or what rules they used but it was a very nice table with some great looking miniatures on display

Empire of the Dead ran by the Glasgow Games Group

Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson Versus Jack the Ripper

The next table was ran by the Inverness roleplaying and wargaming club

Battletech

South east Scotland wargames club

7TV Demo table by Crooked dice

My Urban war demo table

Four starter teams of Junkers, Syntha, Viridians and the V.A.S.A wage war in the industrial zone of Iskandria.

My throbbing sore head that i hoped would disappear did the opposite making me feel quite nauseous.

The show i felt was a lot quieter than previous years but saying that i felt that the Angus wargames club did a fantastic job at making everyone feel welcome and organising the event. A huge thank you to them.

Slight delays but still here.

 Laptop and camera issues.

 As the title says i am still here i have just been having a little delays, my laptop and digital camera have both been playing up. So as soon as they are fixed I will be able to post on a more frequent basis. 

Upcoming posts:

The new and improved Bushido rules have been released under the guise of Bushido: New Dawn on the 16th of September this year.

Bushido New Dawn here

I have had a quick look at the rules and I'm looking forward to having a game with them. The rules seem a lot more streamline and the close combat is a much more deadly affair.

I hope to post up a battle report with the new rules soon, i have already begun work on painting up my Cult of Yurei force.

On the 40k front i have finally finished my imperial guard cityfight army to 1500pts which i plan to get more pictures of. 

Three Imperial guard servitors

Now that my Guard are finished i am now going to take a dive into the realm of 40k chaos with a Death guard army. At this point i dont have the new Chaos space marine codex, so i haven't yet started on writing my army list but i dare say with will include most of the dark vengeance set.

The first squad of Chaos space marine from the Death Guard legion that i did a few years ago when i started the project.

upcoming events:
        The Angus Wargames Club

A Miniature Wargames Exhibition

SKELP 2012

Saturday 20th October

The skelp event is here on Facebook

There will be a Urban war  Team tourney on the 25th of November this year which i will be taking part in using my Koralon. Me and my team mate haven't worked out our 250pt lists yet, but you can be sure its going to be brutal. This event is the first urban war event that i have actually played in, as the other events i organised but never had the chance to play.

Warhammer 40'000 - Dark Vengeance

Dark Vengeance

The long awaited Warhammer 40k box set has finally arrived.


The Artwork on the box cover isn't the usual epic battle scene that we have grown accustomed to over the years. Sixth edition sports a more simple charcoal colour box with game logo.
The box is deeper that both Battle for Macragge and Assault on black reach sets.

Contents:

Miniatures
I may have my reservations about the Finecast range  but the plastic miniatures is where i think GW really shines. The Dark Vengeance set not being an exception.

The Sprues are tightly packed with all kinds of Dark Angels and Chaos goodness.
The main stand out figure of the set clearly is the new Chaos Hellbrute.
My personal choice is the Dark Angels Librarian Turmiel.
A black and white assembly guide booklet is included to help.

Dark Angels Librarian Turmiel

I like this miniature as he isn't too ornate and overcrowded with details.

The Limited edition box set-  This particular set is different as it contains an Interrogator-chaplain Seraphicus, only available in the limited edition set. The miniature is set on a single sprue and a A4 card stat sheet with assembly guide on the other side

Interrogator-chaplain Seraphicus

I have hyped up the Dark angels so here are few pictures of the Chaos forces to balance things out

Chaos Lord Kranon the Relentless

The Cultists

The Hellbrute

Gaming aids:

The gaming aids included are the usual bits and bobs like the dice and neon green templates that have been in previous warhammer 40k box sets.
It contains a two page A4 reference guide containing the basic tables and turn guide.
For each force there is a roster so you can get the stats for the models. but there are no points values for them.

One thing that baffled me was that the A4 gaming reference sheets were made out of quite thin paper and not even thin card. This is even more surprising when you think of the Interrogator-chaplain Seraphicus stat card is made from glossy thick card.


Rules:

The mini Warhammer 40k rule book is up to the same high standard as previous editions.

The Dark Vengeance booklet is very well put together and the first half of the booklet is a step by step guide on how to play 40k with the miniatures in the set.

The second half of the booklet is a fantastic piece of work, it gives six original missions to play with the DV(Dark Vengeance) set. The reasons why i like these missions are because these are not dumbed down versions of missions from the rulebook but they are unique and look fun to play. The first mission in the book can be played one player.
Each mission links to the next and lets you try out the various rules. A mission book like this is something that the previous 40k set Assault on black reach truly missed. 

The selection of miniatures chosen for DV was very clever as they allow you to cover most of the rules while keeping with the flavour of the forces.
The Dark angels let you cover Bikes, Psychic powers, Deep strike, Reserves.
and the Chaos allow for vehicle rules, close combat weapons and provide the cannon fodder.


One thing from the set that is missing is any attempt to give basic painting guides of the models from the DV set. I would of thought that this would be quite important in a starter set.

300 - Warmaster ancients

''This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die!''- King Leonidas, 300

I had decided that my next Warmaster ancients project would be a quick one.
so straight away i decided i was going to get a Spartan force, well maybe not a full force but enough to recreate the battle of battle of thermopylae.

 I wanted to make it more in theme of the film 300 than real historical.

Looking at the army list for the Greek,The force consists of:

General - King Leonidas
1 unit of Spartan bodyguards
1 unit of hoplites (these will act as a supporting unit)

coming to a total points value of 285 (just short of 300 points)

All in all this small force has 17 attacks even if it doesn't charge( 20 if it does) and +3 to combat resolution

King Leonidas

''Give them nothing! But take from them everything!''

Front rank

Supporting rank

The 300

The 300 defend the Hot gates.

 The Miniatures are 6mm and i picked them up from the Baccus stand at the 2012 claymore gaming event.