Standard in Casual: Scars to Phyrexia

Well it's been a little while since I've talked about a block - about 1 block!  So today, I'd like to talk about some of the things that I've been leaning on in Standard Constructed the last several months.  Again, I won't be talking about the block's mythics, but some other things I feel deserve to be discussed a little more than they have. 

1. Tempered Steel

Wow.  I know this is getting more play these days, but back when Scars first busted out I didn't see too many of these being played - even though it pretty much seized me from day 1!  I've had the most luck playing with this Enchantment, more than any other deck I've been able to construct.  

There's two different deck tactics to use with this, and I've been very successful with both.  Both are mono white, and use artifacts A LOT, except for the obligatory Revoke Existence and Condemn.

Try it with the following:  Signal Pest, Ornithopter, Memnite, Pierce Strider, Peace Strider and Steel Hellkite!  Fast and furious!  I'll talk about my other idea, my favorite Tempered Steel deck...

2. Myr Battlesphere

Ok, this is ridiculous.  Here's how it goes, assuming 3 lands by turn 5.  Turn 1, Land.  Turn 2, Land and Gold Myr.  Turn 3, Palladium Myr.  Turn 4, Myr Turbine.  Turn 5-7, tap Turbine for Myr and cast Tempered Steel or other myr.  On Turn 7 (or whenever you reach 5 myr and a turbine), and every turn thereafter, use Turbine to fetch Myr Battlesphere.  Don't sweat your opponent's removal, it's rarely enough.

It gets more ridiculous if you add Myr Galvanizer, Darksteel Myr and Hovermyr - which incidentally are my favorite myr!  Now, think about the Battlesphere's ability.  You have two battlespheres, two galvanizers and an army of smaller myr boosted by Tempered Steel.  You can blast your opponent with two rounds of Battlesphere bangs and THEN have them all untap to defend!

3. Skinrender

My hatred of phyrexians is well documented, so why would I bring this up here?

Well there are two phyrexian cards I actually like, and I feel it's a terrible pity they are phyrexian, because I don't use those spells.  AT ALL.

Well, the aforementioned Pierce Strider is still a favorite.  The other phyrexian card I hate so much I use it is the ubiquitous Skinrender.  This is a great removal spell that's a bargain for black at 4 mana for a 3/3, but add to that what is basically a death sentence for an enemy creature and presto!  Instant Constructed goodness!

It's enough for me to include in my Constructed black removal deck.

That's all I've got to say for now.  We'll be doing an M12 draft at the end of The Rough Edge of Night, and Innistrad will be right behind that, so October is going to be a big month for our club's Magic nights!

I'll try to keep the posting faster in September, so give us some clicks!  

Indian Territory, 1875

Howdy folks!

Today's post is an update for the ongoing World of Darkness campaign, The Rough Edge of Night.  By the time I post this, the campaign page will be updated with an adventure log, so be sure to check that out even if you're familiar with it, as it will put things in a little better perspective.  The game will be moving to Schedule 1 for a short while after Upon An Oaken Throne finishes, so everyone can use this post and the adventure log to catch up on the action before being thrust into the thick of it!

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The outlook of the tribes in the Territory is grim.  The Red Band, Bullet Braid's sworn warriors, have been called from every tribe.  Braves have joined together in massive armies never before seen, and have avoided or destroyed the forces the U.S. have sent against them.  What this means is that there is more Indian power in the Territory, and that influence is about to extend further into the United States unless more soldiers can be mustered - something the government seems unable to do.

The decreased presence of the whites will mean several things to those in and around the Indian Territory.  A new era of the frontier is about to begin, one where the laws are made with guns and knives instead of in a book.  The true battle for the West is about to begin, and it might not be the one you expect.

Native tribes not affiliated directly with the Red Band may or may not be hostile.  Red Band warriors will always be hostile to whites, but will not always attack.

There are four major settlements the campaign is concerned with:  Ft. Grant, Primrose, Round Bend and Smokefall Ridge.  Ft. Grant is in Texas proper and serves as the "big city" in the campaign, but the other three do not have the same sort of support and conveniences.  It is up to the players to develop the settlements through roleplay and influence.

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The Characters

The following important characters are PC's in the campaign and thus will have a significant impact on the storyline.  Here are brief descriptions, along with some other relevant information and their individual goals.

• Ignacio Madera - A Mexican worker at the Yellow Rose, Madera spends most of his time with horses.  He's attempting to save money to buy land by working honestly in Smokefall Ridge.  Highest Dice Pool: Dexterity + Firearms (6)
• Samuel Brady - A firebrand lawyer from back East, Brady has made it his business to help the Natives understand and navigate the laws of the white men by asserting their land rights in court.  Highest Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion (Public Speaking) (8)
• Caleb Tinker - A gunsmith who's been drifting, trying to start his life over.  He's recently come to light in Smokefall Ridge, and now has a gun store open for business there.  Highest Dice Pools: Dexterity + Firearms (Multiple Specialties) or Craft (Gunsmith) (9)
• Dr. Frederick Jameson - An intelligent man with many problems, Doc Jameson has eyes on settling down and opening a practice in Smokefall.  Highest Dice Pool: Intelligence + Medicine (Multiple Specialties) (7)
• Hoyalli - A Choctaw shaman, Hoyalli encountered the others in the Spirit World on a vision quest.  Now he has a medicine lodge near Smokefall Ridge, to help change the spiritual direction of the land.  Highest Dice Pool: Composure + Occult (Superstitions) (9)
• Juan Ortega - A goatherder from Mexico who has obtained much of the plotted land north of Smokefall.  He plans on raising goats in the Indian Territory and generally being fat and happy.  Highest Dice Pool: Dexterity + Crafts (Pottery) (6)
• Seamus the Irish - An Irish immigrant wandering the land as a gunslinger and outlaw, he obtained a small parcel of land to the north of Smokefall and has been staying there.  Highest Dice Pool: Dexterity + Firearms (Multiple Specialties) (9)
• John Skinner - A trapper who's recently come down out of the mountains to rejoin society, this middle aged wilderness scout has seen many strange things in the Indian Territory.  Highest Dice Pools:  Intelligence + Academics, Crafts (Tanning), Investigation or Medicine (6)
• James Douglass - A distressed plantation owner dispossessed during the war, Douglass has been wandering the south trying to find a spot in a new life.  Highest Dice Pool:  Presence + Persuasion (Public Speaking) (6)

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The campaign has lasted through the month of July, 1875.  When we pick up the campaign once more on Schedule 1, two weeks will have passed in Smokefall.  A lot of legwork can get done, but here's a basic rundown on some of the character's agendas and how the downtime will affect them.

• Samuel Brady has heard back from the Governor of Texas concerning the Land Office in Smokefall.  The attorney must now turn his attention to the Federal Government and the U.S. Attorney - for those lands fall under the purview of the U.S. Military and the Commission of Indian Affairs.  Congress is considering several new acts that will severely change how the tribes, and thier lands, are considered in the eyes of the law.
• Caleb Tinker has his gun shop up and running.  He's even had a few customers...
• Doc Jameson got his pharmaceutical order.  He can now set up a fairly well equipped laboratory.
• Hoyalli and friends have built a medicine lodge just east of Smokefall.  He is currently searching for a totem spirit... 

If your character wasn't mentioned, it's because I need more info!  Leave us a comment on how you'll spend those two weeks, or hit me up on Facebook or Yahoo! to get in your two weeks of out-of-character game time!

See you on Game Day!

Terrain Log: Some 40k Buildings!

I thought I'd take today to show off some of the ruinous buildings we use in our games of Warhammer 40,000.   Players who frequent the Wargate will note that these buildings are all ancient, at least ten years in some cases.  We'll be showing off some of the new cool terrain kits we've been hoarding and painting, but for now lets check out these oldies but goodies.

This building has been around for about 12 years.  Like a lot of the buildings here, it was made with a masonite base, drybrushed Necromunda bulkheads and some sturdy card.  Also, we had some empty cartridges around, and they made it onto the base as some sort of run down tank set.  Don't shoot around them, it could be dangerous!

This is one of our larger intact buildings.  It also uses masonite and the bulkheads, but this particular building has been with us for about 14 years.  Over time it earned a base, and you can't see the styrofoam it was built around anymore like you could back in 1997.  Every few years when I do a terrain review to fix the broken stuff, I try to add in a few more details.  However, people keep snapping the lights off accidentally...

This particular building is also a decade old, again using spare bulkheads and masonite as a base.  However, as you'll see in the pic below where all the buildings are arranged, the actual roof is a piece of the card terrain that originally came with the Necromunda boxed set way back!

Jerry Wargate made this piece way back in the day, circa 2000 A.D. or so.  It also has a masonite base, but the foam was built so perfectly he just stuck these bulkheads on it and painted blood everywhere.  It's a great ruin to take cover in or put a gun nest!

These buildings are medium to large size bases, and can form the bulk of a ruinous city with ease.   We've used these buildings for so long, I'm kinda sentimentally attached to them.  Even when we have awesome buildings like the Cities of Death buildings and the newer terrain kits, we just didn't have those back in the day.

Shame to get rid of them just because they are older.  Every year when we fix things up, you can bet these bad boys will be on the table, for a quick fix adding flock or repairing structural damage.  Then they'll be back on the battlefield, doing what they've done this entire time - giving us some familiar terrain to jockey about during our games!

Brave New Waaagh!!! Campaign Results!

The battle has been hard fought, but it was over quicker than we expected as a new tyranid menace makes itself known to the Mardannon sector!

The sounds of death and metal have plunged the world of Tangrus III's surface into the sort of war it has not known in over a decade, since the orks themselves invaded the planet and took it as their own.  Now known as Nokk, the world has been ravaged and taken for everything it's worth.  Even as the orks fought among themselves over the spoils of the defeated Imperials, other invaders nestled into the remote and wild places near the edge of the Imperial development.

The dread tyranids arrived on the beleaguered world sometime during the ork invasion, presumably brought by the orks own ramshackle hulks that crashed into the surface.  Only now, years later, does the threat become apparent.  For years, the orks fought amongst themselves and even hunted tyranid beasts thinking they were an indigenous meat-beast.

They were wrong.

The ork tribes on Nokk have long had a special agreement with the Alpha Legion, but the inhabitants of the world were unprepared for the alien onslaught that was about to occur - largely from their own world.  As tyranids swelled up from the hinterlands, finally ready to overcome the flesh-things and call to the Hive Mind - another hidden alien threat appeared.  The Necrons rose up from the ground and made war upon the living.

War was joined by all parties.  Now, the shadow of the tyranids is upon all the factions of Nokk, as they broke the terrible might the Black Skull Goffs wielded upon the world by consuming much of their northern territory, all the way to Black Skull City.  They appeared from all directions, swarming out of the hinterlands - casting much speculation as to the true size of the swarm.  

Thus far, the Alpha Legion hasn't been able to muster much of their forces, and tyranids are turning back their small bands quite easily.  Even with unexpected help from Eldar forces on the surface, it might not be enough to stop the killer swarm - a splinter of Hive Fleet Mahnunnah!

This is the final map of Nokk transmitted from Alpha Legion ships in high orbit.

The newly divided surface of planet Nokk.  Despair, all ye who enter these realms of the ruthless.

The Vendetta Round has begun!  Everyone gets a final chance to strike at their hated enemies!  The fate of planet Nokk still rests in your hands!  The campaign is over, but the Warhammer 40,000 season is not!

The top three players in the campaign were presented their honors last night!  They have fulfilled the victory conditions almost a month early due to rapid progress on the surface of the planet, and stand as the top dogs on planet Nokk!

1st Place to Hive Fleet Mahnnunah (Tyranids)!

2nd Place to the Umbral Stalkers Cabal (Alpha Legion)!

3rd Place to Craftworld Tir Tairngire (Eldar)!

Dead Last to Evil Sunz Tribe (Orks)!

 Get your vendettas in and get the last word in on your enemies!  On September 1st, the season is over and we'll file Tangrus III away in the Index Mardannon.  Until next time, take my advice and don't let another planet fall prey to six-armeds monsters from beyond the future!  Do something about it and bring forth your army!

Infinity Watch Terminators and Dreadnought!

Howdy folks!  Thought I'd make a quick post this evening before I got started on some prep work, so we're going to show off some of Captain Video's burgeoning Infinity Watch chapter of Imperial Space Marines!  Today we're going to check out some of his elite units - terminators and his dreadnought!

These units were painted in the same fashion as the other models in the army...a drybrush of gold, a metallic highlight and Quickshade Strong Tone!  It really works to set off the highlighting done in various parts of the model, and adds a lot of definition to the details.  Totally worth the extra step!

The larger model benefits from having the Quickshade applied as well.  All of these were done with a 'splash-on' method, as Captain Video painstakingly applies the medium to the model with a brush.  All in all, beautiful units for a tabletop army, and I'm sure they'll see action in our next Warhammer 40,000 campaign!

The Vendetta Round begins this weekend!  It's your last chance to impact the narrative on planet Nokk!  Get your last hits in this month!  Vendettas end on September 1st, so don't delay - you can still change the way your army fares in the campaign!

Gang Briefing: Band of Basterds

Band

Of

Basterds

By Chief Scrivener Hannan

Vae Salubrious Subsector, .M41

Deep in the darkest recesses of some of the seediest places in the Imperium, there are those who live permanently beyond the reach of the law.  For some, this is a welcome freedom, and for others it can be a death sentence with no hope of reprieve.  Unsurprisingly, in some of the most lawless reaches, folks take action into their own hands when the time comes for fighting.  Others hire mercenaries.

In the Vae Salubrious subsector, mercenaries roam all over the space lanes.  Recently there has been a surge in the number of available mercenary companies, but these are usually limited to a single world or system.  Alarmingly, at least one company of drifting mercenaries seems to have been spotted all over the subsector, appearing in documentation across no less than seven worlds.  These are the outlaws the Adeptus Arbites are keenly interested in – the Band of Basterds.

Mercenary Vendettas

            The Band consists of several ex-guardsmen who have banded together after their unit was granted settlement rights after it was almost wiped out.  Only a few dozen remained after the carnage of their old battles, which may have been the wars of heresy on Lucruzu Primus.  They possess several weapons, and the skill to use heavier, Munitorum issue arms and explosives.  The skills of the various fugitives combine to make a quite effective team that is entirely for hire, anywhere in the subsector.

            This is the most alarming problem.  It seems the Band of Basterds is able to move about the Vae Salubrious subsector.  They have been pursued by authorities on Abraxia, Attono Vittium, Praesaepes Caementum, Corgarth Contineo, Lucruzu Prime, Velan Thracia and even Vae Salubrious itself.  How this can be is uncertain, but what is certain is the fact that the Inquisition would be highly interested in their activities especially where warp travel is concerned.

            It isn’t entirely known where the Band’s loyalty truly lies.  They have committed crimes against Imperial Law and do not seem to be repentant.  Last known activity for the Band was around Velan Thracia, but it is suspected by the Judges pursuing them that they have made it offworld to parts unknown.  The full extent of this threat has yet to be determined, but in some places the stories of mercenaries being hired to attack Imperial authorities are becoming legend.

Prep Work Isn't Homework

Howdy folks!  Sorry for my absence for nearly a week, but the Wargate is back in session this week with some serious fun for everyone!  All our current games are running strong, and I have a little less time to write these days.  Interestingly, that's going to be today's topic - the work we put into our games.

Every Game Master knows by now that they have to be truly into the game in order run one.  GM's will devote more of their "real time" to the game than any other player, simply by virtue of having to prepare a game.  Preparing the game takes time, but it's not that much out of our weekly schedule - unless you're just pouring details onto the page.  Nevertheless, it's still something that has to be done on a weekly basis by a Wargate GM.  The bad part is that players who haven't GM'd don't always understand this.

Unless you're using a published adventure, it can take a long time to sit around coming up with ideas.  A brainstorming session is always the best way to start a new campaign or adventure, and I for one know that my brainstorming is best done under certain conditions - that is, when I'm completely alone.  Sometimes I listen to music while I write notions down, sometimes I need the silence to help me concentrate.  It's critical for me to come up with all the ideas I can before distilling them into new RPG stories.  

It also helps clear a little bit of the confusion left by reading certain passages.

That said, I usually brainstorm long before I actually write an adventure.  Getting everything you want to explore in the game out on the table (of your mind) prior to when you actually sit down to write can speed you along when it comes time to start planning encounters.  I have several "Story Workshops" in an Excel spreadsheet (many of you who know me know of my predilection for spreadsheets) and write outlines there for specific campaigns.  I wrote the outline for The Rough Edge of Night almost a year ago, and a printed version of that outline now accompanies my composition pad for the game.

That is to say, I only brainstorm and blog on the computer.  There's just something about putting pen to paper for me, I use composition pads to actually write adventures in.  It helps to organize things long before you sit down, and having a general idea of an story can help you develop a further outline for the adventure without having to spend time brainstorming week to week - other than taking last week's character actions into account.

Most GM's have something similar - a spiral notebook, a trapper keeper, it's all the same: A Game Tome.  It's a place to work and keep ideas.  The Wargate has a lot going on, and I have several spreadsheets to keep track of all the festivities.  However, for those of you working only from the notepad - carve out the first few pages of your Game Tome with outlines and ideas for your campaign.  Having thought out the whole plot through key points, you can guide the campaign by writing your weekly adventures as you go.  You have a point of reference, a plot idea to go by and your player characters to guide the action.

Even with all that in place, it still takes time to do the work.  With the proper preparation, you can reduce the amount of time you spend on a game, but nothing is so important as your work area.  You'll need space to write in your Game Tome, of course - but you'll need space to open important reference manuals as well during that time.  A large table where you won't be disturbed is best.  Get all the manuals you need for the adventure, your outlines and your Game Tome.  Then put the pen to paper.

The Wargate has regular gaming schedules, so you can plot your adventure by your time slot.  Each of our game days have a certain time and length they normally run.  Sunday's Schedule 1 games begin at 6pm, and last 3-4 hours on average...but we've had sessions that run 6 and 7 hours.  Thursday night Schedule 2 games also begin at 6pm, but only last 3 hours normally and 4 or 5 hours maximum.  So generally speaking, we'll be doing RPG's on Sundays and Thursdays from 6-11pm.

Using this as a rule of thumb, you can now determine how long your adventures will take.  The way in which the club approaches these sessions is actually conducive to building games, since it lends itself to an episodic manner but is frequent enough to RP day by day, depending on the nature of the individual game.  These methods mean it takes me about three to five hours during my week to write a night's worth of gaming.  If I'm ready to write, the encounters and game minutiae flow easy.  Having an established idea, with a well planned outline and enough space to work in a comfortable and quiet spot - that's the best time for me to write an adventure.

It's important that each GM have a real passion for his game, since he'll be spending the most time within the world as he writes his adventures.  As players, it's important we understand and appreciate the amount of time that goes into developing the games we play.  If  players abandon an adventure when you were sure they would follow through, or a game night gets curtailed for some reason, can be harrowing to a new GM.  While we're in GM's game, we should play the game they want to play, whether that's heroic adventure against an evil order or evil backstabbery in the land of Mordor.

In general, open sandbox games at the Wargate do not work.  There are too many players, and they can come up with some wild agendas in the context of a certain plotline - never mind free rein to do whatever they wanted.  Don't be angry if you're not doing what you want to do in a game - it's just not possible in all games, or even most of them.  Most of them will have a narrow focus, like on a band of warriors or mob of orcs.

It goes without saying that GM's enjoy the game they are running - for those with a passion for gaming, the prep work is not homework at all.  It's a great experience to design a run a game, and more fulfilling than simply writing a story for a great many reasons.  It takes a lot of passion to keep coming back with a game week after week, especially when everyone tries so hard to bring something new to the table with every campaign and adventure.

If you don't like a game or for some reason don't want to follow along with the story, wait until the GM and game changes or run a different game.  After all - there's always another game on the Schedules...and there's always room on the Schedules for another GM.