The Art of War, Week 43

Journal of a Warmachinist, 11th Entry

Last night I metagamed a 500-point Foothold between Vlad and Kreoss.

+076 Vlad, Dark Prince of Umbrey
+100 Doomreavers
+126 Destroyer
+105 Juggernaut
+043 Greylord Ternion
+025 Winter Guard Mortar
+025 Winter Guard Mortar

+064 High Exemplar, Kreoss
+076 Repenter
+076 Revenger
+093 Crusader
+069 Knights Exemplar
+060 Deliverer, with Arms Master and 7 Troops
+034 Exemplar Seneschal
+018 Deliverer Sunburst
+005 Wrack
+005 Wrack

I made sure that the game would be evened out when it came down to tactics and smart deployment.

But it was the unfortunate charge of the Crusader (just a little above an inch away) after Kreoss popped Menoth's Wrath that really cost the Menites. It was supposed to finish off the knockdowned Juggernaut and make its way to hit Vlad, but alas Menoth was not with them then.

Vlad's feat was not really maximized, having only two warjacks. But he was tremendously awesome with Blood of Kings. I haven't tried Signs & Portents yet. Maybe on the next metagame I'll be holding when I get home.

Doom Reavers are nice, but better to end their charge with multiple opponents, preferably with a light warjack. The initial sweeps were enough to bring down four of the Knights Exemplar (including the Warder) and the Exemplar Seneschal. Unfortunately, one Doom Reaver was exuberant enough to take down two of his brothers down as well.

I absolutely love the Destroyer and Winter Guard Mortar! I'm sure they'd work better with Vlad's Signs & Portents on! Gotta get these models first.

Greylord Ternion also rocks! I was exclusively using only Ice Cages but will try the other two spell abilities next time.

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Drifting Between Light And Darkness, Second Drift

Doesn't it just absolutely pisses you off when you say something and you keep to your word with as much honor as you can muster, whereas SOME people just throw words away to neglect?

And when it comes to question, they have the gall to lecture you about trust?!?

Fuckin' hypocrite!

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Twenty-Second of October

Today is my dad's birthday. But he's already passed away. I know I've left him more sour memories than joyous ones when he left, and there's always mixed emotions when I see people with their dads. I don't know for sure, but I just tell myself he's still watching over me and my folks even now. Yeah, I'm sure he is.

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I'm such a horrible person when it comes to dates and names. Honestly, I wouldn't have remembered today to be his birthday until I came into the office and punched in my time card. It read - 22:22 with another 22 sideways to mark the current date.

Hoy, gago, birthday ko ngayon! Kahit "happy birthday, pa" lang, pwede na saken!

My papa would usually treat us out to some fancy restaurant during special days like birthdays. It's usually at Cabalen's (spell check). It's always a lot about food when it comes to him.

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What is 'pares'? I think it's some Chinese dish that's made up of sliced beef in sweet bean sauce coupled with some house specialty fried rice, hence 'pares' or pair. Or at least that's what I've concluded upon myself. I love the stuff! It depends on the establishment though. And the taste varies from place to place. Some have really tasty beef sauce (colloquially monickered as 'lotong'). Some have nice fried rice. Some have nice beef broth. Heck, some even have yummy chili or hot sauce!

What's stupid about it is that we used to make them at home! Right in our kitchen! Shit, I pass by that kitchen all the time, seeing people cook it right then and there! And I disliked it back then! Stupid!

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Journal of a Warmachinist, 11th Entry



Ignoring the nauseating effects of the Warwitch's spell, Sorscha finished the final gesticulations of a spell of her own. Suddenly, the world around seemed as if time slowed. She felt a cold wind rising up from beneath her, pushing her forward. As the Khadoran's boots touched the ground several feet from where she started, the warcaster unleashed the full strength of her will, sending sheets of white crystal in a billow all around her.

Deneghra felt the sudden numbness of her entire body as a strong blast of icy wind enveloped her. The Warwitch saw her bonejacks crumple underneath the bombardment from the Winter Guard entrenched on a nearby hill, and her precious Slayer fall at the brutal axe of a Khadoran Juggernaut. She tried to fight the numbness, but only saw the Khadoran woman finish the final wordings of another spell. Once again a blast of icy wind smothered Deneghra. The Cryx warcaster knew she will not last long.

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I've fought Cryx before and I've read up on them enough to have at least some semblance of a game plan against them. I know Joel has put in more games in Warmachine than I have, so he was several notches above me in terms of gaming experience.

Joel used Deneghra as his warcaster. The Warwitch's battlegroup was composed of a Slayer, two Deathrippers and two Nightwretches. The warband was filled out with two Pistol Wraiths, a Skarlock and a big mob of Mechanithralls. I had Sorscha, two teams of Winter Guard Mortar, two Destroyers, a Manhunter and a Juggernaut.

I was planning on having my Manhunter do some serious damage to his bonejacks, but it turned out the Manhunter being Deathripper lunch very early in the game! And surprisingly, the model that I had painted the night before, the Juggernaut, was my MVP! Having survived a back-attack Combo-slam from an angry Slayer, and finishing it off (with the help of Sorscha's Icy Gaze though), the Juggernaut came off with some hard-earned battle honors.

I had my lock set in after popping Sorscha's feat and was close enough to continue the drill with continuous castings of Freezing Grip. With the Juggernaut close by, Joel graciously withdrew.

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I also demo'ed a game with my Khador starter box against Les who was using Romy's Menoth starter box.

Les was cageing up, maintaining protective spells on all three of his warjacks. Unfortunately, he left a nice gap between his Crusader and Repenter, enough for Sorscha to whoosh through with the help of her Wind Rush. Popping the Icy Gaze, she blasted at a stationary Kreoss with a boosted Hand Cannon and a boosted Razor Wind. Acceptably softened up, I finished Kreoss off with a shot from the nearby Destroyer.

The game ended with me blabbing about the fluff on Warmachine and some tactics (which I think Les already knew).

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Kingdom of Loathing WIP

Since I can't paint my miniatures here at the office, I tried my hand at another thing I like - drawing. I was browsing online and stumbled on really nice anime art. So I grabbed the nearest white sheet of paper and a pencil and just started sketching. I realized I always wanted to doodle up my KoL character so I did.

I'd have done more work on him, but I still have to update the website. Maybe later.

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Journal Of A Warmachinist, 10th Entry

Here's a mock-up of what my battlegroup will look like after I get all of the components together. So far, it's just the starter box - Sorscha, a Destroyer and a Juggernaut.

Ah, soon... ^_^

Showbiz

I got kissed by a female celebrity last week! Here in the office! And I didn't force her or anything! ^_^ Get your mind outta the gutter, pervs. It was a kiss from sweet and charming Ella Guevarra. Ella and her dad hung out at the webteam frat house last Friday. Yeah, even small kids get me starstruck, too. Next time, I'm gonna take a picture with her LOL! Reminds me a lot of my sister, Deanna. Miss her a lot ^_^

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I managed to unearth a collector's edition of FHM (the one with Francine Prieto in front) and brought it to the office. Maybe I can get Connie to have the sexy celebrity beauties of GMA sign it for me. Strange though - it's a collector's edition but Diana Zubiri wasn't featured inside.

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Oh yeah, last 12th was my first anniversary here at GMA NMI ^_^ Woohoo! Now to file for a vacation leave LOL!

The Art of War, Week 42

Journal of a Warmachinist, 9th Entry

I finally had some time to sit down and put some more work on my Warmachine models. The Juggernaut came out pretty OK. I'm thinking of settling with my current Khador painting style instead of stripping off the paintjob now. Maybe I'll put in some practice with Jio's airbrush on some other models before committing it on my Khador warjacks.

Retouched my Sorscha some more. The result came out good enough for me. I put in a different painting style on the red armor and the red clothing areas on Sorscha. She's still red, but the cloth will be distinct from the armor. Glued some grass on her base, and freehanded on the split for front and rear arc.

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Tomb Fleet Vyr Phases Out At The Kolat Cup

I can only blame myself for not putting in too much practice with 40K which attributed to many, many wrong moves at the recent Kolat Cup. Too much WFB but not a Kolat WFB tourney in sight. Ah well..

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Drifting Between Light And Darkness, First Drift

From some book that some of my friends are familiar with, there's a line that goes, "The Wheel turns as the Wheel wills." And right now, I'm at the bottom spoke choking on road dirt and drowning on gravel and mud.

Yeah, I fucking hate people who whine but do little to help themselves out of the shithole they let themselves fall into.

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The Longest Friday

Slow day. Start of an even slower week. Burnt out. Exhausted. Lethargic. I need a vacation. This has gotta be the longest Friday. Because it's still only Monday.

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Yu-Gi-Oh: Joey The Passion

Forty-eight cards, lockdown using Chain Energy or library depletion using Needle Worm, Card Destruction and Morphing Jar ^_^

2x Giant Soldier of Stone
3x Aqua Madoor
2x Labyrinth Wall
1x Jinzo
2x The Bistro Butcher
1x Witch Of The Black Forest
1x Sangan
1x Cyber Jar
2x Penguin Soldier
3x Needle Worm
2x Morphing Jar
3x Man-eater Bug
1x Sinister Serpent
2x Magician Of Faith
2x Spirit Of The Breeze
1x Harpie's Feather Duster
1x Pot Of Greed
1x Monster Reborn
1x Card Destruction
1x United We Stand
1x Raigeki
1x Chain Energy
1x Dark Hole
1x Swords Of Revealing Light
1x Change Of Heart
3x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Ring Of Destruction
3x Trap Hole
1x Mirror Force
2x Magic Jammer

Daemonic Scrivenings, 6662

Played against two Bretonnians last Saturday - Ryan and Emcee. Both of them were heavy in armor-clad cavalry, but the similarities ended there. More often than not, Bretonnian cavalry can easily tear through any of my units. Having held up against the lance charge of heavy cavalry was a stroke of sheer luck which favored me last Saturday. Well, a very rare instance of two strokes of luck.

Both were well-played, being seasoned strategists both of them. It was more of who rolled the dice better than out-thinking each other.

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I'm planning to change my Daemonic Chariot. I'm planning on dropping the whole chariot idea and just mount an ominous monster on a chariot base, putting a more daemonic theme to my army. I already propped off most of my existing chariot's parts, but left enough for it to be playable.

I'll be making some sketches on my envisioned monster later. ^_^ Ideas welcome of course.