Oops...and Geekery

Well, that didn't last long. I had money when I last posted...now I don't and I'm still unemployed. Joy. What to do, what to do...

Still, on more positive terms, my geekery is slowly progressing. I played my first game of Hordes last week and I can see the appeal...the added element of resource management is a welcome one in a skirmish level game. I just need to play more games and develop some solid tactics and strategies. I've got some ideas, but my real weakness at the moment is the fact that I'm unfamiliar with the forces my opponents will be fielding, especially when I come up against Warmachine players. I think the best I can do for now is to focus on my own force and hope for the best...I'm certainly not going to go out and spend a fortune buying the various books I'd need to research other forces.

I'm a little disappointed by Privateer Press, it has to be said. They have some nice models, but they've really decieved customers, I think, with some truly excellent paint-jobs. The models are good but not as good as they, perhaps, make out. Casting is frequently shoddy and I don't think there's a single model I own (of theirs) that isn't going to need the application of some modelling clay to bring it up to par (let alone look good). Still, they've done a good job with their rules and I'm not going to be spending the hundreds of pounds I spend on GW stuff buying Hordes.

On the subject of GW stuff, my Skaven army is finally approaching a point where I don't have any more infantry left to assemble! That's some 300+ models of Core Infantry alone. I've still got some new Stormvermin left to clean up and my "Fanatic Clanrats" (made up primarily of Plague Monk figures and any odd models I've got left over from other sources) that will be pushing my Screaming Bell. Speaking of which, once I have some spare cash (which may be some time!) I'll have to invest in a Bell kit to finish off my 'scratch build'. I've also invested in a new Doomwheel, so I'm only a Warp-Lightning Cannon away from a competitive list! Woo. Mostly, though, I need to get making up some movement trays...shifting units of 40+ isn't easy without a decent tray and cardboard approximations just don't cut it.

Most of the Warhammer I've been playing of late is against my dads' Bretonnians. Neither of us have been taking anything cheesy and the games have been fairly balanced...his heavy cavalry against my crappy infantry. I've lost a little of the love I once had for Warpfire Throwers...they're very good against infantry, where you have time to line them up for a decent shot or two, but against faster moving things, the old WFT suffers from "Move or Fire" a lot more and is certainly not worth the 70pts you pay for it. On the other hand, the Poisoned Wind Mortar being able to ignore armour and fire on the move, combined with the disintegration of guess-range artillery, are a god-send againt Brets.

I've finally given Rat Ogres a field test and I'm not that impressed. The lack of an armour save makes them kinda vulnerable, but they do hit very hard if you can get them in the right place. Having said that, compared to Giant Rats, you don't appear to get that much. For each Rat Ogre, you can buy 8 Giant Rats. That's more than twice as many Wounds and with Wave of Rats, you're actually getting more attacks over the same frontage. It's true that those attacks are at significantly lower Strength, but I'm still umming and erring about it. The only problem with fielding Giant Rats instead of Rat Ogres is getting hold of the bloody things...quite why GW decided that you should only be able to get 6 G.Rats at a go and even then you have to buy 2 Rat Ogres with them, I don't know. I'd like to field units of 60 Rats, but it's just out of the question from a purely monetary point of view...even if I wasn't skint! Still, I'll keep an eye on eBay and I might get lucky.