So, I haven't gotten a lot of blogging done, obviously, but have I gotten any gaming done? Yep, I have. If you even glanced at the picture, you'll probably correctly guess that I've been continuing to play Warmachine and Hordes.
My brain has finally adapted to the point where I think I'm starting to develop actual tactics and battle plans that work. I need to play a lot more games still and continue to re-read the rules so that I can have a high level of rules knowledge, but I'm out of the awkward stage that you enter into early in any game where you know enough to play but not enough to do well.
One major milestone for me was playing a 50 point game. Somebody asked me if I would, and I actually had enough stuff to be able to do so without having to just add in senseless filler. Really kind of awesome to realize I actually had that much stuff and its all painted. Contrary to what I'd heard, Warmachine isn't totally broken and unenjoyable at that points level... as long as you play scenario. I can see straight caster kill being really stupid at that high of a points level.
I've also really been focused on playing 1 caster for the moment: Adeptis Rahn Shyeel. After fiddling around with Ravyn and Kaelyssa, he's actually suited my playstyle best. So I'm working in getting half way competent with him before I start trying to really mix things up. I've kind of hit on what my "core" choices are for him at the moment as well. 2 Phoenixes are excellent with him, they're heavies that don't need that much focus to do damage and they're survivable arcnodes. A full unit of Sentinels with the officer and standard is also a must have for me. Rahn's spell Polarity Shield means they can't be charged by things in their front arc and their Defensive Line makes them ARM 17 against incoming fire. Not too shabby for letting me control when my forces will engage the enemy.
I've also started having some theories about how Retribution works. What I've found so far is that Retribution has plenty of good shooting and good close combat, so the best way to play them is as a mixture of both where your shooting hurts things early before you hit home with a few charges. However, Retribution also has a sneaky side in all of the Mage Hunter stuff, so you can also threaten from multiple angles and approaches. And that is the key to victory. You have to be able to put pressure on the opponent from all ranges and angles so that you can get the most out of your force. Now maybe that's all Warmachine factions, but I don't think so based on how many large synergistic bricks I've seen where things need to be clustered for buffs. Retribution's units and solos don't require the heavy supervision that other forces seem to, and that encourages a slightly different approach.
So, all that long winded rambling out of the way, I really enjoy the Retribution style. You can really vary your army from one game to the next simply by making a few different choices. I've heard other players claim that about other factions, but I've never seen such differences as I have with the Retribution.
As for painting progress... Well, I haven't gotten much done at all, recently, with the exception of painting up 20 points of Legion of Everblight as a test for the rest of my force. I'm hoping to get the remainder of my current Retribution stuff done soon so I can continue to play more with them while I start getting my Legion into a playable shape.
I've also had a couple of thoughts that are germinating into the third "Treating your hobby like a hobby," so I'll be writing that soon.
Anyways, I hope everyone had a good New Years and is off to a running start in 2012... I mean, we only have like 11 more months before space-time transitions into time-space, our pineal glands open to embrace the return of Lord Kromdor and the T-Virus ends the world just like the Mayans predicted ;)