Back from Mechanicon – The Warmachine Events

Back from Mechanicon weekend and finally recovered from several liters of Whiskey and a constant diet of bacon and eggs.

So here is a recap from my side.

I played in the Warmachine/Hordes events including the 35pt Highlander, 50 pt East Coast Rumble, and one round of the Warcaster Thunderdome.  I was joined by Marc, Masterofmelee (Wilson), and Sanguinary Dan.  This was the first time I have played in any type of organized Warmachine event and I was met with plenty of surprises.

Chris (trollbloods76) ran a great event.  He was  pleasure to work with and kept things positive and fun.  There was almost no rules disputes (which could also be warmachine) and the few that came up were resolved quickly and without any drama.  This is totally not what I am used to as a 40k player.  There was alot of swag that you could get for just playing games, however the actual prizes were just Steamroller certificates (with the exception of the painting contest).  It was a bit misleading since there were pictures on the Mechanicon site and forums of all this awesome loot you could win, but it seemed to be mostly for the 40k players. But in defense, I payed 1/3 the amount to play in all 3 events.

The 35 point Highlander was a restricted format tourney that was supposed to last 4 rounds. It wound up only going 3 due to a late start. I went 3-0 along with another player, but ultimately lost due to army points scored in the 3 games.  I feel I had a good chance of winning the last game, but one will never know.  Everyone seemed to enjoy this format as it prevented some of the exploitation and infantry machine issues that some people have a hard time with.

The 50 point East Coast rumble was 4 games in the 1st round then a cut with the top players advancing to a 2nd round, then another cut, and the 3rd round being the finals reserved for the top 8 players (which is not needed since you figure probably only 4 of those would have a shot).  10 minutes turns, 3 lists (each had to be used once). I made it through the first round along with MasterofMelee, but we both were cut at the end of the 2nd round.  I had a really hard time with the lack of guidance on the start and end times of the round and it cost me at least 2 games.  The 10 minute turn timers were cool to keep things moving but you had to be on your toes and at 50 points thats not that much time.   Many of the matches I played were very close and enjoyable. I had 2 (Cygnar and circle) where I was just dismantled and it was horrible.  And only 1 round where lost to a “oh it does what?” moment against Retribution where I was pulled around the table by some power glove guys.

The Thunderdome event was a bit of a debacle as there wasn’t a clear understanding from the players as to what the format actually was (3 warcasters/warlocks only or 3 casters/locks and 3 jacks/beasts). The end result was a vote and beasts/jacks were included, leading to 4 hours matches of confusion.  The guy at our table summed it up when he said : ” wow, I just paid $10 dollars to playtest “.  Props to everyone for hanging in there, but this should of been set in stone prior to start.  4 hours rules debates on an empty stomach and a hangover = sad face.

Highlander:                                       

Rasheth

Bronzeback

Gladiator

Sentry

Drake

Agonizer

Max Gatormen

I learned a lot about my lists and would  change my makeda list quite a bit and probably drop the gators and a beast from the morghoul list.  The Rasheth list did the best for me, especially against other hordes armies.

All in all a great time.  Met a lot of players (many of which play near us in the DC/MD/VA area) and looking forward to going again next year.

Thanks to Chris and Tony and all the Press Gangers who helped run the event.  Thanks to the Beltway-Gamers for making a show and having 4 good players at the Warmachine Events.

-Psybilliah