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It’s been too long since I’ve posted, so I figured I better check in. Summer is finally wrapping up, having been full of family vacations, camping trips and all the other wonderful things that come along with daylight that lasts until 10 at night. It’s been an awesome summer – We spent a week in the Sawtooth Mountains camping, went whitewater rafting by Jackson Hole, I took up kayaking, and I’ve managed to get back into the best shape I’ve been in for ten years. I also managed to get on a much more regular play schedule (with the exception of the last few weeks), making it down to my FLGS more often than not for Thursday Night Warmachine. The additional practice has been great, although Ireally need to get more stuff assembled and painted and try out some new options.

Unfortunately, I’ve accomplished almost nothing on the hobby front this summer. I’ve only painted a couple of models, and I know I’m falling seriously behind. I really wanted to have my entire Cygnar army painted by the end of the year (in time for MK II), but I’ll just have to see if that can still happen. Other that that, I’ve been trying to keep branching out, and learning my warcasters. Here is a quick recap of my Warmachine summer:

I’ve been playing quite a bit with eStryker, and I’m starting to get a handle on him. At first, I was a little too myopic on setting up his assassination run, and probably not getting enough out of the rest of my army. I’ve started running the Gun Mages with him, and they offer a board control/threat quality seem to be a good combination with him.

Of course, when running eStryker, the Stormblades feel almost required, and I’ve been working hard to make them perform. At first, I kept trying to use the "advanced move" that they get from the elite cadre to give them a head start, but whenever I lead with them they seem to get wiped out before I really get any mileage out of them. I’ve had much better luck deploying them behind a Precursor Knight screen, and using that to deliver them (they can still fire lightning blasts through the PKs thanks to kneel). Then, the PKs will either get off the initial charge or absorb it, and as they either push through or evaporate, the Stormblades are set up for a counter charge or a follow up strike. I’ve also done the same to good effect with Trenchers (which does allow you to take advantage of the advanced move). This “Stormblade delivery system” approach seems to be working, and all in all the list seems to be getting stronger.

I also played my first 1,000-point game about a month back. It was an epic affair that pitted my pStryker and pHaley vs. eDoomshaper and Calandra on a really tight “urban” map with a river passing through the center and two bridges. I managed to win that one, but in the process, I acquired a burning hatred for Callandra’s Starcrossed spell. That spell is balls. Even with that, I’ve had a good record vs. Trolls. I think their medium bases give my shooty Cygnar armies somewhat of an unfair advantage – I always get LOS to something, and sometimes you feel almost dirty shooting them up.

Like everyone else, I’ve had the opportunity to face off against the new Bastions a couple of times. They are impressive models and very cool looking, but they aren’t as bad as all talk they are getting. My first game I managed to kill them all off in the first couple turns – which I think is the key – don’t let them get into you too deeply. I started to using a block of Precursors to engage them – the Bastions kill the first rank, then my second rank uses Morrow’s Name and March for an extra attack, doing some hellacious damage in return. They are definitely a tough nut to crack – so tough in fact that you have to have a strategy for them from the start of the game – but nowhere near as bad as Trollkin Champions, which I still have never managed to kill off thanks to their tough rolls. Hell, I’m usually lucky if I can kill half the unit of Champs.

Speaking of tough rolls – the highpoint of my summer games came a few weeks back in a game against Calandra – I had an overloaded eStryker on her just wailing away. She was knocked down, so I was auto-hitting and rolling POW23 overloaded damage rolls, but she kept making tough checks. I’m spending focus for extra attacks, and she just keeps rolling tough rolls! By this point, we’ve got the entire game store around our table cheering every time I spend a focus and she rolls another tough check. Finally, on the sixth check (and my last point of focus!) she fails! eStryker FTW!

So, that’s my summer so far. With August coming to an end and the kids heading back to school, I’m planning to get back to blogging and painting on a much more regular schedule. PAX is only a few weeks away, and my excitement is building! I’ll be taking my iPhone and trying to provide complete mobile coverage of the show. I’m taking a suitcase full of games (more on that in my next post) and I’m already signed up for two RPGA D&D session. Hope you all had a great summer - It’s good to be back!