Khador 2013 - Part 03 "Steamroller 2013"

This article will - as the first of a few - deal with the new Steamroller 2013 paket. As I currently have no playing experience with it, my statements are based on the old 2012 "worldview" - so you'll have to bear with me. That aside, I'm glad it is finally here. So these are my preliminary observations and conclusions:

Khador 2013 - Part 02 "Alexandra Zerkova"

In this second article in the Khador 2013 series, I'll want to elaborate on one of the casters I have chosen for the Paradox Pledge 2013 - the "icecream cone warrior", "the new hatness", "Lady Z": Koldun Kommander Alexandra Zerkova. She's, on one hand, argued to be Khador's weakest caster - on the other hand, she's got a huge fanclub that brags about winning with her, appears to be getting better with every new release, and received one of the strongest alternative Tiers to date.

In this article, similar to the last one, I want to try and explain why she is perceived as weak, what her actual playstyle strengths are, the interactions with specific army choices, different lists (and list ideas), and why I chose her for the Plunge, and what my expectations are.

Marth & the Machines #76 - Vladimir v. Gorten & the faded black T-shirt

In this (horribly delayed) issue of Marth & the Machines, we're bringing you a custom scenario tailor-made for Halloween, where Vladimir Tzepesci and Gorten Grundback encounter each other - and the Nightmare Tower. Afterwards, more coverage from last year's tourneys. Enjoy!

Khador 2013 - Part 01 "Vladimir Tzepesci"

Katrina Relief variant shown.

In this first article for Khador 2013, I want to start looking at the faction's warcasters, and I'll begin with one that I have only recently bought for myself - and who does not get a lot of mention on the forums. Mostly because the consensus is "he makes anything good". That is not as true as it is made to sound. And even if it were - could you really replace any list's caster with Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince, and end up with a better result?

In this first article, I want to explore where that consensus stems from, whether the anticipated answer to above question - No - is correct, and why / where that is the case. I also want to show different yet viable ways of playing him, and what things to watch out for.

New Year's-Machine

To celebrate 2013, Arides and I have been cooking up a scenario for the event. Progress is slow but steady:

SR 2012, standard deployment (even though radial deployment is in discussion). Spread across the board are an odd number (say, 5) of objectives (firework stashes), following the regular objectives rules (can't be affected throughout round 1 and all that), with two significant differences: a) the card has two sides, b) any model b2b can activate the objective through doing a special action.

*Count Tzepesci & The Risen

I'm not an exact fan of the usual Alexia Ciannor & the Risen models, Alexia herself in particular. Don't get me wrong, I love Alexia Xp, and plan on painting her horse like the Ghost Rider's, but the prime model... naaaw. Which is a sad thing, because the unit is very good and would make a sensible addition to my infantry Khador stuff. (That, and Risen are better at jamming because they come back, and are way cheaper than Kayazy or Pikemen which die just as easy these days...)

Brings everything he needs!

Lo' and behold, I've run into this gentleman who apparently would be a nice stand-in. This is the Vampire Count model from Freebooter, and as the caption reads, he's got all he needs - a single, elegant sword. Yes, I'm aware of Alexia's Handcannon, but I seriously can't find it on her model as well. Formerly, I had considered as a Vladimir, Dark Prince stand-in, but he'd need to sword to work (and serious shoulder-paddage).

I'm mostly set on using him for Alexia. The good thing is: I can just buy Risen blisters till I have enough - and when I have to have the original for attending a tournament where this stand-in wouldn't suffice, I can just buy the original box, too. That should give me the 20 Risen I can have and a "real" Alexia.

Also, I'm looking forward to making this guy part of any coming Halloween/Nightmare Scenarios (like the one we'll play in M&tM #76). I can easily imagine him, standing on top off the tower, gathering souls and "guiding" Thralls. But for that to really work, I first need a suitably converted Tower. Till then, farewell!

Artwork & Battery 03

And here is the latest episode of Artwork & Battery!