Privateer Press General

Let's all talk about Privateer Press' work shall we? (most notably War Machine/Hordes)

Necro! I have a Legion starter box, Rhyas, and a Scythean. None are painted.

I played two games about two years ago (so not Mk 2), but it was memorable because I pulled off an awesome warlock assassination by charging my Carnivean as cloase to the warlock as possible and then popping Rhyas' feat to charge my own Carnivean, whirling around to the front and cutting a swathe through my opponent's line before taking his warlock out with a critical.

I used to play Warmachine and Hordes quite regularly. I had fun but so many things frustrated me about that experience. First, Warmachine (at the time) basically didn't encourage the use of Jacks, which I thought was the whole point of the game. You were better off keeping the Focus for yourself mostly and using it on spells or to destroy the other guy's army, and then loading up on Infantry, hence Infantrymachine. I already spent enough money on 40k and didn't want to shell out for another expensive army. I also didn't like the PP community's elitism directed at GW games. Is it so wrong to like both?

Then Hordes came out and Legion is basically my ideal faction. I loved everything about it - background, playstyle, models. Everything. The problem came when everyone in my gaming group started to see me as a Stop Having Fun Guy simply for playing it. We were mostly a laid back bunch but then some people started to complain that I used even one Seraph. I lost most of my games, including against those people. I was a bad player and I never once used a tournament-level build, in spite of the temptation and the frustration I endured from losing all the time. I used some of the most underpowered units in the faction just for how they looked.

When given the choice between playing the faction I loved and not being seen as a win-at-all-costs player who was unfun to play against, I chose the latter. I was pretty disgusted and burned out with wargaming after that.

edited 2nd Aug '12 4:22:06 AM by HouraiRabbit

That's unfortunate to hear. Is PP stuff associated with being a "Stop Having Fun" Guy? I always assumed players of PP games were the opposite of that, but that's primarily going off the 'Play like you have a pair' statement in the prefaces.

I for one would love to see more PP games represented amongst my tabletop gaming group as the rules are cleaner than 40k, but the others are all pretty entrenched in 40k (and understandably so, between jobs, lives and other hobbies/recreational activities including Magic The Gathering, none of us realistically have the time to pick up something new).

It doesn't help that we don't really know any players of PP games either (the friend I played with used to be part of our group, but he moved to France)...

I don't own a Seraph, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of the model. The Angelius though... If I could find one (and could guarantee that I would be dedicating time to building the models) I'd pick it up quicksmart.

edited 2nd Aug '12 2:05:31 PM by disruptorfe404

I had an Angelius back when they were metal (are they still?). My only gripe about it was "top heavy". Really top heavy, so put some counterweights on the base or that's just a flood of tears waiting to happen.

Page Five is a creed and like any other creed, it can be interpreted in many ways. There are two interpretations that are generally accepted as "what the devs intended":

• Rated M for Manly: This is not a game for sissies. It rewards aggressive play and hard-hitting offenses. If you can't handle that, you don't deserve to play this game so man up and play like you've got a pair.
• Tournament Play: This is not a game of sunshine, lollipops, and everyones' feelings being intact at the end. It is a game of brutality where you slug it out with the best and either rise to the top or die trying. If you're not willing to bring your A-game and your best lists, you don't belong here. Quit bitching about things being cheap and play like you've got a pair.

Naturally, this leads PP games to have their fair share of "Stop Having Fun" Guys and other stuff, but it's mostly a light-hearted and cheerfully over the top system. I have no problem with the ethos or either interpretation; I'm all for some balls-to-the-walls competition but what frustrated me was that I wasn't even trying to play tournament builds and I was still getting labelled a Stop Having Fun Guy just for playing Legion. There was more than a little passive-aggressive sniping although our friendship is more or less intact. Eventually I just stopped trying to get games in and would use game nights as an excuse to drink and shoot the breeze with other players.

So yeah, I still retain a decent amount of knowledge about the hobby side but my game knowledge is all from Mk. 1 so I don't know how valid it will be. Still, ask me anything and I will try my best to answer.

edited 3rd Aug '12 12:33:51 AM by HouraiRabbit

The Angelius is still metal, I think. I don't keep up with PP, just due to not playing it nearly as much as other things.

Is Bethayne a good warlock? I think that's her name, the one with the beast that becomes her armour? I love the concept. I love the Circle warlock that switches between forms too, Kromac. And all Tharn units... So awesome.

Another Warmachine and Hordes player here. Mostly play Retribution, though I also have some Khador, Legion and Trollbloods stuff. We have a pretty active group locally, including some of the best players in the country.

There have always been stories about the win-at-all-costs players. They seem to flock to this game because of the promise of a clearer, more balanced rules system and because they misinterpret the Page 5 statements. They seem to be worse in some areas than others, though. Locally, it's not a problem.

Yeah, Bethayne is the one that comes with her own warbeast, Belphagore. She's pretty good, especially if you bring along some more magic users to benefit trom her feat. In general, all of the Legion warlocks can be good if you build a proper army around them and know what you're doing.

I haven't used Bethayne before so I can't speak about her one way or another, but I love the model and the concept. I love all the Legion warlocks, although Vayl's sculpts are a bit on the silly side, which is a shame because she's supposed to be the master manipulator. Now that I think about it, if I wasn't a fan of Legion, I'd probably be playing Skorne. I like the military aspect they have about them.

One of my friends mained Kromac and more or less cleaned house whenever he took to the field. I swear he was impossible to kill (might have just been my bad rolling) and the closest I came was one time where I decimated his entire army and then he charged and pulled off an assassination, which left me more than a little frustrated. It sure is an emotional game, and tempers really run high.

By the way, I think that the PP guides on how to paint Legion skintone are full of crap and left me thoroughly confused. I managed to do it using GW paints - basecoat of Dheneb Stone, give it a nice blue wash and then highlight up to a 25:75 mix of Dheneb Stone and white. Done and dusted.

edited 5th Aug '12 7:14:27 AM by HouraiRabbit

I was mostly intrigued by her concept, and as to whether I could do a conversion of her where she's 'suited up' (would be quite a major project for me, between the metal models and the huge amount of sculpting I'd have to do, so it wouldn't happen while I have 40k stuff to build, which is all the time).

If I hadn't bought the Legion warpack, I would be all over the Circle. Kromac, the Satyr beasts, the golem-type things, Tharn infantry. All awesome. The Warpwolf models look a little comical though...

What do you mean, convert her to be suited up? She comes with the bits (and magnets) to swap between Belphagor's normal torso and one where Bethayne is mounted in it.

Seriously? That's AWESOME.

I hope my secondary FLGS has it in stock...

Haha, if you think that's weird you should have seen what the Gorax looked like before it got a resculpt. It's pretty infamous, to say the least. I remember the Blood Pack Hunters or whatever they were called being absolutely insane. The female Tharn skirmishers. Ambuscade was an evil, evil order and I would make it a point to assassinate their leaders whenever I could (which was not often). A full Ambuscade could bring down a heavy warbeast in short order, thus reinforcing the primacy of infantry in Hordesmachine. Of course, in Hordes, beasts are more woven into the fabric of the rules so they aren't just cannon fodder point sinks like they were in Mk. 1 Warmachine.

The running gag in our group was that the Tharn Wolfriders were powered by cheese (cheesy being a slang for cheap, overpowered).

edited 6th Aug '12 3:25:24 AM by HouraiRabbit

Yeah, the old Gorax was pretty weird. The new one's still not one of my favourite sculpts.

At least true Infantrymachine is now something of the past. Infantry-heavy armies are still viable and supported by quite a lot of casters, but so are jack-heavy forces. With the release of Colossals and Gargantuans, jacks and beasts will probably become even more prominent since most of them have good anti-infantry options.

any thoughts about announcement that Privateer Press is going going to make futuristic sequel, Warcaster Neo Mechanika?

A sequel? I have to admit is hard to be update in the game in general, I wish I could read the fluff from most part.