2/28/2014

The Lost and the Damned

As the old man awoke, he quickly checked his Cathayan pocket watch.  Hardly morning at all.  He stood and stretched, then walked over to stoke the fire.  As it roared back into life, the old man hunched down by it, the light dancing in his eyes.

He thought back to those days, long ago.  Those days where he had been aboard the mighty "Madman's Mercy" and seen the elegant shape of the "Jailer's Glory" on the horizon.  He'd been a young man then, a fighter.  He'd served his Captain through thick and thin.  Been one of those... things.  He shivered at the thought of his previous life.  Not many can say they had been a part of the crew who had changed.  Most had died or killed themselves after the ordeal.  But not he...

The light danced in his eyes for a moment more.

I am one of those that remain.  I, Hannibal "Demonbreaker" Manhire, was one of the few.

Looking about his hovel at the inn, he sat down comfortably in his chair by the fire.  There on the wall was the Lustrian Map.  In the drawer by his bedside, there sat his pistol, given to him by the mighty Chackja.  Looking at his mantel he saw the last artifact of the proud "Doc" Crawford.  It had taken months to recover in the dense jungle, but he had eventually found it.  The cleaver was stained in the blood of... who wanted to know.  The runes of warding etched into it was only just visible, after so much sharpening.  Manhire thought back to the first encounter he had ever had with "Doc", all those years ago....

....The sun shone brightly on the wharf as Manhire moved through the bustling crowds of men, dwarf, and so many others.  He kept his hand near the butt of his favorite pistol as he moved along, his eyes peered for those that were hunting him.  Stealing from the Acropolis of Luccini is usually a way to get yourself killed in Tilea.  They hadn't found him yet, and his was determined to get himself on to one of the ships bound for... well anywhere,  before they found him.

In all of his years as a man of Luccini, he had never once been to the farthest reaches of the wharfs.  Today was the day he would break that.  As he strutted towards the shadier parts of the wharf, the patrons of the various inns and taverns started to change from the fat merchants and busty serving girls to... something far more sinister.  There was a group of shifty eyed scoundrels flipping knives and throwing back tankards of Araby fire-wine.  A tavern by the name of the Broken Keel came into view, and just as Manhire walked past, a hulking ogre burst through the door, launching a rather drunk Eastern man out and over the wharf.  Manhire could hear the brute grumbling something about his mother as he walked back into the tavern.

Things continued to get stranger as he walked along the length of the docks.  Hobgoblin raiders for hire there, a bunch of silent and brooding Elves in cloaks here, and one towering creature in a cloak with a huge staff seeming to float past Manhire there.  When it passed, Manhire stopped for a moment in shock at the sudden chill he felt as the hooded figure passed him.  He spun to look at it, but found that not a soul stood there.  Hannibal moved to go, but bumped into something very solid and looked up to see his path blocked by a rather imposing man bearing the crest of the Royal Guard of Luccini.

Shit.

By order of the blah blah blah BLAM

The sergeant looked startled for a second at Manhire, then at the smoking pistol in his hand, then at the gapping hole in his chest where the blunderbuss pistol had borrowed through him.  The docks grew quiet for just a split second, broken only by the loud thud of the guard falling over on the wooden planking, and then all hell broke loose.

The Hobgoblins let their wolves loose on the thieves; the Elves launched themselves towards the Broken Keel as a group of Ogre Maneaters threw open the doors, large clubs in hand.  The hooded figure appeared again, only this time he was escorting a gorgeous woman.  Manhire was struck by her beauty and only came out of his trance with the help of a shout from the remaining Royal Guard.

Double shit.

Manhire sprinted through the melee, running from the clanking forms of the guard in their plate armor.  There were flashes of color, fur, steel, blood, magic, and all sorts of terrible and dark things.  Then the world started to spin with a loud thud.

Gods damn you!  Would you get the hell out of my way you incompetent and idiotic.... who the HELL are you?!  Manhire felt himself being dragged up by his hair, and felt cold steel press against his throat.  You best be answering me before I slit your pretty, cultured throat.  Manhire opened his eyes, but immediately wished he hadn't.  Aside from the cleaver pressed up against his throat, the view was disgusting.  There stood above him a man with teeth so bad, clothes so rank, and putrid cigar hanging loose from his mouth, and a crooked top hat - a man that was obviously in no mood to hear any excuses.  I said, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!  His breath was worse than he looked.

Before Manhire could say anything the guard had them surrounded.  Manhire looked over, only to be struck again by the pale beauty of the mysterious woman.  Lucrezzia Belladonna, the disgusting man spat.  The woman merely smiled.  There was a glint to her smile, like something was fundamentally... wrong.  The way she smiled was wrong.  Charon?  Will you please dispose of Mr. Crawford and his thieving friend please?  The hooded figure rose up to its full height, blocking out the sun over the pair of them.  A clawed hand emerged from the folds of the robe, and Manhire shook as he felt the heat draining out of him.  The blackness was all consuming, except for a single pinprick of light: the smoldering end of Crawford's cigar.  A deep chuckle rolled out of the man.  Not today bitch.  In a blinding flash of purple light, Crawford extended his hand and launched a stream of purple fire at the creature known as Charon.  An earth-shattering keening erupted from the creature as it flew back, and Lucrezzia spat a curse as she threw herself out of the way of the engulfing fires.  Run you prick!  Run!  And so, Manhire ran.....

... It was getting late in the day.  Manhire stood up from his place by the fire, his bones cracking as he did.  He cast one more look at the cleaver situated on the mantel, smiling wryly, and spat in the fire.  Bastard didn't hardly know or care who I was, but he saved me when only a moment before he'd tried to kill me.  An enemy of my enemy I suppose.....

With that, Hannibal Manhire walked out of the room, quietly humming.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...... 



2/20/2014

Code of Honor


The old man sat back in his chair, sipping on his grog.  

So, ye wants to hear more about that poor wretch Maximo, eh?  Well then, this is interesting....

Tilting his chair back, he turns and looks into the smoldering embers of the fire, misty eyed for the briefest of seconds.

Right then, I better tell you about Cap'n Phunn.

Cap'n Phunn, the greatest fighter in the Far East.  Straight out a Cathay - or were it Nippon?  Bah, tis no matter.  The man had the strength of a whole regiment in his bare fists, and the constitution of a charging bull squig.  The man never tires it seems....  Which is why many people think 'e done sold his soul to the chaos gods....  Course the mutations don't 'elp disperse that rumor.  'E done lost 'is eyes to a mighty creature of the deep.  But that ain't the point, for ya see, the man 'as started to lose his left hand to the foul mutations of the warp.  Where there should be five fingers, there are three.  

But I digress.  The man is a mighty warrior - the best the East can sent - and he served well as the high king's personal high admiral.  Until he started to develop that there mutation.  He was exiled faster than you could 'ave blinked.  'owever, being a weasel like cur, the damnable man sailed right across to Nippon, hired himself a crew and a ship, and made sail for the west.  Not before sealing the entire navy of Cathay out to the Nipponese.  



So, the man sailed away from the war he had started between the two kingdoms, a cruel smile etched onto his face.  But alas, his troubles had yet to fully develop.  As he rounded the tip of the Southlands, he ran square into the greatest tidal wave 'e 'ad ever come across.  The great wave took his ship and dashed 'im upon the rocky coast of the grimmest part of the world.  He was subject to the burning heat of the day, and the frozen wastes at night.  His crew labored night and day to get his ship sea worthy again.  But it was not to be...  

The lot of them caught wind of a plague, and they began falling like wheat under the scythe.  They were truly doomed, until Phunn made his devilish pact...

Climbing to the top of the Blood Cliffs of the Southlands, Phunn threw his hands up and pleaded with whatever god would listen, pleading to bring his crew to safety and make them strong once more, to bring vengeance upon those that had stained his honor by exiling him to this god-forsaken wasteland.  There was one god who would take pity.  The Great Unclean One, upon his festering throne, looked down upon his new creation, and smiled a toothless, rotten smile.  Nurgle looked down and blessed Phunn with a curse:  he would allow his men to survive, and for them to be strong and wreck their vengeance - on the condition that Phunn's body would corrupt, and then his very soul would rot and wither away.  Phunn accepted these terms without hesitation, and his crew was saved at the cost of their captain's everlasting soul...

That, mate, is how to earn the unyielding and unmoving respect of your crew.  Phunn returned to them a damned man, doomed to an eternity in Nurgle's garden.  He had been given a gift from the Chaos god, as a binding seal of their contract:  The Great Sea Giant Adthoo, a daemon of Nurgle from the very abyss of the ocean.  He was both a boon, and a jailer - a constant companion and a constant reminder that their captain was a doomed man....

And with that - lad - the mighty Captain Phunn returned to the beach, and saw with great astonishment that his ship had been rebuilt....  But not by mortal hands.  Throughout the whole confrontation with Nurgle and then Adthoo, an incessant and all too familiar wailing had come from the ship.  The sounds of heartbroken and crushed widows....  The dead had risen in the mighty presence of Nurgle - commanded to aid in the quest of bringing Vengeance to those that had dishonored Phunn.  

The room was dead silent as the old man paused for another sip of grog.

You lot are a cheery bunch, eh?  'Tis nought but rampant rumor and embellishment I'm sure.  The tale of the Sea Maidens is an old one, but nevertheless still an important lesson - Hell hath no fury like a woman's soul scorned.  My weary bones grow tired of telling these tales.  Perhaps I should retire for the night.

Another man stood up and asked,

What's any of this dark tale of Eastern necromancy got to do with the Pirate Lord Maximo?

With a twinkle in his eye as he stood up, the old man responded,

Why, me matey, 'as got everything to do with the good Cap'n.  And the sorcerer lord Kavious.  Why even the standard bearer Hyakinthos and Marast of Estalia are present in the story of Maximo.  However, all good stories need a bit of background before they can actually begin.  Come back tomorrow and buy me another drink you cheap ninny, and I might be inclined to tell ye the rest of the tales.  'Til then, I wish you a very quiet and restful night, ye salty drunk pirate bastards.

With a roar of laughter, the old man quickly made his way to the stairs in the corner of the inn.  With a wave goodnight, he ascended the ladder to his abode.  He set his hat aside and pulled out an intricate pocket watch, checking the time before setting the Cathayan Brass instrument down, chuckling to himself and humming....

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.....



2/19/2014

Pirates of Sartosa Army lists

Hey all!

So, quick back story before I get into the meat and potatoes of tonights question.  My gaming group is getting ready to start a year long Fantasy endeavor - an escalation league followed by a campaign.  Campaign rules state you should have 3 armies (2500, 1500, 800 with restrictions).  I wanted to run all 3, plus the models I plan to use, by you and get an idea of what y'all think.  I also am trying to stick with a theme for each army.

2500 - Crew of the Flagship "Madman's Mercy"

Pirate Lord Maximo Sal Vittorio (221)
brace of pistols, light armor, Sloppy Cutlass, Talisman of Preservation, and potion of strength

Sorcerer Lord Kavious of Stromfel (275)
lvl 4, dispel scroll, potion of toughness, talisman of endurance

First Mate Hyakinthos the Whisp (124)
Jolly Roger BSB, light armor, AHW
---
"Bloody Cutlasses" Pirate Crew (224)
29, AHW, Full Command, Bosun

"Grog Slaughterers" Pirate Crew (224)
29, AHW, Full Command, Bosun

"Lightning Throwers" Deck Gunners (175)
15, Sharpshooter, Sea Shanty Singer, Master Gunner

"Eastern Gale" Deck Gunners (175)
15, Sharpshooter, Sea Shanty Singer, Master Gunner

Hellpit's Finest Swabbies (60)
20, press ganger

Hellpit's Finest Swabbies (60)
20, press ganger
---
"Dragon's Teeth" Cannon x2 (240)

"Mutiny Dissuaders" Dwarf Sea Dogs (318)
24, full command, AHW

"The Chosen" Sons of Stromfel (286)
6, tridents, Chosen of Stromfel
---
"The Great Houngdai" Flying Galley (120) 

In order, the models I plan to use:


1500 - Crew of the Junk "Jailer's Glory" 

Pirate Captain Phunn (109)
Gamblers Armor, Dawnstone, great weapon

Marast of Estalia, the Sorcerer (150)
lvl 2, Talisman of protection, healing potion
---
"Fire Kings" Deck Gunners (175)
15, Sharpshooter, Sea Shanty Singer, Master Gunner

"Autumn Wind" Deck Gunners (175)
15, Sharpshooter, Sea Shanty Singer, Master Gunner

Hellpit's Finest Swabbies (60)
20, press ganger

Hellpit's Finest Swabbies (60)
20, press ganger
---
"Ronin" Wokou Raiders (205)
25, full command, oriental longsword

"Shanghai Storm" Wokou Raiders (126)
18, bows
---
"Adthoo" Sea Giant (210)

"The Maidens" Dark Maidens (225)
5, shipwreck angel

In order, the models I plan to use:

*see above for Samurai Missile Infantry
*see above for Skaven

800 - Shipwrecked

Pirate Sorcerer "Doc" (125)
lvl 2, dispel scroll
---
"The Lost" Pirate Crew (221)
19, full command, bucklers, pistols, navigator

"The Damned" Pirate Crew (221)
19, full command, bucklers, pistols, navigator

Hellpit's Finest Swabbies (80)
20, AHW
---
"The Rolling Thunder" Swivel Gunners (150)
10

Same story:

Wargames Factory Zulu
<looking for swivel gunnners>

Well, gimme a quick comment with what you think.  I am thinking about reworking some stuff in the 800 list, as well as possibly replacing the Dwarves in the 2500 list.  I will get more extensive fluff up eventually to help you understand why I chose the models I did, and why I am taking these lists.  Until next time, happy wargaming.

2/17/2014

2000 Views!

Hey All!

Today was our lucky 2000th visit!  Whoop whoop!

Been some good times!  Heres to another 2000!

Thank you all for letting this happen!

- Patrick (a.k.a sinscaptain)

2/13/2014

Eating Crow

Hey All!

So, today I have to take some time to eat crow and smile the entire time.  I have been a bad sport about a certain games system.  Anyone who has read it can probably already name it.

Warhammer 40k.

I have ranted about that game too many times to count on this page.  I am taking the time today to fully recant anything I have said about the game.  I don't hate it.  It's pretty fun if you play it with the right people.  So, let me just post up here what I like and don't like.  Just to clear up the air and make sure that I am not considered a "hater" on 40k:

LIKES

  • The IP: it is absolutely fantastic
  • Fun lists
  • Collecting and painting nicely themed lists
  • Coming up with backstory
  • Playing the game with the rules, but not letting them detract from the fun
  • Forgeworld
  • Dataslates and stuffs
  • ALL of the armies
Sounds like I enjoy everything pretty much yeah?

DISLIKES
  • Metagamers:  I hate playing people that run the meta.  I refuse to play against it.  It really just sucks all of the fun and excitement out of the game for me.
  • Non-optional rules*:  Allies.  Escalation.  Stronghold Assault.  These are the things that metagamers take advantage of to remove all fun from the game.  They min-max everything and then think they are some kind of Napoleon for running the same list everyone else runs. 
  • The price point:  I love the game.  They make OUTSTANDING models.  But come on guys.  You shouldn't have to spend this much to get into the game.  Even just a little cut in prices would be nice.
  • Unbalanced Codexes:  I think that every army should be just as viable to play.  If you think they are all balance, look at Sisters of Battle, then look at Eldar.  What were you saying?
That is pretty much it.  I am blessed to have a group that doesn't power game.  We have one guy who plays Tau who refuses to do anything to crazy, and a gentleman who plays with Eldar who is our closest thing to a metagamer with war walker spam and a wraithknight.  But he's still pretty cool about it.  He doesn't run seer stars or Dark Eldar allies to get 2++ rerollables.  

Anywho, this is me apologizing.  I don't hate 40k.  I just hate the people that make the game irritating for the rest of us.

* as a side note on the non-optional rules:  I love the new stuff they are constantly putting in for that.  I think the giant stuff is really cool and all of the models are gorgeous (EXCEPT YOU SKULL TRANSFORMER) I just really think they should be optional, so that you have to agree before hand to play with those rules, so that you don't surprise anyone when you put your fortress of Redemption on the table.

Thats all I got for now.  Happy wargaming!

2/04/2014

Hobby update

Hey all!  Been a good week of hobby here as I learn how to use my new airbrush!  Check it out:







Been a great expermiment.... Now just to base it.

2/03/2014

Build up

Hey all!

So, as the conclusion of the 40k league comes to a conclusion in a little more than a month, we have seriously begun the work of starting our Warhammer Fantasy escalation campaign.  Lots of work with getting started on that, but it should be extremely rewarding.

Coming with the new escalation campaign we will have a map system and most likely be using these rules for our group - however we will be modifying it heavily for our purposes.

http://warhammer.chrisnye.net/Files/WarlordCampaign.pdf

Looking forward to getting my new army on to the table for the league.  Excited to see them go forward and destroy my enemies.

So far our new people getting involved into the fantasy realm are going to play the following:

Dwarves
High Elves
Daemons
Beastmen
Dogs of War (Fan-dex)
Warriors of Chaos
Vampire Counts (?)
<another army>

and then mine.......

Cannot wait to get to Fantasy.....