Ironhead Station

I don’t spend a lot of time hanging out on the forums, so I don’t really get an opportunity to meet a lot of the other folks in the community outside of my local area.  Lock and Load was a great way to put faces with some of the names of folks I know from other blogs and the twitter.  L&L was my first time to a large event dedicated to playing a single game (I go to PAX every year, but that is much less a gaming convention an more a huge geek culture festival), and it was really cool to meet other players and get a feel for how the game has evolved outside my local meta. 

I didn’t really want to deal with the time commitment of the tournaments, so I spent my time playing in the Iron Arena, which is Privateer’s casual play convention format.  One of the highlights was playing on some of the amazing terrain that we have seen in the likes of No Quarter magazine.  It really made me realize how terrain-light we play locally, and how people tend to use really generic terrain so no one can complain about one side having an unfair advantage.  At Lock and Load we dealt with all kinds of terrain – water, forests, chokepoints, platforms with narrow ramps, fields of trenches, and a graveyard full of obstructions that blocked almost any charge lane.  I really enjoyed having to come up with new strategies on the fly based on what the terrain threw at me, and it was a blast to put down a fully painted Skorne army on a perfectly themed desert table. 

The scenario tables were particularly fun – one of my favorites involved an attacking force trying to rob a moving train.  Each turn the train moved 1+d3 inches forward, and the attacker tries to rob the train by getting a heavy warjack or warbeast within 2” while his opponent has no defenders within 2”.  (Of course the ever-present caster kill is still there, and I managed to win that scenario by throwing a Hydra at Kaelyssa with my Bronzeback, and knocking her down onto the tracks where the train ran her over on the top of the next turn!)

The Privateer crew took some time on Saturday night to give us all a sneak peak at what is yet to come.  We got a look at the concept art for the Skorne and Trollblood battle engines, both of which look awesome and did a great job capturing the feel of their faction.  They announced a re-booted Iron Kingdoms RPG would be released at GenCon 2012, likely using a core mechanic system closer to the Warmachine combat mechanics.  They announced that Privateer would be branching out into a Sci-Fi with a new property call “Level 7” – but it wasn’t clear if that was a game, or a setting meant to be home to multiple games… I guess we wait and see on that one.  Finally, we got a look at the latest trailer for the Warmachine video game – which looks cool, but not mind-blowing cool.  I understand it still has a ways to go, but at this point it looks more like a premium XBOX Live Arcade title than a full on retail release.

I attended a couple of different seminars:  “History of the Iron Kingdoms” by lead setting writer Doug Seacat and "Army Painting" by Studio Director Ron Kruzie.  They were both really fun, although surprisingly lightly attended.   I could listen to Seacat talk about the IK for days – he’s got a really fun way of talking about it.  He comes across more like a professor than an author…  It made the history feel almost real.  Kruzie is always pleasant and had some good tips.  One thing that I really like is how Privateer plays down the need for high quality painting and encourages people just to paint.  I really appreciate the fact that they teach technique for speed painting as well as studio painting.  With very few exceptions, even a poorly painted miniature looks better than bare metal, and the only way to become an incredible painter is to start as a mediocre one.

And of course, half the fun of a con is snatching up pre-release goodies to make all your frends back home jealous.  I came home with a Storm Strider, Constance Blaize and Gallant, so I’ll probably be taking a break from my Skorne to crank out those.

I even got to get in a couple of games with Bobaferret, who I haven't played in a couple of years.  I'll say this, working at the mothership has made her cruel.  I will also say it is hard to do math at 2:30 in the morning.  All in all, it was a good weekend.  The people were awesome, and I was amazed an how good the entire press gang is.  Every PG I met was just super outgoing and really cool – I suddenly realized what a potent force they are in PP's growth.  My opponents were great and all really enjoyable to play against, and Seattle was (as always) a great host.  I only wish there was more time – Hey PP, how about we start registration on Friday next year…?  Hell, how about we start the show on Friday next year?  Either way, I’ll probably be back.

Edit:  Bobaferret pointed out that I failed to mention that I even got the opportunity to pitch my own model idea to Lead Designer Jason Soles on Friday night.  It was a concept for a Skorne battle engine called "The Beast with Two Backs" and it involved two titans...  Maybe it's best if I don't completely explain.  It did have a few special abilities - first, whenever it advances it can sing "ecstasies" (think the Agonizer's agonies but on a much grander scale).  Also, much like a train wreck, once it enters your line of sight, you just can't look away.  Finally, It may also spawn little agonizers as it trundles across the battlefield.  Brilliant, huh?  I'm guessing that is what they spent the last few days working on...  You can thank me later.