Why I am selling my 40K army and going all in with Kings of War...

Its been a while since I've blogged anything. So let me start by saying this "This will not be a dakka, I hate GW post". It'll be an explanation that I feel I need to share. I'm not getting out of war gaming rather just shifting my focus to another rule set. I have decided to focus on Kings of War. Let me tell you why. It's nothing like that YouTube video where the guy burns his army. Quite the contrary.

I am back to work at a retail management job. I work a lot. A lot. My last job was about 35 hours a week this one is like 55-60. Its brutal but I need to provide and I'm happy to be at work again. So my time is limited. I want to support a system that I feel rewards me as a customer. I want to support a company that cares about my involvement. Selfish? Sure. It's my needs though. I am not asking anyone else to follow my path.

I have decided to support Mantic due to the fact that they do care. Our YouTube channel got a response from Ronnie Renton today. That meant a lot to me. We didn't ask for free stuff but rather feedback. What can we do to help? We wanted to know. He got us in touch with his North American guy and good things will come from that. The Mantic forums are full of guys who want feedback about rules, points, issues and unforeseen scenarios. These guys don't get paid for this but rather due it to improve the game. That's huge, or to quote Trump "That's YUGE!!!" I'm American forgive me and my country for supporting this golden wig wearing sociopath. Moving on...

I decided I will no longer support companies that do not care about my interest in their products. So I will no longer own models or armies that i could possibly buy from that company again. That's all. Managing retail gives me a unique outlook on this. I need to know if a customer is unhappy. I cannot fix it otherwise. I actively ask my customers "what else?" I have to know, the customer who doesn't speak up and walks away you will never get that customer back. As much as the complainers drive me nuts it allows me to avoid the same issues with other customers.

It's not about negativity, rather its about putting my money where my mouth is. If KOW is so great and it is! Check out our YouTube channel to see the smile on my friggin face! I need to support Mantic with model purchases. They do not grow otherwise. Full stop end of story. We can as a community buy them out of rule books day in and day out but that wont get it done. We need to support them and other companies that are engaged with US! The WarMaHordes guys already got this down. We need to follow suit.

My time and money are a big deal to me. This is money I am not spending on my children and time I am not spending with my family. This is weekend trips I am not taking with them This is dinners I am missing due to playing a game. This is part of my life. I need to make sure that the resources I put into this are not wasted on those that do not deserve it. I just feel another British company deserves it and another doesn't. Its not due to wrongs being done to me mind you. GW never set out to hurt me. Never actively tried to sabotage my hobby, never sent me hate email when I had a customer compliant. Mantic has actively engaged me and demanded my feedback. That's why ultimately. If they don't care then that's OK. However my hobby money and time requires that they do care. Not everyone needs that. I do.

So I in the process of selling my Horus Heresy army.  I fully expect the transaction to process today. I'll be using that money to buy Mantic Ogres for my second KOW army. I'm thrilled about this. It's a new beginning for me. I can finally change up our batrps!! No more Herd vs Undead foreva!!! Thank Christ, our fans are like "awesome batreps keep'em coming but umm hey do you guys per chance have anything else you could play army wise?" Our response is always the same positive tone "NO! DONATE OR NO BATREPS FOR YOU!!" We don't actually say that... I think. Thanks for reading see you around the way....

Kings of War and the joy of realizing you are a terrible general...

So I've played 6 games of KOW since I've decided to switch to it. I think I'm 1-3-2 in those games. I know, I know win/loss isn't the be all end of how good you are but it is a good measuring stick. So real quick let me say this, in 6 games all but one was decided in turn 6 or 7. Lastly I had a absolute blast in every game. This speaks to a couple things to me balance and tactics. In short this game is incredibly balanced and I need to learn tactics.

So one of the things I love about movement trays in fantasy war gaming is the tactical aspect of it. The game is won or lost in the movement phase in KOW. No one unit, magic item or spell is gonna get you that win. You have to outplay and out maneuver the other guy (or girl I know, what a sexist thing for me to assume, send complaints to KOWROCKS@YOU'REAWHINEYDOUCHE.COM). So i played my first scenario games and what a huge difference that makes in playing. I have now played pillage, loot and domination. Each one had its own depth that I definitely need more practice in to really master this game. I thought I was below average/decent at fantasy movement. KOW has taught me this, WRONG I sucked!!! My movement game is soft, but I am working on it.

So in my loot scenario game I had a plan. I was going first (which was a huge component of the plan) and I was able to successfully capitalize on my plan. It was close but because the units in KOW were so balanced I won. I stuck to the plan and didn't try to get sexy with harebrained ideas or grand schemes of annihilation. I was able to screen the 3 units I was going to steal the objectives with (2 were successful) and was able to get them off the board to cement my first win. My opponent realized right after turn 1 what the gig was and tried to counter. His army was just a little to slow and I was able to keep the fast guys from getting to my loot thieves. YAY!! I WON!!! It hit me THOUGH, had I gone second my plan would likely not have worked. That was a lighting bolt. I need more games and I have a lot to learn.

My domination game was maybe the most fun I have ever played in any war gaming game PERIOD. It swung back and forth so many times late I just was at a loss as what to do. We ended up with a draw and he had a turn where a unit over its rout limit stuck, due to him rolling snake eyes. A tremendous moment in my life. There is a batrep of this game and it will be up later today. I'll link to it. It was just a blast and this was after I had already played 3 games of KOW and a 3.5 hour game of 40k. I should have been beat but KOW brings out the life in me.

The movement tactics of this game blow me away. So many combo moves, screening options and plans of attack that I am just awestruck. I look forward to the day when I feel I can play this competitively. I bought a model for my fantasy army. I haven't done that in over a year. Let that sink in. I am so excited to play KOW, I am buying shit! Huge day for me. I am already envisioning two tiered scenarios for games that I think would add even that much more strategy and depth to this beautiful game. I am re-reading this and realizing how much of a fanboy rant about the quality of KOW yet I am very OK with that. Mantic and this game deserve the spot in the light they have truly delivered a gift to all of us fantasy wargamers. If you are on the fence get down and come over to here. I swear you won't regret it.

Lastly this community has been lights out awesome. Our YouTube batrep had 1200+ views which is double our average batrep. I cannot say thank you enough to this community. Matt Gilbert from the Rules Committee is awesome over at Mantics Forums. He is pleasant, fast with responses and just a smidgen sarcastic (I think that might be crown rule in the UK though, so he may not have a choice)!
Alessio, the games creator liked my last blog post. That's awesome and if you think differently please shoot me your address so I can crap in your mailbox. Jerk. Dave from the Redstone Rumble reached out to me on dakka with positive words. Check out his tourney this October in you are anywhere near Alabama. I'm blown away buy the lack of nerd rage, table flip, set my army on fire, hate crime rants. So next post will be about about your objections to switching if you are unsure. I will address them fairly and with a lot of foul language. Kidding see you around the way...