Wrath of Kings, Rage of Pigs

I still need to finish the basing and do some more touch-ups, but here is how my Union Workers looked, going into the tournament yesterday.

I'm pleased with the concept of the rugby-style stockings.  Some color-combos I like better than others, but as for the overall theme, I like breaking up the otherwise toned-down earth-colors of the pigs and armor with basically a garish heraldry that suggests some kind of insane cult -- which is basically what the Teknes faction is.  And the absurd anti-machismo adds that much more insult to injury, when a pig chops down their opponent.

The rest of the faction still has a long way to go.  I'm now in a bit of pickle -- that is, to decide what projects I work on, leading up to NOVA Open.  I have a lot of ideas for entries for Capital Palette -- more ideas than I can complete in less than a month!  And I also want to make progress on the rest of my Teknes faction, since I'll be competing in CMON's official narrative tournament.  So I have some tough choices and a busy schedule ahead of me for August.

As for yesterday's tournament, I am astounded to report that I won.  Not just a game or two, but the actual tournament!  With only 3 games under my belt going into the tournament, I had the mindset of "I'm going there to learn and gain experience."  I held no expectations of 'win' or 'lose', just 'learn the game'. 

I certainly did struggle with the information overload, being introduced to so many individual abilities and faction-level themes being thrown at me from the other side of the table.  I think where I managed to eke out an edge every game was aggressively trying to score on scenario objectives, or "Motivations", as Wrath of Kings calls them. 

While I've always played to scenario objectives, I think my experience with Malifaux was helpful to think and plan in terms of "scheme runners", where I would dedicate a model or a squad with a singular mission on the fringe of the battle.  My experience in chess was helpful, too, in terms of sacrifices and trades.  Not to give myself too much credit, of course.  Any of these games could have swung on a dime [mixed metaphor?].  Which, of course, is what made them such great games -- because they were so close!

Kudos to the Game On! game store in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and to Zachary Beker for organizing and running the event.  The Game On! staff are very friendly, and Zak ran a tight ship for the tournament.  On to NOVA!