A Reasoned Response to my Movement Tray

The other day, I posted picks of the movement tray I am creating for my units of Long Gunners.  Von, from Game Over and A Year of Frugal Gaming left a great comment I wanted to share (Von, I hope you don't mind me quoting you here):

Von said... Cool tray, no doubt about that, but I think there's a reason Warmachine players don't use them, and a consequence for you that you might not have thought about.

The sheer openness of Warmachine Mark II's formation rules open up a lot of tactical options (with lines of sight/fire, casualty removal, counter-attacks and so on), especially for high priority units with different actions and attacks available to them (like Trenchers and Long Gunners).

I worry that you're locking yourself into one rather limited formation, and thus locking yourself out of those options. I also worry about terrain, particularly buildings, although I assume you'll just abandon the tray there.

Of course, strength of play may not be as big a priority for you. This'll certainly speed up your play, and if you did a battlegroup and solos one as well, they'd be nice display/transport utilities. 

I hadn't really thought about how the tray would lock me in.  Recently, I have played several games with pHaley where I line up two full units of Long Gunners, 24 mini's, and shoot holes in the oncoming hordes.  I thought it was a pain in the butt when I had to move them all up the first turn, thus the idea a tray was formed.  I think I also just wanted to play with power tools =)

I like the imposed spacing so I don't get all my guys killed in one round of Khador AOE's.  I also think I can leave the tray when needs be.  I knew going into it that it would probably only help for turns 1 & 2.  However, once they are in the tray, my tendency will be to leave them in that formation simply because I am too lazy to want to move them all.  I pretty sure I would pull them off it when I needed to but it would have to be a conscious decision.

Another thing for me to consider is that the Long Gunners are at their best when they don't move.  If they stand still, they get a +2 aiming bonus on either 1)their first of two shots at 12" each or 2) on a 24" shot.  They also have the combined range attack ability.  I might just start leaving them in their deployment zone starting positions.  They won't get a shot the first turn but they have longer to shoot at the enemy.  I guess it still depends on the scenario.

Anyway, Von, thank you for the comment.  It has really given me a lot to think about.  I still plan on finishing the tray and trying it out a couple of times.  There is nothing like experience to show me if I made a movement tray or an interesting display board!

Thanks for reading!

And the Winner is....

A while back, I won a ticket to Games Day through the Storm Warden / Doctor's Without Borders Project.  As I mentioned here, I can't go but I want someone else to be able to use the ticket.  Thanks for those who expressed interest in going to Games Day.  I guess most people already have their tickets but I am glad one more person can go.

And the winner is... The other Kevin from Paint Pot Procrastinator!  Kevin, I need your postal address so I can get the ticket to you.  Please use the link to my e-mail in my profile.  Congratulations!

PS - If anyone else knows real world "the other Kevin", give him a call and tell him to send me his address.  Let's get this ticket used!

Long Gunners and a Movement Tray

I have been working on my Long Gunners again. I last posted pics of them here.  They now have most of their highlights done and I am trying to get the cloth to come out.  The banner is the last thing to do.  It has intimidated me for a while but I am almost ready to give it a go.  Here are some recent pics of the progress.

I blocked in the major colors and the first hint of highlight.  There are actually two different units here, distinguished by the color of their skirt.

Here is a close up of two of them, pretty close to done.

On a different note, I have been playing around with the idea of creating a movement tray for them.  Warmachine does not typically have movement trays but I am getting used to fielding two full units at 10+2 officers.  With 24 mini's, I decided to take the plunge.

I went to my local craft store and purchased 1/8 x 4 x 24 piece of Basswood.  It was $2.99, not bad for a movement tray.  After WAY too long trying to figure out the best arrangement and the spacing to put in between the little guys, I drew out my circles on the board and started cutting.

I had purchased a Dremel Multipurpose Cutting Kit #565 but I had never used it before.

Turns out, it works great but it is very loud!  I was afraid my apartment neighbors would call the office on me!  I was out on the patio, which was good because of all the sawdust, but it was very loud.  I used the kit to create the holes in the middle, then I finished them out with a sanding band.  The sanding band was much quieter and was easier to control when I got next to my pencil lines.

You might notice all the pencil lines where I thought the holes would go.  Like I said, it took me a while.

This is what they look like in their new movement tray.  Notice the second board underneath.

I know it is hard to tell from this picture but the 3" blast template can only hit one mini when it is centered on a guy.  I lose about 2" on my back rank's range but I don't get killed with bombards either.  I also hope this will keep some of them out of charge range when it comes to that.

I considered making the tray magnetic but I already have the washers on the bases of the Long Gunners and I decided not to mess with it.  Maybe next time.

The smartest thing I did was use the board as a template for my next movement tray.  I certainly don't want to try all the crazy math and measurements I did on this one.

The dumbest thing I did?  Well, I started putting a unit in the tray to take a picture for the blog and realized I only cut 10 holes.  With the Officer Attachment, I am 2 short!  Dang it!  I will still use it, as I can always put two of the guys to the side or in a back rank.  Still, I am happy with my first attempt.

Thanks for reading!

The Drawing Date

The Drawing Date for the Games Day Ticket has been moved to August the 17th.  Check out the previous post if you might be able to go!

I Won... And So Can You

A week or two back, they had the final drawing for the Storm Wardens Project.  It was a huge success, raising $16,000+ for Doctor's Without Borders.  I contributed along the way, sort of hoping for the grand prize but mostly because it was for a great cause.  Well, I won, but not the grand prize.  I won one of the Games Day tickets.

It is very cool, and yet I live in Texas now =(  There is simply no way I can go.

So the ticket is up for grabs!

Rules:

1. Post a comment below if you are able to personally use the ticket.
2. I will pick a random person on Tuesday, August 17th, probably around 11pm Central Time.
3. If you are selected, I will mail you the ticket so you can travel to the Baltimore Convention Center on August 21st, 10am-6pm (or any part of it)
4. Hopefully, you will take pictures and post about it on your blog (or we can work out a way to post it here).

Please don't post if you can't use the ticket.  I am hoping one of you can use it or you know someone who you can get to post a comment.

Good luck!

Edit: The drawing has been moved to Tuesday, August 17th.