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!

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!

Front Arcs

So I gave in and painted front arc marks on Long Gunners that were already painted. I am not really a fan of arc marks but they will help in the game play. I went for a very neutral gray so as to not stand out. I also added a "L" on the back of the leader to keep him clear in a game.

I am also slightly OCD, so I drew a template to help place them. It worked well enough but there was still a little play in where the line ended up.

I think next time, I will find box with a good right angle. I will slide them back against the corner, then mark the line, again using something like the template. Has anyone else found a better (simpler/faster) way? Or do you eyeball and freehand them?

First Layer

I am going to try to paint a big batch, though I may have to break it down when I get past the base colors. Here, I have filled in the spots the spray primer missed with Black. Next, I did a heavy overbrush on the base and painted the wood and leather with a dark brown.

I am a little intimidated by the large batch but I think it will help me paint the characters. Characters scare me a little, so hopefully with them lumped in with the regulars, they will get the same treatment. Otherwise, there is a strong chance they will sit on the shelf until I feel up to them. More to come...

Assembling Cygnar

Stupid little pieces! I know they are going to pop off and yet there is no good way to pin them. Grrr... Now I remember why I had not assembled eStryker before. I also have eCaine but he has even more little pieces! I am probably a little spoiled by the ones who come as a single piece.

I picked up some Simple Green the other day and dropped 6 trenchers into a chipped coffee mug. They have been here for 48 hours and layers of paint are peeling off. It is my first time working with Simple Green but I have had these trenchers for 4+ years and they have never been fielded. I bought them already painted (and cheap) along with 4 primed black. I hope to get them cleaned up, buy a box of the new Trencher Commandos, and paint them all together.

Here are my recent purchases. I have the 6 Long Gunners, 2 Officers, and 2 Standard Bearers to fill out my Long Gunner Units. The new Warcaster Kara Sloan is also a new purchase. I already had eHaley, who finally got assembled, and the Squire, who was based along with the rest of them.

The next step will be to attach the washers and a coat of black spray primer to lock down the sand.