Rogue Stars

I'm using this space to brainstorm crews for the Rogue Stars game. Great thing about the game is that you get to use whatever miniatures that you want. Although the setting is a sci-fi underworld, there is no preset, overarching universe. Missions, locations and conditions are generated randomly and players can create a game narrative based on the results of the rolls.

These are a selection of models that I would use as mercenaries.

Supervillians

Might be fun to collect these minis and create a generic superhero/supervillan team, all with their own powers, weaknesses and origin stories. Reminds me of the days when I played Champions with my friends.

Adventuring warband

Half Ogre Templar

 Gnome Illusionist

Frostgrave Dark Dwarf Warband

 Dwarf Wizard

 Apprentice and Construct

 Undead Infantryman

Dwarf Thief

Frostgrave warbands

I'm brainstorming Frostgrave warbands now.

 Goblin mage

 Bugbear Barbarian

 Orc Apprentice

 Goblin Archer

 Orc Man at Arms

Goblin Thief

Frostgrave

I'm just discovering Frostgrave, the miniature skirmish game, and I'm fascinated! From what I understand at this point, each warband starts out with a wizard and an apprentice. The apprentice is optional but all the info I can find about the game strongly suggests hiring one. You can then hire up to 8 more members of the warband, all ranging from basic thugs to apothecaries, rangers and knights. These categories are intentionally broad and allows you to pick any miniature to flesh it out.  There are official miniatures for sale but from what I gather any fantasy miniatures can be used. It's also not race specific, allowing you to create and go nuts.
I'm brainstorming warbands now. I have a few ideas for undead, orcs and goblins, dark dwarves, dark elves and a band of general adventures.

You start out with 500 gold to build the warband. The wizard costs nothing initially, the apprentice costs 200 gold and you can have up to 8 additional hirelings.

Below is a list of the soldiers for hire, cost, weapons and special rules:

War Hound 10gc Animal, Cannot carry treasure or items
Thug 20gc Hand Weapon
Thief 20gc Dagger
Archer 50gc Bow, Dagger, Leather Armour
Crossbowman 50gc Crossbow, Dagger, Leather Armour
Infantryman 50gc Two-Handed Weapon, Leather Armour
Tracker 80gc Staff, Bow, Leather Armour
Man-at-Arms 80gc Hand Weapon, Shield, Leather Armour
Treasure Hunter 80gc Hand Weapon, Dagger, Leather Armour
Knight 100gc Hand Weapon, Shield, Mail Armour
Templar 100gc Two-Handed Weapon, Mail Armour
Ranger 100gc Bow, Hand Weapon, Leather Armour
Barbarian 100gc Two Handed Weapon
Apothecary 100gc Staff, starts each game carrying a healing potion
Marksman 100gc Crossbow, Hand Weapon, Mail Armour

Again the list is very broad and allows you to pick any miniature to fill the role.

Well, that was fun.

I dropped out of the Journeyman League after the 2nd week. I had a bad cold during the 3rd week causing me to miss the league meeting. By the 4th week I was not interested. I have just about lost any and all interest in Warmachine at this point. I had a good time with it though. I still love the miniatures and still continue to collect them.
I think what turned me off was the over-competitive meta and how the rules are constantly being tweaked by the developers.
I discovered Warmachine with my friend Rob back in 2011. I had been a long time 40K player and wanted to start a new game. I was growing more and more unhappy with Games Workshop at the time; their constant price increases, drastic changes between editions and the horrible quality of finecast annoyed me to no end. Rob was getting annoyed with the rules as well so he agreed to start Warmachine with me, albeit a bit grudgingly. We met about once a week or so for games which usually included quibbling over rules and yelling at each other. It was a bit of a learning curve for me, I discovered early on that Warmachine plays quite differently from 40K and had to adjust my mindset if I had any hope of getting good.
Rob ended up moving away and I thought my gaming days were done. I would take the bus and my army up to Dark Forest Games hoping to find some players and get in some good games. I met Adam one day and began to play with him regularly. We got together about once or twice a month but Adam was getting in alot more games in between. Adam became a solid tournament player with knowledge of the rules in and out while I struggled with even basic shit like proper deployment. I'd get lucky on occasion and win a game but only if Adam made a mistake that I was able to capitalize on, not because of any tactical genius on my part. I never was much of a tournament player either, I played a couple and really didn't enjoy myself. I got to a point where I was floundering. Adam continued to trounce me and I couldn't keep up with the constant tweaking of the rules or the meta. I decided to take a break right before 3rd edition came out, planning a glorious return to the game with a brand new army (Trolls) and a new outlook on the game. I did play a few games of the new edition but it was far from the glorious return I had hoped.
I guess, ultimately, Warmachine is not the game for me. There are elements of the game that I absolutely love. The Fury mechanic and the relationship between Warlock and Warbeast is fantastic. I played some amazing games where alot of cool shit happened, like getting a successful assassination with a tooled up Archidon, my Kovass killing just as many of my own troopers as my opponent's, and one single Nihilator tearing through a whole unit of bone grinders by himself, just to name a few. But the way I see the game; with the fierce competitive meta, rules tweaking to the point where every time I do show up for a game something's different, rushing through a timed turn, etc. It's just not appealing to me. I want to show up with a fun, fluffy, narrative army list, play a fun casual game, roll some dice and have a few laughs.
Lately I have been getting back into Games Workshop (*Gasp* Horrors!) in the form of Shadow War Armageddon and Necromunda. I figure that this way I can feed my gaming need without selling off a kidney to buy a whole brand new 40K army. In the past I have ended up selling or trading off miniatures from game systems that I no longer find myself playing. Such was the case when I stopped playing 40K in favor of Warmachine, I decision then I have come to regret. I hope that I have learned my lesson this time around as I have no plans to offload any of my Warmachine miniatures. I want to keep the possibility of an occasional game open and I do really love the miniatures. For now I'll tuck them away somewhere safe and casually paint them.

Journeyman League

I find myself at the game table once again, this time I am taking part in a local Journeyman League hosted by my friend Adam. I always thought that the purpose of such a league was to encourage players to purchase new armies and build them up slowly. Adam allowed me to use the Trolls that I already owned but never played with. The first game was last Monday, my list was:

Ragnor Skysplitter, the Runemaster

Troll Axer 

Troll Bouncer

Troll Impaler

I played against a Cygnar player. I had fun, I lost but still had fun. I forgot to feat but my caster was able to finish off 2 opposing jacks all by himself. For the next round I plan on adding an Earthborne Dire Troll, after that a unit of Champions. 

Feels good to get back into the game after my long absence. Anything that gives me a reason to get out of the house and socialize is good.