I also have to clean up a few models and finish assembling my Exemplar Errant Seneschals in case I want to use them later in the weekend.  They definitely won't be painted for Hardcore but I might toss 'em in another list to give them a go in one of the other formats.

Despite being behind, I'm looking forward to the event.  Last two years have been fantastic, and this year promises to be no exception.

Hierophant WIP

I have a few lists I'm tossing around to play, but I haven't even really settled on if I'm playing the Protectorate or Legion.  The Legion models I'd want to use are already painted, but there's still a few key Protectorate ones - like the Hierophant and Covenant - that I needed to get to.

It's been a while since I last picked up the brush; maybe even a couple months.  Painting has always been an enjoyable hobby for me, but lately it's always seemed like there's something else I rather do with my free time.  Still there aren't many chances to play in a Hardcore event, so it's time to buckle down and get to work.

After assembling and priming my Hierophant and Convenant, I spent a day trying to see if I could make some progress on the former.  I tried a method similar to how the Forces of Warmachine: Protectorate book talked about doing their reds.  I use a little different color so I had to switch up my shading colors but in general the technique is still the same.  I still need some tweaking but overall it's coming allright.

Working all the metallics reminded me how much I hate painting them.  I always look at each miniature as I paint it and think "I'll just bother learning how to paint metallics on the next figure" and rush through it, but I always put it off to the proverbial next time.

Still plenty of work to do, but right now my biggest sticking point is what color to paint the trim on his jacket-ish clothing.  It's the white stripe in this picture - maybe I'll mimic that and make it the same color as his lower robe.

And that's not to mention the Covenant, which has little more than a basecoat on it.  That's a lot of work for me to do in the coming month with as slow as I paint, but here's to trying.  Just gotta try not to get distracted by my other hobbies.  :)

Complete schedule and details are available on our site,  or keep up to date by following us on Twitter. See all the fun-filled convention activities and preregister at the DieCon home page. Registration for DieCon X is only $26.00 until April 15th. After that, registration increases to $31.00 – still an amazing bargain. Online payments will be accepted via PayPal. Those particpating in Hardcore will have an additional 5 dollar fee which goes towards a personalized 2010 Official Hardcore dogtag. Remember to select "PP Hardcore" under the list of Saturday events to reserve your spot today and enter your requested personalization at that time. Our schedule is listed below…

Friday June 4th

2:00 PM - Iron Agenda Presents: Battle for Steelwater Rails: The Iron Agenda podcast will kick off our first day with a specially designed event. This 35pt Warmachine and Hordes event features one of the most iconic steam creations: Trains! Custom scenarios created by the Iron Agenda podcast will have players throwing down while being part of an overall story about the railways of the Iron Kingdoms.

20 Point Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw Hardcore (immediately following the above): Our 20 point mangled metal and tooth and claw hardcore will take place after the completion of the Iron Agenda’s Train event. Our first day of Privateer Weekend 3 finishes off with just the casters, their beasts, and jacks. Warcasters and warlocks will direct their jacks and beasts against each other in flesh ripping, metal sundering action. One list per participant is allowed. Each turn will be 3 minutes and games will last only 30 minutes so you gotta be quick. Remember, this is a mangled metal/tooth and claw event so not only does assassination win the game but eliminating all the jacks or beasts does too. Also remember, this is Hardcore so all models must be painted and based. Will the machinations of men win out? Or will the unbridled fury of beasts reign supreme? Prizes TBA.

Saturday June 5th

9:00am - Official Mark II Hardcore: This is the big one, boys and girls. This is the pinnacle of Warmachine and Hordes gaming. It is a rare honor that Privateer Weekend attendees will have to compete in the first official Mark II Hardcore event. Bring your best 50 point Warmachine or Hordes list and throw down with the best of the best. Each player is allowed a single 50 point Warmachine or Hordes list and the army must be fully painted and based to participate. All games are timed. If time runs out, put down your dice and let your opponent rip into you. In order to survive in this intense combat you had better not only know your army but your opponent’s army as well. However, with a unique intense format also come unique prizes. There is a 5 dollar fee to participate in Hardcore which goes to a dog tag for each participant. All participants who preregister for Hardcore will receive a special personalized dog tag for playing in the event. Official rules and prizes for Hardcore will be forth coming but get your 50 points painted up now. You will not want to miss out on this once in a life opportunity.

9:00 am - 75 points Steamroller 2010: This will run concurrent with Mark II Hardcore. Hardcore not your thing? Then how about a grueling 75 point Steamroller 2010? This event will feature both Hordes and Warmachine factions in a standard Steamroller 2010 scenarios. The official rules for steamroller 2010 can be found here. Prizes to be announced.

35 point random caster event (immediately following the above): This event will follow the Mark II Hardcore and 75 point Steamroller 2010 events. Are you the master of your faction? Can you win with any caster? Time to prove it then, buttercup. Bring a single 35 point list that does not include a caster’s warjack or warbeast points and 6 caster choices for your faction. In addition to a printed list a player needs to have each of their 6 caster choices listed on a sheet of paper numbered 1 thru 6. At the beginning of each round, the tournament organizer will roll a die 6 to determine which caster will be used for that round. Scenarios will be taken from the Steamroller 2010. Retribution players are allowed to duplicate 1 warcaster choice in their list to fill it out to 6 spots. Mercenary list are allowed to duplicate warcasters to fill out their 6 spots but they must use each available warcaster for a contract at least once. Prizes to be announced.

Capt Saultydog's Trivia Challenge: All day Saturday. Know what the prefered food is for a Gorax in heat? Know how many hull boxes a Cyclone has? Then you might be ready to partake in the Captain's trivia challenge. Particpants are welcome to pick up a trivia packet at the beginning of the day and complete over the course of the day. All entries must be turned in by 9 pm that night. So, do you know more about the Iron Kingdoms than Captain Saultydog? Prizes to be announced.

Sunday June 6th

9:00 am - 50 point Steamroller 2010 and Warmachine Weekend Qualifier: One last chance to play in a steamroller event before the weekend concludes. This event will feature both Hordes and Warmachine factions in standard Steamroller 2010 scenarios. This 2010 steamroller has an added twist. The winner of this event will receive a free pass to Warmachine Weekend and automatically be qualified for their invitational event. Other prizes to be announced. The official steamroller 2010 rules can be found here.

9:00 am - 25-35-50 point Escalation event: Want to do something a bit different than a standard Steamroller event? The escalation tournament is designed to test players by making their casters excel in various army lists. Each player designs three lists from a single faction. The first list is a 25 point Mangled Metal or Tooth and Claw list. The second list is 35 points and is built off the first list. However, the second list may add troops and solos in addition to more jacks and beasts. The 3rd list increases the point total to 50 points and is constructed off the second list with additional troops, jacks, and beasts. The 25 point list will be played in round 1, the 35 point list in round 2, and the 50 point list in round 3 and on. Take note, you can only ever add onto a list, never take away. For instance, a player can start with a 6 man unit and increase it later to 10 but the converse is not true. Prizes to be announced.

Weekend Long Events

Painting competitions: Warmachine and Hordes is not just about pushing little figures over a table.  This year we’re honoring the hobby by adding painting competitions to our repertoire. Players will have the chance to submit minatures for the painting competitions starting at 2 pm on Friday June 4th through 10 am Sunday June 6th. Judging will be done on each category on Sunday June 6th and prizes will be handed out at the final ceremony.

Catergories are
a.) Best painted warcaster/warlock
b.) Best painted warjack/warbeast
c.) Best painted unit
d.) Best painted battle group
e.) Best conversion
f.) Best diorama

Capt. Saultydog’s Brainteasers: At various tournaments, participants will have the opportunity to win door prizes based off their Iron Kingdoms trivia knowledge. People currently participating in an event that has one of Capt. Saulty’s Brainteasers may submit their answer anytime during the tournament. At the end of each tournament, Capt. Saulty will draw answers and the first correct answer will be awarded the door prize for that event. Prizes to be announced.

Tide of War: During the course of Privateer Weekend, participants will have the chance to earn Tide of War points to compete for the Privateer Weekend Champion award. War points are awarded based on the size of the game played and whether or not the player was victorious. These games include both tournament games and friendly games played outside the tournament scene, but yet on the Diecon premises. A player does not need to play the same faction each game unless he/she is in a tournament. Games may range between 20 and 100 points. A player may not play the same opponent back to back. When the game is not a tournament game, both participants are responsible for notifying judges before the game begins, where it is being played, and the outcome of that game. If the players do not notify a judge, then the game will not be counted. So what goes to our overall War Champion? Well, we're keeping that hush, hush for now but the prize is absolutely huge. Let’s just say it will be something large and fully playable.

Hopefully the list of unique and exciting events has piqued your interest into attending Privateer Weekend 3 at Diecon X. Please check out http://privateerweekend.gamestlouis.com or http://www.diecon.com for more information or PM PG D.Vader or PG AslainKheog. For hotel information check here for special rates. Hope to see you there!

* 35 participants are need for Hardcore. If this number is not met, a Steamroller 2010 50 point event will be ran in it’s place.

This is the second and final installment of my Hardcore Tournament report from Privateer Weekend 2 at DieCon 9.  You can find my list-building discussion here and the first part of my Hardcore coverage here.

I started Hardcore with a loss to the Protectorate of Menoth, but they say if you fall off the Blightning, you get right back on and try again.   After a round two win against Khador I was hoping it was the start of a streak.

Once again I've included the list I used for reference and have tried to recreate what each of my opponents were running to the best of my recollection.  I can't guarantee what I have for my opponents' lists is 100% accurate but it should give you a rough idea of what I faced each round.

Round 3: Bret's Cryx

I didn't look forward to facing the rusty-thrall brigade when I saw it deployed across the table from me at the start of round 3.  Once in combat the Legion of Everblight's strength is its defense score and Bret had quite a few ways to deal with that.  The Bile Thralls' Purge auto-hits and Tartarus' Curse and Deneghra's Crippling Grasp (not to mention her feat) would let the Banes trash almost anything they got into melee with.

Bret won the roll to go first and I think he gave me a bit of an advantage when he deployed.  On the bottom of the first turn after his army came towards me, I sacrificed one of my Deathstalkers to snipe the leaders of both Bile Thrall units, which had both been deployed on my right flank.

The next couple rounds I used the Warmongers to engage the Banes while I sent my beasts up the left flank away from the Biles.  I weathered his feat before using my own to race up field behind his army.  I managed to take care of the jacks and drive Deneghra back deeper into her own table edge.

By that point I had Bret pinned in, and instead of having Deneghra continue to run around the board to force a draw, he stayed relatively close and tried to disable my beasts with spells.  He wasn't able to lock them all down and the following turn the Seraph managed to assassinate Deneghra.  I give Bret a lot of credit - it would have been easy to keep running and caused a mutual-loss via draw but instead he committed to stay around and see what damage he could do.

In the end I was a little surprised that Bret hadn't sacrificed an arc node to get Crippling Grasp on Epic Thagrosh to tie him down.  I think racing up one of the flanks caught him a little off guard and let me strike deep across the table relatively unexpectedly.  Even though I wasn't really able to put the hurt on Deneghra herself with Epic Thagrosh's feat, Glory of Everblight let me hit what assets he had nearby hard enough that I was able to push to a win from there.

Round 4: Jason's Khador

Round four I was paired up with Jason (aka Entropy), a pressganger from Springfield, Illinois.  He was playing a wintery-paint job Winterguard-based Epic Sorscha list which included Beast-09.

Jason won the initiative roll and elected to go first, centering his line around Sorscha and the Winterguard.  The Iron Fangs and Great Bears held the right flank with the Widowmakers deployed in a forest on the left flank.  I set my Deathstalkers back on the right flank and most everything else roughly in the center of the field.

I started out doing alright, using the Deathstalkers to work through the Iron Fangs and the Warmongers to engage the Widowmakers and spread out to block access to the rest of my forces.  However, under Epic Sorscha's feat, Jason's army was able to take out most of my army, including the Seraph and Carnivean.

The longer the game lasted, the quicker my army was going to be ground down so I decided to go for ye ole Black Chasm gamble: charge Beast-09 for distance, throw a Black Chasm at Sorscha to knock her down, and let my surviving beasts get Glory-enhanced attacks on her.  It's a tricky strategy attempt that usually means overexposing and Epic Thagrosh... made even more suicidal due to the fact that Sorscha had cast Deep Freeze on Beast-09 previously.

I checked some ranges from Epic Thagrosh, cast Glory of Everblight, and charged Beast-09.  With his reach, Epic Thagrosh was able to position where he needed to be and did some fair damage to Beast-09 with his charge attack, but that wasn't the real goal.  With his last four Fury, Epic Thagrosh tossed a Black Chasm at Epic Sorscha, missing by one and drifting harmlessly off of her base.

Crap.

Well, with Epic Thagrosh furyless and stationary engaged with Beast-09 I had little choice but to see if I could do the deed without the knockdown.  The Harrier cast its animus and charged, failing by not being in range (which saved his animus for the feat-granted attack), and the other beasts ran.  Then they took their feat movement and attack.  The Harrier auto-hit and did a couple points of damage, but with the War Dog supplementing Sorschas already respectable DEF the other beasts weren't able to hit enough to finish her off.

I'll leave the results of the match as an educational exercise for the reader. 

Concluding Thoughts

Even though we had 32 players, Hardcore only lasted 4 rounds.  We had a draw in the third round and the undefeated player who was paired down in the fourth round lost, so after the fourth round there was only one undefeated player left standing - Lord Tyrant Watts, from Louisville, Kentucky.  Watts won the Vanquisher award for being the overall champion.

DP6, aka Tim, won the Mage Hunter award for the fastest caster kill.  This year he won with a 12-minute kill--not quite as fast as last year's performance.  Z, aka Alkingdrinkasaurus, from Atlanta, Georgia, won the Executioner award for most VP's.  I don't know what his exact total was but he averaged over 20 per game.

Privateer Weekend Hardcore Medalists

I was pretty satisfied being 2 for 2 on the day, but my goal from the outset had been to try and earn the Master Craftsman award.  With all of the fantastically painted armies the judges' job certainly wasn't easy, so I was honored to be able to walk away with the award this year. That made the painful deaths suffered by Epic Thagrosh worth it.

Overall Privateer Weekend 2 was a huge success.  Big thanks to the Privateer Weekend Committee for organizing the events, the local retailers for their prize support donations, the pressgangers who ran the events, and all the players that came out.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

At least that's how I felt preparing for Privateer Weekend 2 and my second Hardcore. I knew what to expect from the time clock and how to handle the short turns, but the competition at Hardcore is a notch above your standard Steamroller event.  So I needed a secret weapon...

According to the box Epic Thagrosh comes in, apparently blighted lightning is purple. Who knew? At the game store we jokingly called this Blightning thinking we were clever until JBFlanz, a local Warmachine player who also plays Magic, showed us this:

Blightning! Ride it!

Thus my Hardcore list was named.  Flanz had an extra copy of the card which he graciously donated to me.  I kept it with my stat cards, adding to Epic Thagrosh's spell list.  Unfortunately with no way to generate red or black mana he wasn't able to cast it.  Even a dragon's athanc has its limitations.

With the last bit of list building complete I was ready for Hardcore.  I realized going into the event that I wasn't suffering from the same nervousness that I did the year before.  Maybe it was the prior year's experience, but on top of that I knew once I arrived at the venue there was absolutely nothing I could do about my chances to win Master Craftsman. All the work was already done, so it just meant waiting to see the judges' opinions at the end of the day. Without having to worry about each win or loss I could sit back and just have fun.

To the right you'll find my hardcore list I discussed in my previous post.  For each round I tried to recreate my opponents' lists to the best of my memory.  I can't guarantee they're 100% accurate but they should give a good idea of what I faced from round to round.

Round 1: vs. Pat's Protectorate (eFeora)

My first round I got paired up with Pat, a skilled player from Columbia, MO that I've met at events before. He's a nice guy and a great player, so I knew it was going to be a good game.  As a Protectorate player myself, I could see what was coming but I didn't really have the list to counter it as effectively as I would have liked.

I started the game by deploying the Deathstalkers out to my right flank across from both of Pat's Flameguard units.  I tried to swing them out wide to start picking off unit leaders and slow up the Flameguard's advance but suicidal exploding Cleansers took them out before they could do too much damage.

Unfortunately the mass of Protectorate infantry had me vastly outnumbered.  I tried to use the Warmongers to hold them back but with Blazing Aura on the Temple Flameguard making many attacks or free strikes was a losing proposition.  In addition Pat kept most of his warjacks close to Feora screening her under the benefit of the Choir's Safe Passage and preventing a clear shot for my Seraph.

When Pat sent the Fire of Salvation forward to hit a couple Warmongers I had to try to take it out.  My Carnivean was busy helping to keep the Temple Flameguard away from Thagrosh, so I sent The Messiah in to try to do the dead himself.  Unfortunately a few bad damage rolls and a shotgun-like approach to rolling the column for damage meant the Fire had only lost its movement when Thagrosh was done.  I used my feat to try to get the my beasts into the backfield but they had a negligible effect and I lost Thagrosh to the Fire the following turn.

Pat played a great game, systematically pressing in to Thagrosh and forcing my hand.  I think against most other Protectorate casters I might have been able to do a better job of holding him back but Blazing Aura was a fantastic tool to use against my army.

Round 2: vs. Greg's Khador (Old Witch)

Even though the Old Witch can be a pretty nasty warcaster to face, I felt this list was a better match up for me than my first round.  It was a small-model count force lead by a warcaster whose biggest defense was her Defense.  Between Eyeless Sight and Glory of Everblight, if I could get to her I felt confident I could finish her off.

My first turn I was able to use my Deathstalkers to halve the Doom Reavers unit.  The Deathstalkers then served as a speed bump, holding the Doom Reavers (which couldn't hit them) up until the Warmongers arrived to finish them (and my Deathstalkers... oops!) off.  Fenris counter-charged on his next turn but the Warmongers were able to unhorse him as well.

The game tipped pretty strongly in my favor when under Glory the Nephilim slammed Beast-09 into the Behemoth, keeping them out of the fight for a turn and allowing me to feat to get my beasts up field.  The Carnivean killed three of the Shocktroopers to secure their flank as well.  The next turn the Warmongers that survived the Drakhun's counterattack killed the feated-on Scrapjack to allow the Seraph to move behind the Khador line and finish off the Old Witch.

My Warmongers performed extremely well this game.  Their lower MAT is usually a problem but Khador's lower DEF meant that was a non-issue.  I was able to get the Warchief into position to grant them the +2 to hit when they needed to take care of the Scrapjack and they didn't dissapoint me.

I think things would have been tougher if Greg had deployed the Behemoth and Beast-09 on opposite flanks.  As it was, I was able to stay away and slam them when they got close, limiting their impact as much as possible.  My speed was useful in getting the matchups I wanted on the table and I think that made all the difference.

Intermission

Winning is always nice but I was satisfied being one-and-one after the first two rounds.  I had two good games against two friendly opponents and that's nothing to complain about.

Next up, the final rounds.

For me the first step in building a Hardcore list was to decide what I wanted to accomplish.  Every round of a Hardcore tournament is an assassination game so there's no building lists for scenario victories but it's not uncommon for players to gear their lists towards winning one or more of the four Hardcore medals:

• Vanquisher – The overall winner who is undefeated at the end of the day
• Master Craftsman – The best painted army
• Mage Hunter – The fastest caster kill on the day
• Executioner – The most total victory points at the end of the tournament

Both the Executioner and Mage Hunter lists seemed too situational dependant on your match-ups from round to round for me to gear a list towards.  If you face many infantry-heavy lists the VP-density of your opponents' armies are going to make the former more difficult while the introduction of Hordes into the Hardcore environment at last GenCon makes the latter depend on who you face.  Earning the Mage Hunter award is about killing your opponent quick - typically as one of the first models down.  Hordes' transfer mechanic means either you have to kill or lock down your opponent's beasts before attacking the warlock or power through all their transfers to their healthy beasts.  Both options consume precious time off the clock.

That left either the Vanquisher and Master Craftsman awards as possible goals but I knew that competition for either medal would be fierce. Last year I made it to the semi-finals before losing but managed to earn the Master Craftsman medal with my Kreoss-led list.  I weighed my options but ultimately decided to try and shoot for repeating as Master Craftsman.

Warlock

Once that decision was made, I started looking at my Legion warlocks to decide whom to take, but none of them popped like I wanted them to.  My Legion forces are painted in a relatively monochromatic color scheme which looks cohesive but just doesn't grab someone's attention.  That left me with only one option.  Even though it meant a lot of painting before the convention I decided to get Epic Thagrosh ready.  He was the largest and most intricate Legion model, and if I could paint him well he would serve as a centerpiece to anchor my army.

Warbeasts

The Rarely Seen Raek

Choosing Epic Thagrosh meant I would be bringing a beast-heavy list but I was going to have some tough choices by making the quality of paint job a factor in what to pick.  Looking at my beasts I immediately decided to bring my Nephilim Soldier and Raek.  Any Legion player will tell you that the Raek isn't the best beast in their stable but it's one of my best looking beasts on the tabletop and so definitely had to go in this army.  I also decided to add one of my Seraphs even though I'm not as happy with their paint jobs as I am with some of my other models.  Seraphs are fantastic under Glory of Everblight and I felt I needed to make this compromise to make the list more competitive.

Nephilim Soldier

After adding a Shredder and Harrier for their animi, I felt the army needed a heavy to provide some hitting power.  I knew immediately that I wanted to add Typhon to the list but realistically there was no way I was going to be able to finish both him and Epic Thagrosh both in time, especially not to a standard I wanted.

The Angelius would be great with Dragon Storm and the Nephilim Soldier's Massacre but after looking at my Angelii and Carniveans I decided to go with a Carnivean instead.  Even though the Carni lacks the Angelius' maneuverability it sported a better paint job and so it made the list.

Solos

For solos I started with my easy picks - a Shepherd to direct frenzies and a Forsaken to help manage fury.  Looking over the remaining models I decided on my two recently painted Deathstalkers.  They would provide some first strike capabilities and serve as either distractions or harriers depending on what my opponents decided to devote to killing them.

Units

The Abominable Warmonger

The first unit I knew I wanted to bring was the Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew.  Besides being paint jobs that I felt were good, I felt their smoke cloud would be almost required to keep Thagrosh alive if I came up against a ranged-heavy list.

I knew that I would be facing some fast, hard-hitting lists in Hardcore and if I didn't have some sort of screen or speed bump my beasts would die well before they do their job.  I thought about bringing Swordsmen or even Legionaries but after looking over my units I decided to go with my Warmongers.  They're bigger models and had a little more color on them that I felt would draw the eye on the tabletop.  With the points I had left I added 4 Warmongers and a recently-painted Warchief to finish off the list.

Final Hardcore List

Privateer Press Weekend 2 Hardcore List

• Thagrosh, the Messiah
• Carnivean
• Seraph
• Nephilim Soldier
• Raek
• Shredder
• Harrier
• Forsaken
• Shepherd
• Strider Deathstalker x2
• Warmonger Warchief
• Warmongers x4
• Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew

Strategy and Tactics

After testing my list a few times against other Hardcore and tournament lists I started to develop a feel for how it would play.  Thagrosh and his beasts would be the primary assassins but needed help getting up field.  With Deathstalkers to harass my opponent and hopefully pick off a few unit leaders and Warmongers serving as linebackers, I hoped to hold off my opponent just long enough to open a hole and shoot through to their warcaster.  Having an Angelius instead of the Carnivean would have made this much easier but I wasn't willing to switch them up so had to make do.

The Warchief and his Warmongers did a good job of holding up infantry (and sometimes cavalry) but against a lot of hard hitting infantry they melted quickly, leaving Thagrosh and his beasts relatively unprotected. Large based heavy hitters were also going to be a problem but I was willing to devote the Nephilm and Raek to being slam missiles to keep key pieces out of the fight.  With Slipstream to reposition them before activating and Glory of Everblight to help overcome the -4 penalty to slam larger bases they proved flexible and effective in this role.

"Ruuuuunnnn!!!"

Even though my list was short on model count, the models I had could all dish out a lot of attacks.  That combined with the short 7-minute turns of the Hardcore format encouraged me to take a do-or-die approach with my Swamp Gobbers Bellows Crew.  I decided to go ahead and deployed them right next to to Thagrosh at the start of every game and simply ignored my models with Abomination when positioning the Swamp Gobbers from turn to turn.  If they fled, they fled, but I wasn't going to spend precious time worrying about where they were going to stand.  It's definitely not the most competitive playstyle but I was resolved to have fun if nothing else.

Last but not Least...

In addition a secret weapon for my list that I haven't mentioned here, but I'll save that for the follow-up posts where I talk about how the list fared on the day.  In the mean time I can definitely say that I was satsified with its performance overall.  Epic Thagrosh made a strong showing and playing him was as much fun as I had anticipated.

The army I want to play for Hardcore still needs a fair bit of work, either touching up old models or finishing new ones.  Right now I think I'm happy with about half the pieces for the army but time's quickly running out.  And if I really want the army I envisioned in the beginning that means one more big project in the last month before DieCon 09.  I really want to try it but I look at how much time I'm going to have and wonder if it's really possible.  I know, I know... that's not very detailed.  I'm really trying to get the whole project done as a relative surprise so I can reveal it with full-army pictures here after the Con.  You'll just have to bear with me in the meantime.

On top of that I still have the miniatures that will be given away as part of the Privateer Press Weekend that I need to complete.  I ran into a similar problem last time I did commission work - after a while it just gets harder and harder to stay motivated to paint something I'm not going to be keeping while my own unpainted models start piling up.  I made a commitment though and I'm not backing down, but it means pushing through the burnout.

I guess this is my biggest hurdle with miniature painting.  Typically I enjoy it very much because it's a casual hobby - I paint whatever I want at my own pace.  If burnout strikes on my own models I can just set them aside and take a breather.  Then when I get interested again I can come back to the piece in question and work on it some more.

But commitments come with deadlines and deadlines mean not stopping just because I'm tired of working on something.  If time gets short (like it is now) painting on a schedule can start to feel less like a hobby and more like work and that's why I do it.

Still though like I said I made commitments to people and I intend to keep them.  I'm going to keep pushing through to DieCon and finish off everything I can between now and then.  It won't be the most fun I've had painting but I'm determined to complete the commission to my usual standards.

After that I'll probably put the brushes away for a while to recharge.  Maybe I'll take that time to catch up on my online miniature gallery.  Either way it will be disappointing because I already have a backlog of miniatures I want to get painted for my own armies (in addition to some figures I just want to paint for fun) but they're for my own collection and they're not going anywhere.  It will be far more satisfying to wait until I can enjoy the painting process again.

In the meantime... time to buckle down and get to work!

Orin Midwinter

As work on my Legion forces progresses I've also been putting some work in on the Mercenaries I'm painting to be given away at Privateer Press Weekend this year.  I still have a lot of detailing and a little bit of re-working  to do but things are looking good as far as meeting my deadline.

First up is my Orin Midwinter, who I think is coming together well.  I shaded his robe by adding black to P3 Skorne Red and left him on the dark side to fit his fluff.  The trim, sash, and shoulder pads still need some work but I went with black to keep a sinister feel on the model.  Orin's staff is P3 Brass Balls shaded with brown and black inks and highlighted by mixing in just a tad of GW Mithril Silver.

After I finish the the rest of the model I think I'm going to do some source lighting on the end of this staff and his left eye.  I have some P3 Arcane Blue that I'll probably use - it's an interesting greenish blue that looks like it's good for this sort of effect.  I've tested it on some other models and I think it would look good applied to Orin.

Dougal MacNaile

I liked the way that Orin's robe turned out enough that I decided to duplicated the red on Dougal's sleeves and the dark gray on his vest. I've only blocked out a few more areas of the model but there are a lot of details on the model that will need finishing before he's done.  I think I'm going to change the color of his sash though to be something other than the same color as his vest.  I'm not sure what color I'll use yet but I just don't like the current look of it.

Dougal has an issue similar to the Idrian Skirmisher models do - a variety of leather accessories on him.  Painting them all the same color would look too uniform and very un-piratey.  That means trying to find a few shades that work together well.

Thor Steinhammer

Last up is Thor, the model I'm probably the least happy with at the moment.  His armor plates look ok but still need cleaning up.  The biggest issue is the dark gray - I just don't like it and I don't think finishing the highlighting is going to make it look any better.  I want to switch to a different color but I'm not sure what yet.  I could use the same red that I used on Dougal and Orin but I think that would wind up looking to neat and clean for this dirty little dwarf.

After I repaint the dark gray areas I'm going to have to do detailing which will include painting the flame and giving him a 5 o'clock shadow.  I've painted fire before and if this goes anything like my first attempt it will be a long, frustrating experience.

The St. Louis Riverdogs are pleased to announce our second Annual Privateer Weekend at Diecon 9.  This will be the premiere event for the Midwest prior to Gen Con 2009.  Privateer Weekend contains 3 days of spine crushing, cortex smashing fun over more than 8 events.  The terrain is amazing and includes specialized scenario tables.  The competitors are top tier in both skill and personality.  The gaming will be second to none.  Featured events over the weekend include three steamroller competitions, an ongoing Tide of War competition, Iron Kingdom knowledge tests hosted by Capt. Saulty Dog, and our main event, an official Hardcore tournament on Saturday.  If this wasn't enough, monsters will also be running loose throughout the city as we host 3 monsterpocalypse events over the weekend.

Check out http://diecon.gamestlouis.com for our complete event schedule and follow the link to Diecon 9 to see other convention activities and pre-register.  Or check out http://www.diecon.com for a summary of all convention events and to preregister.  Preregistration can be done by paypal for $26 for the entire weekend!  Those wishing to participate in our Saturday's official Hardcore tournament should select PP Hardcore under the list of Sat Events. There is an additional $5 fee for the Hardcore event that will be paid on site but those who play in hardcore will receive a specialized dog tag for participation.  A summary of our event schedule is below.

Friday, June 5th

2:00pm - 750-point Warmachine Steamroller 4: Our first series of events for Friday will allow the factions of Warmachine to assault one another in various Steamroller scenarios.  Two lists from the same faction are allowed for each participant.  Steamroller prize kit coins will be awarded to the victors.  Also a set of old Warmachine Steamroller faction coins will be on hand and the top player in each faction will receive their faction coin.  Gold cards will also be awarded to the overall victor. This event will run concurrent with the 750 point Hordes Steamroller event and the monsterpocalypse event

2:00pm - 750-point Hordes Steamroller 4: Our second event for Friday will allow the factions of Hordes to assail one another in various Steamroller scenarios.  Two lists from the same faction are allowed for each participant.  Steamroller prize kit coins will be awarded to the victors.  Also a set of old Hordes Steamroller faction coins will be on hand and the top player in each faction will receive their faction coin.  Gold cards will also be awarded to the overall victor.  This event will run concurrently with the 750 point Warmachine Steamroller event and Monsterpocalypse event

2:00pm - Open Constructed Monsterpocalypse Tournament: Single Monster Event: Warmachine and Hordes not your thing?  Take part in our first Monsterpocalypse event of the weekend. This event will run concurrent of the Warmachine and Hordes steamroller events.  Players are to bring everything they need to play, which includes 1 map, dice, their city and their force that adhere to the printed force organization rules.  Figures from any set may be used. Prizes to be announced. This event will run concurrent with the Warmachine and Hordes Steamroller events

350-point Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw Hardcore (following the SR 4 events):  Our first day of Privateer events finishes off with just the casters, their beasts, and jacks.  Warcasters and warlocks will direct their jacks and beasts against each other in flesh ripping, metal sundering action.  One list per participant is allowed.  Each turn will be 3 minutes and games will last only 30 minutes so you gotta be quick.  Remember, this is a mangled metal/tooth and claw event so not only does assassination win the game but eliminating all the jacks or beast does too.  Also remember, this is Hardcore so all models must be painted and based.  Will the machinations of men win out?  Or will the unbridled fury of beasts reign supreme?  Gold cards will be awarded to the overall victor. Other prizes TBA. This event will follow the Hordes and Warmachine Steamroller events

Saturday, June 6th

9:00am - 750-point Hardcore: This is the big one, boys and girls.  This is the pinnacle of Warmachine and Hordes gaming.  It is a rare honor that Privateer Weekend attendees will have.  Bring your best 750 point Warmachine or Hordes list and throw down with the best of the best.  Each player is allowed a single 750 point Warmachine or Hordes list and the army must be fully painted and based to participate.  There is only one victory condition, the utter destruction of the opposing warcaster.  All games are timed and players are limited to 7 minute turns.  If time runs out, put down your dice and let your opponent rip into you.  In order to survive in this intense combat you had better not only know your army but your opponent’s army as well.  However, with a unique intense format also come unique prizes.  Medals will be awarded to the overall victor, fastest caster kill, best painted army, and most VP’s accrued.  There is a 5 dollar fee to participate in Hardcore which will be paid on site.  All participants who preregister for Hardcore will receive a specialized dog tag for playing in the event.

9:00am - 750-point Warmachine/Hordes Random Caster event: Hardcore not your cup of tea?  Then bring your beat down against other players in this 750 point random caster match.  Each player constructs a 750 point list from 1 faction without a caster.  They then select 4 casters from that faction they wish to use.  Each round, a caster from their list will be randomly assigned to their force.  Once a caster is used it will be removed until all 4 have been played.  All games are won by assassination.  If the event goes more than 4 rounds, all the casters will be put back in the pool for round 5.  Prizes to be announced.  This event will run concurrent to the Hardcore event

Open Constructed Monsterpocalypse Tournament: Single Monster Event (following Hardcore): Warmachine and Hordes not your thing.  Take part in our second Monsterpocalypse event of the weekend.  Players are to bring everything they need to play, which includes 1 map, dice, their city and their force that adhere to the printed force organization rules.  Figures from any set may be used.  Prizes to be announced.

350-point Warmachine/Hordes 1:1:1:1 event (following Hardcore): As our second day of Privateer Weekend draws to a close, we finish our tournament day with a 350 1:1:1:1 event.  What’s a 1:1:1:1 event?  You only get 1 of each thing, 1 caster, 1 beast or jack, 1 solo and 1 unit with unit attachment if you wish.  Now, if a model carries another category with it then it can fill just one spot on the list and the other models it brings are yours to use without taking a spot.  So for instance, a lesser warlock fills the solo spot and bring their beast along for free.  Alexia would fill the solo spot but brings along a unit of risen for free.  But it all has to fit within 350 points.  All games are assassination.  If a game goes to time winners are determined by VPs.  Each turn is 6 minutes and match length is 55 minutes + D6.  Prizes to be announced.

Capt. Saulty Dog’s Iron Kingdom Trivia Challenge (following the 1:1:1:1 event): Know how many damage boxes a Helldiver has?  Can you identify a warbeast by the slightest of clues?  Do you have the Iron Kingdom history committed to memory?  Here’s your chance to prove it. Come compete against others as Capt. Saulty Dog quizzes participants about the Iron Kingdoms.  Prizes will go out to those with the most comprehensive Iron Kingdom knowledge.  These prizes will be announced at a later date.

Sunday, June 7th

9:00am - 750-point Mixed Steamroller 4 event: Here’s one last chance to play in a Steamroller 4 event before the weekend ends.  Two lists from the same faction are allowed for each participant.  Steamroller trophies will be awarded to the victors.  Gold cards will also be awarded to the overall victor.

9:00am - 350 to 1000 point Escalation Tournament: Want to do something a bit different than a standard Steamroller event?  The escalation tournament is designed to test players by making their casters excel in various army lists.  Each player designs four lists from a single faction.  The first list is a 350 point Mangled Metal or Tooth and Claw list.  The second list is 500 points and is built off the first list.  However, the second list may add troops and solos in addition to more jacks and beasts.  The 3rd list increases the point total to 750 points and is constructed off the second list with additional troops, jacks, and beasts.  The 3rd list has an additional twist though.  If your caster from the first and second list has an epic form, it must go epic at this time.  The final list is 1000 points and is constructed off the 750 point list but final 250 points is dedicated to an additional caster and their battle group.  The 350 point list will be played in round 1, the 500 point list in round 2, and the 750 point list in round 3 and the 1000 point in round 4.  If there are more than 4 rounds either the 500 or the 750 round will be doubled.  Take note, you can only ever add onto a list, never take away.  For instance, a Drakhun can be played without the dismount option in round 2 and then pay for the option in round three, but the converse is not true.  Gold cards for the 1000 point force will be awarded to the overall victor.

9:00am - Open Constructed Monsterpocalypse Tournament: Double Monster Event: Our final Monsterpocalypse event for the weekend will be our biggest.  Monsters have the chance to tag team together to wreak havoc across the bi-state area!  Players are to bring everything they need to play, which includes 1 map, dice, their city and their force that adhere to the printed force organization rules for Double Monster battles.  Figures from any set may be used.  Prizes TBA.

Weekend Long Events:

Capt. Saulty Dog’s Brainteasers: At various tournaments, participants will have the opportunity to win door prizes based off their Iron Kingdoms trivia knowledge.  People currently participating in an event that has one of Capt. Saulty’s Brainteasers may submit their answer anytime during the tournament.  At the end of each tournament, Capt. Saulty will draw answers and the first correct answer will be awarded the door prize for that event.  Prizes for answering the brainteasers correctly will include our newly updated and painted battle boxes.

Tide of War: During the course of Privateer Weekend, participants will have the chance to earn Tide of War points to compete for the Privateer Weekend Champion award.  War points are awarded based on the size of the game played and whether or not the player was victorious.  These games include both tournament games and friendly games played outside the tournament scene, but yet on the Diecon premises.  A player does not need to play the same faction each game unless he/she is in a tournament. Games may range between 350 and 1000 points.  A player may not play the same opponent back to back.  When the game is not a tournament game, both participants are responsible for notifying judges before the game begins, where it is being played, and the outcome of that game.  If the players do not notify a judge, then the game will not be counted.  So what goes to our overall War Champion?  Well, we're keeping that hush, hush for now but the prize is absolutely huge.  Let’s just say it will be something large and fully playable.

Hopefully the list of unique and exciting events has piqued your interest into attending Privateer Weekend at Diecon 9. So what's the cost to participate in all these events other than Hardcore?  Just the cost of admission to Diecon 9!  That means it's just $25 for the entire weekend if you pre-register by April 15th.  Afterward the cost increases to 30 dollars.  There is a $1 fee for registration through paypal.  There’s a benefit to pre-registration. Everyone who pre-registers for the Hardcore event will receive a unique Hardcore dog tag.  Pre-registration can be done at http://www.diecon.com through paypal.  Just enter your information and you're set.  Those wishing to participate in hardcore need to select the PP Hardcore option under the Sat. events.  Once again there is a 5 dollar fee for participating in Hardcore but this is paid on site.  Please check out http://diecon.gamestlouis.com or http://www.diecon.com for more information or PM PG D.Vader, PG Xanathon, or PG AslainKheog.  Hope to see you there!

Wash Experiment

As I mentioned before, the local Warmachine community held Privateer Press Weekend at DieCon 8 last year here in St. Louis.  This year we're going to be doing it again.  And like last year I've been tapped to paint some miniatures to be given away as door prizes to attendees.  Last year I painted up a Broadsides Bart but this year I signed up to do a trio of Mercenaries - Dougal McNaile, Thor Steinhammer, and Orin Midwinter.  Given how much of my own stuff I'd like to have done by the convention it may be a tall order but I'm going to give it a shot.

So far the work I've done on Dougal and Orin has been mostly preliminary stuff.  I basecoated their skin with P3 Midlund Flesh  and washed them with a diluted mix of GW Brown Ink, P3 Flesh Wash, and some glaze medium.  From there I'll start highlighting the skin back up, but before I do that I'm going to get Thor caught up so I can do all three at once.  Dougal also got his pants based in Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone, then I washed them with the same shade I used on both models' exposed skin.  With a little cleanup I think it's going to look pretty nice.

GW Foundation Red

The red on Orin is from a pot of GW Foundation Red that I was given a ways back.  It's a little thick but even watered down the paint has excellent coverage and really helped get him started.  I plan on washing his coat with a dark red/black to help define the shadow areas before I start doing any actual blending.  I plan on blending over the wash but it'll help give me a reference point on where to start.

I've already mentioned the GW and P3 paint lines that I use, but they're not the only paint lines I use.  My paint organizer has bottles from both Vallejo's lines, Reaper Master Series, some artist paint additives and even some craft paints that still see use on my models.  Some painters will  swear by a single line and stick with it but I'm a big fan of picking and choosing to find the tools that best work with your style and your palette needs.

My current project is a pair of Warmonger War Chiefs that I'm painting to match the Blighted Ogrun Warmongers that I painted back in 2007. I've included a couple of picture my my photography rig probably won't be up for another week or so so the quality is pretty lacking.  I really wanted to get back to posting pictures though so it's a start.

There's still plenty of work to do - attaching the right arm for instance.  There's also the bone spines on the back of the left arm which haven't been shaded yet and are still base-coated in Reaper Master Series Yellowed Bone.  And the Ogrun's talons and the claws on his pelt that need some work as well as some more general touch-up and detailing.

As I worked on my warmongers my biggest concern was being able to match the colors on models that I painted almost two years ago but for the most part that's been relatively a non-issue.  I had written down the flesh colors and the armor is very strait forward; the only real issue was the fur on the boots/back but I was able to match that fairly closely to my existing Warmongers' boots.  My recipe for doing so used a few washes with P3 Armor Wash though, which reminded me how much I hate some of the paints I also think are the easiest to use - the shiny finish.

The effect I see usually happens with either hobby paints that use liquid pigments (Reaper Master Series, Formula P3) or certain washes - that being a shiny finish on the coat of paint after applying it to the model.  The problem is easily solved at the end of the painting process during final sealing when I use Testors Dullcoat but until that time the areas that are painted with these paints are pretty reflective and can obscure detail.

These reflections make it difficult - for me at least - to pick out my own highlighting as I work which has been extremely frustrating at times.  It can be very annoying to seal a model and then realize that the paint job doesn't actually look like I thought it did when the reflected highlights are are removed.  Even with the glossy finish good paint is good paint so I'll stick with using the RMS and P3 lines.  The paints apply and blend too smooth and easily for me for it to be worth switching.

Although I'm concentrating on my Legion, I plan on switching gears for the next post.  I'm hoping that alternating between the groups of WIPs will help prevent burnout.  So next post I'll provide some pictures of a different project I'm working on for DieCon, and with any luck my photo rig will be set back up and they'll be much higher quality!

I have added news feeds from Diminutive Denizens, my miniature gallery web sit, to try and make sure that I can keep producing some content, but when my camera got borrowed for a couple months even that slowed down.  I'm working on getting back into the swing of things... we'll just have to see what sort of progress I can make.

As exhausting and draining as it was, Privateer Weekend was a phenomenal success. The PP Weekend committee did a fantastic job organizing the events and putting the weekend together. We had a number of great players come in from the surrounding areas and every tournament that was run was packed. And to top it all off we were able to reach the 32-man requirement for our Official Hardcore tournament and still had about a dozen people playing in a Hordes Steamroller event that ran simultaneously!

The amazing attendance all three days was one of the most pleasant surprises for the weekend.  We had anticipated having enough players to have our official Hardcore event on Saturday but no one expected we would still have over 30 players sticking around to play the post-Hardcore 350 event.  Both events Friday were up at the 30-man mark as well and Sunday's two simultaneous events had nearly 40 players between them!

While there was a lot of local players we did have a large number of out-of-towners, a number of which I had met before at a previous events.  They were really good guys and it was great play against and visit with them over the weekend.

One of the my favorite features of the convention was the models that were given away as door prizes throughout the weekend.  When the event was being first planned the DieCon Privateer Press Weekend Committee contacted a number of local painters and asked them to donate some painting time to the convention.  There were a few individual models and units given away at the smaller events (I painted a Broadsides Bart) but the big prize was an entire 750-point Shae army that was given away to the person who won the Eternal War event that lasted all weekend.  That was a lot of painted pewter that some of the other local painters did an amazing job on.

I played a lot of games over the weekend over three events and a single sideline Eternal War game against Saulty Dog. I would have gotten another half dozen in but I bowed out of the 500-point mixed Steamroller Friday night to touch up some models for Saturday's Hardcore and I helped run Saturday night's 350 event.  I went a respectable 11-4 on the weekend but my biggest achievement was winning the Master Craftsman award for our Hardcore event.  There were a number of beautiful armies on the tables Saturday and I was honored to be able to walk away with the medal for best painted.

The other Hardcore medals went to Dacarnix, who won the Executioner Award for most VPs throughout the event, and DP6, who won both the Vanquisher (overall champion) and Mage Hunter (fastest caster kill) Awards.  There was a Mage Hunter time of around 9 minutes late in the day but DP6 managed a top of turn 1 caster kill 1:31 (yes, that's one minute and thirty-one seconds) into the championship match, securing both his medals in one dramatic swoop.

A huge thanks to the members of the DieCon Privateer Press Weekend Committee - Aslain Kheog, D.Vader, FlipFlops, Neomorte, Saultydog, and Xanathon - for organizing and running the weekend and making sure all of the events went off without any problems.

Saultydog took all of the pictures seen on this page.  The entire gallery can be found here.

The St. Louis Riverdogs are pleased to announce our first Annual Privateer weekend at Diecon 8. This will be the premiere event for the Midwest prior to Gencon 2008. Privateer weekend contains 3 days of spine crushing, cortex smashing fun over more than 7 events. The terrain is amazing including specialized scenario tables. The competitors are top tier in both skill and personality. The gaming will be second to none. Featured events over the weekend include three steamroller competitions, an ongoing tour of duty competition, painting competitions, Iron Kingdom knowledge test against Capt Saulty Dog, and our main event, an official Hardcore tournament on Saturday.

Check out http://diecon.gamestlouis.com for our complete event schedule and follow the link to Diecon 8 to see other convention activities and preregister. Or check out http://www.diecon.com for general convention information. A summary of our event schedule is below.

Friday, May 30th

Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw: Our weekend of Privateer events starts off with just the casters, their beasts, and jacks. Warcasters and warlocks will direct their jacks and beast against each other in flesh ripping, metal sundering action. One list per participant is allowed. Will the machinations of men win out? Or will the unbridled fury of Beast reign supreme?

500 point Mixed Steamroller: Our second event for Friday will allow the factions of Hordes and Warmachine to assail one another in various Steamroller scenarios. Two lists from the same faction are allowed for each participant. Steamroller prize kit coins will be awarded to the victors of each faction and the overall champion.

Saturday, May 31st

750 point Hardcore: This is the big one, boys and girls. This is the pinnacle of Warmachine gaming. It is a rare honor that Privateer weekend attendees will have. To our knowledge, only 5 Hardcore events have been run in the past-twice at Gencon, once at the Privateer press offices as an invitational, once at Bayou wars, and finally at Templecon. Bring your best 750 point Warmachine list and throw down with the best of the best. Each player is allowed a single 750 point Warmachine list and the army must be fully painted to participate. There is only one victory condition, the utter destruction of the opposing warcaster. All games are timed and players are limited to 7 minute turns. If time runs out, put down your dice and let your opponent rip into you. In order to survive in this intense combat you had better not only know your army but your opponents as well. However, with a unique intense format also come unique prizes. Medals will be awarded to the overall victor, fastest caster kill, best painted army, and most VP’s accrued.

500 point Hordes Steamroller: Warmachine or Hardcore not your cup of tea? Then bring your beat down against other hordes players in this 500 point steamroller match. Two lists from the same faction are allowed per participant. Steamroller prize kit coins will be awarded to the victors of each faction and the overall champion.

350 point Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw: As our second day of Privateer weekend draws to a close, we finish our tournament day with a 350 point jack on beast beat down. One list per participant is allowed.

Capt. Saulty Dawg’s Iron Kingdom Trivia Challenge: Know how many damage boxes a Helldiver has? Can you identify a warbeast by the slightest of clues? Do you have the iron kingdom history committed to memory? Here’s your chance to prove it. Come compete against others as Capt Saulty Dawg quizzes participants about the iron kingdoms. Prizes will go out to those with the most comprehensive Iron kingdom knowledge.

Sunday, June 1st:

500 point Mixed Steamroller: A final shot at winning some Steamroller prizes. Each participant is allowed two 500 point lists from a single faction. Steamroller prize kit coins will be awarded to the victor of each faction and to the over all champion.

350 to 750 point Escalation Tournament: Want to do something a bit different than a standard Steamroller event? The escalation tournament is designed to test players by making their warcasters excel in various army lists. Each player designs three lists from a single faction. The first list is a 350 point Mangled Metal or Tooth and Claw list. The second list is 500 points and is built off the first list. However, the second list may add troops and solos in addition to more jacks and beasts. The 3rd list increases the point total to 750 points and is constructed off the second list with additional troops, jacks, and beasts. The 3rd list has an additional twist thou. If your caster from the first and second list has an epic form, it must go epic at this time. The 350 point list will be played in round 1, the 500 point list in round 2, and the 750 point list in round 3 and up. Take note, you can only ever add onto a list, never take away. For instance, a drakun can be played without the dismount option in round 2 and then pay for the option in round three, but the converse is not true. Prizes will be awarded to the top placers.

Weekend Long Events

Capt Saulty Dawg’s Brainteasers: At various tournaments participants will have the opportunity to win door prizes based off their Iron kingdoms trivia knowledge.

Eternal War: During the course of Privateer weekend, participants will have the chance to earn Eternal War points to compete for the Privateer Weekend Champion award. War points are awarded based on the size of the game played and whether or not the player was victorious. These games include both tournament games and friendly games played outside the tournament scene but yet on the Diecon premises. A player does not need to play the same faction each game unless he/she is in a tournament. Games may range between 350 and 1000 points. A player may not play the same opponent back to back.

Hopefully this list of unique and exciting events have piqued your interest into attending Privateer Weekend at Diecon 8. So what's the cost to participate in all these events? Just the cost of admission to Diecon 8! There are no events fees for Privateer Weekend! That means it's just 25 dollars for the entire weekend. Preregistration can be done here. Special hotel information can also be found here. Please check out http://diecon.gamestlouis.com or http://www.diecon.com for more information or PM PG D.Vader or PG Xanathon on the Privateer Press forums.