And so it begins. . . Again

So I recently left Korea and headed back to the states after a year long stay over there. On my way back my entire Blindwater force was "misplaced". after much complaining and arguing with the moving company I managed to get refunded for the models and what I present below is my newly acquired goods.

I'll slowly begin the process of painting and basing all my gators, all over again. Wish me luck!

Calaban the Gravewalker

                             Calaban

                                 The Gravewalker

So to kick things on my blog off I'll start with reviewing all the known Blindwater models, and as new models are released I will add them as I have time to play them.

First off on the review process is my personal favorite. Calaban the gravewalker.

Stats

Across the board his stats are average. his MAT is Sub-par, but he is a spellcaster mainly so that won't come into play as often as someone who actively seeks to munch face. His Fury and ARM are towards the higher end of things, even though for gators is ARM is a little on the low side. Needless to say he is solid on stats.

Weapons and Attacks

Heart Stopper

Heart stopper is a low(ish) range Attack with a ROF of 2, no AOE, Damage is lackluster and it has Magical weapon, It can pick off grunts and maybe hurt a solo here or there but other than that you will only use this occasionally to try and pull off its special ability.

Heart Stoppers special ability is called Grave Door. When a living enemy model is boxed by the attack it automatically heals for 1 point of damage and then becomes your own personal ARC Node for the turn. This enables Calabans Feat and spell slinging shenanigans but its not reliable. Always keep your eyes out for chances to use it but don't count on it.

Bite!

All gators have it! its the Long pointy teeth portion of our lovable gators. Decent Pow but when you take into account Calabans low(okay its average but not for biting things) strength its only 1 P+S better than Heart stopper. It does have sustained attack though which is pretty niffty.

Carcass

Magical Voodoo Staff. Same P+S as the Bite but it packs reach magical weapon. Its special Ability is called Life Trader, When an attack hits Calaban can take 1 point of damage to gain 1 dice on the damage roll.

Overall nothing phenomenal about his attacks but if you can guarantee you hit the bad guy he  can out damage Barnabas and Maelock, so don't be afraid to dive in if the enemy caster is knocked down.

Special Abilities

Amphibious: Well he does live in a swamp, kinda comes with the territory  

Gatorman Warlock : Standard with all our casters. Get used to it and learn to love it.

Spells

now the good stuff, Calaban is the bastard offspring of an Alligator and Cryx.

Bone Shaker: Average Cost spell, Low Range, Average power.

when you box an enemy warrior model you can have it make a full advance and then a normal melee attack, after that the model is removed from play. not bad for clearing out fodder but you will want to avoid the spell during feat turns for the most part unless you can get a kill with the model you killed with the spell.

Carnivore: Average cost, average range for a buff spell and its upkeepable.

it increases accuracy for our model/unit, and then after they kill something the model heals D3. not bad, the only downside is that it also removes from play the model killed, counter productive for feat turns.

Hex Blast: above average cost, not too bad with calabans high focus though and a good feat turn can see this slung around alot. Range is solid AOE is 3 and Damage is god. any model/unit hit by the spell loses upkeeps and Animi aswell. all in all a good spell.

Occulation: average cost, average range for a buff and its upkeepable.

the target model/unit gains stealth. Self Explanatory.

Parasite: Above average cost, lowish range upkeepable and offensive.

Target model/unit loses arm and calaban gains arm. This is how we break open heavy armor, or make squishy targets even more so.

Feat

Death Harvest

Each time a friendly model destroys an enemy model while the friendly model is with Calabans control area he gets 1 focus and then can cast one spell, he can boost the spells as well.

Needless to say, kill a few models, cast a spell. rinse and repeat. as I mentioned above with Bone Shaker and Carnivore, if the model is removed from play he will not gain the focus from it, which means cycling Parasite and Hex blast are your best bets. The downside is that because we have no dedicated ARC nodes Calaban needs to be pretty close to the enemy to pull this off, also because the enemy doesnt need to be in your control area for the triggering Ironbacks become your best friend because they can reach out and touch people.

Theme Force
Bad Religion

Limits Calaban to Gatorman non-character Warbeasts, Gatorman units and solos, Bog Trog Ambushers, Farrow Bonegrinders, Croak Hunters, Feralgeists,Wrongeye and Snapjaw.
All in all I feel Calaban should always take his them force. He loses out on Thrullgs and the Totem Hunter but he gains Farrow Bonegrinders which help get rid of the problems with his short ranged spells and Hex Blast can sub in for the Thrullgs ability in a pinch. Occulation helps with the lack of Swamp gobbers. The tier bonuses are army gains stealth, Feralgeists get an advance move, Wrong eye and snap jaw gain advance deploy and Warbeast in his battle group get decreased cost, and lastly he gains increased deployment zone.


Thoughts

Think Cryx only with a Voodoo Alligator feel.

While Heart Stopper doesn't have the range of Cryx's arc nodes, it can allow decently large threat angles if you get a good opportunity to use it. But it still is not something to rely on for any given game. Keep your eyes open for chances to use it because it could win you a game.

Other Thoughts on his spell list include the possibilities Carnivore give to the Gatorman Posse; suddenly any non-undead Warcaster/lock is eatable. Even insert DEF 16-17 Warnoun won't evade 5 MAT 9 w/ re-rolls charges. It can also be used to help Calaban regain losses after using life trader on Carcass to take out a beast or jack. Parasite also seems to mesh well with Bone Shaker. Both are RNG 8 and with Bone Shaker only being POW 12, it'll need the other to turn a shield walled unit into a pile of body parts, which it could very well do on Cabalan's feat turn all with just spells.

Be aware of the interaction of removed from play and Calaban's feat. By using Carnivore or Bone Shaker to a large extent you can deny yourself a lot of fury. Your go-to spells during his feat should be Hex Blast and Parasite. Calaban needs his army to do the killing, even in his Feat turn.

Site Primer

A Primer

      First off let me welcome you to Almost Famous! While it may seem like I think so in my writing, I am not perfect and do make mistakes.  Nor do I claim to win every game I play.  I do not consider myself a Blindwater pariah.  This site isn't about stroking my ego, its about helping my fellow players.  And in doing so, I'll be helping to create a culture of strong, competitive players.  The other factions are more of a hobby for me.  While I'll be playing them competitively, I'm not as focused on them as I am with the Congregation.

With that being said, this website was created with a goal in mind.  To help new and veteran players become better with the Blindwater Congregation (and to a lesser extent, the other factions).  This also extends to players who have returned to the game after a long hiatus and just need a nudge in the right direction.  My primary focus is on the Congregation and the players who use them.

When I mentioned that I'm trying to help players "become better", I mean from a competitive standpoint.  I hold no allusions about that.  I'm a competitive player and I play to win.  I love the feeling of competing against a skilled opponent on the battlefield, testing our prowess, and pitting our armies against each other.  This website is designed to help players learn how to win competitive games.  A competitive player knows what armies are good, how to build them, and the tactics involved.  A casual player often is more concerned with the look and feel of their armies, over their functionality on the battlefield.  This isn't a bad way to play, nor is it wrong in any way; each player should do what makes the game fun for them.

I want to make this absolutely clear: I play to win, but I also play to have fun first and foremost; I just find a higher level of fun playing competitively.  However, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy myself playing the game with friends over pizza and some beer.  Casual play just isn't my normal thing, so read everything here on Almost Famous  with that in mind.  

As I mentioned, I play to win.  That doesn't mean I don't respect the casual player and their opinions.  However, I feel it is easier to learn to become competitive and then transition to casual-play mode, than it is to do the opposite.  Because of this, it is my preference to teach players to become competitive so that they understand all aspects of the game.  This does not mean I'm trying to breed "Win At All Cost" (WAAC) players, assholes, or power gaming individuals.  I do not condone such play, as sportsmanship and respect is of utmost importance in our game.  Being a competitive player does not give you a license to "Club Baby Seals" at will or become a dick.  On that same token, if you're a casual player, it doesn't give you the right to place all competitive players in a stereotypical group that only a very small group of players actually belong.  Sportsmanship, and therefore the fun factor, is everything.  It is the reason we play this game in the first place.  Also remember that everything here on Almost Famous is my opinion of the best way of doing things, but it doesn't have to be the only way.  If you find something that works for you, all the power to you.  I just might not agree with it as a whole, and I'll let you know why.  Please do not get offended.

 About me
I am from Fletcher, Oklahoma.  A small Farming town towards the bottom of the state. I am currently 24 years old and began playing Warmachines and Hordes right at the end of MKi and the beginning of MKii. My first faction was Circle and I have been hooked on the Hordes side of the court since then. Towards the end of 2010 I decided I wanted a new faction and Purchased my first minions force, and my true love affair was uncovered. I played with them for a year loving ever minute of it. But the I was Deployed to Korea for a year at the end of 2011. On my return trip this last November all of my gators were "misplaced"by the moving company and I have only recently been reimbursed for them.

I have gone by many names when it comes to the internet, Most common is Toeko which I have used for almost 13 years now. other common names are forms of  Eightbit.