Crazy Gamers take on the Playstation 4

A few weeks ago Sony showed the first pictures of the Playstation 4 controller and some tech demos for various projects that could become future titles.

Sony promises that the system will be ready for an end of the year release for a "competitive," price. 

So you ask:

"Crazy Gamer, what do you think?"

Don't worry young one, you shall have my answer.  That answer is... Meh.

"What do you mean Crazy Gamer?"

It means that so far nothing gets me excited about the system.  Let me explain in greater detail. 

First, here is an image of the system.

You're probably asking yourself, "Wait a minute, is the Playstation 4 a portable system?"

Nope, it'll hook up to your TV just like the Playstation 3.  However, Sony has not shown what the system itself looks like.  This isn't a big deal since I don't buy video game systems based on their looks (it's whats on the inside that counts!) I do find it strange. 

As for what's in the system... it sound impressive.  It has an 8 core processor, Radeon graphics engine, 8 GB GDDR5 Memory.

Plus the standard stuff Its got Blu-ray, high end Ethernet, bluetooth, HDMI and all those other typical items like USB, and a hard drive of a to-be-determined size.

I'm also pretty sure that the Playstation 4 will walk your dog, do your taxes, and monitor your caloric intake. 

Anyway, it sounds very powerful.  I'm not a spec person so I have no idea how powerful this is compared to a high end gaming PC, but it sure does seem to be very powerful. 

What leaves me unimpressed is the software.  Of all the announced software only the Witcher 3 seems interesting to me.  Assassin's Creed 4 will come out around the time that the system launches and Ubisoft claims that the Playstation 4 version will have exclusive content but I haven't seen anything to suggest that it will be just a prettier version of the game. 

So, until I see compelling software I will be passing on the PS4 for this year.  This isn't to say that I would never get a Playstation 4, rather I will wait until some strong software forces me to buy one. 

Warhammer 101: Becoming a better general

Today I will give you the first step in becoming a Warhammer grand champion!

1.  Learn to accept losing.  Learn from your mistakes. 

Yeah, I know, that's two things, but they are connected and I wanted each written as a statement of power. 

Let's look at each in depth eh?

Still with me?

Oh good!


Learn to accept losing- Notice how I wrote this?  I'm fully aware that Warhammer is a competitive game.  I'm not here to advocate some hippi 'let's all love each other and like get along and stuff as we sing Kumbaya while drinking liquid dirt from earthenware mugs,' policy.  We all want to win.

That said, sometimes our ego can get in the way of overall success with the hobby, thus we need to learn to accept losing. 

You will lose when you start out and this can make players turn to the dark corners of the Internet for WAAC (win at all costs) army lists.  Don't do this!

Instead- learn from your mistakes. 

An example from the Crazy Gamers past.  Way back in 1994 when I was just starting to play Warhammer Fantasy I ran a High Elf army.  Most of the time I played against my best friend and cousin Tom, but as he grew up and got a job (how dare he!  :) I needed to branch out and find new people to play against.

I went to my local store (some 44 miles away!) to play against a group of gamers out there.  These guys were quite a bit older than me, and for them Warhammer was a diversion from historical games. 

One of the first games that I played was against a Dark Elf army.  I was confident that my High Elves would prevail.  In my mind I had crafted a wonderful army list and had refined my tactics playing against Tom. 

My army was wiped out to a man (er... elf) while my opponent had only lost a handful of models.  For some this brutal beat down would have been the end of their game career.  While my opponent was gracious there were countless spectators that witnessed my whooping.  My pride was crushed.

Was his army unstoppable? 

No.

Did he bend the rules? 

No.

So instead I looked back at the battle.  My main advance had been in the open, and I had miss- handled my light cavalry so his archers could rain death down upon my poor battle line.  That wasn't all; I kept my heavy cavalry too far back to be useful, I didn't concentrate my firepower, etc, etc. 

There were plenty of lessons I could learn, and you can learn from the mistakes that you make on the battlefield if you just have the courage to look for them. 

Try this after each battle:

Ask yourself-

What worked?

What didn't work?

Keep your answers focused on what is controllable.

What does this mean? 

Well, we all have a tendency to overestimate our abilities and assume our losses are the result of unfair rules, armylists, players, game mechanics, and more.

While blaming these things may make you feel better, they won't help you play better.

What you can't control:

Your opponents army
Your opponents armylist
The game rules
The dice

Since you can't control them, don't worry about them.  Instead look at your own list, and your own tactics.

For example:  My Space Marine devastators did not destroy any enemy tanks.  This seems simple, your devastators failed due to bad luck.  Or did they?  Were you using missile launchers to destroy Land Raiders?  If you were then your devastators didn't fail you, you failed them.  At strength 8 a missile launcher cannot destroy a Land Raider outright.  Instead a player needs to roll a 6 on a D6 four times to take out the Land Raider. 

In your next game you need to either choose a different target for your missile launchers or change your weapons. 

Did your assault units not get into combat?   Why not?  Don't blame dice.  Did the troops have jump packs?  Did you have a transport? 

I could go on and on, but between the two game systems there are way too many possible combinations to list out here.

If your unit did what it was supposed to, continue using them that way.  If not, then change how you use them or change the unit. 

I'll go into this in more detail in the future.  Until then; keep on painting!

Don't buy EA digital games!

My earlier post discussed the big issue going down with EA Games Sim City.  While related this goes beyond just the game Sim City.

Don't buy digital games from EA.  I can't stress this enough!  People who have bought digital copies of Sim City and who are unhappy about shelling out sixty dollars for a product that does not work have a rude awakening coming:

EA will NOT refund digital purchases of Sim City.  If you bought a physical copy you can get a refund, but EA does not refund digital games.

Consider this buyer beware.  My opinion on digital games is well documented, and you can disagree with me, but please do not buy digital products from EA. 

Image of the EA CEO dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight:

Oh wait!  The CEO of EA is a man...

Let that be your warning.

I don't want to say I told you so...

Regular readers will know that I HATE games that require a constant online connection.  While this is needed for online multiplayer games but this idea has increasingly weaseled its way into single player experiences.

EA Games is the publisher of Sim City announced that the game would release on March 5th and would require a persistent online connection, even for the single player experience.  EA claimed that this wasn't for DRM* (digital rights management) purposes but because of all these awesome features such as leader boards, community interaction, and more. 

Fast forward to today March 8th. 

Sim City has released.  However, unless you are either very persistent or very lucky (or perhaps both) you still aren't playing the game.  Gamers that are able to play are reporting that they are constantly being disconnected.  As this is an online only game, being disconnected means you aren't playing.

You can get a run down of the full story from a better source than me here:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/08/simcity-burning-a-warning-to-microsoft-sony-and-all-publishers-on-the-dangers-of-always-online-drm

EA has tried to fix this problem, by getting rid of every feature that they earlier claimed was the "real," reason they wanted the game to be always online. 

The bottom line is, this is all about DRM, and that seems unfair that players have to suffer. 

*DRM is a fancy term that is all the rage today.  In the olden days when you bought a game it was yours and you could do anything you wanted to with it.  Today DRM means that the publisher of the game owns it and when you buy a copy you are purchasing the right to be able to play it but you don't own anything. 

How to win at Warhammer: A Warhammer 101 article

Hello true believers!  Crazy Gamer here to help you in an area that everyone cares about- winning!

Everyone wants to win, we all dream of holding a massive trophy of gold; encrusted with diamonds while being flanked on each side by a bevy of beautiful women.  The crowd chants your name!  Oh look!  Nike is calling, they want to offer you a suitcase full of money to pitch their products...

Or, more likely, you'll get a piece of paper and stand up in front of a bunch of geeks.

Anyway... how do you get there?  How do you claw your way to the top of the heap? 

The answer is, like everything else, complicated; especially if you're just starting out.

You may be attempted to be a WAAC player.  Like performance enhancing drugs for athletes the WAAC style offers a quick and easy(ier) way to the top, but just like with athletes the fall from grace is hard and painful. 

About now you may be asking yourself, " What the hell is he talking about?"

Please let me explain!

WAAC is a gaming expression that means Win At All Cost.  This style requires a player to seek out any and all game bending rules and combinations of units to win in spite of the spirit and intention of the games rules.  While this isn't illegal or cheating, players who indulge in this style of play push any and all advantages be they overpowered units, ambiguous rules, loopholes, and any combination of all three. 

My more cutthroat brethren may ask, "What's wrong with that?  Why shouldn't I find every advantage and use it?"

Bernie Madoff

Ponzi Scheme mastermind

WAAC Gamer

To you cutthroat brother I say, once you turn down that dark path, there is no coming back!

Excuse me, let me explain in a slightly less melodramatic manner.

As I've said before, I've been playing Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 since 1993.  In all that time I've seen countless killer armies come and go.  Today we have Cron Air, but it won't last.  One way or another, whether from rule changes or players adapting, this army will not be the killer list that it is today.  In a few months it will be something else, and then something else, and so on and on. 

This is not only a very expensive way to play the game (each Necron flyer cost almost $50.00 and you need a half dozen or more) it's highly likely that by the time you get them purchased and painted a new killer list will have emerged. 

More damaging for players, especially new players, is that you rely on the gimmick the list is meant to exploit.  Players don't learn true tactics, they learn a gimmick.  When the gimmick goes away, and it will, the player has no real skill to fall back on.  Usually this will see them leave the game in frustration. 

That's sad. 

I understand the competitive culture of gaming.  You want to win, losing to your friends or to some game store top weenie is a bitter pill to swallow.  I get it.  I really do.  But I promise you, if you're patient and apply yourself, you can become a consistently good player. 

But I don't just offer my opinion, though that is the title of my blog... I will help you become this consistent player. 

Tune in to Part 2 where I give you actual skills that you can use to improve your game.

See you then!  

Warhammer fixes: What I would like to see

Crazy Gamer here!




I'm sure by now you know that I'm a big fan of 8th edition Warhammer.  I feel it is a vast improvement over 7th edition which was a control freaks dream, but as far as fun was concerned it was lacking. 

Don't worry haters, I am well aware that my opinion is in the minority which makes me sad but as the saying goes: haters gonna hate, and my blog is hardly going to change your mind.

So instead I will talk about a few things that I would like to see tweaked in Warhammer, after all even I don't think the game is perfect. 

Weapon Rules:

This subject is contentious.  Many gamers look for authentic rules in which weapons mirror their historic counterparts.  I don't suffer from this problem, instead I look for balanced game design in which all options are viable. 

If we look at the current game it doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a theoretical physicists) to see that great weapons are the preferred choice wherever they are offered.  This means that the other options aren't as balanced. 

Let us look at the options and see what we can do to make them more attractive.

Halberds- This poor weapon is the red headed step child of the Warhammer game.  Currently the halberd is two handed and offers +1 strength.  This isn't too bad for models with a strength of 4, but currently most models that have the option of this weapon are only strength 3 and bumping that up to strength 4 is not appealing.  I don't blame them. 

This is a halberd:

In the high middle ages this weapon was popular because it combined the blade of an axe with the reach of a spear. 

How about this for halberd rules

+1 strength in the first rank.  Fight in extra ranks for ranks 2nd and 3rd (no strength bonus for them)

This will give units armed with the weapon added flexibility and make halberd a more attractive option.

Some may say, won't this make spears more unattractive?  Possibly.  I'm thinking of tweaking spear rules as well but let's not forget that units with spears can use shields in close combat and halberds can't. 

Extra hand weapon- Currently this option allows you add +1 attack.  However this isn't an attractive option because you can't a shield and you still fight at your basic strength.  Units with a higher strength find this option a little better, but the current rules only allow models in a second rank fight with one attack so the bonus is lost after the first rank making this weapon option the only one that is useless beyond the first rank.

How about this: +1 attack, re-roll missed to hit in close combat.

Great Weapon- +2 strength, always strike last is how it's currently written.  How about +2 strength, always strike last -1 to hit from second rank.  It's a small penalty but will make the choice between all options more of a choice. 


Missile weapons:

Just like their close combat counterparts missile weapons, I feel, could use some tweaks. 

Bow/ Short bow- same

Long Bow-  currently it's 30 inch range and strength 3.  Currently I feel it's too expensive for what you get.  It need to be strength 4 with a 30 inch range.

Crossbow- Strength 4, 30 inch range, move or fire.  With the change to long bows we need to bump this up.  Add armor piercing.

Hand Gun- currently Strength 4, 24 inch range, move or fire, armor piercing.  How about 24 inch range, strength 6, armor piercing, hits on 6 regardless of ballistic skill or modifiers. 

Warhammer 101: Painting your army- the basics

Welcome back Warhammer gamers!

In my eternal quest to help new members of our hobby I bring you my next Warhammer 101 article, this one will discuss the first steps of painting your army.

Painting your army is what separates us from animals, yet many gamers stay away from this step.  Painting is important, it's part of the hobby, nothing ruins the immersion of a game like playing against an army of gray plastic and silver pewter.  Painting your miniatures shows that you are committed to your army and the game that you play.

Yes it does take time, but it's not as difficult as you think and painting can be very very rewarding.

I hear you cry, "Crazy Gamer, I'm not artistic and I don't have a lot of time!"

Here are my answers, young student:

1.  You don't have to be an artist or even artistic to paint your army.  I sure as hell am neither.
2.  If you learn evil tips and tricks from criminal masterminds you can paint an army quickly.

Young warrior, take heart, I am one of these evil masterminds! 

A story!

Once, ages ago in an era of dinosaurs and dial up modems, the Crazy Gamer painted a full army in two weeks.  Golden Daemon worthy?  Hardly, but it was quick and effective.  Now I will tell you how. 

First you need to decide a paint scheme.  Games Workshop, for all its flaws, does a good job in their army books and codexes of showing you options for color schemes to paint in.  I recommend that unless it's very very important to choose an established color scheme. 

For example, if you are playing Space Marines choose Ultramarines, Salamanders, Crimson Fists, etc.
Playing Empire, choose Hochland, Middenland, or one of their established provinces. 

Why?

Games Workshop already provides the names of what paints you need to use to paint those armies.  This takes some of the guess work out of the experience. 

Some tips:

Dark colors are easier than bright colors.  Yellow and white are both very difficult colors to work with, so Dark Angels and Crimson Fists are easier to paint than Imperial Fists and White Scars.  High Elves are more difficult to paint than Dark Elves. 

All things being equal choose dark colors over bright ones at least for your first paint job.  They take less time to look good and dark colors hide mistakes better.

Avoid yellow unless you really really really want a yellow army (i.e. Imperial Fists, Averland Empire, Biel Tan Eldar).

What paints to use?

This is tricky.  There are a bunch of companies that offer paints.  I recommend Games Workshop paints.  Are they the best?  They are average, but for your first paint job it simplifies the process of figuring out what paint to use. 

What paint brushes should you get?

Here are some types of brushes:

You don't need a lot of these but I recommend a big flat brush and several round brushes. 

Where should you get them?

For your big flat brush I recommend going to a big box art store like Michael's or Hobby Lobby.  They have brush sets for very low prices.  I bought one several years ago at Michael's that contained all the brushes above for $5.99.  They won't be high quality but with your big brush this isn't as important. 

How big should your big flat brush be? 

This may come as a bit of a surprise but a flat brush should be about half an inch in width.  For those of you who aren't big on how big stuff is, your miniatures are 28mm which is approximately one inch so look for one that his about half as big as your miniatures. 

This seems big, but I will be discussing the big brush method of painting and you need a big brush to employ this method (I know, you're shocked). 

As for your round brushes.  You need several, for your primary brush I recommend a 5/1 round brush made from camel hair.  Compared to the flat brush described above this will seem tiny.  These also are very expensive as a single brush of this type is probably $10.00.  There are several cheaper versions made from sable and or various artificial substances.  These will be cheaper but they will not last anywhere near as long as a natural hair brush. 

You will also need at least one fine detail brush,  labeled 10/1 which looks like this:

This is will be used for eyes and the like.  This paint brush will also be very expensive and I also recommend natural hair (camel is the best). 

Once you get all of this we will discuss the first step of the big brush painting method. 

Step one of the Big Brush Painting method.

1.  Choose your dominant color.  The dominant color will be the color that takes up the majority of the model.  Here are some examples:

Orks:

These orks are predominately green so the dominant color is green.

Blood Angels:

This should be an easy one, the dominant color is red.

Empire State soldiers:

This is a tough one, you could choose either red or silver.

2.  Once you've chosen your dominant color (be aware I used basic color terms above, go to Games Workshop to see what the names of the paints are) get your big flat brush and your pot of paint.  You will also need a paper towel, a water cup (some kind of disposable container), and a paint palette (official ones can be bought at hobby stores.  In a pinch you can use a paper plate).


Also make sure that you cover the area you are going to paint in with newspaper or something to protect whatever surface you will be working on.

Take your dominant color and thin it down.  It is never a good idea to use paint right out of the pot.  Miniatures have a lot of detail and because you are painting miniatures and not bigs these details are very small.  The paint that you are using is acrylic which is just a fancy art word for liquid plastic.  This can cause several problems, thick paint will obscure fine details like noses, eyes, and fingers and the like.  Also, depending on how the paint is stored it can clump up. 

The moral of the story is thin your paint, it's cheap and easy.  Fancy artists will tell you to use an official paint conditioner (if you find it cheap I recommend it as well) but water can be used in a pinch. 

The amount of thinning will depend on the color of the paint.  Yellows and whites need less, black and flesh colors need more.  Try a drop or two of water (or conditioner).  Your paint should be the consistency of skim milk.   The color should still be clear, not watery.  If you thin the paint too much don't worry, you're much better off with really thin paint than paint that is too thick.  You can still use the overly thin paint, you will just have to apply an extra coat or two.

Take your big brush (the one that's about an inch in width) and pour (and thin) the dominant color.  Get your brush full of paint:

Paint the color on all the parts of the model that will be that color.  For example if you are painting Blood Angels, then paint the armor red. 

If you paint somethings that will not be the dominant color by mistake it's okay.  Your goal is to have a bright solid color on the largest surface and to do it quickly.

Your models should look like this:

Or:

Make sure that you paint ALL your models who have this dominant color.  Don't just paint one or two models.  Paint them all before going on to the next step.

Coming soon!  The next step.  Picking out details!