So Long 2014, Hello 2015!

Happy New Year from the WayGate staff!  2014 has been quite a year.  Its been a Year of changes to the blog and war gaming in general.  We have seen droves of veteran 40K players setting their armies aside as GW continues to forge ahead in the path they have chosen.  A path that we are no longer following.  On the inverse we have seen a small game company grow by leaps and bounds and experience its first real growing pains, at least from the players perspective.




Spartan has really had a fantastic year and by proxy we as players have had an awesome year.  We have seen Firestorm Armada take off with the new edition.  New models and new rules have brought a lot of new players into the fold.  Groups are springing up all over the place, as are blogs, pod casts and events.  We have been playing 2.0 for just about a year now and we are still learning new things about the game and the fleets.  Spartan is keeping things fresh and it is very refreshing.

Dystopian Wars players have also been given a new edition and Dystopian Legions.  I have to say I am curious about the games and will probably be trying them out thanks to Spartan releasing the Rules in a free PDF.  I have never been a big fan of steam punk, but I will give the rules a whirl.

Spartan also gave us some ground combat in the Firestorm Universe.  Planetfall is out and so far it is proving to be a fun and fast paced game.  The system is pretty simple and straightforward but there is a lot of depth and nuance that we are just starting to really see.  I have gotten in a couple games with my Relthoza and I have a lot to learn.

The blog has probably undergone the biggest change.  We changed gears and formats.  Craftworld Lansing became The WayGate.  It was rough and we had some challenges, but the blog has been growing and seems to be expanding faster than its previous incarnation.  We have been running events and recording with Firebase Delta on a pretty regular basis.  Its been great working with Phil, Bryan and Robert.


2014 was great and 2015 is looking to be even better.  We have plans for events, more expansions to look forward to and Firestorm Armada and Spartan Games is going to have a big presence at Adepticon this year.  The Demos of Firestorm Armada and Planetfall are in addition to our first big Firestorm Armada Tournament, The Schaumburg Prime Offensive.


SO! Good bye 2014 its been fun.  Hello 2015!


See you all next year, until then crush the Alliance and as always...


REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!

Happy Holidays!

To all of you, from all of us, have a great *insert preferred holiday here* and we wish you both victory and the utter desolation of your enemies in the new year!

Mobile Oppression Denied: Dealing With Tough Ships

Hi all! SeerK here to talk about defeating ships that just wont die.  Everybody has an opponent who is the bane of there fleet.  They have that one ship or squadron of ships that seems just invincible.  Today we are going to look at methods of destroying vessels in the non traditional way, that is trying to obliterate it with your ships main weaponry.  Direct fire is not always the best way to make a ship a non combatant.  I have had issues with some of the tougher vessels in the game.  Tarakian Battleships, Terran Shield Cruisers, Terran Tyrant Battleships, the list goes on.  So lets look at some methods of attack versus some of the common issues players run into. The real key is to know thine enemy.  Your method of attack should exploit a weakness that your opponent may not know exists.

Every ship has a weakness.  Your opponent may or may not know it has it.  You have to know the weakness of the ship.  Look at the MAR's the ship relies on.  Look at its Crew points and Point Defense stats. What are the optimal of maximum ranges on the main weapons?  Many players will rely on one particular aspect of a ship.  Terrans rely on their shields.  Relthoza rely on the Cloaking Shields. You have to exploit this reliance to your own advantage.

Adepticon Update! We Have Rules AND A new Starter?!?!

SeerK here with a quick weekend update.  We now have the rules document posted for Adepticon.  The link is on the right of the blog just below the Adepticon logo.  We also have it posted to the event page on Facebook.  It should also be appearing on the Adepticon rules page which I think is going to be updated after the new year.  If there are any questions or concerns please shoot us an email.

In other news it looks as if we are getting a new starter set for Firestorm Armada.  "The Return Of The Overseers" is the new box title.  We have the Directorate squaring off against the Aquans much like the Proteus Prime Planetfall starter.  This makes a lot of sense considering the bit of fluff in the Proteus Prime booklet.  To sum it up, a Terquai research ships finds a planet hidden in the middle of an area noted for being completely empty.  They find evidence of a very ancient civilization and inadvertently trigger a planet shaking relic that really plays havoc with the teams and the Directorate Invasion force.  Upon getting news of this on Csera the big squid in charge has a flash back of death destruction and deep rooted fear.  Me thinks we have a old race returning and it sounds like its not a good thing.

The Way Of The Clans: The Ba'Kash

SeerK here once again. I was able to get out over to the west side of the state for a Firestorm Armada tournament. Battle Front Games in Kentwood, which is by Grand Rapids, played host to an 800 point patrol fleet tournament. Thanks go out to Mike Williams for running a fun event. I was initially going to run my Rense Navy fleet, but I was talked out of it by Spellduckwrong and Dreadbeard. I am still trying to really get some competitive wins with my Rense. The last tournament I played in I ran them and took third. Not to bad, but I am still learning the system even after a year. Once you learn a system you start to see the subtleties and tactics and tricks reveal themselves. I get in a lot of games to learn new tactics and the interactions of rules and those tactics with each other. I am trying to refine my game by playing different fleets. I recently acquired some Relthoza to help me refine my game. Relth have a sharp learning curve and they are a very good fleet when used properly. They will also help me play my Rense better. My actual style of play, especially when doing it competitively, is usually at great odds with my army or fleet selection. I like armies and fleets that are visually appealing and have a very common theme of being fast and being played with refined tactics. That is they are a scalpel when at heart my play style is more big freaking hammer.

Update From The Front! Adepticon and More!

SeerK Here.  We ll its been quite a whirlwind of activity here.  Thanksgiving and Adepticon registration all in one week.  When the smoke cleared from Monday nights Adepticon pre registration we were happy to see that the Schaumberg Prime Offensive sold out in under 4 hours.  That is pretty impressive and we really appreciate all the support.  Players can look forward to a fun and professional event.

On the Subject of the tournament, we encourage people interested in playing to still sign up and get on the wait list.  We are currently working with the Adepticon staff to get more room.  If and when we get more space, being on the wait list gets you in.  It also gets you in if anybody cant make it or cancels their registration.  So cue up and be prepared to throw down.  Event rules will be posted very soon, both on the Adepticon website and here at the blog.  We also have an Event page up over on facebook.  The link to it and our Facebook page is in the side bar on the right hand side of this page.