Welcome back to the third tier of our getting started in Warmachine series. While the first two tiers got you into the game, the third tier has multiple parts, designed to help you get your feet wet in all the different hobby areas Warmachine provides.  This part of Tier 3 will get you started basing your models.  Basing is the process of decorating the base of your miniature.  This guide is intended for those new to Warmachine and those new to wargaming as a whole. Our intent is to take a player who has never played a wargame or a miniatures game through the basics of all aspects of the game. If you have missed our previous Getting Started articles you can jump back and check them out now: Tier 1 – The Basics, Tier 2 – Beyond the Basics.

The first two tiers of our Getting Started in Warmachine guide got you playing the game.  Tier 3 – Painting got  your model painted.  Now we’ll learn the basics of creating a simple base for your models and the materials you will need.  Basing is a great way to tie a group of models together, so you’ll want to think about the kind of base you want for your group.  Often the type of base is fluff related and is designed around the native lands of the faction.  For example: Khador will often have snowy bases, while Protectorate of Menoth models will be on sandier bases.  In this tier we will be basing a Cygnar model with a grassy field theme.

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Tags: Basing, Modeling, P3, Painting, Privateer Press, Tutorial, Warmachine

MERCS Faction Focus:USCR

Today we will be taking a look at the USCR faction for the MERCS Miniatures game. For Those of you who did not catch our first article of the series you should check it out here for more info on the game. For those of you who have been following along but want to know more read on.

USCR Overview

The USCR forces work best as a slowly advancing tight group that can focus their fire on priority target and take them out quickly. Keep an eye out for enemy models trying to engage you on the flank or from the rear in hand to hand combat. While their high armor ratings will help keep them safe from inferior strength weaponry it doesn’t make them immortal

All USCR models have the Intimidate ability so make sure to make good use of this by using suppression fire to lock down areas of the battle field and direct models into the lines of fire that you want them to be in.

Also keep in mind that almost none of the USCR models can use the Fire & Move CCM so make sure you are very careful about where and when you move your models. Have a plan for where you’re going and stick to it or you could be caught with your pants down.

Who has the Fire & Move CCM you may ask? the USCR Booster has it making him the more mobile  run and gun member of the team

Corporate Abilities:

Dense: Str 1 weapons require no armor check
Intimidate: +1 to any opponent Courage checks.

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Tags: MERCS, Miniature Game, Sci-fi, Skirmish, Squad, tactics, USCR

In an effort to give our readers what they want, we at Hand Cannon have made the choice to allow our readers to ask for exactly what they want! The writers and editors of Hand Cannon Online are opening up the floodgates to you, our loyal readers.

If there is anything you would like to see a particular author cover, or any question that you would like answered, now is the time to ask it.

Feel free to email your questions to Geist, or post them in the comments section in this article. We aim to please, and offer our readers exactly what they want, and we will do our best to provide that for you.

Some examples:

• You would like to see a particular technique for a tutorial.
• You would like to see specific terrain.
• More Battle Reports from Omnus, or any of the other Hand Cannon Crew.
• Game and Events Coverage.
• What tools we use for hobbies, and painting.
• Specific Product Reviews.
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This is also your chance to be pro-active, and ask questions you’d like us to answer….as long as it’s not too personal! You can even ask a specific writer to cover a subject of their expertise as well. You may be as specific as you like.

The readers and editors on the site will do our best to suffer to your demands, good readers. So, let the dogs of war loose upon us!

Tags: Answers, Ask the Authors, Hand Cannon Online, Q & A, Questions

MERCS Faction Focus: CCC – Yellow Jackets

Today we will be taking a look at the CCC – Yellow Jackets one of the factions for the MERCS Miniatures game. For Those of you who did not catch our first article of the series you should check it out here for more info on the game. For those of you who have been following along but want to know more read on.

CCC Overview

One of the things to pay attention to with CCC is to make sure they stick together and don’t spread themselves to thin. When used to good effect in covering each other and working together to move up the field they can present quite the challenge to your opponent.

The CCC is a very flexible force when played properly; they can do well in Hand to hand or in ranged fire fights. One of their strongest benefits is their Nanite Armor which is not only hard to break but can self repair over a couple of turns.

With the Heavy Assault and the Incinerator CCC have two heavy support options to choose from. This gives them some versatility in choice of the type of heavy they want to use or they can use both and really have a pair of models to be reckoned with.

Corporae Abilities:

Nanite Armor: -1 to repair rolls; self heals after 2 rounds
Reliable: Low Failure rate

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Tags: CCC, MERCS, Miniature Game, Sci-fi, Skirmish, Squad, tactics, Yellow Jackets

Kallus, Wrath of Everblight – Part II

Welcome to the follow up report on Legion’s new caster…Kallus, Wrath of Everblight. The first report can be found here. I received a lot of great feedback about that article and people just wanted some more. So here it is…

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Tags: Angelius, Armies, Army building, Battle, Battle Report, Hordes, Infantry, Kallus, Legion of Everblight, Privateer Press, Scythean, Spotlight, Strategy, tactics, Units, Warbeast, Warcaster, Warlock, Warmachine

In this article we are going to build up a 35-pt Cygnar army based on many of the foundational units that Cygnar is so well known for. By the end you will have the core of an army that can be easily adapted to different casters and tactics, while giving you a variety of units and models to try out. You won’t often find a Cygnar army that doesn’t contain at least a couple of the models we’re about to detail, so this is a great way to get started.

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Tags: Army building, Cygnar, Privateer Press, tactics, Warcaster, Warjack, Warmachine

For our original overview of the MERCS game you can take a peek at our original article here.

This time However I wanted to take some time to discuss a bit more about the game before we start into our series where we take a bit re of a look at the specifics of the units for each faction in the world of MERCS.

For those of you who want the readers digest version of the Article MERCS is a 28mm sci-fi skirmish game that can be played on a 2ft x 3ft or 3ft by 3ft table. It can also be played with two-dimensional maps akin to what one would see used for D&D minis or Heroclix or you could play using a table filled with amazing custom three-dimensional terrain.

Looking at the Mechanics

The game utilizes cards that not only have the information you need to play the game for each miniature but these cards are also used for movement, firing distances and Area of effect templates.

Lastly Mercs is a game that uses a d10 to resolve all of the actions. In MERCS you want to roll high so 10= good 1 = bad.

Now lets take a look at a little turn synopsis for MERCS  as well as the chain of Occurrence and then talk a little bit about some of the neat game mechanics.

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Tags: CCC, FCC, Kemvar, MERC Minis, MERCS, Sefadu, USCR

So my resources were again up to the demand so it´s time to continue with the houses. Next step in this long journey is to construct some roofing.

The roof of the houses have to be quite strong because they are removable and I don’t want to repair them after every play session. That’s why I decided to make the support structures from plascticard.  I also wanted to try different styles to make a roof so the Inn roof is constructed little differently than other houses.

The roof of the Merchant´s house

Here is how I made the Merchants house roof. I made two pediments from foamcore and clued strips of plasticard to bind them together.

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Tags: Consrtruction, Harbor City, Houses, Planning, Tabletop, Terrain

I had heard good things about it, then I was asked, “How much would you be willing to pay for it”. So I bought it. I figured if i didn’t like it I could just sell it on Ebay. Honestly, the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it on the Wizkids website was, ” Oh great, we get to go through Dragon Dice again…”.

My friends and I broke into the game immediately. It was honestly not what I expected, but in a good way. We got everything out and found quite a nicely put together product. It had 130 beautiful dice, 4 dice bags, a glory counter, a spiffy tin, and some cards.

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Tags: Card Games, Dice Game, Game Review, Wizkids

Welcome back to the third tier of our getting started in Warmachine series. This part of Tier 3 will get you started painting your models. This guide is intended for those new to Warmachine and those new to wargaming as a whole. Our intent is to take a player who has never played a wargame or a miniatures game through the basics of all aspects of the game. If you have missed our previous Getting Started articles you can jump back and check them out now: Tier 1 – The Basics, Tier 2 – Beyond the Basics.

In the first tier we assembled our faction’s battlegroup box using a new set of hobby tools and we gathered the items necessary to play the game. Tier 2 took us a little deeper into all aspects of the game with the rule book, our faction’s book and the template kit. With what you have after Tier 2 you can confidently go to your FLGS and play battlegroup games, learning the ins-and-outs of your models. But what do you do in-between trips to your FLGS to play Warmachine? When you’re not out playing, that’s a good time to be painting. This part of Tier 3 will get you introduced to some of the basic tools you need to paint and get you started with some basic techniques. These techniques will give you great looking tabletop quality miniatures and get you the painting practice you’ll need to conquer more advanced techniques later on.

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Tags: Miniature Painting, P3, Painting, Privateer Press, Tutorial, Warmachine