Sisters vs Marines - 1750pts

5 Objectives/Pitched Battle.  Sisters commanded by Grumblebunny.  SM led by Henshini.

Space Marine frontline; compact and centered on the table edge.  The Sisters have each flank protected by a squad of dismounted infantry while their transports and Immolaters take up the center opposite the SMs.

Game Summit Prep Work

I offered to help Corey out again with some prep work he needed done. Last event I helped with painting some boards. This time he asked me to paint up a Fortress of Redemption. Its a decent chunk of plastic. Lots of nice details. I had to cut a few corners as I only got the piece a week ago and had FoW models to paint up as well...I think it turned out OK.

Splinters of Chaos

CA$H here,

I just penned my final list for next weekend's local tournament "Splinters of Locara". It is being run by "Sober Gamer", and picks up right after last year's Locara campaign. For more info, please swing by HERE and feel free to take part! It really will be global, since games can be played anywhere. Without further mumbling, here is the list I have settled on:

HQ
Daemon Prince - 155 pts
Wings, MoS, Lash of Submission

TROOPS

Noise Marines x8 – 250pts
Sonic Blasters x 7
Noise Champion w/ Power Weapon and Doom Siren, Personal Icon, Melta bombs

Chaos Space Marines (10) - 255 pts
Aspiring Champ w/ Power Fist, IoCG, Meltagun(2)
Rhino

Summoned Lesser Deamons x8 - 104pts

ELITE

Chosen x5 - 165pts
Meltagun x4,Rhino

HEAVY SUPPORT
Vindicator – 125pts
Obliterator x3 – 225pts
Land Raider - 220pts

1499pts

I know it is a little heavy on points in the heavy support area, but the obliterators are all conversions, and I love me some Vindicator action (despite it rarely getting it's points back). So, what do you all think? I will be testing it out tomorrow for FNF(Friday Night Fights) and we shall see what I can accomplish with it.

I am open to suggestions and any/all input, but please keep in mind the idea wasn't to run a "net list" - I went with the models I love the look of, over functionality.
Oh, and pics of the whole painted army to follow tomorrow!

Cheers,

TO5G Tyranid math too!

Why have one Tyrannofex when you can have 2 for twice the price?






530 points of badass, 12 T6, 2+ save wounds. I made Catalyst (Feel no Pain from Tervigon) markers so I never forget which unit has it. THanks to Kairos Fateweaver at the Store for the second McRage orifice thingy. Soon-to-be-eaten Fire Dragon there for scale :)

Orks?

Wow,

Didn't really see this coming. Last nights FNF saw me scratch build/convert my final Obliterator for my Chaos army, and then promptly hum and haw for a good couple hours as to what 40k army to start afresh. Alas, I do plan to build a loyalist marine army at some point (Space Wolves or Dark Angels) but I just find I can not get motivated to paint ANOTHER power armored army. So after much mass-debate, I was goaded into painting a lone Ork boy (actually a Nob from the starter set) and I enjoyed it immensely. Not to mention the fact he was knocked out in about 20 minutes. I then proceeded to paint up a Deffcopter - and wow - only took me an hour and I am hooked. I think, apart from the pure joy of painting the models and the idea of playing an army for just pure fun, the main reason to play Orks for me has to be this:

Quote from: Ork Codex, Page 49, Bottom Right
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!"

There is just no arguing with that kind of logic!

Check out the rush jobs on the two models I mentioned. I should be able to knock out models fast and still keep a nice look (for dirty orks).







Thoughts?

game summit 40k list

well, this is what Im painting towards:

HQ:

Guildmaster and Hearthguard (Company Command squad) with 4 melta guns, 1 plasmapistol, Fleet Officer, Chimera with Hull HF: 185 points

TROOPS:

Hearthguard Squad (Platoon Command Squad) 3 melta guns, 1 flamer, Chimera with Hull HF: 120 points
Infantry Squad with Autocannon: 60 points
Infantry Squad with Autocannon: 60 points
Infantry Squad with Autocannon: 60 points
Thunderer Squad (Heavy Weapon) with 3 Lascannons: 105 points
Thunderer Squad (Heavy Weapon) with 3 Lascannons: 105 points
Thunderer Squad (Heavy Weapon) with 3 Autocannons: 75 points

Pioneer Squad (Veterans) 2 meltas, 1 flamer, Chimera with Hull HF: 150 points
Pioneer Squad (Veterans) 2 meltas, 1 flamer, Chimera with Hull HF: 150 points
Pioneer Squad (Veterans) 2 meltas, 1 flamer, Chimera with Hull HF: 150 points

FAST ATTACK

Squat Trikes (Roughriders) x6: 65 points
Heavy Combat Servitors (Sentinels) with Autocannons x3: 120 points

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Medusa with closed top crew: 150 points
Medusa with closed top crew: 150 points
Colossus: 140 points

All I have left is the sentinels and autocannon team, but then detailing... sigh. Then I wont touch another Guard thing for a while !

AAAAAND.. Im Back

So me and the missus went for a long east coast vacation, hence the sporadic commenting from the laptop when I could get some wireless going. Got a LOT of models done for the Squats while I was gone (brought some models to paint for late evenings at the hotels) and only have 6 left to go for my game summit army.

However, I did get to pop in to the Halifax GW store, and I highly recommend anyone out that way to drop in, Dave Switzer has an awesome store, a super good layout too (way better than Bayshore or St L) and a good core of players.

Here are some shots of stuff: (edit: wrong order, since picassa is stupid) Top pic is of Archie's awesome nose art of a nekkid female commisar on his vendetta, next we have Gary's Thunderwolf conversion, based on a white lion, greenstuff, direwolf head, etc. Lastly we have Ken's white scars biker capt, made using vyper parts. The rest of his white scars are stock bikes, but I really dig the futuristic look the eldar parts give it, even if its not that mariney

Battle Missions Book

So I picked up the Battle Missions book last night and started to take a gander at some of the missions inside. I must say that I am really impressed. First off, the cover art:



Wow, pure awesome-sause!. But really what grabbed me was the way they incorporated Universal Special rules and Scenario Objectives. The simple reason is that this Battle Missions book will work with ANY version of 40k; past, present and future. The layout allows the players to randomly roll, generate based on a story, or just pick the ones they like. There are no specific 5th Ed. rules, so the longevity of the book itself is a great reason to buy it.

We plan to incorporate the Battle Missions into Friday Night Fights - so expect some commentary and battle reports using this new resource. Instead of reviewing each scenario, I feel we would be better off reviewing them as we play them - so stay tuned!

-CA$H out.

250+ points complete! On to more!

So, here are some shots of the Grey Hunter unit and transport I completed this week:









I now plan to take a week or two and build the rest of my 1500pts to full WYSIWYG (along with all the vehicles), then continue painting each unit as I go. Going to be building Wolf Guard for each Grey Hunter unit, Wolf standards, and either building or scrounging Wulfen models to use as "Mark of the Wulfen" dudes in my units. I also need to build a new unit of Skyclaws (LOVE THEM!) and maybe a Wolf Priest with jump pack to lead them, the options are endless, and I am stoked to build this army far beyond 1500pts for sure. I can easily see Space Wolves becoming a 2500 point army very quickly, with all the build option I want to have. With Joyous providing me with jump packs and Land Raider for the force, it will get there soon.

On a side note, I am still working on my Demon Prince for my Emperors Children, and I will get a pic of it up once its completed - it is less than stellar looking as a WIP.

Getting there....

Cash here,

So, the 10 man grey hunter unit is done, and I am on to the Rhino tonight. It is assembled and primed - all ready to go. Here is a shot of the unit:




I plan to add vehicle markings and iconography prior to calling it complete - don't want to have to come back to anything in this army. At least not for a while...

** EDIT : After posting the pic I noticed I forgot the eyes on the helmeted marines! How I missed that I have no idea, but it will be done! **


Also, still no word from Lothlann, looks like he will be buying soon.... Muahahaha

CA$H Painting Challenge - Part 1

CA$H here,

In response - here is a pic of the "Start" of my challenge. 10 man Grey Hunter squad and Rhino transport. Comes to 205pts, so I have 2 weeks starting tomorrow Feb 22. All the marines are in various stages and and the rhino is on sprue.



I haven't yet decided on a full paint scheme, but the theme for this new army will be "Iron Wolves". It's one of the great companies and are they are renown for their "armored assault". I haven't seen anyone locally use this company, so it's mine for the taking. I also plan to "retake" Space Wolves for the casual player, and not become "one of those space wolves guys".



Orbital - what are you manning up with?

CA$H out.

Locara

For my first post here at Drunken Gamers, I'd like to introduce myself: I'm Corey, sometimes known as Orbital101, and I'll the token "Sober Gamer" on this blog. I guess that makes me the designated driver. Trust me; these guys might need one. :)

Last year I got the idea to start a 40k campaign. It's something I've been thinking about for a while, inspired by watching some of the really cool online campaigns in the region over the past 5 or 6 years. The Ottawa gaming community is very strong and positive, and I'm friends with many of the individuals who help make it great... so I felt there was a lot of fertile ground to upon which build a cool campaign. By late 2009, I'd conceived and launched "Return to Locara" (an homage to a campaign that a good friend ran a few years back) and populated it with 50 players, both local and not-so-local.

Observe the map of Locara: A few lines, some dots, a high-rez photo of Orion

and you've got a playing field for an online 40k campaign.

Rather than go into the particulars of the campaign itself, I'd like to share a bit about what I want the campaign to be and, in doing so, explain some of the decisions I made along the way.

As few restrictions as possible

No matter what kind of great ideas may be hatched for a great, operatic 40k campaign, the reality is that players have day jobs, schools, families and commitments to normal things. Whatever grand visions may be possible, they must be trimmed and contained so that normal people with normal lives can be part of it.

To make a campaign work with so many variables, I felt it was important to impose as few limits as possible... even at the expense of some potential campaign "ideas". My only real restrictions on the players are: In order to acquire points which can be used towards campaign goals, they play one specific army of their choosing in one of the Games Workshop 40k-themed game systems. There's no minimum requirement for how many games one must play, no restriction limiting players to only play against other campaign members, no set point values or army lists, and no schedule for when games need to be played. I want to get as many people playing as I possibly can.

I got this idea from the Eye of Terror campaign of a few years back, where people anywhere in the world could register games and get credit for them. If GW had imposed the above-mentioned limits on Eye of Terror, participation would have been exponentially less and the buzz around it would have been considerably lessened. It's an important lesson; the campaign is for the players to participate in, and all rules must serve that purpose in one way or another.

So, essentially: Let people play what they want to play whenever they can and don't give them a hard time if they can't play as often as you'd like.

Offer lots of ways to play

The garden-variety 40k game is the currency of a 40k campaign, and Return to Locara is no different; playing games is its backbone. Even so, I was inspired to add several other gameplay options to the mix so that people didn't get fatigued by the endless cycle of "play a game, get points". I introduced various "events" into the RtL timeline which altered basic gameplay with interest and even humor (i.e. the creation of a "Death Star"-like defense station or even a transport of volleyball-playing slave girls whom players could visit). Secret missions were also issued to most players so they'd have unique choices and mandates into which they could put effort and be rewarded for. For instance, a player might receive additional points for claiming and holding a specific planet, or another might get bonuses for waging war against a specific enemy. As if that weren't enough, early on I added Xbox-style "Achievements" for doing certain things, such as being the first to claim a particular planet or defeating X number of a particular enemy race... but also for less-goal-oriented things such as drawing a picture of your army in MS Paint or writing fluff about your army's adventures. Lastly, I even added what I call a "LIVE TO WIN" challenge every week, where the player who completes a number of tasks I list can get bonuses that count towards campaign goals.

At the time I was putting the ideas for RtL together, I was also playing World of Warcraft semi-regularly. I'd noticed that Blizzard works very hard at making sure that WoW players have a wide range of gameplay options: Don't like playing this way? Do this instead. Don't like that? Do this. Don't like that either? Try this. The player will never say "I'm getting sick of the same thing over and over" because there's always something different for them to try.

Make it social

When a campaign is full of people trying to do things for their own personal gain without collaborating with each other, one of two things ensues: Most of the people who play for fun will fade away and disappear from the campaign over time, and the people who are left are the Win At All Costs types who revel in the experience of beating others rather than playing with them. For this reason, I created two Factions: Imperials, and Xenos/Heretics, and divided the players (somewhat) evenly between them. My hope was that it could create a social environment where team spirit could be fostered and the discovery of how to work together to more effectively. Friendly taunting and vying adds a lot of humanity to a game, as does back-slapping and cheering for your Faction-mates. Without teamwork at the core of the campaign, I believe it'd degenerate into a simple characterless math-battle.

Locara in trouble: The names of players participating in the campaign are positioned on the map to represent movement and claiming planets. As they play more real-world games, they get points with which to do things on the map. Don't mind the green cloud: This week the Locara Sector is being gradually destroyed by a radiation storm.

Don't obsess over making it fair

One of the biggest challenges for the creators of Warhammer 40,000 is asymmetrical balance; Putting two armies on the table that have completely dissimilar composition and resources, and making it fair. As most 40k players know, the game is traditionally an approximation of fairness, but can't promise to deliver precise balance. Though debates rage on about how fair 40k is, most players can't even define what that looks like... much less agree on how to achieve it.

When I think of asymmetrical balance, I think of an old, old video game called (something like) Wolf and Geese. The game was played on a grid. One player controlled 12 geese and the other controlled a single wolf. It was a turn-based game in which the wolf could eat a goose if it intersected with it, but if the goose player completely surrounded the wolf, he lost. This, to me, is the best example of asymmetrical balance in gaming: Can you say if the wolf or the geese are overpowered? Or if they're balanced? There's no reliable way to measure that, so the answer is no. Only the averaging of player experience over a long timeline can hint at whether it's weighted towards one side or the other, but even then there's no way to establish an absolute.

In the Return to Locara campaign, I added numerous game factors (as I mentioned), thus providing the players with more ways to achieve their goals. Unintentionally and quite unexpectedly, however, those factors helped make the game more fair as well. At first I feared that adding several bonuses, rules and constraints would create imbalance (more working parts, any one of which could fail and all that), but what I found is that more influence and effects which attempt to achieve balance create an average gaming balance which is closer to absolute fairness. If you have only two factors - one positive and one negative - then the lack of perfect balance is very noticeable. If you have dozens or hundreds, the average gets a lot closer to the desired "middle", or balance. This is part of what makes 40k work despite several broke rules; a game rarely ever depends solely on one Terminator in a fist-fight with one Dark Reaper, even though they bring different power to the table for comparable points.

This might sound like a considerable pre-occupation with fairness, but it actually is very freeing. I don't worry about balancing the rules perfectly; I just aim all the rules in the same general direction and let the law of averages figure it out. If one special rule is a little skewed, it's balanced by a plethora of rules which aim for fairness. The effect of human error in balancing the campaign is mitigated.

Just to make sure I covered my ass, however, I made this the first comment in the Return to Locara rules: If you read nothing else, read this: The Locara Campaign is going to be unfair.

Conversation and discussion about Return to Locara is buzzing on the Game Summit forums.

I'll post more about Return to Locara down the road and make some more commentary on what works and what doesn't. In the mean time, check out the Game Summit forums to find out about Return to Locara

1500pt Slaanesh Tourney List

Here is a list I am thinking of testing out this week, and possibly taking to the Locara Tourney in February.

HQ

Daemon Prince - 155 pts
Wings
Mark of Slaanesh
Lash of Submission

TROOPS

Noise Marines x5 – 140pts

Blastmaster x 1

Noise Marines x8 – 250pts

Sonic Blasters x 7

Noise Champion w/ Power Weapon and Doom Siren, Personal Icon, Melta bombs

Chaos Space Marines (10) - 255 pts
Aspiring Champ
Power Fist
IoCG
Meltagun (2)
Rhino

Summoned

Lesser Deamons x10 - 130pts

HEAVY SUPPORT

Vindicator – 125pts

Obliterator x3 – 225pts

Land Raider - 220pts

1500pts

The idea is the large noise marine unit gets the land raider as their ride, and both it, the CSM in rhino, and vindicator all go 12" up the board at the start - or toward objectives. That leave the 5 man with blastmaster hanging back as fire support, and possible the Oblits as well. I think it's essential to up the Oblit unit to 3 to allow for reliable ranged anti-tank/anti-infantry. They could also deep strike off the personal icon of the noise marine champion if the scenario calls for it.

This list ups my melta gun content, and adds a much needed power fist to the 2nd assault unit. These will prove indispensable against monstrous creature and walkers. Notice I added melta bombs to the other squad, to help with vehicles/walkers in a pinch. Another option would be to drop the deamons and 3rd oblit, and take another CSM squad. I don't have one painted though, so its a tough call. That slot could also be taken by a roughly 8 man raptor squad with Mark of Slaanesh too, so who knows. I think I will try this list to start, because few people remember that deamons are scoring units....and having them arrive turn 3/4, go straight into assault (supported by noise marines) may allow them to be in a position to capture an objective late game.

I also pulled the Termies, as they seem expensive for their return in 1500pts. Only testing will tell.

Stay tuned for pics of my now painted Land Raider, and WIP shots of my deamons and Deamon Prince.

CA$H Out.

Chaos Work in Progress (WIP)

As promised earlier, here are a couple shots of the Obliterator and Sorcerer prior to being primed. I plan to paint the Vindicator tonight while these two dudes are drying.
So here they are:

Back at it.

So, I haven't painted a fig in over a week, and not due to a lack of motivation. With the "Return to Locara" (http://gamesummit.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2770)campaign and tournament kicking off this coming Sunday, I have plenty. Thing is, I have been down and out with a severe cold, not to mention my wife having laser eye surgery and all that it entails when she is healing up. I have less than a week to complete my 1250pt list, and to do so I need to paint up 1) Slaanesh Sorcerer in power armor (I converted him up from bits I already had) 2) 1 custom built Obliterator and 3) my Vindicator tank. Doesn't seem like a ton, and I am pleased that I have painted the rest over the past month, but time is limited. I only paint once the little one is in bed, so I can only commit to a couple hours a night. I estimate I will need at least 8 hours to complete the 3 models to a tabletop standard, saving fine details for afterward. I will post a couple picks of the sorcerer and obliterator tonight, prior to priming them so I can show everyone the conversion and "green-stuff" work. It will also serve as a reminder and point of reference for the remaining obliterators I plan to make.

I am looking forward to the tournament this Sunday. I have a freshly painted army, and the venue seems to be great - lunch is even provided at Pub 101! Nice touch there, as ordered in pizza and soda is old. I will have to keep going with my slaanesh marines, because the winter Game Summit ( www.gamesummit.ca ) is coming in soon, and the army will need to be up to 1750pts for then. As for what I will add to get the army up to 1750pts - I'm planning on getting up to 3 obliterators, fleshing out the troops a little more, and adding either a landraider OR a 10 man Raptor unit. Not sure which at this point. Anyways, expect some pics updated tonight. Till then....

List update

So 5 or 6 play tests and I have refined the list some. Looks like this now:

HQ
Chaos Sorcerer – Mark of Slaanesh, Lash of Submission – 125pts

TROOPS
Noise Marines x5 – Sonic Blasters x 4, Blastmaster x 1 – 160pts
Noise Marines x8 – Sonic Blasters x 7, Noise Champion w/ Power Weapon and Doom Siren, Mounted in Rhino – 275pts
Noise Marines x5 – Noise Champion w/ Power weapon, Doom Siren, Personal Icon, Mounted in Rhino – 185pts
Chaos Space Marines x5 – Plasma Gun – 90pts

ELITES
Chaos Terminators x5 – Icon of Slaanesh, Heavy Flamer, Chain Fist x1, Power Fist x1 -- 195pts

HEAVY SUPPORT
Vindicator w/ Demonic Possession– 145pts
Obliterator x1 – 75pts


1250pts

I have now completed the painting of both Rhinos, all the troops, and the terminators, pics will be up this weekend!

Emperor's Children under way

So, in the past little bit I have painted up a 8 man Noise Marine unit (with Rhino) and a 5 man with blastmaster to hold local objectives. Here is what they look like so far:

I have added static grass since the pic was taken.

Continuing work on the force, pressing towards 1250pts for the upcoming local Return to Locara: Tournament & Campaign.

What a concept - lower tournament points limits

Just read this comment on BoLS site (see link on right) about the creep of game size and its impact on tournaments and list creativity. I find it really interesting that in the UK all GTs are 1500pts -to encourage creative thinking and compromise, as opposed to the Us where 200pts it common and people just max certain selection. I may as well just post the whole comment here - this is a quote:

Conrad_Dakarn 21 hours ago

"I've noted one thing when speaking to people in America about their games and tournaments and that's to do with the points costs. Almost every game you have is 2000pt or over. Even the tournaments seem to be centred around over 2000pts.

The 40k rulebook recommends that you play 1500-2000pts on a 6 by 4 board.

The MAJOR GW throne of skulls tournament is set at 1500pt, thus showing that GW believe 1500 is the ideal size for a tournament setting on a 6 by 4 board.

Most US games take place using over 2000pt in their tournaments.

Why am I bringing up points cost as an argument about balanced lists....simple really. You get more stuff for more points. In a 2000+ army you can afford to take pretty much anything you want because you've got the point spare to cram in those 3 land raiders or what-ever else and still take a decent set of troops and the like. In 1500 you're much more limited to your options and can't simply slap a list together using the hardest of everything because you'll find you quickly run out of points. An example would be 7 terminators with lightning claws, 1 chaplain and a land raid crusader....coming in at over 500 points. This takes up the main portion of your army for very little in terms of models. The other 1000 would have to contain the troops and any further support. If you're spamming your list as a combat heavy list (using the terminator example) you'd probably take 2 of the above and then take minimum troops and suddenly you're out of points for anything else. That's 2 armour 14 vehicles and a subsequent 16 wounds worth of models for over 1000 points.

A balanced list in 1500pt will contain enough of everything to deal with an orientated list any day of the week. The above example would, for example, find itself in trouble at the sight of a single Vindicator for only 115pt and perhaps 2-3 attack bikes with multi-meltas at 100-150pt. For a quarter of the value you've got two units that can take out the land raider and then the terminators inside with relative ease and do the same again the next turn....all the while, the terminators are trying to get to you to engage in combat. For 265pt, the 1000 odd has been delt with. You can then think on the other side of the box with the other 1235pt of your army for what else you might want to take....the theory works sound in any situation and you can create a list that can deal with any threat as well as maintaining a good balance all round.

A combat heavy army is always going to have the problem that they have to get to the opponent and when they do get their, they have to ensure they can't be shot after they've destroyed the unit they've charged.

A gun line army has to be able to deal with a combat army that can jump on them by turn 2....or even worse....try and compete with another gun line army of equal magnitude.

By creating these sorts of lists for limited points, you've put inherent weakness in your army. Sure, in over 2000pt it's a lot easier to get rid of these weaknesses but that's kind of my point.....1500pt is more challenging for list building in my opinion.

However....I'm over the pond in the UK and we do play a very different style of game to yourselves. Not just in the points but our tactics and game play seem to vary from certain things that you do. So, my opinion may not be valid in terms of a US situation....but, I do plan on coming over eventually for a week's holiday and taking part in one of your larger tournaments, just to get a feel for it....so, who knows? I may learn a few things or hand out some lessons.

A current favoured marine list is quite balanced for all round but with a few small space weaknesses which are covered with the method of the build and my gaming style. My list is also built around 6 games with the different set ups as detailed in the 40k book and a 1500pt limit (UK GT). I've won every game so far with this list...and not just against standard players or other standard lists. I've played a 6 AV14 guard tank army, a space wolf army, a 10 terminator and chaplain marine army and a seer council build Eldar list. Each game with different mission types and deployment. The list is, for me, a balanced list."

Wow- this guy nails it. I think I will push for 1500pt games more often.

Chaos has taken hold....

So, the dark powers have taken my soul, and I have started into the army of the Emperor's Children with a fever. Here is a WIP (work in progress) Rhino that I just built.

More to come!

They are done!

Wow, I painted 9 Eldar Jet bikes. It may not seem like a mighty feat, but with my head swirling with Chaos, and reading "Storm of Iron", it's all I can do to keep myself from jumping in to Chaos with both feet and never looking back.

Now that the bikes are completed, I need to actually play with them. So, tonight, I am meeting up with Matt Varnish and Lothlann for some battling. As usual, I will document the fight, and may try out "Battle Cartographer", at least I think that's what it's called. Once I locate the website for this cool little app, I will post it. I will also take pics of the game(s) tonight, and post them up.

Now that the bikes are done, I am going to start painting a single noise marine to test some paint schemes, and post them here for reference. Stay tuned to the site for updates!

*** UPDATE***

BIKES:

The program is http://www.battlechronicler.com/
It's free, and should allow me to visualize the battle and key tactics. I think it's worth trying out and seeing how well it can be posted to a site.

Cheers!