The Cogitator

Month

January 2013

3 posts

First Steamroller Tournament

I played in my first Warmachine/Hordes steamroller tournament yesterday at my local game store. I went 2W-1L and managed to bring home the silver coin for 2nd place.

We played with the new SR2013 scenarios which I really like.  I didn’t score any scenario wins but grabbing some Capture Points is what let me get 2nd place even though I got knocked out in the 2nd round.

I played with the much maligned eGrissel.

eGrissel 

Dire Troll Bomber
Axer
Impaler

Full Unit of Champions
Skaldi Bonehammer

Trollkin Hero

Janissa Stonetide

I think most folks would say it is a non-optimal list, and they would probably be right, but I own limited models, so I do what I can. I also brought a similar pMadrak but I didn’t end up using it.

My first match was a mirror match vs. Grim Angus. He had full burrowers, full Nyss hunters, an Earthborn and a Mauler. My champions did a lot of damage to the Mauler, and managed eat the brunt of the burrower assault. Late game, my Impaler critically slammed (his) Janissa into Grim Angus and my Axer finished him.

 Next game I lost.  It was against eKrueger, Megalith, a Woldwarden, Shifting Stones with the attachment, a pair of Gallows’ Groves, and Bloodtrackers with Nuala. I think he had a Woldwyrd too. Early on we traded some blows, me killing his groves with some boosted blast damage and he killed my Trollkin Hero and hurt my Bomber with the Bloodtrackers. Stormwall ( the spell) really gimped my range game. The game ended when Krueger hopped over a structure and rolled triple 6’s on a telekinesis roll to pull Grissel from behind her wall.  Then Megalith got teleported behind her and even with her feat up, he put Grissel into the dirt. eKrueger is the one caster I have played against more the once and have never beaten.

Next game was a Retribution matchup and I knew I had a good chance of seeing the Hyperion.  I was right. My opponent brought Dawnlord Vyros, a unit of Invictors, the Hyperion, Aspis, a Mage Hunter Assassin, Narn, and some Arcanists. I had some fantasies about doing damage to Hyperion with my champions but that quickly evaporated when Vyros cast Inviolable Resolve on him and I learned how many boxes he had. Hyperion started munching through Champions while the Assassin got a charge off on Grissel but missed. Grissel splattered the Assassin. My beasts and remaining champions started hacking into the Invictors to clear a path to Vyros. Combined arms kill my Axer and the last champions, but Grissel puts a boosted quake shot into Vyros knocking him down, and the Bomber is able to seal the deal. 

All in all, I had a great time and I am enjoying eGrissel.  She is quite a dark horse, but she has some serious assassination potential and solid defensive stats.

Jan 13, 20131 note
#warmachine #hordes #miniature war gaming #steamroller
“The study offers further depressing insights. Not only did the male pretend jurors prove “significantly more likely” to find the obese female defendants—rather than the slim ones—guilty, but the trim male participants were worst of all, frequently labeling the fat women “repeat offenders” with “awareness” of their crimes.” —

Study: Male Jurors More Likely To Find Heavier Women Guilty - ThinkProgress (via brooklynmutt)

Defense attorneys pay close attention to studies like this.  They often make decisions about how to represent their client based on findings like the one above.  For example—based on this study, if I were defending an obese female client in a criminal trial, I would not be zealously defending her if I didn’t do my best—within the bounds of the law—to overload the jury box with women—or at the very least, keep skinny men out during jury selection.  

Now, to be sure, this is only one study.  One study does not a scientific consensus make.  Furthermore: is it a foregone conclusion that every juror will manifest biases like this?  Of course not.  But if there’s even a chance that a juror might have a subconscious bias against my client, I need to do everything in my power to protect her during jury selection.  You can bet that if I was representing an obese female defendant, I’d be doing everything in my power—again, within the bounds of the law—to ensure that the jury box was mostly women, and that the men leaned a little on the heavy side.

It is the worst kept secret in American Criminal Justice that psychology does more to determine jury verdicts than evidence.  Conscious biases can be rooted out during the “Voir Dire” portion of jury selection, but unconscious biases cannot.  The best defense attorneys are aware of this, and know that criminal trials—particularly close ones—can be won or lost during jury selection.  Unconscious biases are mostly the reason why.

(via letterstomycountry)

Jan 13, 20131,425 notes
#law #psychology #legal system
Jan 13, 20132,880 notes
#coffee

November 2012

2 posts

Nov 10, 2012160 notes
#science #physics
Wish someone collected these tears so I could take a bath in them. → whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com
Nov 9, 2012
#election #Romney #Obama #politics
Oct 31, 20121,581 notes
#beer #craftbeer #game of thrones #submission

October 2012

3 posts

Oct 30, 20121,029 notes
#science #physics #fluid dynamics
Oct 13, 20127,336 notes
#election #Paul Ryan

September 2012

1 post

Sep 9, 201242 notes

August 2012

15 posts

Aug 25, 20121,582 notes
Cabin in the Woods...

…is an amazing film and if haven’t seen it you should watch it now.

Right now.

Aug 24, 2012
#Joss Whedon #film #merman
Rasmussen poll on Missouri Senate race: McCaskill 48%, Akin 38% → rasmussenreports.com

cognitivedissonance:

image

It was previously a toss-up. Proof that the voters can tolerate only so much stupid.

I am going to take a different tack here.

Almost 40% of voters still voted for this guy.

That is 2 out of 5 people.

Aug 23, 201282 notes
#politics #Akin
Play
Aug 23, 20121 note
Play
Aug 23, 2012137 notes
#science #physics #fluid dynamics
Aug 20, 20122 notes
#grad school #programming
Aug 10, 201296 notes
#science #physics #Olympics #discus
Aug 9, 20121 note
#Penn Jillette #gaming #music #nerds
Aug 8, 2012104 notes
#science #physics #Olympics
Aug 6, 20121 note
#Curiosity #Mars #Lil Wayne
Aug 6, 201283 notes
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