June July August Newsletter

7/28/2019 June July August Newsletter

1/12

THE BARRACKS ARSENAL Iss

The Barracks

Arsenal

Issue: 2IN THIS ISSUE

Hi everyone; thanks for picking up this

months issue of the Arsenal. My name is Ken

Sheldon, owner and proprietor of the

Barracks LLC, your local friendly game storethat prides itself on customer service and its

friendly gaming community. We highlight

Magic, Warhammer, Warmachine and

Hordes, and are always looking to expand

our community with both new and old

games.

Personally, Ive played Magic since Ice Age.

Ive seen it change with its many new sets

and rules. Ive played Warhammer Fantasy

since the days of the Lizardmen and

Bretonnian starter box, and absolutely love

both the game aspect, as well as the hobby

aspect. Ive owned and managed one othergame store, and spent a lot of my work life in

retail. I used to blog professionally about

miniature games, mmos, and other game

related topics.

Owning and running a successful game store

was always one of my points on my bucket

list. Why? Well, Ive been to too many game

stores where the guy behind the counter was

not only rude to their customers, but, also

inconsiderate about various player ideas. I

feel that this mentality is all too common,

and there is no place for that in a gaming

atmosphere. Games are just that, games,

and while yes, power gaming exists, and

there is nothing wrong with it; but that

doesnt mean that new ideas are bad ideas.

Games are ways for people to escape the

everyday reality and have fun. No ones idea

of how they want to either build an army, or

construct a deck, is a bad idea as long as they

have fun. This mentality has spilled over into

our community, and Im happy to say that

weve got the best group of gamers here, and

I wouldnt trade them for the world.

So, what else is the Barracks? Were located

in Petersburg, MI, on the corner of Wood St.

and E. Center. We currently have a 12 ft x 6 ft

war gaming table, as well as 16 spots for our

regular FNMs. Now, were a small store and

weve often experienced overflow. This

brings me to our biggest news since we

opened! Well be changing locations to a

space that is at least twice our current size!

This will give our card flippers more table

space (around 30 or so spots) and our war

gamers more tables (around 6 tables

minimum)! And even better, were only

moving across the street!

Now, this wouldnt have been possible

without the gaming community we have as

well as the local residents of Petersburg.

Without all of your support, this dream

wouldnt have been possible.

Anyways, enjoy this issue of the Arsenal.

Hope to see you at the shop soon!

TsuroWhat is Tsuro?

Page

New Magic Set (M14)The new set M14 is discussed.

Page

Welcome to the Barracks!y Ken Sheldon


2/12

THE BARRACKS ARSENAL | Issue2

A few months ago, Games

Workshop released their long

awaited update for the realms of

Chaos with the Chaos Daemons

Codex for Warhammer 40k. Ive

had a few chances to play withmy Chaos Daemons force and its

left me with a few thoughts on

these guys.

This issue, well touch on some of

the Daemons HQ.

The immediate top contender is

Skarbrand. Hes big. Hes beefy.

He kills things with authority.

Essentially hes a GreaterBloodthirster who was such a

jerk; Khorne kicked him out of his

realm. This guy is a beast when it

comes to close combat. He hits

on a 2+, can re-roll misses, and

will instantly kill just about

anything. Hes not invincible

though, and becomes a huge

target when hes fielded. Enough

shots will ground him, and

eventually you wont be able to

make your save. So, if you field

him, make sure you get him into

close combat as soon as you can

to avoid him becoming a bulletsponge.

Next up is KuGath, Plaguefather.

I personally dont care much for

him; however, I dont feel Ive

utilized him to his full potential.

So, lets cover what he is. Hes a

high toughness, high wound

model that uses poison attacks, is

a psyker, and has a decent blast

ranged attack. He is a high pointcost model, however, with his

high toughness; it will be hard for

your opponents to get a shot

through. Having him running with

Epidemus will only make him

tougher as the tally grows. I could

see his viability in bunkering

down in cover, holding down an

important objective along with

some Nurglings while tossing

plague ridden blast templates at

your opponents troops.

Remember, hes a daemon of

Nurgle, which increases cover

saves to a ridiculous 2+.

That leads me to Epidemus, the

Tallyman of Nurgle. Hes one of

the lesser heralds, so that means

that you can still take 3 more

heralds for 1 HQ choice. His

ability keeps a tally of all

wounds inflicted by Nurgle

units. The more wounds you

inflict, the more bonuses you

gain, including the ever

amazing Feel No Pain on high

toughness troops. If you run

anything Nurgle, you really

should take him.

The Keeper of Secrets was a hug

surprise for me as I never used to

run Slaanesh in my daemonic

hordes. However, the Keeper

seemed too useful to pass up,

especially with the high initiative

and weapon skill. While not thestrongest unit in the game, the

ability to instant wound with no

saves is really nice. I would

consider this HQ to be more of a

assassin, targeting one of your

opponents high point model, an

letting it go to town. I wouldnt

recommend using it in every

match, however, when it comes

time to knock off a high point

model, this may be your unit. Thtricky thing to balance though is

the point cost. I sometimes find

hard to justify a Monstrous

Creature as an assassin.

Finally, theres the most

underrated, and the most costly

HQ unit, Kairos Fateweaver. He

wont last you in close combat, a

his weapon skill and toughness is

awful. But, he really shines in hispsychic abilities along with his

staff. Lets focus on his psychic

abilities first: he is two level four

psykers in one. He can essentiall

take four abilities from four

different schools, while also

knowing the entire school of

Change. This offers a lot of choic

and variety to his abilities. His

The Daemonic

Hordes in the

Grim Darkness of

he FutureKen Sheldon


3/12


other ability lies in his artifact,

which allows for one friendly dice

re-rollper player turn. How many

times have you had a game on

the line where one dice roll stood

between you and victory? Well,

this can help change that. Its anydice as well, so, if you need to

pass a save, or to re-roll a charge.

While its only one dice, it still can

help turn the tables.

Chaos Daemons also have a boat

load of lesser heralds they can

take, all of which can be equipped

with some pretty great stuff,

which alone can be less than

intimidating, but exploring thecombos that can be done with

these in a squad can really prove

to make a death star unit.

This force generally seems to rely

heavily on combos. Daemons

alone dont have a ton of

stopping power, however, when

you start complimenting your

units with bonuses you get from

HQs, you start seeing the power

that lies within the denizens of

the warp.Next issue, well discuss the Elite

choices within the Chaos Codex.

Magic ForumBy Christopher Cannon

This is a section we will feature

every month in which we will

answer any questions or address

any comments received.

However, this section will not be

possible without the support of

our readers so participation is

encouraged.

Any questions or comments can

be submitted to either Ken

Sheldon at The Barracks or to

myself, either in writing or

through the website. All

questions and comments that we

display will be done

anonymously.


4/12


Full Game!

Game board!

There is a certain Zen about

Tsuro. Whereas most games

focus on immediate competition

and placing you against your

fellow players, or trying to gather

the most resources to outlast

your opponent; Tsuro is simply

about your choices before you fill

the game board.

Tsuro: A Game of Paths (by

Calliope Games) was releasedback in 2004, but has seen

reimplementation in their sequel

Tsuro of the Seas (2012). Both

games follow a simple premise.

Follow the path you lay in front of

you and dont fall off the board. If

your path crosses another

players path, you are both

removed from play. While this

premise is incredibly simple, the

game has seen many play hourson my dining room table.

The beauty ofTsuro is in the way

you approach the game. While

you can approach this with your

opponents destruction in mind

and try to lay a trap for them to

fall into, youre taking risks. And

as in the name, will those paths

pan out? Or, you can approach

the game as a way to avoid youropponent, taking subtle risks, an

abstractly planning out your

strategy. Either of these

strategies works, but personally,

Ive found the more relaxed you

are, the easier it is for your

opponent to move themselves o

of the board.

Tsuro is for 2-8 players, and take

around 20 minutes to play. Its a

great de-stressor while you wait

for dinner to finish cooking, or

after a busy day at work. Its a

great value for $29.99.

Tsuro: A Game of PathsBy Ken Sheldon

Standard Tsuro game

YOUR

AD

HERE

Advertise with us!

(734)279-1565


5/12

THE BARRACKS ARSENAL Iss

Besides fireworks and

Barbeques Magic players

have something else tolook forward to this July, the

release of the M14 Core Set.

This core set signals the return of

the Slivers. While I like tribal

themes in the set I do not know

why they brought back the Slivers

instead of making a new tribe. I

personally believe that a Sliver

deck is for the unoriginal because

of the lack of thought and

planning required to construct

one. All you have to do is put all

your Slivers together with some

mana and your deck is ready to

play. Not to mention that if you

do play a Sliver deck, you might

as well paint a bulls eye on your

forehead because you are

definitely going to be targeted.

Of course you know the planes

walkers will be back as well. Will

this be the set in which we

actually receive a usable

Chandra? There has been new

Chandra art leaked on the

internet which leads me to

believe there will be a new one.

However, only time will tell if it is

actually functional. I believe that

they will reprint the same Garruk

and Lilianna from M13 in M14. As

for white, I believe they will

reprint Ajani, make a new Ajani,

or replace Ajani with Gideon or a

new planes walker. Unfortunately

I also believe they will reprint Jace

Memory Adept. I personally

would like to see him replaced

however, since he is a fan favorite

I do not think that will happen any

time soon.

So what else will they reprint in

this set? Hopes for everyone

(including myself) are high that

they reprint Thragtusk. Anyone

running this card in

standard is probably

hoping that they do as

is probably a staple and

hard to replace. Hopes

are also high that they

will reprint the dual or

buddy lands. With thcurrent mana pool

available in standard this decisio

will greatly impact every players

deck building strategy. What

does the future hold for the M14

Core Set? Only Wizards

knows..

The Barracks will be featuring

multiple release events, the

schedule is as follows:

7/19@1:30 1v1

7/19 @ 6:00 1v1

All Pre-release registration is $25

in advance / $30 at the door. Pre

release schedule: 7/13 @

midnight (1v1) 7/13@ 3pm

(1v1)7/14@3pm (2headedgiant)

PRE-ORDER INFORMATION

$99.99 per box

$39.99 per fat pack

M14By Christopher Cannon


6/12


Aetherling: The

Sleeper ofStandard

By Daniel Wylie

This past week at FNM, I realized

that Aetherling is a completely

nuts card in a control/ tempo

shell. Trying him for the first time

in a constructed format, I

Immediately fell in love.

With his first ability giving you the

option to exile him and return him

to the battlefield at the beginning

of the next end phase for just one

blue mana makes him a great

threat that is hard to answer.

Your opponent will have to use

two removals on your Aetherling,

offering you a two for one in yourfavor just for having a creature, or

this could be used to give him a

sort of pseudo vigilance.

His second ability is that for one

blue mana, he can make himself

unblockable until end of turn.

This means that even if your

opponent is flooding the board

with some chump blockers, you

can just turn your guy

unblockable and bash in for as

much as 8 each turn. This leads

me into his next ability; which is

for one colorless you can give him

+1/-1 leading you to be able to

pump him to an 8/1 unblockable

for 5 mana. However, you may

want to leave one blue for his

safety net. Being a possible 8/1

though, it makes him by himself a

2 turn clock if you have done at

least 4 damage to your opponent,

or even if theyve taken 2 shocks

from lands. With many decks

having such greedy mana bases,

shocking ones self from twolands isnt farfetched at all.

His final ability gives himself -

1/+1, making him able to block

just about anything! For one

colorless, he can trade with your

opponents Thragtusk or you can

even give him 0 power if the guy

sitting across from you is trying to

swing in with Boros Reckoner for

the kill, making Aetherling anamazing win condition and utility

creature.

Even though his converted mana

cost is 4 colorless and 2 Blue,

most times you want to cast him

with 4 Colorless and 3 Blue,

leaving one blue open for

protection, so they cannot kill

your Aetherling the turn you casthim. Personally, in my deck I run

two in the main board, along with

two more in side board, but I

really think he is worth running 3

main board just because he is the

ultimate and perfect win

condition, as long as you dont

personally make a misplay like I

have in very inopportune times. I

was sitting at 18 life after shocks

and my opponent went to hisattack step, and turned a 7/5

Thragtusk, that was made from a

Master Biomancer, sideways to

bash in for seven. I only had one

blue mana up and I made the

bone-headed move to instead of

chump with a Deathrite Shaman

or a Beast token, throw my

Aetherling in front and exile it in

response to damage, which fell

right into his plans when

Aetherling was promptly

putrefied, and in turn I scooped.

In a control versus control,

Aetherling is just a nuts card,

which is when I always try to waiuntil my opponent has tapped o

or I draw my singleton Cavern of

Souls, and immediately name

Shape shifter.

I have thoroughly fallen in love

with Aetherling, because he

simply takes over and wins

games. I foresee him to rise in

price. Also, never, ever, under an

circumstances ever, tap outleaving your Aetherling

unprotected. Ever.


7/12


Control Magic

By James Dluzen

You only need to know

three words if you want to play

control in Magic: The Gathering;nope, nope, and nope. If you can

say these words with any amount

of confidence, than youll be fine.

If you want to learn how to

control any deck in Magic, than

youll have to know the

opponents deck better than they.

To understand how and why the

opponents deck will win is the

first step to control.

When playing a Magic

match with a control deck, the

object of the game is not to win,

but to make sure that youropponent does not even come

close to remotely winning. You

will have to know the ins and outs

of your opponents deck; you will

have to know his win conditions,

his colors, his play style and his

sideboard. Then after knowing

your opponents deck better than

he does, it is time to focus on

your own.

The golden rules for

building a control deck is as

follows; be polite, be efficient,

and have a plan to counter every

card that is played.

Unfortunately, playing control in

Magic is a rather difficult play

style but the most rewarding.

When setting up your deck, you

will need a plan for every card in

your opponents deck, then youwill need back-up plans, and then

contingent plans for both the

original plans and back-up plans.

Now after all the theory o

Magic the Gathering control, her

comes the actual card talk. Blue

and black are usually related to

control decks, since blue has

plenty of counterspells, and able

to bounce cards to their ownershands. Though black does not

have very many counterspells, (a

total of five), the color itself is

very handy at creature control

and also hand disruption.

There are plenty of blue

cards and colorless blue cards

that help control the opponents

spells and board presence. A few

that I use, other than straight

Counterspell, are Aether

Spellbomb, Vapor Snag, and

Psychic Barrier. The fun way I us

these cards, in conjunction, is th

Vapor Snag is a one manaUnsummon that makes the

opponent lose a life, while

returning the creature back to th

hand. It is useful in setting back

your opponent a whole turn, all

the while setting yourself up to

use Psychic Barrier, a two mana

counter spell just for creatures,

for the same creature you


8/12


returned not a moment ago. Plus,

just for the extra comfort of a

back-up plan, you have Aether

Spellbomb on the field. A

innocent one mana artifact that is

just sitting cozy in the corner, just

waiting to be used to eitherbounce a creature, if you have no

cards in your hand, or draw a

card, if there are no creatures in

the foreseeable future. Thats

pretty sneaky sis.

Now blue is not the only

color that can control an

opponents game play. The all too

savage and niche color of black.

Black is not always the

considered to be a control color,

but with blacks ability to destroy

almost anything that touches the

board, and the ability to disrupt

the opponents hand, I find thatblack serves its purpose well. A

few black cards that come to

mind, that are especially useful at

getting rid of anything and

everything, are Geths Verdict,

Murder, and Inquisition of

Kozilek. All useful cards and all

uncommon and common cards.

Say your opponent plays a rather

large creature, and you of course,

do not want it on the battlefield.

The first card that should come to

mind is Murder, a three mana

destroy instant. Well that takes

care of that, now doesnt it? But

wait, your opponent just playedanother creature and this time it

has hexproof (Cant be targeted

by spells or abilities your

opponent controls), alas

whatever shall you do? You play

the Geths Verdict, a two mana

instant sacrifice card, to make

your opponent choose his only

creature (Hexproof) to sacrifice.

Then begins your turn, and to

start off you play Inquisition ofKozilek, one mana sorcery, which

lets you look at your opponents

hand and choose a nonland card

of converted mana cost three of

less and make them discard it. I

think you did a not bad job of

controlling the board presence

and controlling your opponents

hand, with just straight black

cards.

Though all five of the

colors can in some way, shape, or

form, control some aspect of the

game, in my opinion, blue and

black have the most say in what

getting played.


9/12


The following is the eventsschedule for June-August 2013:

Friday Night Magic

6-7-13: Sealed Deck $25

6-14-13: Standard $6

6-21-13: Booster Draft $15




7-19-13: Sealed Deck $25 (M14 two release

party events- one @ 1:30-5:30, the other @

6:00-10)


8-2-13: Sealed Deck $25

8-9-13: Standard $6




COMMANDER EVERY

SATURDAY @ 1:30

Saturday Magic

6-1-13 Booster Draft $15

6-8-13 Modern Masters Draft $30

6-15-13 Standard 30 pt. Highman $2

6-22-13 Modern 2HG $2

6-29-13 Chaos Draft $15

7-6-13 Modern 1 v 1 $2


7-20-13 Modern 2hg $2

7-27-13 Standard 2HG $2

8-3-13 Chaos Draft $15

8-10-13 Modern 1 v 1 $2


8-24-13 Modern 2HG $2

8-31-13 Standard 2HG $2

WARGAMING EVERYSUNDAY @ 1:30

Sunday Magic6-2-13: Constructed Pauper $2

6-9-13; Noble $2

6-16-13: Planeschase FFA- Modern $2

6-23-13: Assassin-Standard $2

6-30-13: Knights and Kings-Standard $2

7-7-13: Constructed Pauper $2

7-14-13: Assassin- Standard $2

7-21-13: Planeschase Modern FFA $2

7-28-13: Commander 2HG-$2

8-4-13: Constructed Pauper Trophy

Tournament Spartan! $5

8-11-13: Assassin-Standard $2

8-18-13: Planeschase Modern FFA $2

8-25-13: Commander 2HG $2

Schedule may be subject to

change

NEWS

Friday Night Magic Promo (JuneThis months Friday Night Magic Promo is

Izzet Charm. Players who finish in the top

will receive this foil promo during the mon

of June.

Friday Night Magic Promo (July)Rakdos Cacklerhas been announced as th

FNM promo for July.

Friday Night Magic Promo (AuguDimir Charm has been announced as th

FNM promo for August

Upcoming Events ScheduleBy Christopher Cannon & Ken Sheldon


10/12


In this section every month we

will discuss drafting certain cards

and other pointers that may help

you out in a Magic drafttournament.

In this second edition of Draft

Tips I am going to focus on which

commons, in my opinion, should

be top priority draft cards from

the Dragons Maze set.

Chances are you are going to be

drafting your deck mainly around

your rares, and with the

abundance of Guild Champions in

Dragons Maze you should have

no problems quickly determining

your decks color identity. I have

selected one common for each

color to help you construct an

effective deck.

The first card we will discuss is

Riot Control. This card has a veryreasonable CMC of 3 and can

definitely save you some pain.

With Instant speed you gain 1 life

for each creature your opponents

control and prevent all damage

that would be dealt to you this

turn. This card can be especially

effective when playing a multi-

player format because the

rewards will be even greater. Not

only do I recommend this card to

be drafted for any deck running

white, I also recommend it as aCommander staple.

The second card we will discuss is

Hidden Strings. If you want to play

control this card will definitely

help to that effect. Two mana,tap or untap two permanents,

then you throw in the whole

cipher ability and really this

card is just utterly disgusting and

mean. All this adds up to a

mandatory draft pick for any deck

running blue.

The third card we will be

discussing is Sinister Possession. one drop enchant creature that

will make your opponent have to

think twice about attacking or

blocking. This card will also help

with any deck running control,

highly recommended for any

deck running black.

Draft TipsBy Christopher Cannon


11/12


The fourth card we are

going to be looking at is Weapon

Surge. The overload ability is

where it is all at with this

beautiful card, making one attack

able to be the killing blow. You

can also use this card to save oneof your favorite creatures. A

definite staple for any deck

running red. I would definitely

consider this card for one of my

first commons picked.

Our final card is Mending

Touch. Do you want to block butyou do not want your creature to

die? Have no fear if you have this

nifty little card in your hand! Just

one green mana and your guy is

regenerated and back in action!

This card should definitely be on

the top of the list for any deck

running green.

Standings PointsBy Christopher Cannon

In order to promote competition

at The Barracks we have created a

point system as to the regards ofthe outcome ofMagic: the

Gathering tournaments. The

tournaments included in this will

be Friday Night Magic, Saturday

Commander, and Saturday Night

Magic. Points will be assigned as

follows:

1 vs. 1 & Multi-Player Format:

1

st

Place = 5 points2nd Place = 3 points

3rd Place = 1 point

Last Place = -1 point

Team Player Format:

1st Place = 3 points each

2nd Place = 2 points each

3rd Place = 1 point each

Last Place = -1 point each

This is to promote competition

and can even affect your strateg

as you attempt to vanquish foes

with higher point totals.

Prizes will be awarded every two

months for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Las

place. (2 months shall be referre

to as Rounds)Every 2 months

the points will be reset and a new

round will begin. A yearly total

will also be kept. Good luck fello

Planeswalkers and good gaming

The Barracks Arsenal

84 E. Center St

Petersburg, MI 49270

734-279-1565


12/12


Standings

As of 6/21/2013

Yearly Round2

Player Points Points

Matt Belair 34 11

Chris Cannon 23 11

R.J. Thoune 19 10Mike Cannon 11 7

James Dluzen 8 5

Ben Rachor 5 5

Derek Cornell 18 4

Allen Beck 3 3

Melissa Lederman 3 3

Bryan Youngpeter 7 3

Dustin Nastally 3 2Dave Lafontaine 9 1

John Stewart 1 1

Kyle Thompson 1 1

Kael Cardella -1 0

Nate Darling 3 0

Joe Dluzen -1 0

T.D. -1 0

John Goodin (Squid) 2 0Sebastian Rice 0 0

Dave Steffes 3 0

Dan Wylie -1 0

Matt Ansley 2 -1

Austin Binkley -4 -1

Dave Tibbs -1 -1

Documents

June July August Newsletter