Sunday, December 27, 2015

Tau Kauyon Formations: Questions!


I enjoyed taking a flick through the The Damocles Crusade: Kauyon book yesterday and a read online about the various formations being introduced.

The ones that immediately look useful are the Optimized Stealth Cadre (I'm going to have to pick up a Ghostkeel to make that work with my stealth suits (pictured above) and the Firebase Support Cadre (fortunately I have the models for that one!)

In the meantime, because I rarely play the game, I'm struggling a bit to wrap my head around the rules for Contingents, Detachments and Auxiliary choices, and how they all fit together. 

Here is a question:
Can formations in the Montka book (which I don't have) be used with the Hunter contingent in the Kauyon book? 

For example, like most Tau players, I have quite a few Drones available. Although it isn't in the Kauyon book, can I use the "Tau Drone Net VX" auxiliary choice with the Hunter Cadre contained in the Kauyon book?
I'm not interested (for fluff reasons) in running a Farsight Enclaves army!

Yes, I'd like to get the most out of these guys using the Drone Net!

Regardless, I think it is time to do an inventory of my Tau...

Saturday, December 26, 2015

A Warhammer 40K Winter.

Original copyright holder unknown.
Please contact me so I can update or to request removal
Blimey, this festive season really is a dream come true for Tau fans. In this post I’ll take a quick look at the gaming goodies that Shas’o Nic’laus, The Red-hooded Victor of Yule Prime, managed to fit down my life support hab’s exhaust system.

What I got 1: New storage. Citadel Crusade Figure Case

Over the years I have used both professional options (Battle Foam, GW cases) and home-brew (lots of plastic boxes in a cheap suitcase). Both approaches have their ups and downs, so on a recent trip to my local GW I thought I would take a look at the Citadel Figure case range. Specifically the Crusade case (the largest one).


Up close, my first impression of the Crusade case was that it was much smaller than I had anticipated! How much could I get in there? If my goal was my Black Templars that was a concern (multiple predators, Rhinos, Land Raiders, Speeders, Stormtalon gunship, bikes etc.)
My second impression was cost...14,500 Yen (or just over 80 GBP).
Worth it?
In the end I decided yes. I wanted a new case, haven’t supported GW in a while, and I would like to upgrade from my 100 Yen shop boxes! The GW staff gave me a tour of the inside, taking it apart and showing me the funky foam arrangements and possibilities.


So here it is, with a Space Marine to show scale.
Citadel Crusade Figure Case
FYI, while looking at what was available online, I came across the "Munitorum Battlepack Case Harness" option. After seeing it in person I immediately put it out of my mind. I like the idea of a rucksack solution for the Crusade case that also offers additional storage for books, but at 12,500 Japanese Yen (70 GBP) it is simply too much money for what it does (for me). The case does come with a shoulder strap after all. 

I haven't had time to try and actually fit stuff in and write a review yet (even though today is "Boxing Day") but watch this space!

What I got 2: Warzone Damocles: Kauyon

NOT buying the harness meant I could invest in something else, so I went for the War Zone Damocles: Kauyon rules. At 10,500 Yen (58 GBP) this also wasn’t cheap, but it gives me the rules that I need to supplement my Tau Codex, including some of the newer units should I get some new models (Ghostkeel, you shall be mine…)

Image credit: Games Workshop website

Frankly speaking, I love the hardback Codex books. Quality feels great, nice pictures and plenty of fluff. I haven’t started reading this yet, but I’m looking forward to the rules and the story.

What I got 3: Dice.

Yes, dice.
There is a story here that I won’t go into in depth, but it involves giving a workshop in a foreign land, 200+ attendees, and my dice. Or to be specific, NOT GETTING THEM BACK! (My fault, I should have told everyone the dice weren’t a freebie!

What I got 4: Darth Vader Grissini Breadsticks (Plain)

Breadsticks - crunchy mini lightsabers in a box.

Not WH 40K, but the marketing is strong with this one...

...”Merry Sithmas”!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

Die, die, man things...

Warhammer Fantasy comes alive in Warhammer: End Times...

...but you may not survive!

I've been playing on and off for a couple of weeks, and have a basic understanding of the dynamics of the game. If you are like Warhammer Fantasy, is this a game for you?

Possibly.

Let me explain further. 

I'm coming from the perspective of someone who loves the "fluff" (as the culture and background of the game is called) as well as many of the various races and societies brought to life in the Warhammer universe (or at least the old universe, before it was all destroyed). 
I'm especially fond of the Skaven, that sub-human race of giant rat-men who intend to take over the world from all man-things, and the Elvespointy-eared, arrogant protectors of the natural world order.
"Fluff" however, is not just the denizens of the world, but where the world itself is actually as important a player and as big a factor in the game as the various factions. It influences the game and the imagination. It is gritty, desperate and dark. This is reflected in the literature, stories and rulebooks. The environment that each race inhabits or struggles to control is admirably realized in every aspect of the game.

I'm also a big fan of FPS (First Person Shooter) games, where you play the game from the viewpoint of the protagonist, usually fighting off overwhelming odds in the pursuit of a defined objective. (Reviewing the 50+ games in my PC games library, the vast majority of them are FPS.)

For me then, "Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide" brings these three areas together extremely well. From those perspectives the game is in some ways a triumph.


Tech-raptor.net Ubersreik stretches before you

It's atmospheric: 

You'll fight as a small band of freedom fighters through a variety of missions on the dark, dirty, mean streets of Ubersreik, a city almost lost to an invasion of the insidious rat-men and their twisted creations. Every major location is lovingly presented in grime and filth and littered with the bodies of unfortunate townsfolk and guard. Torches flicker in the darkness, the squeels, whispers and roars of the rat-men all around you drive you on (and prompt frequent glances over your shoulder...)
Case in point, The Garden of Moor. This is a lovely model that graces any battlefield, but fighting through the mist and fog of this massive graveyard in first person view really brings it to life.

It feels "right":

Your band is composed of four fighters, drawn from three of the major races and multiple classes of the Warhammer world.

  • Empire (humans): Witch Hunter, Wizard and Soldier
  • Elves: Waywatcher
  • Dwarves: Ranger

These are iconic races, but what makes them fun to play is the witty (pre-scripted) banter between them as you go through the levels. Each is true to their archetype and this comes through in the voice acting and interaction.

It also comes through in the meaty amount of weapons options available. Again, these fit nicely with Warhammer world. Even better, each blade, axe, hammer, bow or black powder weapon has suitable heft and impact. Laying about yourself with axe and shield is a satisfying act of carnage (and that's before your enemies are incapacitated, gutted and beheaded in often explosive fashion).


Bardin Goreksson: Axe n' board wielding bad ass.

The Skaven LIVE!:

If (like me) you have spent hundreds of hours painting a Skaven army for the tabletop seeing the evil but ingenious race of rat-men come "alive" on screen is a real joy. You'll be beset on all sides by the every order of the scurrying ones and their evil creations, from the lowest of the low (Skaven slaves) to great leaders (Grey Seers) and everything in between (Clanrats, Stormvermin, Packmasters etc.)

Adding to this, each kind of Skaven feels true to the fluff.
Clanrats emerge from anywhere, trying to overwhelm you with sheer numbers.
Well-armoured Stormvermin (unusually for Skaven) march in rank, and are disciplined and tough.
Gutter Runners (Skaven assassins) whisper threats in the dark before leaping onto the most isolated of your team, stabbing with their poisoned blades.
Weapons teams, like the Poisonwind Globadier and Ratling Gun, assault you from afar.
And finally, the enormous Rat-Ogre alerts you to his (its?) presence with a bellowed roar before barreling into your team, a suitably terrifying experience.

From this...
...to this. RAT OGRE INCOMING!

So what's not to love?

Why did I say you might "possibly" like this game earlier?
Despite all the positives, there are a few things that make Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide more of a "dip in" game than one I play obsessively.

The missions, although there are a lot of them, can become repetitive quickly. The developers have done a good job of trying to overcome this for the most part - you never quite know where the most feared enemies will come from, and the loot collecting aspect gives the whole thing a "just one more try before bed" feeling - but you can only play a particular mission so many times before boredom sets in.

Being an online multiplayer game, you may not always be able to play with a decent group. By decent, I don't mean "good" players (I'm a noob, so most people are higher levels than me) but rather a team that wants to play the mission, rather than play for loot. 
To give an example, in the Horn of Magnus, the final fight is supposed to be climactic, desperate battle against the clock - defend your position against ravening hordes of varied enemies until you can escape. Unfortunately though, many teams will get to this stage and then exploit the map design by taking a position where they can't be touched.

Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with this as such, but unless you have a PUG that agrees not to do this, you might be disappointed when you get to that point (or when you die, inevitably overwhelmed by the vast hordes arrayed against you!). 

Overall though, this is a very well-crafted game.  It should be well-crafted because it is almost an exact copy of co-operative Zombie slayer game Left 4 Dead, but it takes that legacy and beautifully grafts the world of Warhammer End Times onto its forebear to make for an exciting (if occasionally frustrating) romp on (and below, and above!) the streets of Ubersreik. 

If you are a Warhammer fan you owe it to yourself to take a look.



Sunday, October 25, 2015

More Tau Madness...

...at least in terms of releases.

As regular as clockwork, a GW promo email popped into my inbox the other day with lots of new info on even more new releases (see here for previous), this time in the form of Commander models, Codex Tau Empire Ghostkeel Edition info and more.

Some first impressions below.

Tau Empire Commander



Love the look of this model. It feels very dynamic and the pose actually makes you feel as though he is getting into the thick of things. This is particularly true if (like me) your current Crisis suits are the "original" models, which were really, really static. It is just a small point, but the hands also look much better than they used to in the old models too.

For comparison, here is my "Old" commander. Dredging up this photo really reminds me of how I should go back and revisit my entire Tau army and put what I learned painting my Skaven to good use (washes, weathering etc.)


My "old" Commander

Codex Tau Empire Ghostkeel Edition



I'll be honest and say that initially I was a bit confused by the number of options GW now provides to get hold of the rules for different and new models. I have the "latest" Codex (it has the Riptide in it) so what do I get now? 
Actually, GW has tried to make things clear (if you read the entries on the website). If I understand correctly for me the "Ghostkeel" edition ISN'T the place to start.
However, it actually looks like a nice set, with a variety of objective markers (x6) and objective cards (x36). Unfortunately (or fortunately for my wallet), by the time I clicked on the email, this was already listed as sold out anyway.

Instead I'm supposed to go with..

War Zone Damocles: Kauyon




...as this contains "an 88 page hardback rule book containing all the new rules" and I would already be "...a hardened Tau Empire Collector". 
I'm glad that this option exists! 

Although I'd like to get all the bits and pieces that come in the special edition I don't need another copy of the rule book. Also, I also get the White Dwarf Games Workshop digital edition on my tablet, but if you are going to play I feel like you really need one printed source that pulls things together (until of course GW decides to grace those of us with Android devices with an ebook that is actually usable in game terms - the ibooks version is great, the epub versions however can at best be called "useless" for using at a game.)

XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team



3 lovely suits! 
I think these are new poses? They certainly look more dynamic than the original suits I started with a few years ago. You can get a sense of the dynamism from the pose shown above, and more if you visit the GW website.
Again for comparison, a couple of shots of my "old" suits. I went to considerable trouble to try to pose these, but you can see they still look very static.



Here's my Broadside (as a bonus) :

Tau Empire Drones



Because, really, as a Tau player you don't have drones?
Seriously, I have to say that I love drones (especially in a group of eight, dropped behind enemy lines and harassing light armour!) but just TWO in a box? Not going to cut it!

With all these new models, there really is just too much to buy. What the hell am I going to do?

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Greater Goods for the Greater Good

Wow, it has been a long time since I updated the blog (because ya know, LIFE 2.0)...


...but as a Tau player all this recent news can't be ignored. There have been a load of new releases for the Tau that are managing to not only add some great capabilities to their armies, but also start a new chapter for GW as well. The images below are the models that I find most interesting, but don't represent an exhaustive list of all the new units.

The Eye of the Storm

Take a look at the "Stormsurge" below. 
Quite a beast! This is a variant of the now infamous Riptide, designed by the looks of things for support. It mounts a really REALLY big gun, and also has a shed-load of missile launchers. It reminds me a lot of the Mecha units from old series like Robotech Monster or Phalanx (or a cross between the two). 

KV128 Stormsurge Battlesuit www.games-workshop.com
I'm not exactly sure that is a good thing though. The Stormsurge looks a little bit "off". Not sure why? Could be a combination of the stabilizers and the position of the pose above. Also, the shorter ranged weapons tacked on under the missile pods seem like an afterthought. 

Do I like the idea? Hell yes! 
Aesthetically though it doesn't do it for me (or that is what I'll tell myself as long as I don't have the money to get one haha!)

Love:
+ "MOAR MISSILES"
+ Big gun!

Hate:
- Lack of arms
- Extra gubbins
- Rinkydink stabilizers

Ghost in the Shell

XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit www.games-workshop.com
(Sorry, couldn't resist!)
If you take a look at my Tau page you can see that I like Stealth suits. They always made the Tau army interesting and added a bit of spice to the battlefield. This unit looks to do that in spades. 

Love:
+ The name
+ Weapons (Cyclic Ion Raker and Fusion Collider)
+ Model comes with a choice of male/ female pilots and a cockpit option

Hate:
- The design of the head 

I'm not sold on the logic (a giant battlesuit is stealthy?) but hey, logic only goes so far in Warhammer 40K. I like the idea of this unit being an electronic warfare platform though, and I can see it leading other stealth units into battle (oh, there's a profitable idea!), all at the low, low price* of just 45 of your Pounds Sterling.
(*Sarcasm)

Castle in the Sky

Tau Tidewall Rampart www.games-workshop.com
Er, its a wall...
...but not just any wall! 
It floats, it shoots (check out the twin-linked Rail Cannon "Tidewall Gunrig"), AND it protects your squishy units. Just what any Tau commander needs. Especially if you need to replace all the home-brew Tau scenery you probably have as a Tau commander...

Love:
+ the overall design
+ the gunrig
+ the blue energy wall
+ the integrated drone emplacements

Hate:
- the price (21,000 Yen, or 113 pounds)

Lambs to the Slaughter

Fire Warrior Breacher Team www.games-workshop.com
"The Fire Warriors Breacher Team specialises in brutally effective close-range assaults..."
Wait, what...?
Wow, talk about a change in approach. Tau closing for close combat?

Well, at least at first glance!
Take a closer look at some of the rules out there and it seems as though "assault" in this case doesn't mean "hand-to-hand", but more like "I'm going to stick my pulse blaster right up in your ugly face and let loose" (and if I don't wipe you out, you will then bring me the pain).
The Pulse Blaster seems to be the key here. Get it within 5 inch range of the enemy and it is going to hurt them some with Strength 6 AP 3 Assault 2...
...looks like the "Fish of Fury" could make a comeback to help with that (not to mention to help sell more Devilfish). Drive up, hop out, shoot, shoot, shoot!

Love:
+ Tau, up close and personal.
+ Pulse Blasters
+ Tactical Support Turret that you build anywhere you stay put (Missile Pod or SMS options)
+ Guardian drone with 6+ invul for the unit

Hate:
- With my dice rolls, these guys will whiff everything, and then get slaughtered! ;-)

Overall, I'm quite excited by the quality of these models, the look and feel, and the new challenges these units will bring to the enemies of the greater good. If I had the money, I would probably try to get all of these models, but there is no way I can do that! I will get the new Codex first of all, and then take it from there...

Cheers



Friday, August 14, 2015

X-Wing Miniatures Game..

"...I have you now..."


I've had this game for a few months now but never really found time to write about it. With a couple of games (literally) under my belt and some reinforcements having arrived, I thought I would put some thoughts down. 

Sure, it's so popular that many tabletop gamers will have tried it by now (just Google the game to see a huge list of enthusiastic web sites and resources), but perhaps you are a casual gamer, (like me)? 
Or someone looking to get into games for the first time? 
Or hey, just late to the party?

If so, I hope this is helpful.


Basically, are you looking for an easy to pick up and play miniatures game?
  • Cheap to start? 
  • Easy basic rules? 
  • Low model count? 
  • No painting skills required?
  • Quick play time? 
If even half of those things sound good, then this game by Fantasy Flight Games could be worth looking into. Here is why:
  • Cheap to start? 25 GBP/ 4,800 yen for a starter set and rules, dice etc.
  • Easy basic rules? Get going after reading a few pages of rules, provided for free by the publisher here.
  • Low model count? 3 models for a basic game.
  • No painting skills required? All models come pre-painted.
  • Quick play time? 30-60 minutes.

Sounds good right?
Seriously, the models look great, setup time is minimal (remember, I'm used to painting close to 100 individual Skaven models to start an army) and the system is easy enough for my ten year old daughter to learn (and to love!)
It can only be a good sign when your kids ask you to play again due to the excitement produced by the simple mechanic of planning your moves at the same time (rather than planning your moves in response to what the player did on the turn before yours, as is common with games like Warhammer 40K and other games.) 

It is also a very cinematic game - she loves the fun that comes with using ships with characters from the movies (the starter set includes Luke Skywalker, and "named" characters are purchasable as part of the expansions - Darth Vadar, Han Solo etc.)

Just one of the scenes you could easily recreate
(Image credit: Vader vs. Luke by Thomas S on Flickr CC by SA 2.0)


In addition, the popularity of the game means there is a very active community, with lots of advice and help online. If you like digital bits and pieces too you are well served. I haven't used them in depth, but here are some tools that I have found interesting to play around with:

1. Fantasy Flight Star Wars Dice App. (Not free, but worth the 500 Yen IMHO as it covers every Star Wars game they produce, has nice production values, and is cheaper than the very necessary second set of physical dice.)

2. X-Wing Squadron Builder. (Free). Simple to use, has the basic functionality you need. There are plenty of list builder websites out there, but I like this one as it is an app rather than a website. You can find an excellent article on all kinds of software tools for X-Wing over at the X-Wing Miniatures Game Community Blog

Individual expansion packs (L-R) Slave 1, Tie-Fighter, X-Wing, YT-1300
- the Millenium Falcon to you and me.

"She's fast enough for you old man..."

By this point, you may be asking if a game that is a simple as this one sounds will keep you engaged...

...depth and "fresh" play comes in several ways:

New ships with different abilities.


As well as the x2 Tie Fighters and the x1 X-Wing model in the core set, the game is kept fresh (and deep) by regular new releases, which come in "Waves" (the 8th of which has recently been announced). 
You can see a few above - The Millenium Falcon and Slave 1. These expansion sets are not cheap (14 US to 100 US before discounts at retail) but they come with a variety of cards that add a great amount of strategic depth to the game by changing the abilities of the ships (pilots with different skills, upgrades that can be used with different ships, droids etc.)

NOTE: Many players recommend that the best investment you can make after the core set, is...another core set.

A solid list-building system for fair-play as you grow your roster of models/ ships.


These cards, along with the ones that come in the core set, allow you to create squads (lists of starships that fight together) of various strengths and weaknesses. Using the advanced rules (part of the free rules) and some of the digital list-building tools widely available, you can easily create lists within certain points values within a few minutes.

As an example:
Want to be the Rebels? x2 X-Wings with Chewbacca flying the Millenium Falcon with a few upgrades will be close to 100 points. 
Imperial? Approx 100 points would be x3 Tie-Fighters (1 being flown by a famous pilot) and Slave 1 with a couple of upgrades.

With so many cards available, there is a daunting amount of options and lists that one can build if you want to (as evidenced by this list - kudos to MajorJuggler!), as well as... 

...a growing competitive scene


...that seems to be going global. I'm not into competitive play at all, but you can find out more here.

"Great shot kid, that was one in a million..."

Although I haven't played much, I'd give this game a big thumbs up, and recommend it highly (as if you couldn't tell) to anyone looking for quick to start, low investment game. I'm looking forward to my next games and trying out my new models (even if I only have a few second wave ships, and I'm a bit worried that I'm going to lose yet again to a 10 year old!).

What are your experiences of X-Wing? 
What downsides have you found to the game?
What models do you have?
How are you finding the later releases in terms of fun and competitive play?

Sunday, July 5, 2015

It's all the RAGE - Age of Sigmar

A new (r)Age has begun, the Age of Sigmar...

Copyright Games Workshop. Please visit Games Workshop

Over the last few days, massive change has come upon the world of Warhammer Fantasy.
The rules of the much anticipated "Age of Sigmar" game have been released, for FREE online, by GW, along with a Starter Box Set of (to put it mildly) impressive miniatures, featuring one completely new army, the Stormcast Eternals.

A Stormcast Eternal, as presented at Painthammer
Lord of Khorne, as seen on www.games-workshop.com 

Breaking all the rules...

The key changes include:

  1. Free to download rules.
    • Core rules
    • "Warscroll" compendiums for every existing army (e.g. Skaven)
  2. VERY different rule sets. Just a quick glance shows (let me know if I am wrong!)
    • Just 4 pages of core rules.
    • Statlines are now reduced to just MOVE, SAVE, BRAVERY and WOUNDS
    • Wounds now changed in scope: e.g. Thanquol and Boneripper have 13...
    • A model/ weapon's effectiveness is often affected by wounds remaining. They become less effective the more wounds they have taken.
    • Everything can now shoot into combat.
    • Magic system is changed, with no Wizard levels. 
    • All Wizards seem to know two stock spells: Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield, plus one of their own (e.g. A Skaven Grey Seer knows 3 in total. His Skaven magic is now just one spell, which is Vermintide.)
    • Wounds are now divided into "Wounds" and "Mortal wounds".
    • Movement is now free - so models can move in any direction.
    • Flank and rear attacks have no influence on close combat.
    • No templates for warmachines (that I can see) e.g. Skaven Warplightning cannon just causes a random number of mortal wounds to a target unit.
  3. Armies are no longer based on points at all. You can take as many as you want. Players with smaller armies gain access to the "Sudden Death" rule, where they can choose from a small set of special objectives that will instantly give them the game.
Now, to give you a sense of this, these are just a few of the major changes from 8th edition! There are a LOT more, related to almost every core element of the game that a player would know. These include measurement (bases are meaningless, you measure from the model) and combat (there is no initiative anymore).

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

(T_T)

With all of that, no surprises for guessing that even though the rules have only been out less than 48 hours at time of writing, the internet is running red with rage (not to mention questions). After all, 8th edition was (generally) well received, and had the core approaches that wargamers have had at heart for a long time:

-A perceived "Fairness" based on the well-established rule of having a "Points system".
-Big "Blocks" of troops, and so a scale that brings to mind historical conflict of days gone by.
-Tactics deeply affected by movement and facing. This added another layer of depth to a game considered by many players to be fun because it feels like Chess.
-Deep and extensive rules, designed to cover the vast majority of situations that you would find yourself in.

At first glance, all of these things seem to have been thrown out of the window with Age of Sigmar:
-No "Points" limits (but already plenty of people are suggesting balancing armies by using "Total wounds per side".) 
-Blocks aren't necessary and don't have to line up - just put your models in coherency. (Uh-oh!)
-Facing and flank attacks don't make any difference.
-No deep rules, plenty of gaps to be addressed. 
-Seems completely unsuitable for tournament play.

Initial playtests seem to divide into two camps (of course!). Firstly, an overall negative or indifferent experience. This is not raging or anger, but more lamenting that AOS isn't a deep game, and that for the players in question, what they liked about Warhammer Fantasy isn't present.


"All in all I fail to see any merit in this game"


A good example would be the report of the first game over at Kiwi Hammer. This was my first visit to the site, but I will be back as I enjoyed the thoughtful write-up by the author ("Jeff" - great write up!), who is a very experienced WHFB player. Overall, not a good experience from his perspective, as AOS simply doesn't hold what he is looking for.

Comments over on Warseer are broadly similar at the moment, with the majority of poll respondees not interested in playing, or noting that they will have a couple of games but the lack of depth means they are unlikely to stay on.

Marvin the Paranoid android: Always full of advice...


On the other hand...

(^ _ ^)/

...a more positive experience was had by Mc1gamer. I've just come across his YouTube Channel, and was excited to hear that he is going to "Test the $**t out of" AOS. To get his thoughts, please see the video below:


There are certainly things that Mc1gamer doesn't find stimulating about the new rules (movement for one) but he is keeping an open mind as he and his buddies try different game sizes and armies. It'll be interesting to see if his position changes over time.

SkaveninAZ takes a different tack. Not having playtested the game in detail, he still thinks it is important to keep things in perspective (and thanks to him for reminding me about Marvin.)



Me? 

I'm definitely going to give it a go. 
After all: 
  • I can still use most of my models. I don't want to sell them.
  • The armies that I love are still there (thanks to the Warscrolls). 
  • I don't have to re-base anything. 
  • I never play in tournament games, so if the relative power of my army decreases it isn't going to impact my chances to win in a competitive setting.
  • I can still use movement trays to get troops across the board until they hit combat. They will still look pretty cool I reckon.
  • The armies still have the core DNA that I liked about them (e.g. Skaven) and even some of the humour (Skaven Screaming Bell...roll 2 dice, and on a score of 13, you get an "improbable" win??)
  • The whole games seems faster, which is a good thing as I am a slow player.
  • Half the fun of the game is meeting up with friends, and I reckon we can still do that.
  • The sight of lots of models on a decent gaming table still looks cool (not as cool as everything ranked up, but still pretty good!)
...and I can always continue to play 8th edition!

Image credit: The 4 Open Space Rules, by Roland Tanglau
(CC by 2.0) on Flickr


Saturday, June 13, 2015

Back in Black!

Well, it certainly does sound as though the Black Templars have come out of the new Codex quite well.

Chatter over at the Bolter and Chainsword points to a whole lot of excitement around some units that hadn't been that widely used in the previous codex simply because there were other more effective options, and which I happen to own but didn't use before! (always a nice bonus to realize you have a model to put on the table!)

But now...

The Emperor's Champion really is a Champion!

My Emperor's Champion

Now with x3 attacks at Strength 6, AP2, instant death on a 6 AND re-rolls in a challenge? Sounds pretty good!  The EC has always been an interesting part of the fluff - gifted with a vision and a big sword - now he might just actually perform as a Champion on the table, as well as in print.

See "The Emperor's Champion is a Big Winner in the new 'Dex"

Grimaldus, now new and improved...
Methinks you will be joining my next crusade...
Not only has his points cost become a bit more reasonable (150) but he (his servitors) now grant Feel No Pain to UNITS within a 6 inch bubble. I think previously that rule only granted FNP to Models within 6 inches, so this significantly ups the game for units around him. (Stick him a Landraider Crusader and units around the Crusader will be affected?)

See "Grim just got cheap enough to be worth runnin"

Kids these days...
...actually can shoot fight worth a damn. 


Black Templar Neophytes (Templars in training) being Space Marine Scouts, have had their Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill improved back to WS4 and BS4, the same as a regular marine. I guess they will be more expensive then previously, but from a BT game point of view (where they could make up around half of a Crusader Squad to bulk up the squad to a large size and act as meat shields) this is interesting...

...but not without controversy from a fluff/ game point of view.

"If they are a Space Marine in training, then they shouldn't have the same stats as Space Marines"
or
"In game terms, making more and more units WS4, BS4 is getting ridiculous!"

See "How do you feel about WS 4 BS 4 Space Marine Scouts"

Looking forward to learning more as the new Codex gets devoured and tested by more experience players than I.

++++++++++

In other news, I will be naming a squad in honour of Christopher Lee, who sadly passed away last week...

...RIP to a man who played Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes, Count Dooku, Frankenstein, Saruman, Scaramanga, and many more...
...and who also happened to be (probably), a secret agent, and (definitely) an actor who out-Bacons Kevin Bacon in any game of "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" 
...and an award winning Heavy Metal artist.


If you think you are man enough (and can handle the feeling that you are by comparison a pathetic loser), read more about Sir Lee here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee 

(TL;DR: "22 Incredible Facts about the Life and Career of Sir Christopher Lee".)

Metal for the Metal God!