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?

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

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!

Tampering with the Templars?

Hmmm, interested to see a post today over at Bell of Lost Souls with a snippet of BT information from the new Space Marine Codex, this time about Chapter Tactics in the new book. Looks like some changes?

Holy Crusaders?
Lost Librarius?
Righteous Zeal?

If nothing else, it is good to see the Black Templars listed there.

There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the run up to the last Marines book, with everyone wondering what would happen - would the Templars disappear entirely? That turned out not to be the case, despite some changes. Although I have only used them a few times, they are turning into one of my favorite armies. That COULD be because I only started with them in the most recent edition so the changes didn't make much impact on me. The way I see it though, even if there are some rules changes, you still get to kit them out with with chainswords and run (or wheel) them across the field.

Looking forward to getting my hands on the Codex...
... The printed version that is!
(I won't make the same mistake I did last year in getting the PDF version. It simply wasn't as accessible as the iBook/ Apple version, sadly.)

Tau v. Black Templars, 1,500 pt Battle Highlights

The very same afternoon my Skaven got beaten up, I played a 1,500 point game of 40K using my Space Marine Black Templars against Tau. For the sake of time, this used exactly the same list I had some success with against a Tyranid force in a previous game. 

Basically:

- a layer or two of cover-ignoring template death from afar (Whirlwind Missile Launchers)
- a dash of tracked, high-powered pew-pew (Lascannons on x2 Razorbacks)
- a pinch of backfield harassment (Sternguard in drop pod)
- a slathering of airborne support (Stormtalon)...
...all of this wrapped around a sweet core of Xenos-squashing, chainsword-wielding fanatics (blob squad in a Land Raider crusader).

My opponent brought a shooty, Tau foot-slogging list (is there any Tau list that isn't shooty?). 

- A couple of Broadsides with rail weapons and plasma.
- Crisis suit unit.
-Commander with bodyguards.
-Kroot unit with sniper rifles.
-Two units of Firewarriors.
-Two units of Pathfinders.
- A unit of Stealth suits with drone markerlight support.

At this point, you might be thinking...

"...wot no tanks?"

Yes, as a former Tau player, I was initially surprised to see a complete lack of heavy armour or flying transports, but as it turned out, my opponent had no option but to bring a foot list, as he hadn't been able to find his tanks before coming over...

Even so, I was looking forward to my first game against Tau in this edition. Also, my first 40K army was Tau and I still have a soft place in my heart for the minions of the Space Pope. 
AND, it is always great to see Kroot on the table!

The game:

Game type: Keeping it simple, we went for a VPs game.

Tau Deployment:
Pathfinders went on either flank (assuring nice interlocking fields of Markerlight fire!). 
One broadside took up position in a bunker, anchoring his two units of Firewarriors on either side. One was in the open, the other clustered around an old bunker.
On the far hill, another Broadside was supported by a second unit of Pathfinders.
All the crisis suits, Kroot and Stealth suits stayed in reserve.

Black Templars deployment:
A line of black, tracked boxes...
Subtle eh?

Razorbacks stacked opposite the Broadside on the hill, with Whirlwind Missile launchers in the centre, and Landraider on the opposite flank. I hoped to take a chunk out of his Firewarriors with my missile launchers, while rushing my LR down a flank.

Game Highlights.

Early on in the game, the Landraider faces a unit of Pathfinders. A round or two of cannon fire would take them down to 1 man, but not destroy them entirely.

Tau Stealthsuits come in, accompanied by Markerlight drones. 

It isn't long before the Razorbacks go down. Hmmm, massed Firewarrior Pulse Rifle fire sure does glance those hull points down pretty quickly! The Crusader squad makes it out alive, but is now staring down a whole load of Tau firepower...

After a couple of turns, the BT left flank is now a mass of destroyed hulls! (See image below) One Razorback and a Whirlwind has been destroyed. To make matters worse, a unit of Crisis suits manages to deepstrike in the back field, right behind another Razorback.

Fortunately for me though, my Stormtalon has come on. Although it isn't equipped properly for this fight (no enemy flyers upon which to unleash my Skyhammer missiles) the pilot still makes use of his cannon on the Tau infantry around the table.

Now this next image is what we (Black Templars) like to see! 
Noting that the Landraider won't be able to make it around the side of the table in time, the Black Templar blob squad disembarks, hoping to foot slog to glory (and the juicy Tau Firewarriors in the centre field...)
...meanwhile the Landraider continues to whittle down the Kroot with cannon and bolter fire.

The Tau have done a jolly good job of taking out the Whirlwinds and Razorbacks , but the Stormtalon looks like it may dominate this side of the field, as evidenced by its ability to take a few wounds at a time from the Firewarriors.

The Stormtalon zooms towards one of the Firewarrior units.

...and although I don't have an image of this, that same Tau Firewarrior squad manages to defeat a small Crusader squad in close combat!


Unfortunately we didn't have time to finish the game, but at this point, the game was even (in terms of points won by either side). It would have been an interesting second half though:
-The big BT squad with Captain heading towards the Tau (will the unit of sniper-round Kroot nearby take them out?)...
-The Sternguard and Drop pod still to come in (can I take out his Warlord?)...
-The Landraider Crusader barreling down the flank...
-The Tau commander and his bodyguards still to come in from reserve.

Thanks to my opponent for a fun game - really great to see Tau on the table - makes me want to fight for the Greater Good again!
:-)