New Skaven Book - Wishlist

Just been asked on the NZ Warhammer Whats App group what I would like to see in a new Skaven book....for instance in Furion's project. Here's a grab bag of some things:

• Seer leadership down to Ld 6
• (Re) Introduction of Mainstay rule i.e. you must have one Clanrat unit for every unit of Stormvermin or Slaves
• Drop in points for Jezzails, Poisoned Wind Globadiers and Plague Censer Bearers
• Drop Night Runners to 5 points
• Weapons Teams go to two wounds and allow them to Stand & Shoot if parent charged
• Rat Ogres buffed....even scaly skin would be nice
• Removal of non-Mage Engineers
• Fix Packmaster rules
• Sort out Random Movement for HPA and Doomwheel...it just annoys opponents
• Give Furnace a 4+ armour save OR preferably a 5+ ward - never see it otherwise

That's just off the top of my head

Guildball - Any Interest?

One game I have been watching recently is Guildball that was released early 2015.

Effectively it is medieval football based around guilds - for aesthetics think the opening scenes of "Gangs of NewYork".

One of the key attractions is the low model count - typically 6-7 models. Also the rules are downloadable off the Guildball website.

I'm thinking of buying a Guild - "The Butchers" - and wonder if anyone locally is interested in jumping into the game.

The models are resin and seem very nice sculpts.

Anyone played the game? Interested in pursuing?

 

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Warlord Games to Release Dr. Who Miniatures Game

Just saw this on Warlord Games:

Warlord Games is absolutely delighted to have secured the licence to produce a miniatures game based on the BBC's enormously popular TV series, Doctor Who (back on BBC One on September 19th!). So delighted we might just have a celebratory jelly baby.


As lifelong Doctor Who fans ourselves, we are extremely pleased to have the chance to bring this iconic series to the tabletop with a game system you all know and love as well as the official range of miniatures to complement it.


The licence covers not just the latest series of Doctor Who but encompasses all of the Doctors, their companions and their foes. So, expect to see Sea Devils as much as Weeping Angels, Leela as much as Martha Jones, and a long, brightly coloured scarf as much as a fez (fezzes are cool, by the way...).


Really interested to see how this develops.

Can see myself building a Davros-led force of Daleks!!!!

 

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Games Workshop Release Airbrush Paints

This week's White Dwarf will contain an announcement of a new range of airbrush paints from Citadel.

The blurb says these are "specially formulated" airbrush paints but the screen grab offers little detail. There is no indication that these can be used straight from the bottle - like Badger's Minitaire range - for instance.

There are 51 of their most popular colours being released which is great from a colour matching point of view.

My own thoughts are that they are entering what is already a crowded market for airbrush paints. Badger and Vallejo have their own specialist range and Forgeworld have also recently entered the market. They score from a colour match POV - assuming they do in fact match the relevant Citadel colour - but I wonder if they are a true specialist range or just an attempt to further capture the existing customers who shop at Hobby Centres. (I do look forward to the inevitable backtracking from Managers that until this week held that airbrushing wasn't proper painting.)

However there is one inexplicable decision with this release - one so large that I think it will impact its possible success. The paints are not in dropper bottles. Why haven't they gone down this fundamental route?

GW paints already have a tendency to dry out and that is disastrous for an airbrush paint. The wide top bottles makes mixing much harder.

Fully expect to see GW trademark pipettes released soon.

 

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Fields of Blood NZ Rankings - Updated for Call to Arms

The rankings have been updated for the results of the recent CTA convention run by the Warlords.


That means that there are new entries for:

• Warhammer 40k
• Warhammer Fantasy; and
• Flames of War

Congratulations to all the winners.

Thousand Sons 40k For Sale

I've got a small Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marine force for sale.

The army is partly painted to a good tabletop standard. It includes:

• 24 Thousand Sons CSM armed with bolter - metal/plastic (painted)
• 2 Sorcerors - metal (painted)
• 2 objectives - metal DE slave girls (painted)
• 3 Sorcerors - metal (unpainted)
• Chaos Sorceror Lord - converted metal (unpainted)
• Chaos Daemon Prince - metal made from DP and Lord of Change
• Forgeworld Thousand Sons Dreadnaught - unpainted (you need to buy the FW arms) - new in packaging

Bargain price of $300

More pics over the page

Call to Arms WHFB Results - "A Hero Will Rise"

Call to Arms was held two weekends ago and here are the results:

Winning his first ever event was Neil Williamson - and he did it with two Aracknaroks!!!

As you will  see Neil also scored the Highest Battle and was Second in Painting.

Well done!

GW's New Chaos Fortress

I'd hate to think of the number of skulls you'd have to paint!

Unfortunately given the price - NZD2,260 - I'm never likely to see one in the flesh! Though the purchase cost is roughly the same as airfares from NZ to Nottingham to see one at Warhammer World.

The individual triangular Skull Towers are NZD150 each or you can buy a set of three with one-click for........$450.

My biggest concern in buying it would be that it is manufactured in the lower quality "Chinese" plastic that recent AoS have been constructed from. There has been numerous tales of warping and poor fit.

Hobby Update

Over the weekend I continued my hobby "Spring Clean", getting rid of hobby stuff I'm unlikely to use going forward.

On Friday it was excess Tau vehicles, yesterday 40k terrain. All have gone to good homes.

My next painting project - after crew for Luminarch and Hurricanium - is Greatswords and Sisters of Sigmar. I got them out over the weekend in prep.

There are now all on 20mm square bases - special thanks to Higgins who sourced me some at Call to Arms - ready for undercoat. I intend doing the Greatswords in Averland theme to add to the unit I already have. The Sisters will be in bone and red (you can see some in the picture). I'll use them as either halberdiers or flagellants.

This weekend playing some Furionhammer to try out his new army book updates.

 

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Death Guard 40k SOLD - Mostly Forgeworld

Digging through the Dunn-geon I found some Death Guard models I never used. Now I have three painted Death Guard armies - two 40k and one 30k - so it is unlikely they will ever see the table.
There are the following:

• Typhus - metal, partly painted
• 7 Plague Terminators (Forgeworld, resin and plastic)
• 13 Plague Marines (Forgeworld, resin and plastic)
• 7 Plague Marines (GW, metal and plastic)
• Nurgle Sorceror (Forgeworld, resin)
• Nurgle Vindicator (GW, heavily converted)

All the models are primed black, base coated green and washed ready for painting.

The three Plague Marine Squads all have banners, champions (incl Sorceror) and special weapons - 4 melta, two plasma.

The terminators have mix of fit outs including chainfist, lightning claws, combi melta and auto cannon.

All up the cost not including post (FW 15%) is NZD 580.

All yours for $350
Lots of pics over page

Gaming Economics

It's really interesting how things change. I've made no secret of the fact that I'll typically spend at least $2000-3000 per year on new product. Typically GW has got 75-80% of that in the past.
This year has been really different. Not only have I noticed a much healthier bank account - my main purchases were a set of weathering powders, airbrush paints and glass painting desks (from Trademe) - but I also opened a bank account to track my spend.
As of the day the bank account has a positive balance of $1700. This means that net of purchases (product and painting service) the sales of existing product have created this surplus. I've sold off stuff either a events or via eBay/Trademe (or in some cases this blog). Generally this has been driven by a combination of space considerations and because I had stuff I was never going to use and would rather see it going to a good home.
So out the door has gone Deadzone terrain, 15mm buildings, a Realm of Battle board, 40k terrain and this week an Iyanden army. In addition, odd models and stuff I'll never paint. It's freeing up space and providing new hobby funds.
I've still got stuff to go including a lot of nice, functional and table ready 40k buildings. I've also got some spare tabletops and base cloths if anyone needs them. Model wise I have the very nice core of a Thousand Sons army (painted and ready to go), base coated Space Marines and Tau vehicles (Devilfish and Hammerheads). I've also got a lot of great - painted - 40k scatter terrain, both craters and barriers.
So if you're looking for anything just drop me a line.

EDIT:

I have a lot of 40k Death Guard, under coated. It is largely Forgeworld stuff Plague Marines, Plague Terminators and a Vindicator. I picked it up as part of a army deal a few years ago. Let me know if anyone interested and we can do a deal.

I've also got a couple of Eldar units. These are very well painted (they were part of Alan Borthwick's Biel Tan army). They comprise a Wave Serpent and a unit of Dire Avengers and a Wave Serpent and Fire Dragons. Again let me know if any interest and we can do a deal.

Eidolon for Emperor's Children

Forgeworld have released Eidolon for the Emperor's Children. He is the Legion's First Captain and is a nasty piece of work.

I'm considering getting him as I have a small force of Emperor's Children to sit alongside my Death Guard.

If any locals are keen on Forgeworld stuff let me know and we can take advantage of the current free postage offer for orders over GBP100.

 

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Furionhammer

As you know I recently posted links to the "Ninth Age", a WHFB update by the Swedish Comp and ETC guys.

While this is looking promising, I have some concerns that this runs the risk of anything designed by committee - i.e. overengineered, cumbersome and overblown. Democracy is great for many things - writing a set of Wargames rules may not be one of them.

Another alternative has emerged - Furionhammer. Furion is a Polish gamer who says what he thinks which at times has seen him fall foul of the ETC "establishment". However he is an original thinker as anyone who has visited his YouTube channel can testify.

He has written his own update which you can find here

It is not as radical as the Ninth Age but benefits from a single design philosophy.

Will it get accepted by the ETC. glitterati? No way in hell. I think the Danes would rather see a glacier in Hades than accept anything from Furion.

However I'm keen to try it, particularly if the Ninth Age starts to stall.

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Hobby Update

Though I spent some time at Call to Arms over the weekend, I got some hobby time in. I was able to finish the Hurricanium bar the crew.

From here I'll do the crew for both the Luminarch and Hurricanium and then I have some metal Great Swords to paint. That would take me up from the current 25 to 35 (which I'm sure is more than enough). From there it is 10 Flagellants to make it up to 40 before I start on my big Sisters of Sigmar unit.

 

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Call to Arms Convention

Over the weekend I spent a bit of time at Call to Arms. I was due to play WHFB but dropped out when they had odd numbers - so ump didn't have to play.

It looked a real fun event with a multitude of game systems - Fantasy, 40k, LotR/Hobbit, 15mm and 28mm Ancients, FOW, Malifaux, X-Wing....There also were a large number of demo/participation/multiplayer games. I saw Naval, Infinity, Black Powder, WW1, Vietnam, Outbreak....there may have been more.

I love these types of conventions as you get to see a wide range of hobby. In particular the thing that struck me this time were the Malifaux boards - great - and some of the laser cut mdf terrain for Infinity and the like.

The bring & buy table was there as usual and I managed to sell pretty much all I had - and later a 40k army - well spending only $2 on a big bag of 20mm square slotta bases (win).

It was great to see a lot of out of town gamers there as well. I know the Warlords appreciate the support.

In Fantasy there was a fairytale result. Neil Williamson has been playing for 20 years and I understand that's his first ever event win. Congratulations.

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Hobby Update

This weekend I finished my Luminarch sans base and crew.

I've now started on the Hurricanium. Certainly painting a lot of yellow and Averland Sunset is my new go-to colour.

Once the Hurricanium is done I'll do the crew for both vehicles.

 

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The "Ninth Age" Beta is Out

The Warhammer Fantasy rewrite "Ninth Age" has released its beta here.

Post Call to Arms (next weekend) I am keen to try these out and get some playtesting done.

If any locals are interested then please let me know.

ETC This Weekend

The ETC is on in Prague this weekend and the NZ team warmed up with a win against Singapore in the Challenge Shield match.

Great result guys.....now onto the main event!

 

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My Kickstarters - Update

On Monday my latest Kickstarter arrived - the card game "Exploding Kittens". This delivered on time and the product meets all its specs.


I thought it might be worth looking at the Kickstarters I've backed over the past few years and see where they lie.


Tablescapes - Secret Weapon Miniatures


Originally due to deliver in October 2013, the bulk delivered in October 2014 with last four tiles in May 2015. High quality product with very good communication throughout. Regular updates even when news was bad. Would use again.


Deadzone Scenery - Mantic


Delivered on time in December 2013. Product as described. Good communication and updates. Would use again.


Creature Caster Daemons & Dragons


Meant to deliver in November 2014 but still outstanding. The models - bar one - have all been printed but now need to be produced. Unfortunately the principal, Jeremy Glen, appears unwilling to communicate when that will be. My expectation is that if we see them before Xmas 2015 we'll be lucky. Classic example of a Kickstarter that was too successful and the promoter did not have the resources to meet his timelines. Communication very patchy especially if news is bad. Disappointed in service and would not support future projects.


Custom Game Dice


I paid in USD37 to get 24 full customisable dice (planned to get Skaven Artillery and Scatter Dice). Guy bought laser, dice and paints and then nothing. The promised website never eventuated. It was meant to deliver in October 2014 but around that times things went "back". Since then we have had three updates saying he's ill, has to move, had a baby, dog ate my homework. The accountant says I should write that $37 off.


Games & Gears Pro Line Brush


Brush set and accessories that delivered on time in September 2014. I would support future Kickstarter.


Darklands Monstrous Mounts - Mierce


Due to deliver in February 2015, this KS has partially delivered. I still have one model outstanding where sculpting hasn't started. In future I'd be unlikely to support a KS and instead wait to order when posted in webstore. Do keep you informed with weekly updates.


Foldio - Orange Mongkie


Delivered on time in February 2014. Definitely would support future KS.


Exploding Kittens


Despite being the most successful KS ever in terms of money raised, this card game delivered on time with on-spec product and added extras. Definitely would support future KS (not that they need it). Great communication throughout.


Miniature Scenery Terrain


This Canadian company launched their KS in February 2015 and are due for delivery in August 2015. I received an email this week saying that it had shipped. Waiting to see the product but so far these guys have been the poster boys for how to do a successful KS. definitely will support future ventures.


So all but three have shipped. I'm sure Mierce will and I'm 90% sure on Creature Caster. I'm reconciled to the fact that John Warren from Custom Game Dice has pocketed my money and I won't get any dice.


The key thing with Kickstarter is to do your homework and make sure if a company is untested that you only risk a small amount of cash. Delays are commonplace but generally they occur because the promoter lacks the skills or because the Kickstarter is too successful and original delivery gets swamped by Stretch Goals. I'm now always mindful of any extra new product that needs to be delivered over original offering.

Warhammer World Release First Event Pack for AoS

For your reading pleasure (bolding is mine):


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Sigmar be with you! WH_The Empire_1280

It’s the Events Team here bringing you some hot-off-the-press news about our Age of Sigmar Campaign Weekend – The Battle for the Realmgates. Not got your ticket yet? Better get one fast from here.

Today we are talking about the Mortal Realms.

Over the weekend you will playing games on seven out of the eight Mortal Realms. The ones we won’t be playing in are the Celestial Realm as there is currently no fighting going there, and of course the Realm of Chaos is off-limits, as we wouldn’t want any of your models to turn into spawn while you are here.

So this leaves the rest of the Mortal Realms to fight over. We will have tables and scenery to represent every different Mortal Realms and not only that, there will be special rules that govern the kind of environment you might be fighting in.

That’s right – Realm of Fire tables, Realm of Metal and so on. It’s going to be a sight to see.

In order to benefit from the power of the Realm you are fighting in, your Faction needs to control it completely from game to game. So if Order have control of the Realm of Fire, then that benefit is made available to you. You gain control of a Realm if your Faction wins the most games there in the previous round. To begin with, the Realms are divided up evenly.

To whet your appetite, here are some of the Realms and their effects on your troops should your Faction win enough games there:

Ghyran, the Realm of Life: Wood Elves Artwork

In all the battles, in all the infinite Realms, one thing is always true – life will find a way.

Once per turn you may restore a lost wound to a model if it has the colour green somewhere on it, or if you are carrying a (real!) flower.

Shyish, the Realm of Death:

The power of Nagash imbues every relic of death in this realm, driving them forward with relentless energy.

Every model in your army with a skull or dead body on it may charge an extra 1”.

Ghur, the Realm of Beasts:

Primal fury courses through those who can tap into the merciless energy of the magic of Beasts.

If you own a pet and have a photograph of it (or any animal), once per game choose one unit; it may add +1 to it’s to Wound rolls this turn as they are overcome with feral anger.

That’s all for now but keep your eye out, as on Wednesday we reveal the remaining Mortal Realms and their powerful effects! If all these extra details are getting you excited, then you can get your ticket for this great weekend here.

See you soon,

The Warhammer World Events Team


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Looks like they addressed the balance issue!

New Skaven Releases

Apparently we have new Skaven releases to look forward to in the next month. There is uncertainty as to whether these are new models or - more likely - repackaging of existing sculpts (warscroll/round bases).


Here is the supposed line up with USD prices:

Skaven Plague Monks $35

Skaven Plague Furance $62

Skaven Pestilens Plague Catapult $33

Plague Priest $15

Plague Censor Bearers $13

It would be great if they are new sculpts. GW might be able to prise my wallet open.

AoS Stormcasts

A few people have asked me why I haven't jumped into Age of Sigmar. Most of the WHFB podcasts have been cheerleaders for the new game, notably the UK based ones.

I've indicated my reluctance to embrace the game has been a combination of things. Firstly, I wasn't really looking for a skirmish game and if I was I'm pretty sure that there are others with better credentials. Secondly, I liked ranked units - on movement trays - the aesthetic appeals to me more. The third reason is that I'm harbouring a bit of resentment over GW's treatment of gamers over the past year. I had an expectation that when GW released five large campaign books that there was some understanding that they would continue to support the game and world they were shilled for. Yeah, I'm a bit of a sook that way.

However there is another reason - I really hate the Stormcast models. By that I mean the whole aesthetic. Yes I understand the commerciality of introducing Space Marines into Fantasy - and let's not kid ourselves that the Stormcast are anything but Fantasy-esque Astartes. They know Little Timmy will buy them - especially if the local GW Hobby Centre Manager tells him how cool they are. But they are not.

They are lazy. The Design Studio phoned them in when they were told to put Space Marines in Fantasy.

• Space Marines with big swords - tick
• Space Marines with big hammers - tick
• Space Marines with big bows - tick
• Space Marines with Boltthrowers - tick
• Space Marines with Bazooka bow thingey - tick
• Space Marines with wings and big swords - tick

They must have loved that assignment.

 

"Ok Jes...we want Space Marines with big weapons - but no back pack. There's only three rules - 1. They are Space Marines; 2. Little Timmy can paint them preferably using our $55 Gold Spray; and 3. They are Space Marines. Think you can do that?"

 

And that's what we got. Sure there are character variants like Stormcast on Thunderwolf sorry weird lizard thing. Or Mr. Hammer Cape - "Great Design Team, now we can have a rule that gives him a shooting attack - like his cape throws hammers - how cool is that!"

 

The whole model release for Stormcasts is just so lazy. Minimal thought, minimal anything but tedium.

 

I don't think I have ever seen a range from GW that I have so disliked in 15 years from aesthetic point of view. The nearest would be Cadian IG which were similarly lazy.

 

And for me in the end aesthetics is what does it. It's what makes me want to play the game. Six or seven years ago a few 40kers here got into Confrontation. I looked at the game and just did not like the models. I saw people use them as GW alternatives and they did nothing for me. The Privateer Press aesthetic is the same to me. It just does not appeal.

 

I may have been brainwashed by GW over the years but the release of the Stormcast shows that - in my eyes at least - you can polish a turd.

 

I'm waiting to see future AoS releases before I write the game off. At the moment there seems to be a lot of people willing to give the rules and the models a free pass. I'll stay on the fence and hope the Design Studio gives us better product.

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Hobby Update

Over the weekend - in between talking cat to the vet, coffee machine to the repair shop, stripping paint from windowsills and repairing curtain rod holes - I managed to get some hobby in.

I've been working on my Luminarch for my Averland Empire army and last night finished the wagon. Work has begun on the "Death Laser" and hopefully over the next two nights I'll get that progressed. Then it is the two horses and crew. The Luminarch has an awful lot of detail on it and is another example of the great kits GW is making.

Other than that I sent in my list for Call to Arms which is on in a couple of weeks. Seems like there are at least 18 people playing. I have a grudge match versus lead Dwarf cheerleader Adam Richards in the first round.

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Review - GW Retributor Armour

One of the hardest colours to paint is gold. This is because the coverage is usually very patchy and requires multiple coats over a black primer.

Well I've finally found a paint that gives great coverage in a single coat - Retributor Armour.

This is a GW base colour and was released as part of the Age of Sigmar release. It costs more than the normal GW paints - NZ$10, GBP3.50 - but my experience is that it is well worth it.

The paint provides a rich colour as well as coverage and can be easily shaded with a sepia wash.

I'm using it on my Luminarch and finding it really good.

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Fields of Blood Warhammer v8.1 House Rules

Over the past week - and with the realisation that in GW's eyes at least, Warhammer Fantasy Battle is dead - I put together a set of house rules to address some of the outstanding issues in 8th Ed. this was then circulated to a few people for comment and feedback.

You can see the completed document here

The intention with this document was not to rewrite Warhammer Fantasy Battle or to create a new version of v8. It was to address glaring issues in the rules where an FAQ had never been made. There is one indulgence. The building rules have been modified slightly to give buildings a capacity and to allow the attacking unit to continue the fight.

Up to you as to whether you use them or not. They may form the basis of your own pack or just give you ideas.

Thanks to those that provided input.

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