Cadian Quickpic

So, here is one of my earlier paint jobs for my Cadian IG army in Warhammer 40k.  I think I've decided not to put pupils on the eyes.

Increase in Scenery (Rules)

So, I've been playing most of Games Workshop ' titles for a while now, and I've noticed an increase in the roles that scenery play in games.  First it was the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, with things like the pool of Galadriel, and Saruman's Palantir.  Then scenery really started to play a big roll in Warhammer 40000, creating a whole new type of mission; Strong h old assualt.  And now the Age of Sigmar has general rules for all scenery, and special rules for the kits you buy.

For someone like me, who is nuts over scenery kits, and loves to build his own scenery, this is awesome, but I do wonder if this adds a layer of complexity that most don't want to deal with.  What are your thoughts?

New Author + some minis!

Hello there, I'm Josh, a longtime gamer and hobbyist. I dabble in quite a few miniature games, though my most sizable force is for Warmachine. Beyond that, I love making terrain and finding a good balance between beautiful and functional. Too much terrain is either one side of the spectrum (like a flat shape cut out of felt) or the other (a piece that is over-complicated and doesn't allow minis to realistically stand on or fight over it).

When painting, one of my favorite things is worn, rusty paintjobs, and as such, I would like to present one of my favorite (and certainly the largest!) I have done: the Khadoran Conquest from Warmachine:

A Second Chance?

In an unprecedented change in regular behavior, Games Workshop will be re-issuing something originally put on a limited run.  The Tau Tidewall Rampart will be brought back, though it'll be a little different than the initial release box.  Each part of the Rampart (the drone port, the shield walls, the canon) will be sold seperately, allowing you to extend an existing rampart or build a new one.

*Caution* Rumour

So, this is risky for me, cause I don't yet have a reliable, established source for game information, but one of the stockists I frequent let slip that GW maybe ending Age of Sigmar already.  Which is actually terrible, since I have just found people to play against.  Maybe they'll bring back good ol' Warhammer?  Not likely, but we could hope.  I'll report back if anything more solid comes up.

Finally Something Different

It's obvious I'm not the only one who is miffed by the fact that Games workshop doesn't make scenery kits for any race other than the Imperium.  On sale today for the first time every is a scenery kit for the Tau empire, and it sold out before 10am PST here where I live.  I'm only able to get my hands on one by the grace of a pre-order from my local Games Workshop stockist.  I'm hoping that this brings in a whole new line of fortresses and equipment for the other races of the 40k universe.

Another New Game

I have this good friend, Jon, who always finds odd games and geek stuff for me.  So the other day he brought over the source book for a miniatures game that is new to me.  Its been around for a while but some how slipped past my radar.

The game is Relic Knight, and it looks interesting, though the fan service in the miniatures is a little over the top in my opinion.  The rules look simple enough, and the price point is good (currently, you can purchase all the pieces in a single faction for around $200 - $250).

So I'll ask, has anyone played Relic Knight?  I'm interested in hearing how the game plays, so leave me some feedback in the comments.

New Tau Battlesuits, Love'm or Leave'm

So, up front, I'll be honest, I don't play Tau.  I love the backstory, and I dream of building a Farsight Enclaves army some day, but in my current financial future it's not likely.

But with that clear, I have to start the discussion, the new KV128 Stormsurge, and the KV 95 Stormkeel, what do you think?

Honestly, I see the Stormsurge working best in pairs, with different weapon layouts.  One would fire distance and the other would cover close range threats to the group.

On the Ghostkeel I have to say this suit would be awesome to deploy if I saw more realistic battlefields played on.  Sadly, his base alone would make that difficult, as too much terrain makes it difficult to move units this size.

Quickpic

So, I hope to make this a regular feature.  Quickpic will showcase recent paint jobs my associates and I have finished.

Today's quickpic is a Crimson Slaughter Chaos Space Marine!

Age of Sigmar Review

So I hung out with my friend Casey last night and we played our first match of the new Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.  It wasn't a scenario match or anything special, just a skirmish, but it illuminated some things.  And after a an awesome battle of my Skaven versus Casey's High Elves (we both only have old school Warhammer armies still), I feel much better now about the direction  AoS is taking things.  Don't get me wrong, some of the rules are still dumb, but the game plays a lot better than I had originally feared.

Right off the bat, I noticed that magic was simpler.  Not dumber, just simpler.  And some of the extra abilities, like my engineseer being able to pump his warp lightning, won me the game.

Also, movement works more like Warhammer 40k, which I think makes the game a little more approachable for the crowd that plays that.  Life is a little easier if you don't have learn more rules than you have to.

And one more thought; we kept to the old-fashioned party lines for our armies, Casey kept to his High Elves, and I stayed Skaven, but I look forward to mixing armies together in future games.

In fact, the only thing that did bug me was the feeling that you can't get the full effect of some units unless you buy more than just the base  box.  I fielded two warscrolls of Skaven Clanrats at twenty rats apiece, figuring that would give me more mobility as they would all have to stay bunched together.  Well, one of their special abilities doesn't even activate until you field 30 Clanrats in a single unit.

In closing, I really enjoyed my first game of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, and I look forward to facing Casey again with even more rats.  So stay tuned for more mayhem soon.