Kill Team

Hi!

I've been perusing with interest the preview of the new edition of Kill Team by GW and it's looking rather interesting!

Reading through the assorted previews and so on online, it looks like it might be just the cup of tea for me.  It requires small forces (5-10 figures) on a small table (about 2'x3') and features scenario driven games and campaigns that should see a warband develop and is perfect for heavily converting figures.

While I have no way of ever putting together a full army for 40k, I do like the idea of playing something a bit smaller and more rpg-lite so will be keeping an eye out for developments of the game in the coming months. It would be interesting to play out the secret wars of the Inquisition or Imperial agents facing rebel groups or sinister alien cults!

It will be interesting to see what the rules play like and what is possible. I was rather enamoured with Shadow War Armageddon but found it to be a bit limited as I really wanted some Space Marines rather than just scouts and the campaign system was a little limited.

We shall see how things develop in the coming weeks before I make any decision on whether I want to pick it up or not...

Games Workshop Renaissance

Hi!

I've been pondering some of the rather exciting news coming out about the new edition of Age of Sigmar and am really enjoying a seeming renaissance from Games Workshop.

I must admit that my interest in all things GW more or less died the death following the end of 2nd edition 40k and the closing down of specialist games and while I hung on for a bit with Fantasy battle, even playing the odd game of 6th edition, my hobby interests moved on seemingly never to return.

However in the last couple of years, following the announcement that the Warhammer world was blown up and a new setting was making an appearance in the form of Age of Sigmar, I have slowly found myself with increasing regularity perusing the news sites and even peeking at the GW webstore.

I'm not sure if it's the realisation of the GW management team that they needed to move into the 21st century and engage with their customers on social media or the reappearance of classics like Necromunda and Titan Legions, not to mention the relatively low entry level that newer games seem to be giving prospective players, but I'm once again drawn to Games Workshop.

In years gone by, you'd expect to pay £50-£70+ for a starter set for 40k, but now there's First Strike for £25 which gives you basic rules, a decent haul of miniatures, battle mat and even a bit of scenery, thanks to the cunning use of the box.

While many may point out the fact that this is just the basic rules and not got a decent sized force, it is brilliant for folks wanting to test the waters as it gives you some big chunky Primaris Marines and some evil Mutants and villains to maim. It's especially of interest to me as I seriously doubt I will ever have the patience to collect and paint a full army but a few small skirmish warbands, well just maybe...

Next up, there's Storm of Sigmar for just £20. It gives you two decent skirmish warbands and the rules to get you going.

I actually picked this up when it was first released and found it to be great value for money and while most of the miniatures have been languishing, unpainted and still on their sprues, I've recently begun painting my way through them and rather enjoying the experience!

I'm also rather liking the scalability of both of GW's core games as you can actually play a decent game with only a handful of miniatures and build your forces over time. Looking at Storm of Sigmar for example, you get two warbands which are ample to play Age of Sigmar Skirmish and with the additions of some of the other Easy Build kits, you're well on your way to having a decent campaign!

Similarly, the rules of both games have been pretty much gutted. Much as I loved playing 2nd edition 40k, it took forever to play a decent sized game and Fantasy Battle required quite a bit of flicking through tomes to find rules. Here the rules are about 4 pages long, the unit abilities are on cards and there's not a table in sight!

While lots of folks bemoaned the simplicity of these new sets, I really like it, especially as my previous favorite game, Epic 40k was just a streamlined and was brilliant fun. I'm hoping to be able to complete my Fyreslayer mini project over the course of the next couple of weeks before moving onto something 40k related which is saying something.

It's not all good news though, as I am finding the release schedule of GW is bewildering with set after set of new plastics rolling out each month and Battletomes, Codexes and supplements arriving every month. I must admit that I am struggling to keep up with it all. It's also bad for the Ooh Shiny Syndrome where there's just so much choice that one finds themselves frozen in indecision as to what, if anything to pick up.

I've also noted the use of terms like Synergy and Meta bandied about when folks discuss army building. I find the need to build superawesomeamazing armies with megakilldeath combinations of abilities a bit meh to say the least and would far prefer to just collect a force that looks interesting and characterful and don't really care if it isn't competitive. 

Saying that, GW has been pushing the Narrative Play element to their games which provides a haven of scenario driven tranquility from the more rabid tournament mindset which I quite like so it does seem that GW is listening and trying to strike a balance between both sides of the hobby.

As someone who was quite a big fan of the principles of Oldhammer, I am keen to use the mindset of collecting a force for fun and to enjoy painting it and play some entertaining, scenario based games and wonder whether I can take these principles and use them in enjoying my hobby using new miniatures...

Either which way, I hope that GW keeps up the good work and keeps engaging with its customers and bringing out more goodies for us to froth at.

Perhaps I'll even finish a project this year so hurrah!

In the meantime, apologies for waffling on for so long and all the best!

Micro 40k

Hi!

I've been perusing with interest the newest edition of 40k and am thinking of giving it a bash but in typical me fashion, I am eschewing the usual 28mm scale for something a bit different.

What I am planning is to get some use from my Epic collection to play a game or two!

That was like, Ultra!

Having looked at the changes GW has done to what was a very clunky and frankly unusable system has been rather refreshing with lots of nods to 1st and 2nd edition which I like but also streamlined and simplified which is even better!

Looking at my Ultramarine force though, I realise that I need to add some elements to give me a nicely rounded little force.

Ultramarine Force

At present, I have a Captain and three Tactical squads, a Terminator squad, a Dreadnaught, a Landraider and Rhino transports. To make my force a little more playable, I need to add a heavy weapon or two the the existing squads as well as adding some more crunchy squads and armour to give me many different choices and a playable and characterful force.

My Eldar are in much the same state!

Eldar Raiders

I have a Warlock, lots of Guardians and Falcons as well as some Dark Reapers, Banshees, a Dreadnaught and a Vyper but want to add some extra gubbins to the force to round it out!

Game wise, I think that the multi figure bases should work ok and changing measurements from inches to centimeters should deal with scaling issues. To top it off, I think I could play a decent sized game on a 2'x3' board!

I need to have a bash at some smaller games first to see how things work and to get the hang of the new rules but I quite like the idea and will be playing around with it to see how it works over the next few days and will report progress when I make it!

In the meantime, Stay Ultra! 

Imperial Presence Increases on Farpoint

Hi!

My Governor General's Imperial Guard unit has received some reinforcements in the form of a rounded out command squad and complete first squad as well as a Sentinel scout walker!

Imperial Guard Squad plus Sentinel Support on Maneuver, Freeport City 

The standard Imperial Guard squad operating on Farpoint is armed with Imperial Industries Combat Las-Guns and flak armour while the heavy weapons element is a Imperial Industries MK3 Grenade Launcher and a Regis XV heavy bolter.

The above photo was taken outside Professor Abullah's house in Freeport City, the capitol of Farpoint and a den of gamblers, thieves and smugglers as well as other ne'er do wells. As tensions have mounted, Governor General von Dorn has authorised armoured support in the form of Sentinel Armoured Scout Walkers.

Dorn Class Sentinel

Produced on the Imperial Fist homeworld of Inwit, the Dorn Class Sentinel is a highly mobile and well armed scout vehicle. Sporting advanced sensors and a powerful assault cannon, they have been a mainstay of Imperial regiments throughout the region for decades.

The Sentinel is scratch built by myself out of plastic, sculpey and assorted bits and bobs and I must admit that I am quite fond of the little guy, so much so that I am making a second one at the moment!

House troops of the Governor General

I'm slowly putting together a platoon of Imperial troops to mix it up with the assorted villains that inhabit the sector and despite the tedium of batch painting, am quite pleased with my progress thus far. Sadly I seem to have run out of miniatures to paint so may skip onto some baddies next or possibly paint a few more Ultramarines!

 The force thus far!

Game wise, I have the bare bones basics of an Imperial Guard force and need lots more troops and armour to really make it a workable force in 2nd edition or 8th edition but I hope to add to their numbers over the coming months.

Last but not least, Governor General Laars van Dorn has posed for a posed for his first official portrait since arriving on Farpoint:

  The Governor General of Farpoint, Laars van Dorn!

Hopefully I'll get some more bits and bobs done soonish but we're about to start packing to move house so expect rather intermittent posts in the short term!

All the best! 

40k On the Horizon

Hi!

Well the hints keep coming and GW look like they may have a bit of a hit on their hands, if for no other reason than the older generation of 40k fans who have fallen away over the years seem to have refound their interest and that's before the game is even up for pre-order!

I'm becoming increasingly interested in the setting, miniatures and rules for a game I haven't looked at for almost 20 years and I am sorely tempted to investigate the game further as it gets closer to release.

I don't know if I am going to try collecting some of the ooh shiney new miniatures when they come out or if I am going to keep going with some 15mm proxies but good on GW for really ramping up the interest in the game!

In other news, I've been slowly building and painting my way through some 15mm scenery and vehicles which I hope to post some pics of in the coming days and have even picked up Age of Sigmar Skirmish which will be getting a review once I have had a proper chance to peruse it.

Hopefully my next couple of posts will contain more pics of my miniatures and less waffle but in the meantime, All the Best!

40k Fascination

Hi!

Well we're getting closer to the big reveal of the new edition of 40k and I must admit I have found myself surprised by just how interested I'm finding myself with the whole thing.

Not since the halcyon days of 2nd edition and my teens have I really been finding myself invested in anything GW has done but there's something about the new edition that's really caught my fancy and I am seriously thinking of getting the rules and having a bash when the game is finally released in June!

I may cheat and use 15mm figures as I don't have the space or time for the chunky 28mm stuff anymore but I must admit that the temptation is there to pick up some new kits as they become available and see what I can do.

Interestingly this has also been giving me a hankering for some of the other specialist games including Epic and Battlefleet Gothic. Again the models are long out of production and in many cases stupidly expensive but there's lots of stuff getting made that would make ideal proxies.

I'm going to have to get my thinking hat on to write up some more background for my alternative Imperium too as the whole 40k setting just got interesting again!

Out of interest, I'd love to hear what others think of the direction 40k seems to be going and if it is also renewing their interest or killing it...

Anyhoo, enough of my ramblings!

All the best!

8th Edition 40k Musings

Hi!

Well after much waffling about taking a break from my usual hobby activities and I find myself perusing some of the news coming out about the new 40k that is coming out in June.

That was like, Ultra!

There seems to be quite a lot of outraged mutterings from the neckbeard community of power gamers who don't like change but for myself (fully bearded!) I quite like the sound of how things are changing. It looks almost like a return to 2nd edition but more streamlined and playable without needing a doorstop tome of a rulebook and it's also looking quite scalable so small forces are also an option rather than just Epic in 28mm.

Coupled with the fact that the narrative for 40k is actually moving forward a bit with new and interesting things happening, I may be tempted to pick up a copy and give it a bash!

Terra

It also looks like there's new larger scale Space Marines which I personally think will look great (especially when you look at all the Truescale conversions out there which make marines look properly heroic rather than rather Orangutans in armour.

I have been following the development of Age of Sigmar with rather a lot of interest and am slowly painting my way through the bits and bobs I have picked up and if GW can bring my jaded interest back to the fold, more power to them!

We shall see how things develop over the coming months and who knows, I may end up with some sci-fi gubbins to paint in the not too distant future!

All the best!