A Tale of One Gamer - Part Four

After a fast start (I finished my Vanguard Veterans way back on July 9th) I didn't have as much time to paint as I'd hoped, but I did manage to add two units to my Red Scorpions army...

These units bring me up to 1020 points and (more importantly) the addition of the Scout Squad gives me my second Troops choice - I now have a legal army for the game table. By the end of August, with the gribblies sitting on my desk, I should have at least 1000 points of Tyranids as well and I'll be able to play my first game!


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40k Friday

Ok, I've had a couple of weeks to read through the new 40k book and thought I'd chime in with my thoughts. Don't hold your breath for deep analysis on the effect new rules might have on this or that unit. I'm not a competition gamer and I have no interest in Mathhammer. There are reviews online that give their opinions on these things and pages of forum posts and a quick Google search will turn up dozens of them.

The first thing I was struck with upon receiving my book was 'Woah - this thing is HEAVY!' The tome is over 450 pages of high gloss stock sandwiched between heavy duty covers and weighs over 4 pounds (which is more than my laptop). As you would expect, the book is beautifully illustrated with artwork and crammed full of fantastically painted models. Too much of the art is recycled for my taste, but I suppose the thing would have been the cost of small car if they used all new art. There are multiple fold out pages that have simply amazing Apocalypse level scenes of models and terrain. The rules only take up about 120 pages and include lots of examples, photos, etc. There is a new sidebar found throughout called 'Forging a Narrative' that gives loads of ideas on using the rules to add story elements to your game.

The next two-thirds of the book is fluff on the 40k universe and the armies that inhabit it, lavishly illustrated with 'Eavy Metal models. I kind of wish GW would put out two books - one with the rules and a companion book with the rest. I LOVE the background and history that comes with 40k, but I'd rather not have to muscle around this mammoth book at the game table. I'm sure the box set due out later this year will have the streamlined paperback mini book like last edition and I'll have to grab one from ebay.

The final section of the book is hobby related - painting, advice on campaigns, and scenario ideas. One of these includes the 500-point 'Battleforce Recon' mission for one hour games and a side bar called Suicide Squads for 200-point skirmish games. Every model counts as an Independent Character and you ignore Unit Coherency, Break Tests for 25% casualties, and the like.

So what's new? Here are a few things:

Flyers
The core rules now include rules for aircraft so you can have air to ground assaults (and even air to air dogfights) in addition to the deep strike capabilities many of these vehicles afforded in the past. Again, not deep analysis, but these seem a little over powered at the moment. Flyers moving full out are hard to take down without dedicated Skyfire weapons and for the time being only Imperial Guard have the option to take these. I'm sure as new codices roll out options will increase. The cynical side of me thinks GW wants to sell more models by making flyers something you need in your army to compete. If I want to outfit my current collection of five armies with air support, I'm looking at HUNDREDS of dollars to add one or two models to each force! You can safely ignore flyers if you are not playing in tournaments unless one of your 'friendly' group starts the arms race...

Fortifications
A new slot in the force list (HQ, Elites, Troops, etc) is Fortifications, effectively giving you the chance to add defensive terrain as part of your army (and coincidentally encouraging the sale again of more models). I haven't played any games with fortifications, but it seems like they are easily destroyed by troops armed with Melta Weapons and you might be better served by adding extra troops instead. However, there is a 50-point choice of an Aegis Defense Line (basically barricades) that allows you to place a line of cover that might be a good choice. You can upgrade Fortifications (including the Aegis Defense Line) with Skyfire weapons to help combat those pesky fliers. Of course, GW only offers Imperial buildings at this time. These are easily converted to Chaos or Ork fortifications, but you'll have to break bad with your modeling skills for Eldar, Tyranids, and the like to include them in these armies (or come up with a narrative of why your Aspect Warriors are slumming in Fortress of Redemption).

Hull Points
Vehicles have been changed to include a new mechanic called Hull Points. Glancing Hits no longer result in a roll on a chart (and thus no longer end up with your vehicle as a smoking wreck from a lucky shot). A Glancing Hit simply deducts a Hull Point. Penetrating Hits also deduct a Hull Point and give a roll on a damage chart. If you run out of Hull Points, your vehicle is Wrecked, effectively coming a piece of terrain. Again, not deep analysis, but as most vehicles only have three Hull Points, it seems like concentrated fire will reduce one vehicle to terrain each turn. Vehicles have gotten a boost with the ability to move and fire more weapons than last edition so maybe the added maneuverability and smart play will compensate for what seems to be weaker tanks.

Challenges
Warhammer Fantasy has had this rule for years. You can basically use your big-bad to single out your opponent's big-bad for a one-on-one in close combat. This is suppose to add a new dimension of heroism to the game with epic boss fights, but I think it simply encourages piling on extra junk on your characters. On the plus side, you can sacrifice a sergeant to one of these beasts to keep it from rampaging through your whole unit. 

Ok - there's a lot more and a lot of subtle stuff (like random charge distances), but this post is long enough. The bottom line is it's still 40k. The basics are the same and only time will tell (or one of the Mathhammer lot) how the changes effect the balance of the game over the long term. In my inexpert opinion, infantry will be more important in 6th than it was in 5th which seems good for the way I build armies.

Next Friday I'll have an update on my Tale of One Gamer project...

Warfare Miniatures Horse

Barry is ready to start accepting pre-orders for the first wave of Warfare Miniatures horse! As he is currently exploring Asia and the Middle East, proper pages in the Shop will not be available yet, but you can send him an e-mail to ensure you are among the first to receive these new models.

Those who are interested in pre-ordering and complete an email request before July 31st to wordtwister@hotmail.co.uk stating quantities of each code you want to pre-order will get priority shipping and will receive the new William of Orange and Patrick Sarsfield models as part of you order FREE! 

No need to pay at this point just put the request in for order quantity. A paypal payment at some point before the 31st July. Shipping should be by the second week in August at the latest but hopefully before that. If you want to have a look at the cavalry you can see more examples in the LoA Gallery.

FIRST HORSE CODE RELEASES

• WLOAH1: 3 Troopers with blanket roll / pistol and sword arm options/Standing Horse
• WLOAH 2: 3 Troopers with blanket roll/ pistol and sword arm options/Cantering Horse
• WLOAH 3: Command/Standing Horse
• WLOAH 4: Command/Cantering Horse
• WLOAH 5: 3 Enthusiastic troopers on galloping Horses (one pictured above)

Notes: There are 4 different enthusiastic troopers but each pack will contain 3 different options from the 4. Three of these codes have seperate arms. Some of the arms from codes WLOAH1 & WLOAH2 also fit the enthusiastic troopers. Command options will be available shortly to support the enthusiastic codes.

Pack price per cavalry code of 3 riders is: £8.50

40k Friday

Progress on my 'A Tale of One Gamer' project so far for July...

Red Scorpions Vanguard Veterans

Still going through the new 40k rule book - I'll have some general impressions by next weekend, maybe for my 40k Friday post. 

40k Friday

WIP update on my ToOG project with the first of my Vanguard Veterans in action with the help of Photoshop!

As a vanilla chapter, I've chosen to paint veteran Red Scorpions models with the codex white helmet (and the sergeant with red).


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Turncoats

I thought I'd follow up on the point I made a few days ago about the multiple uses you can get out of units for late 17th century collections...

Faithful followers may immediately recognize these units from my Danish brigade, but with a quick flag swap (and shuffling the bases around to disguise the repetition from earlier photos), I now have the Earl of Monmouth's regiment ready to fight for King William III (first pic) and Clanrickarde's regiment ready to defend Old Bridge for King James II (second pic)!

Again, these units could stand in for many English and Irish units and would serve for many French regiments as well! Fun stuff - I have a second unit of the Dutch Blue Guard and more artillery on the painting table and hope to have them finished by next weekend...