On this quiet Sunday night, as I sit and ponder what topic to dedicate this post to, my mind wanders.
Blood Bowl has received their second wave of teams. Goblins look great, as well as a handful of old vintage teams being Made to Order.
Warhammer 40k is dropping serious heat leading into the new ruleset. Rules are dropping by the day, faction focuses are coming in hot and fast, and every faction looks greater than the last! Still no Grey Knight teasers, but my time will come...
Photos of the new starter set are available. My gosh! Ridiculously solid starter set! That Death Guard half of the starter set is actually ridiculous. The Plague Marines are absolutely perfect, and that Lord of Nurgle is by far the coolest and staunchest Chaos model I've yet seen.
Warhammer Fest is in full swing and photos are trickling through with plenty of beautiful Custode and Sisters of Silence units are looking fresh.
And thats when a little bit of blood started trickling out of my nose. The speed and velocity of releases is actually mental!
But all that is in the future. I don't like to get too far ahead of myself, particularly with rumours and the likes, so this week, I wanted to focus on something that I did get my hands on!
Warhammer Skirmish!
This 40-page compact little release dropped in the lull before the 40k storm, and its great! One of the best things about it is its cost (AUD$16), which is not only very cheap, but also opens up an avenue for a cheap way to play. This book has clawed that cost of entry down to the basement and gave it a good one-two with a sack of oranges. Games Workshop has been very open about the fact that they wanted this game to be something that a customer could buy and be playing a game from scratch that same day.
It has points in the back of the book for all of the plastic kits available in store, and after some basic number crunching, its really not too hard to adapt points costs to units not included in the list. There are new scenarios, new command traits, new artefacts, even a small campaign; just a neat little bundle of content!
However, there is one huge problem I have with this release. One blindingly massive problem.
Since the dawn of time (a.k.a. when I first got into the hobby), there has been a constant battle of wills between my determination to finish projects and my attention span (which is on par with that of a hyperactive sparrow). And when you combine that constant battle with my love for Age of Sigmar, you can see my problem…
Then Games Workshop goes and releases this! Not only can I flitter between projects at will and at minimum cost, but it works on every level! I can now tackle factions that I love the look of, but don't want to buy a whole army. As if it wasn't bad enough that I couldn't focus on an army for more than four and a half minutes in a row, now I can actually tackle a complete project in that tiny window of time. Games Workshop has recognised my problem, and they've released the exact product to enable me.
And, now that I've put it into words… I'm totally ok with it.
This has opened up an absolute ton of creative projects that I'm keen to work on. When all I need to paint is 10, maybe 12 models? I can work on some war bands with really strong themes; which brings me to my very first project. Destruction.
I've always loved the Ironjaws range, but it's never been enough motivation to do a full 2000pt army. The first thing I wanted was a colour scheme that I've not tackled before. I've never painted an army with black armour. What goes well with black? White! Ok, so white as a secondary colour. Perhaps some strips of checkers, some logos; perhaps something simple like… a white hand. And perhaps my Weirdnob Shaman could be an empire wizard robed all in white.
And so the idea was born for Saruman and his Orruk-Hai. Not gonna lie, I'm actually really looking forward to tackling it. I haven't settled on my 50 Renown war band yet, but I'll settle on something soon!
Are you creating a war band? What faction? What theme?
Thanks for reading!
Gabe
P.S: Got a sneaky little battle report next week for you!
Sunday 28 May 2017
Sunday 7 May 2017
#87: An Edition for the Ages...
Well, it's almost here!
There's not many people that would argue that 40k is in poor shape in 7th Edition. The rules are so expansive that it's borderline overwhelming, theres a thousand and one Universal special rules, that all interact differently to each other, and to the multitude of special rules of each faction, and it felt like every codex had a supplement, which was in turn supported by several campaign books, that for the purposes of the game, was largely unnecessary bar one or two pages of Formations or data slates hidden within the back pages.
And there was no sign of slowing down.
But, when Games Workshop announced 8th Edition, we knew it was going to be drastic. I had several conversations with long-time 40k veterans who were vehemently convinced that it would stay the same game that they (as a small percentage of the wargaming population) so dearly loved. While I knew for certain that streamlining had to occur for the game to be successful, I was also fairly sure that if they were to give it the necessary streamline, they had to shave the book-keeping down. Let's be real, it was getting a little crazy; even Orks (firm residents of the bottom branch of the power tree) needed anywhere up to five separate books (not including the amazing, if a little outdated Imperial Armour 8) to utilitize the force to its full potential. FIVE! That doesn't include the core rulebook.
So, the news that all current publications would be null and void came as music to my ears! The games designers could start from scratch, build synergetic armies and mechanics in a way that would make each race totally unique in its play style and tabletop performance, and cut away the cumbersome, word-heavy ruleset that did naught but slow the game down.
Templates are gone.
Formations are gone.
Warp Charges (in their current form) are gone.
Even Hull Points are gone.
The new Force Organisation charts herald back to when I first started in this hobby fifteen years ago. There were no faction-specific force organisation charts, there were no formations. You had your chart, and it was up to you to design an army within its structure that captured your imagination and tactical acumen. Every article that games workshop has released on different aspects of the upcoming edition (a huge improvement on any edition they have ever released before, in any of their game systems) has screamed one simple message; "Smoother, faster and more fun". Of the slowly growing pool of information that we've been fed so far, the game looks like it will play faster than ever before. No longer will Daemon players spend the first fifteen minutes of the game rolling up Psychic Powers. No longer will Guard players spend an eternity dropping mass templates upon the heads of their foes.
And for me, most excitingly, (practically confirmed, but we'll wait and see) the Age of Deathstars is over! No more Invisible, teleporting, board-spanning conglomerations of heroes, villains and demigods in such a combination as to prove almost invulnerable to damage! What a time to be alive!
All of this news, while gladly welcomed by half of the community, was condemned as pure heresy by the other half. The game they knew was no more, torn from their grasp, and all the books they had spent their hard earned pennies on rendered useless in the wake of this apocalyptic news of doom and gloom. And to those people, I empathise but also hold to account. A very similar series of events unfolded in the early days of Age of Sigmar, but there were a few small differences.
When AoS dropped, there were no points, there was very little-to-no structure, and most importantly, there were no answers; no feedback, no announcements, nothing. Radio darkness. It was over nine months before the arrival of the General's Handbook, the redeeming saviour of Age of Sigmar, the catalyst that turned the game from an unbalanced, unplayable mess (before several very solid community-developed scoring systems) into one of the single most enjoyable games I have ever played.
And was I mad about all of my books being made redundant? Sure, at first. But then, 40K codexes were being updated and made redundant every few years anyway. I have four editions of the Space Marine codex in a box in my shed, all redundant. Would I call them a waste of money? Absolutely not! I believe that I've got my money's worth out of every GW book I have purchased, and I don't regret one of them (well, maybe one…). Let's face it… I've spent a lot more on things I've enjoyed a lot less.
From this, I hope that the skeptical players learn from hindsight and history, and realise that Games Workshop knows what they are doing here. Age of Sigmar survived a much harsher transition and is flourishing like never before. Imagine the state of 40K after a well-rehearsed, well-planned transition that tackles everything wrong with the game, and accentuates everything great!
I'm very interested to hear your opinions on this upcoming era of change.
I, for one, am bursting at the seams for this release, and am madly painting my alternate-scheme Grey Knights in preparation!
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
There's not many people that would argue that 40k is in poor shape in 7th Edition. The rules are so expansive that it's borderline overwhelming, theres a thousand and one Universal special rules, that all interact differently to each other, and to the multitude of special rules of each faction, and it felt like every codex had a supplement, which was in turn supported by several campaign books, that for the purposes of the game, was largely unnecessary bar one or two pages of Formations or data slates hidden within the back pages.
And there was no sign of slowing down.
But, when Games Workshop announced 8th Edition, we knew it was going to be drastic. I had several conversations with long-time 40k veterans who were vehemently convinced that it would stay the same game that they (as a small percentage of the wargaming population) so dearly loved. While I knew for certain that streamlining had to occur for the game to be successful, I was also fairly sure that if they were to give it the necessary streamline, they had to shave the book-keeping down. Let's be real, it was getting a little crazy; even Orks (firm residents of the bottom branch of the power tree) needed anywhere up to five separate books (not including the amazing, if a little outdated Imperial Armour 8) to utilitize the force to its full potential. FIVE! That doesn't include the core rulebook.
So, the news that all current publications would be null and void came as music to my ears! The games designers could start from scratch, build synergetic armies and mechanics in a way that would make each race totally unique in its play style and tabletop performance, and cut away the cumbersome, word-heavy ruleset that did naught but slow the game down.
Templates are gone.
Formations are gone.
Warp Charges (in their current form) are gone.
Even Hull Points are gone.
The new Force Organisation charts herald back to when I first started in this hobby fifteen years ago. There were no faction-specific force organisation charts, there were no formations. You had your chart, and it was up to you to design an army within its structure that captured your imagination and tactical acumen. Every article that games workshop has released on different aspects of the upcoming edition (a huge improvement on any edition they have ever released before, in any of their game systems) has screamed one simple message; "Smoother, faster and more fun". Of the slowly growing pool of information that we've been fed so far, the game looks like it will play faster than ever before. No longer will Daemon players spend the first fifteen minutes of the game rolling up Psychic Powers. No longer will Guard players spend an eternity dropping mass templates upon the heads of their foes.
And for me, most excitingly, (practically confirmed, but we'll wait and see) the Age of Deathstars is over! No more Invisible, teleporting, board-spanning conglomerations of heroes, villains and demigods in such a combination as to prove almost invulnerable to damage! What a time to be alive!
All of this news, while gladly welcomed by half of the community, was condemned as pure heresy by the other half. The game they knew was no more, torn from their grasp, and all the books they had spent their hard earned pennies on rendered useless in the wake of this apocalyptic news of doom and gloom. And to those people, I empathise but also hold to account. A very similar series of events unfolded in the early days of Age of Sigmar, but there were a few small differences.
When AoS dropped, there were no points, there was very little-to-no structure, and most importantly, there were no answers; no feedback, no announcements, nothing. Radio darkness. It was over nine months before the arrival of the General's Handbook, the redeeming saviour of Age of Sigmar, the catalyst that turned the game from an unbalanced, unplayable mess (before several very solid community-developed scoring systems) into one of the single most enjoyable games I have ever played.
And was I mad about all of my books being made redundant? Sure, at first. But then, 40K codexes were being updated and made redundant every few years anyway. I have four editions of the Space Marine codex in a box in my shed, all redundant. Would I call them a waste of money? Absolutely not! I believe that I've got my money's worth out of every GW book I have purchased, and I don't regret one of them (well, maybe one…). Let's face it… I've spent a lot more on things I've enjoyed a lot less.
From this, I hope that the skeptical players learn from hindsight and history, and realise that Games Workshop knows what they are doing here. Age of Sigmar survived a much harsher transition and is flourishing like never before. Imagine the state of 40K after a well-rehearsed, well-planned transition that tackles everything wrong with the game, and accentuates everything great!
I'm very interested to hear your opinions on this upcoming era of change.
I, for one, am bursting at the seams for this release, and am madly painting my alternate-scheme Grey Knights in preparation!
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
Wednesday 3 May 2017
#86: Blades of Khorne Overview - "RAAAMPAAAGE!!"
I held off tackling this overview directly after release, purely because I hadn't had a chance to properly read through the packed pages of the mighty Tome! But, boy oh boy, have GW given Bloodbound and Khorne Daemon players their fair share of toys!
So, before we look at what's new, lets look at whats old.
Bloodreavers went up by 10 points per 10 models to a total of 70. This is pretty reasonable, however, as they also received a 6+ save! While a 6+ is altogether underwhelming, it can benefit from terrain and Mystic Shield (if you're willing to disgrace Khorne by stooping to Sorcery), which is more than they could do before.
Khorgoraths went up 20 points to a total of 100, and remained almost completely the same; except for one small detail. All of their close combat attacks doubled in damage! Suddenly, Khorgoraths went from steaming hot flesh bags of garbage (my personal opinion, of course) to pretty decent beatsticks! One of my favourite things about Khorgoraths is their weight class. There is a sweet spot for combat mashers, who are sturdy enough that they have a solid bank of wounds, but sit just under the threshold of diminishing power, where a model such as a monster gets weaker as they take damage. A Khorgorath can be on full wounds or one wound, but thats not going to stop him forcibly encouraging people to become less… alive.
The third big change is Bloodsecrators. As much as I'm disappointed that this change has happened, it was necessary. Banners no longer stack… Banners now have an aura called Rage of Khorne. This gives you an extra attack and makes you immune to battleshock; an absolute necessity in any self-respecting Bloodbound force. However, where you used to be able to overlap banner auras and give your entire army two or three extra attacks, its now pretty clear that you are either affected by Rage of Khorne or you are not, regardless of how many sources you can receive it from. I was initially pretty disappointed by this, but I know why GW has done it.
Alright, so now that we've got that covered…
Khorne players have now got tons of Artefacts to pick from; 12 for Daemons, 6 for Mortal and Bloodbound, 6 just for Bloodbound and 3 Banners.
I honestly don't see myself ever using the banners. They're useful in their own way, but the only model who can carry them is a Bloodsecrator, and while you want his 18" Banner planted in the ground, nice and stationary, the Artefact banners only have an 8" range… You see my dilemma.
The Daemon artefacts are very solid, with six dedicated weapons designed to perform different methods to the same end; unmitigated slaughter.
The Bloodbound Artefacts are much more varied and versatile. I have a couple of favourites here. Gorecleaver is a neat weapon that adds 1 Rend to one of your weapons, while on a 6 to wound, the damage changes to Mortal Wounds. The Brazen Rune gives the bearer a 2+ against Magic damage, while they can burn the rune to auto-unbind a spell anywhere on the board. This is an incredible Artefact, especially for an army with no wizards of their own. The third one, and probably my favourite, is the Talisman of Burning Blood. The bearer of the Talisman emits an 8" bubble of +1 to Run and Charge for all Khorne units. The more buffs, the better!
Slaughterpriests now get a full set of Prayers to choose from. They are still volatile in their reliability, but the new Prayers are rock solid! There are no auto-takes. Every Prayer has its use! This is no Stormcast army that says "There are prayers other than Lightning Chariot?".
And to top it off, new Command Traits give a whole extra level of tactical flexibility. Whether you want out of sequence charges, auras or to simply up the damage output efficiency of your General.
The beauty of this book is really in the Warscroll Battalions. There are tons, and all of them have the most metal names ever! While some are alright, and one or two are actively counterproductive (Red Headsmen, you could have been the chosen one!), the majority of these are incredibly powerful.
The Murderhost (1 Bloodletter Hero & 3-8 Letters, Hounds, Crushers or Cannons) is a solid choice for Daemon players, with a measly cost of 20 points. This is a steal, and does exactly what Khorne Players want for their armies; accelerating the process of making it to combat and sinking some Hellblades into the vulnerable points in the enemy armour commonly know as faces.
The Council of Blood gives you bulk Bloodthirsters, and makes them bigger, better and angrier!
And if you love the idea of hair-trigger cannons firing non-stop all game in every possible phase, the Gorethunder Battery is for you! This formation increases the reliability and efficiency of Skull Cannons, and offers a quick far-reaching way to rack up those precious Blood Tithes!
Khorne Daemons got an absolute ton of Battalions, but they weren't the only ones to get some love. Bloodbound were also spoilt. Favourites are back, such as the Brass Stampede, while there are platy of newcomers. Regardless of your sledgehammer unit of choice, there is a Battalion for you! Love Skullreapers, Skulltake will scratch that bloodshedding itch. Dark Feast will give you the satisfaction of flooding the board with Reavers,
Two of my favourite formations in the new book are Bloodforged and Gore Pilgrims.
Bloodforged is probably the bluntest instrument in the Battalion arsenal. Every member of this formation ignores Rend 1, and most importantly, the Wrathmongers share their ability to impose self destructive tendencies upon whoever happens to be standing within earshot.
Gore Pilgrims takes the most fundamental elements of a Bloodbound army, with compulsory Battleline choices, a Bloodsecrator with a significantly increased range on his banner, and the newly empowered Slaughterpriests are far more reliable! I believe this will be a very common sight in Bloodbound armies! I know I'll be using it!
There are so many combos and layers and synergies in this book, that I've really only washed over the most superficial levels of the book! I can't wait to work through several different lists! Things are gonna get bloody…
Thanks for reading!
Gabe
So, before we look at what's new, lets look at whats old.
Bloodreavers went up by 10 points per 10 models to a total of 70. This is pretty reasonable, however, as they also received a 6+ save! While a 6+ is altogether underwhelming, it can benefit from terrain and Mystic Shield (if you're willing to disgrace Khorne by stooping to Sorcery), which is more than they could do before.
Khorgoraths went up 20 points to a total of 100, and remained almost completely the same; except for one small detail. All of their close combat attacks doubled in damage! Suddenly, Khorgoraths went from steaming hot flesh bags of garbage (my personal opinion, of course) to pretty decent beatsticks! One of my favourite things about Khorgoraths is their weight class. There is a sweet spot for combat mashers, who are sturdy enough that they have a solid bank of wounds, but sit just under the threshold of diminishing power, where a model such as a monster gets weaker as they take damage. A Khorgorath can be on full wounds or one wound, but thats not going to stop him forcibly encouraging people to become less… alive.
The third big change is Bloodsecrators. As much as I'm disappointed that this change has happened, it was necessary. Banners no longer stack… Banners now have an aura called Rage of Khorne. This gives you an extra attack and makes you immune to battleshock; an absolute necessity in any self-respecting Bloodbound force. However, where you used to be able to overlap banner auras and give your entire army two or three extra attacks, its now pretty clear that you are either affected by Rage of Khorne or you are not, regardless of how many sources you can receive it from. I was initially pretty disappointed by this, but I know why GW has done it.
Alright, so now that we've got that covered…
Khorne players have now got tons of Artefacts to pick from; 12 for Daemons, 6 for Mortal and Bloodbound, 6 just for Bloodbound and 3 Banners.
I honestly don't see myself ever using the banners. They're useful in their own way, but the only model who can carry them is a Bloodsecrator, and while you want his 18" Banner planted in the ground, nice and stationary, the Artefact banners only have an 8" range… You see my dilemma.
The Daemon artefacts are very solid, with six dedicated weapons designed to perform different methods to the same end; unmitigated slaughter.
The Bloodbound Artefacts are much more varied and versatile. I have a couple of favourites here. Gorecleaver is a neat weapon that adds 1 Rend to one of your weapons, while on a 6 to wound, the damage changes to Mortal Wounds. The Brazen Rune gives the bearer a 2+ against Magic damage, while they can burn the rune to auto-unbind a spell anywhere on the board. This is an incredible Artefact, especially for an army with no wizards of their own. The third one, and probably my favourite, is the Talisman of Burning Blood. The bearer of the Talisman emits an 8" bubble of +1 to Run and Charge for all Khorne units. The more buffs, the better!
Slaughterpriests now get a full set of Prayers to choose from. They are still volatile in their reliability, but the new Prayers are rock solid! There are no auto-takes. Every Prayer has its use! This is no Stormcast army that says "There are prayers other than Lightning Chariot?".
And to top it off, new Command Traits give a whole extra level of tactical flexibility. Whether you want out of sequence charges, auras or to simply up the damage output efficiency of your General.
The beauty of this book is really in the Warscroll Battalions. There are tons, and all of them have the most metal names ever! While some are alright, and one or two are actively counterproductive (Red Headsmen, you could have been the chosen one!), the majority of these are incredibly powerful.
The Murderhost (1 Bloodletter Hero & 3-8 Letters, Hounds, Crushers or Cannons) is a solid choice for Daemon players, with a measly cost of 20 points. This is a steal, and does exactly what Khorne Players want for their armies; accelerating the process of making it to combat and sinking some Hellblades into the vulnerable points in the enemy armour commonly know as faces.
The Council of Blood gives you bulk Bloodthirsters, and makes them bigger, better and angrier!
And if you love the idea of hair-trigger cannons firing non-stop all game in every possible phase, the Gorethunder Battery is for you! This formation increases the reliability and efficiency of Skull Cannons, and offers a quick far-reaching way to rack up those precious Blood Tithes!
Khorne Daemons got an absolute ton of Battalions, but they weren't the only ones to get some love. Bloodbound were also spoilt. Favourites are back, such as the Brass Stampede, while there are platy of newcomers. Regardless of your sledgehammer unit of choice, there is a Battalion for you! Love Skullreapers, Skulltake will scratch that bloodshedding itch. Dark Feast will give you the satisfaction of flooding the board with Reavers,
Two of my favourite formations in the new book are Bloodforged and Gore Pilgrims.
Bloodforged is probably the bluntest instrument in the Battalion arsenal. Every member of this formation ignores Rend 1, and most importantly, the Wrathmongers share their ability to impose self destructive tendencies upon whoever happens to be standing within earshot.
Gore Pilgrims takes the most fundamental elements of a Bloodbound army, with compulsory Battleline choices, a Bloodsecrator with a significantly increased range on his banner, and the newly empowered Slaughterpriests are far more reliable! I believe this will be a very common sight in Bloodbound armies! I know I'll be using it!
There are so many combos and layers and synergies in this book, that I've really only washed over the most superficial levels of the book! I can't wait to work through several different lists! Things are gonna get bloody…
Thanks for reading!
Gabe
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