A Reflection on Tau Fire Warriors

Posted by Phil on May 5, 2013

So once again the Tau march across gaming boards around the globe for the greater good of the galaxy. And, as ever, the Fire Caste are at its vanguard, blazing a path through those that will not join in the Tau’s noble undertaking. At its heart are the Fire Warriors, the front line troopers of every Tau military action in its history of expansion.

I thought rather than review the Fire Warriors I would more reflect on them as it’s tough to review a box of toys that’s 13 – I shit thee not – years old and that I owned 4 boxes of. All those many years ago when I was a Games Workshop member of staff during, what I refer to as, the Golden Age.

I can remember first opening up a box and pulling out the sprues which are, by today’s standards, very sparsely laid out. At the time they were so far removed from anything the Games Workshop had done before it was a very exciting time to be in the hobby, let alone for an 18-year-old member of staff who could get it all at a discount.

Compared to the multipart plastic Space Marines that had been released 2 years before they were actually less sophisticated with arguably less variety. But what they were was different. And sci-fi. They were the first models in the 40k Universe that felt near future and more in line with the future path that I would argue humanity is on rather than the grim darkness of the grim dark Imperium of the grim dark future. Grim. Dark. Whereas the Imperial Guard weren’t much more than the army 30 years ago with sci-fi guns, the segmented armour over fatigues of the Tau is far closer to the armour worn by soldiers the world over and the future armour currently being developed.

The Tau also won fame for their unintentional Pokeball style grenades and scanners that looked suspiciously like the ones from Ghostbusters. But I like to think that it was a homage along with the obvious 90′s Manga influences that inspired the Crisis Suits.

I think for many, the appeal of the Tau has been their weaponry; not just in game terms but their aesthetic. They feel a little bit Star Trek: lots of interlocking panels that look like they’re held together with magnets and the rail guns aren’t too far away from the technology being developed in the present.

The sculpting is now a tad dated. The laziness of the detailing on the legs around armour plates is by recent standards quite poor but I suppose one must consider their age in the same way that most Space Marine players forgive the corners cut on the multipart Space Marine legs.

In game terms the Fire Warriors are one of the best troop choices in the game. If not one of the best units overall in the game.

Aside from benefitting from armour that ignores the AP of every basic weapon in the game, they also get a 30 inch range, strength 5, AP 5 basic weapon of their own. In 6th edition this spells untold misery for any army with low armoured vehicles but it actually makes them as good as Space Marines as they gain on the wound roll what they lose on the to hit roll. And all for 9 points each.

Granted that 4+ armour save isn’t as good but the option of taking a couple of shield drones at 12 points each affords the unit a 2 4+ invulnerables at a spread out cost of an extra 2 points per model for a full unit. So 11 points a model, which is still 5 less than a Space Marine. And a Fire Warrior will get the first volley off which will include crippling the Rhinos Space Marine players will take to try to keep their blokes alive for longer.

Although the Tau army only gives you two choices for troops, as choices go it’s a bloody good one. Yes the helmets and legs look a little tired compared to other models in the range – even ones as old – but they’re still pretty cool. And at 9 points a model for a model that can comfortably put a dent in an armour 10 vehicle it really doesn’t get much better.

Tau Fire Warriors are available from Firestorm Games priced £19.80.

Warhammer 40,000: Relic – A Review

Posted by Phil on April 28, 2013

I’m a reviewing machine! Things have been a bit crazy at Shell Case towers these last few weeks but I’ve managed to find some time to clear down the review backlog. And you know what that means: more reviews to come! Huzzah!

This time it’s the turn of Warhammer 40,000: Relic from Fantasy Flight Games.

As it says right on the box, this romp in the 40k Universe uses the Talisman game system. Nay sayers may comment that it’s a bit of a cheat just to reskin another game, but seeing as Talisman – or at least the version I played last in the mists of time – was bloody fantastic I’m really not bothered. And if it works, why wouldn’t you co-opt the mechanic. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all that.

So what’s in the box? Well Fantasy Flight’s usual forest levelling amounts of card and carboard, a rulebook and some truly awesome playing pieces.

As one would expect from FFG, the production value is exceptionally good. The board is exquisite, as are the cards, counters and character trackers. And the playing pieces have GW casting quality. They all look lovely. Although the little stands are a stupidly tight fit.

However the the cards are really a touch too small. They’re small to save space but that’s only because there’s so many different kinds of cards. Because of this ergonomic design the easiest way of shuffling them is to make a pile and mess them all together. Aside from being annoying, it’ll quickly damage the cards.

And I don’t particularly understand why there’s three Threat decks. Aside from having a stupid – and oft-times misleading – name I question the logic of splitting out the three types of combat as it makes it very easy for players to game to their strengths, actively avoiding the style of combat they’re weakest in and using level ups to augment those attributes having done nothing to hone them.

For example: I used the Ogryn who is the strongest character in the game – yes stronger than the Space Marine – so I simply moved to red threat squares as much as possible to fight strength battles rapidly boosting my stats to the point that within a couple of hours I had maxed out my strength and health stats making me as hard as Ghazghkull Thraka.

I can totally understand why they did it but it has the potential to be abused by any character that has an above average stat in one of the three fields. And because of the point differences in stats the three best characters are the Orgryn, Ratling and Sister of Battle. And some characters turn out to be a bit rubbish. Weirdly the Callidus Assassin being one of them. Granted she has a special rule that gives you extra dice but that’s only really any use against harder targets. In reality she’s gonna get beaten up by the middle of the road enemies a lot.

To be fair, maybe that’s a conscious decision by the writers as part of the fun of Talisman was beating the game with the really shitty characters. But with certain characters not only getting the lion’s share of the cool rules but also having the ability to develop any attributes they want you’d be forgiven for feeling hard done by if you end up with one of the other characters.

Those grumbles aside though, the game works incredibly well. Everything is designed for quick decisions, quick play and quick progression. Which is just as well as the suggested playing time is utter tosh. Lee and I played for three hours and I was just reaching the point where I could attempt the third tier of the board. And that was thanks to so truly jammy missions and level ups on my part to make my Ogryn hench. But to be fair, providing you focus your efforts, you can get your character levelled relatively quickly which does give you quite a sense of achievement until you draw the Keeper of Secrets and it rips your face off.

You progress in Relic by completing missions which range from buying wargear at a specific location to deliberately picking fights with critters harder than you so you. This encourages you to explore the board, acquire equipment and, with it, develop your character and have a blood good chuckle in the process. In exchange for every 3 missions completed you earn Relics – geddit?! – which give your character a significant boost in some way. And only by having Relics are you able to complete the mission card placed in the centre of the board. Although you get to slog your way through a third tier which is just misery. You have to be tooled to the tits to stand any chance of surviving. Although the doom you can bring upon yourself is hilarious in its brutality and reminiscent of the various trials you have to roll for when you get to the middle of the Talisman board.

If I’m honest, the premise is a little flimsy and the volume of cards, counters and special rules you have to contend with meant that during the game we played, we weren’t entirely sure what the point of anything was but we just had to get one with it. Talisman’s objective was the far simpler – albeit less re-playable - goal of killing the dragon. Relic has a range of missions which creates a narrative but the rule book doesn’t really give any indication to that. And considering how excessively wordy it is you’d think they would have found space.

For all that the cards, although small and voluminous, they do serve a strategic purpose, particularly when you consider it’s possible to purchase, as well as find, wargear so augmenting your character is a very possible, and arguable vital, part of the gaming process. Although it does require the trading of influence which isn’t as easy to come by as one would like but it keeps the game balanced.

And encouraging players to level-up and improve their characters with relics and wargear keeps the pace and allows friendly rivalries to evolve between other players. And of course, as you stumble across the big beasties and fail to kill them because you’re too weak and shit, they stay there on the square so the board can quickly fill up with horrors that kick you in the hojos as you pass through. Which, again, can be hilarious for everyone else.

And as some of the cards are required to be placed on specific squares, your opponents can get some nasty surprises. Which is nice. But more than anything, despite Fantasy Flight making the rulebook horribly wooly, it’s a bloody good game. It’s got a nice and simple mechanic which means it’s quick to pick up. 20 minutes after kicking the game off we found our stride and had a huge amount of fun. It isn’t a quick game mind. We had played for 3 hours and still had at least an hour before I would have been in a position to comfortably enter the third tier.

For all my moaning, Relic really is a pretty good game. It’s simple to grasp – despite the iffy rulebook – and therefore simple to play and quick to enjoy. The character progression is nicely done and the character cards and progress trackers are brilliant albeit some of the characters seem a bit broken. It’s also such a pretty game that you’ll take time just to scrutinise the artwork as you land on each square. I’m still not convinced about the three separate Threat decks but it’s not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the game, but it does make the game easier to manipulate.

Relic coin for coin is one of the best board games I’ve played and one of the best value considering it’s a licensed product. It isn’t quick – you’ll need a solid evening or possibly a full day if there’s four of you and a tough mission drawn. But it’s a fun game, it looks great, the playing pieces are awesome and you’ll be with your mates so really I don’t see a problem. And I’m itching to play it again.

Warhammer 40,000 Relic is available from Firestorm Games priced £45.

Codex: Tau Empire – A Review

Posted by Phil on April 24, 2013

It’s that time again boys and girls. So the Tau have had a badly needed shake up and got themselves a couple of new models and a shiny new book for their trouble.

First of all, the cover is absolutely spectacular. It’s quite possibly the coolest we’ve ever seen a crisis suit.

Secondly it’s also the best looking Codex of the new wave. The inlay is made of thicker stock but it’s still a little on the cheap side and the fold out was straight this time, but they’re still a pain in the arse and impossible to keep nice because GW aren’t printing that page on undersized A3. And there’s still bloody typos! It started promisingly enough but the further I got into the book they started cropping up. I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times; it’s really very poor form for Games Workshop to charge what they do and not thoroughly check their work.

But anyway, the book is undeniably beautiful and for the first time ever, interesting. I worked for the Games Workshop when the first Tau Codex came out and I blew my lousy keytimer wage on as much Tau stuff that I possibly could. I was swept up in new army fever and before I knew it I had a 3,500 point army – some of it painted – before I realised that the Tau were just a little bit bland. Fantastic army, but I just couldn’t get excited about them and it wasn’t long before they were at the bottom of my considerable stack of figure cases.

So lack lustre was my interest in Tau that I never got around getting the second iteration of the Codex – and the first to be called Tau Empire. Indications are that I haven’t missed much. This new Codex however feels very well-rounded and cohesive. For the first time I feel like that I understand the Tau, their place in the galaxy and their ambitions. And, more importantly, for the first time ever I give a shit.

It’s hard to explain but it’s just interesting. It’s perhaps down to the writing – shoddy proof reading aside – but it’s a surprisingly engaging background. Normally, being a life long Space Marine player, I get mildly indignant when I read in a non-Imperial Codex of the Imperium getting its arse handed to it. With the Tau it didn’t bother me in the slightest. Maybe it’s because the Tau are all so dead huggy about everything. Or maybe it was written without the usual unconscious bias towards the Imperium that Codices usually have.

That said the whole alien auxiliary thing is still massively wooly and I suspect down played because Games Workshop, despite rumours to the contrary, were not updating or releasing any new alien auxiliary units. Which makes me ask the question: why have them at all? The Kroot are fine albeit an acquired taste but the Vespid are shit, being massively overshadowed by the other units available under Fast Attack. And they’re still the only two units in the army and both lack Supporting Fire which is so incredibly handy you’d be mad not to field Tau units. Although is it me or would human auxiliaries make sense? They could have done a conversion kit to Tau-ify Cadian kits. Again, I suppose not worth the investment especially when customers can just buy a box of guard and a box (or two) of Fire Warriors.

The army list itself has had quite a few tweaks with no real additions other than the Riptide. It’s a beast of a model and can pack quite a wallop but be warned, it’s not as tough a nut to crack as it first appears as there’s about fourteen different ways for it to blow itself up. Mainly through the use of Ion weapons which GW have tried hard to make them worth taking with the overcharge function. Unfortunately it’s just not worth it when the standard firing modes are plenty good enough – basically a turbocharged autocannon – and only against horde armies would the overcharge ever be worth it – assuming you don’t blow your own arm off in the process as they Get Hot. And even then poses just too great a risk for the points investment. But despite all that it’s still immensely cool and I’ll probably have to get one just so I can paint it up as Optimus Prime. Because everyone knows Tau are Autobots and Necrons are Decepticons…

But moving on…

There’s now an abundance of Drones, the Tau Empire taking their lead from iPhone ads that must have only just reached their communication network – co-opting as they have Apple’s ethos so they have a Drone for that. This is by no means a grumble on my part as I love Drones. I had to big units in my army of old as between their twin linked carbine and toughness and initiative of 4 they were not only decent at shooting but not bad in a fight either. The variety is sensible and in line with the Tau’s ever-expanding understanding of technology, with certain drones only being available to certain units to augment what would otherwise be a staggering weakness in the theatre of war.

They may, however, have over egged the pudding slightly with Pathfinders, however, because they’re just sick. Awesomely so if you’re a Tau player but so much so that anyone I meet that doesn’t have at least one unit of Pathfinders in their Tau army I will openly mock. And why? Well, for a start they can take Pulse Accelerator Drones increase the range of any pulse weapons by 6″, boosting the carbine range to 24″ which for a strength 5, AP4, assault 2 weapon with Pinning is utterly horrendous. And all for 15 points for the unit. And that’s not including the drones that the Sha’ui can take. Or drones like the Gravity Wave Drone which can slow down an assaulting unit. And if you’re feeling really flush, chuck Darkstrider in there and all you non-vehicle opponents are at -1 toughness. So Space Marines are suddenly being wounded on 2′s from 24″ away with 20 shots from a full squad, a turn. Anything Toughness 3 gets instant killed. Dreadknights and Wraithlords suddenly aren’t so tough any more. Oh yes, Pathfinders are awesome. And that’s without looking at the other handy-dandy stuff like markerlights, rail rifles – which are awesome – and ion rifles – which are kinda awesome but I prefer rail rifles.

But we can’t have it all ways. The rumour that you could take Crisis suits as troop choices was untrue so gamers will be forced to buy either Fire Warriors which are starting to look a little dated with the shonky detailing on most of the legs, and the fairly inflexible poses, or Kroot which force you into a very specific way of playing. All I can see happening, is gamers buying a single Fire Warrior squad and splitting it into two 6 model units and blowing the rest of their points on the cool shit.

Granted, the Tau army list does encourage a mutually supportive structure but when the main troop choice not only lacks modelling options but load out options as well it’s not all that inspiring and your mind turns to ways of making them all but irrelevant – and with Pathfinders being pimp and all the other units in the game being slightly more awesome than they were in the past it’s not hard. But I suppose it comes down to something I’ve noticed with the all the latest army books and codices; Games Workshop want you to buy as much as possible rather than give you the flexibility within units to do some interesting stuff with a simple conversion. So actually however you choose to collect the army you’re either spending loads on Fire Warriors because there’s not much choice, or buying all the other stuff because you’d rather chew off your own arm than field dozens of the dome headed bastards in your force.

It’s a shame as the Fire Warriors as a unit are awesome, especially with the right use of Drones, Fire Cadre and Devilfish and there’s no denying their combat effectiveness, I just wish the sculpting on the legs was better and the arms not annoying. It’s equally disappointing that the Crisis suit kits weren’t redone but I’m just going to head over to Forge World. Yes it means paying a tenner more per suit but they’re just vastly superior kits.

Codex: Tau Empire is in my opinion the strongest codex to date. Aside from the background being brilliant, the army list reflects it faithfully. The greater emphasis on Drones alongside a more robust feel to the Broadside and the improvements with Pathfinders highlighting the new dangers the Tau face beyond their borders. It’s far too special rule heavy though, literally every unit in the book having something that would make their mothers proud of and it doesn’t always feel necessary. It’s just one more thing that’ll start arguments and slow down play until you learn them all. Some, I admit, are completely justified, others not so much.

To be honest I’m totally sold on the Tau. The variety in the army list allows for some fairly unique armies, beyond the stale core force, and, aside from the awesome design, the flyers in the Tau army feel like the serve a purpose as opposed to the Dark Angels one that felt like a bolt on. Presumably so they wouldn’t feel left out in the cold when Codex: Space Marines comes out in a few weeks time.

It’s not a perfect book, or a perfect army – the characters seem too cheap, the Vespid too dear and the hammerhead way too cheap for its destructive potential and again, the sheer volume of special rules makes my mind leak from my ears but, despite, all that, they’re finally an exciting army with real challenge to forming a force as well as a real challenge to use and face on the board.

Codex: Tau Empire is available from Firestorm Games priced £27 and the Tau range is available from £10.80

Mark of Calth Trailer

Posted by Phil on April 19, 2013

The Mark of Calth is available to pre-order on the Black Library website. And in true GW style there’s a pap trailer to go with it. But the book looks and probably will be awesome so they’re forgiven.

Plastic Crack of Choice

Posted by Phil on April 18, 2013

Another guest post from Chris (@Darth_Crumble) who was inspired by a post from a fellow warmonger on their blog. This time Chris muses on his GW hobby or lack thereof and the path it will take…

This post was inspired by this post by Erin, aka @sixeleven, on the difficulty of fully breaking away from Games Workshop:

SixEleven’s Warhammer 40,000 – I Just Can’t Stop Myself

My experience of trying to make a clean break is similar to Erin’s in that I am also haunted my the lure of the GW despite my better judgement. Like him, I feel the lure of the familiar rules, setting and toys. I started really looking at other game systems just under a year ago and I must admit that precious little has appealed to me the way GW – and 40k in particular – have.

I was briefly fascinated by Firestorm Armada and Dystopian Wars by Spartan Games, but after while I lost interest. I think although Spartan Games have a lot going for them they don’t score well enough on the three branches of background, rules and models to hold my interest. Of the two, I think Dysto has the bigger residual appeal and so far I am opting to keep my Britanian fleet with its HMS Warrior-inspired colour scheme.

Likewise, Warmachine and Hordes don’t quite grab me. Partly because there is no one model range that I like enough to collect an army, as and unfortunately I find a lot of the Warjacks and Warbeasts that are the focus of the games to be the least interesting models to me personally.

The only other game that has really grabbed me recently is Warzone Resurrection by Prodos. This is the first game that has grabbed me the way 40k used to. At least partly this is probably due to their similarities, both being 28mm sci-fi battle games set in a dark future. Though WZR is a very different game, not least because it is a D20 based skirmisdh game. Sadly WZR isn’t released until June though.

A lot of my nostalgia for the grim darkness of the 41st millennium is probably due to my continuing to read Black Library novels. I continue to read the Horus Heresy series, as well as Gaunt’s Ghosts, Ciaphas Cain, Space Marine Battles and one day I might get round to reading the Salamander trilogy. To be honest though, I was already steeped in 40k lore and it would no more cease to be part of my mental landscape than Star Wars, Batman, Transformers, Babylon 5 or any of the other fictional universes which I have enjoyed and have influenced me over the years.

It has been nearly six years since I last played 40k. Since then I have made some abortive attempts to collect and paint up news armies though I have never got as far as rolling any dice in anger. This has had a lot to do with the various distractions and other demands on my time the last six, extremely eventful, years.

The other issue has always been resentment of the cost. The thing about GW being not just the price of individual models, but the number you have to buy. I try not to be too irrational about this. I don’t want to be one of those people who object to a business as acting as such. But the question hanging over any transaction involving GW is whether I will get enough enjoyment to justify the cost. Of course a lot of the answer to that question is actually my responsibility to determine, and relates to how I go about my hobby and make the most of it.

I must acknowledge that GW’s behaviour has been pretty questionable, but there are lots of companies whose behaviour I find questionable but which I haven’t found myself feeling the need to boycott them, so that could just be a convenient excuse. Perhaps it’s just that GW’s brand of evil is a particularly cartoonish one, acting more like a parody of an evil organisation than the real thing.

So I have to ask myself whether I am not going back to GW because I genuinely don’t want to or if I am just being stubborn. Any hypothetical return to GW would involve me identifying an army that I genuinely wanted to collect and paint and play with. It would also need to to commit to collecting sensibly. Not buying so much stuff as to overwhelm myself but not dragging my feet either. It would also require me to not procrastinate and manage my time a bit better. Being a husband and father does make genuine demands on my time, but it can also serve as a convenient excuse to not do things sometimes.

I am of course tempted by the Space Marines, perhaps doing the Salamander or Crimson Fist army I’ve always thought of doing – possibly as #forgeworldonly project. I like the Imperial Guard, but that is genuinely an expensive force to collect and I’m not sure the ‘cheap’ all-veteran armies are actually all that viable. I like some of the shiny new Tau stuff, but I’m disappointed the Crisis Suit has not been updated and I have found Fire Warriors very painter-unfriendly in the past. Any army I do pick would need to have a codex up to date for sixth edition, I’m OCD like that.

Thanks to Erin for inspiring me to get this all of my chest. Maybe some of you other #warmongers have had similar thoughts?

Forge World Open Day Snaps

Posted by Phil on April 7, 2013

No I didn’t go, these are shamelessly ripped off from Bell of Lost Souls. Oh and to all the nay sayers, all the information I’m hearing after the day is that there will be a plastic Thunderhawk. Boom.

Anyway, lots of shiny Horus Heresy stuff, including a completely awesome Thousand Sons dreadnought and the Fellglaive. Which I completely want…

I want this!

Apparently one of these two is Nathaniel Garro. In which case…ka-buy!

Why is the plastic Landspeeder nowhere near this cool?

Horus Heresy – A Review

Posted by Phil on April 6, 2013

Every now and then I come across a game that makes me sit up and pay attention. And every now and then I come across a game that makes me want to cower under my duvet with a bottle of aspirin. Horus Heresy from Fantasy Flight Games kind of does both.

Let me explain; Horus Heresy is a massive, ambitious, complicated, strategic wargame that takes all the elements of Risk, a CCG and Epic and smashes them together in the wargaming equivalent of the Hadron super-collider.

But, first thing’s first, for those that haven’t come across it, Horus Heresy is a strategy board game recreation of the siege of Terra at the climax of the Horus Heresy in all its various stages.

So what’s in the box? Well, unlike Level 7…bloody shit loads and much of it is plastic. The box is also very cleverly designed so it keeps everything nice and tidy even after you’ve punched it all out.

Aside from the massive board you get a rule book, an utterly brilliant scenario book, pre-painted structures, piles of playing pieces, a million counters and decks upon decks of cards. The structures, although painted to a basic standard look pretty good and certainly make the board interesting to look at, if a bit fiddly to set up.

And so begins the list of things that are fiddly and make want to cower at the feet of Fantasty Flight Games and beg them to make it stop. There’s a lot of prep when playing Horus Heresy. Event cards have to be stacked along with order, attack and bombardment decks prepared. And, if you’re feeling cheeky, Hero combat cards as well. Because you get to use Primarchs. And the Emperor. And shit. And yes, you can kill them.

In many ways Horus Heresy is a lot like Risk in so much as there are territories that must be conquered and both sides have armies with which to crush the other with. But the whole thing is just far more involved. For a start, orders are given which dictates the kind of move made and can offer up bonuses. Some are stupidly over powered – one springing to mind that allows you to kill any unit in the contested zone. So you can top a Titan without having to roll a dice. But anyway, depending on how you choose to play that order impacts on the rate at which the initiative track progresses, which in turn dictates who gets/retains the initiative and therefore presses the momentum of their attack. But there is an added bonus for the Imperial player that if the track runs out they win, it representing reinforcements turning up to help the besieged defenders. Which strikes me as open to abuse, albeit at the cost of the lives of your men. But it has been well established that life is cheap in the 41st Millennium. However, the Imperial player rather suffers as members of its Imperial army can turn traitor. This is on top of all the other models the Chaos player gets. So if you’re a jammy bastard like me you’re going to do very well out of it.

Similar to Risk, combats are resolved by attempting to beat one another in waves, although it’s all done with cards rather than dice rolls. And like Risk you keep going until one side is annihilated or withdraws. Where it differs is, however, is that units in Horus Heresy have wounds which means that Space Marines are fucking horrid to go up against unless you’re…a Titan and Imperial Army units go pop more frequently than bubble wrap in a room full of people with ADHD. Which is exactly as it should be. It’s good because it keeps the focus exactly where it should be which is the Legiones Astartes beating the living daylights out of each other. If I’m honest, the Primarchs and the Emperor don’t feel that important in the game despite the pretty power contribution they make in the game, but I think that’s largely to do with it being card based. No fist fulls of dice for you sunny Jim.

That said, because of all the cards, the various ways in which combat can occur, all the back and forth and the ever-changing initiative it’s can feel a bit of a faff. And as combat is pretty much the point that’s not brilliant. That’s not to say that it doesn’t work. It does. Bludgeoningly so and often times victories can have a rather impressive ripple effect. It just takes some getting use to and I think the important thing to remember when playing Horus Heresy is that it is not meant to be a quick or simple game.

When you sit down for a game of this bad boy you’re in it for the day/weekend and tactics have to be considered as a weak point in your line can quickly be exploited thanks to the aforementioned complexity of combat. Shit can get very real, very quickly, and you’ll really wish it hadn’t.

It’s also very important to remember that it’s an incredibly pretty game. The board is awesome, the counters faithfully produced (although the wound counters are a bit naff) and the building inserts are basic but look brilliant when it’s all together. The loyalist playing pieces look cool, the Chaos ones are, as one would expect, the same as the loyalist ones but with spikes. And are therefore a bit disappointing. The rule book is nicely presented and makes sense, which is the first book that I’ve read in a while that gets to make that claim. Just remember it’s a fussy rule set that demands many things of you so you will be reading it through at least twice and then again during your first couple of games.

The campaign book is brilliant. Aside from having well thought out and characterful scenarios which consistently ups the ante until it’s going mental in all directions, it has a fantastic history section at the back which basically gives you the story of events in brief. But it’s very well written and sets you up nicely for the games.

Is Horus Heresy easy? No. Is it perfect? No. Is it a brilliant fun game with legions of Space Marines and Titans stomping about the place with lots of nail-biting tactical decisions to be made? Yes, yes, yes. I’m not going to lie, it’s not for everyone as you have to be patient in understanding the game let alone playing it. But if what you want is something that’ll test you tactically as well as give you an excuse to hang our with your best made all day then you can’t really go far wrong.

Horus Heresy is available from Firestorm Games priced £67.49

Corax: Soulforge Trailer

Posted by Phil on April 2, 2013

Okay, a little late to the party but it looks like there’s another limited edition Horus Hersy novels on its way and this time it’s Corax kicking some serious face. So…may have to get that. Because, you know, Corax…and face kicking…

Plastic Thunderhawk Incoming?

Posted by Phil on March 30, 2013

Regular readers will know that I’ve been in the Wargaming hobby for a long time. 24 years this May as it goes. And one thing that I and everyone from back then lusted after most (as a life long Space Marine fan) is a Thunderhawk gunship. Back then it was metal, cost a fortune, came in an awesome fire branded box, weighed a tonne and had four steel pins that ran the length of the body to stop it from collapsing in on itself.

Regular readers will also know that for two years, ten years ago, I was a GW member of staff in a couple of stores on the South Coast. And back then in what I like to call the Golden Age of Games Workshop or the Age of Enlightenment, there was talk of a plastic Thunderhawk gunship. And when I say talk I mean it was something in active development. we saw photocopies photos of mockups etc. It was a real thing. Ultimately though it turned out to be a pipe dream then as sculpting technology had only progressed so far and it just would have been too expensive. So the fact that there is a shot of a Thunderhawk on the back of the latest White Dwarf that seems a tad too crisp to be resin doesn’t surprise me.

So Games Workshop has been talking about a plastic Thunderhawk for years, and it ties in with the impending re-release of Apocalypse not to mention the leaps GW made in plastic casting (the sprueless technology acquired from Lego being one) means it looks to be legit. Plus Space Marines, and Chaos Space Marines, lack something big and tasty for Apocalypse games that you can get off the shelf. And that Land Raider with all the lascannons doesn’t count. Guard get super heavies, Orks got the Stompa. Sure the Eldar didn’t get anything but they’re all a bunch of hippies so sod em. Nids get numbers, Tau are getting the Riptide and the Necrons are just ridiculous all on their own.

It could just be the Forge World model. It could be a massive wind up. But it could be the dream of every gamer of my age coming true. Granted it’ll cost a million pounds but I’m not sure it’s something the Space Marine players of the world could resist. I know I couldn’t. And as it’d be for my Ultramarines I can get round my ‘no new armies’ policy.

Of course the really interesting thing is that I heard rumours of the Stormbird being produced by Forge World. I can’t help but think that by GW effectively taking over production of the Thunderhawk that this may actually be the case. Better start remortgaging the house…

Forge World Horus Heresy New Releases

Posted by Phil on March 28, 2013

Hold on to your wallets folks, Forge World have released yet more Horus Heresy loveliness…

First up the we have the merry bunch of cyborgs called the Mechanicum Thallax Cohort. £28 for 3.

The Thallaxii are heavily augmented cyborg shock-troops used by the Mechanicum Ordo Reductor, and they differ from the Skitarii regiments both in purpose and the unique degree of their augmetics. The Lorica Thallax was developed from power armour technology and requires a robust human specimen.

The Lorica encloses the major organs, nervous system and cerebrum, but entirely replaces the skeletal structure and limbs with armoured bionics powered by an internal reactor-core. Surgical excision of the subject’s pain sensors, emotions, and normal human sensory apparatus and the agony caused by the Lorica’s implantation, leaves the Thallax a cold, calculating killing machine (albeit one that retains a degree of independent thought).

To some among the Mechanicum, this operation skirts the edge of abomination, yet the baleful Ordo Reductor continue Thallax conversion regardless; using suitable Forge Guard, fallen Skitarii, and other subjects obtained from more mysterious sources.

Next up the Space Marine MKIV Recon Squad. I was pretty sure they used scouts during the Heresy but I guess Legions get the luxury of both. Not that a fully power armoured scout is very subtle… These bad boys are £32 for 5 and the unit leader’s head is shit.

leg-rec-p2

Space Marines experienced in operating independently and behind enemy lines form dedicated Reconnaissance squads within the Legiones Astartes. Equipped with a variety of specialised wargear including long-range sniper weapons, stealth gear, and augmented sensor-auspex devices, Legion Recon Squads function as scouts, gathering intelligence and mapping enemy movements and strengths.

Reconnaissance squads also serve their Legion as pickets, saboteurs, raiders and snipers where needed, striking at high-value targets of opportunity. In open battle, they are expert in sudden flanking manoeuvres and infiltration attacks in support of the main strength of the Legion.

And finally the MKII Breacher Siege Squad. Again, £32 for 5.

Combat that takes place during boarding actions amid the cold void, or into a breached fortification, can prove lethal beyond even the endurance of the Legiones Astartes. For this reason, specialised formations and wargear have been continually developed to better survive these ‘Zones Mortalis’ since the earliest days of the Great Crusade.

The Breacher Siege Squad is one such unit. Clad in augmented power armour based on the Iron pattern and bearing great ablative shields, these squads act as a vanguard in such lethal missions, and are often additionally equipped with powerful breaching charges and lascutters or melta weapons to destroy strongpoints and forge a path for the force’s main strength to follow.