Sunday, February 27, 2011

Mantic Games Skeletons vs Games Workshop Skeletons

Opening and taking a look inside the Undead Army box set from Mantic Games for their Kings of War game.



Pros of Mantic Games version:

  • Sturdy and easy to assemble. 2 or 3 pieces as opposed to the pain in the butt it is to assemble a tiny tiny 6 piece GW skeleton

  • Thick heavy bases so mini's doesn't fall over easy

  • Good price for the amount of figures. While not as detailed you get a ton of stuff in the undead army box


Cons of Mantic Games version:

  • May not be enough of the same type of weapons to make a full regiment for Warhammer Fantasy rules (all spears, or all hand weapons etc etc)

  • Detail not as sharp

  • GW Skeletons allow you to customize every part of the pose from arms, heads, legs to waist


Pictures for comparison:





Saturday, February 26, 2011

Battletech...at last

Last summer at GenCon Indy I was all pumped to get the 25th anniversary boxed set edition of Battletech in its re-release but low and behold it was not out it. I saw a mock up and pre press version. The one I wanted, with all the miniatures, was not yet ready.

Now Catalyst Games has finally announced that March 30th the edition will be available and that it is shipping to warehouses now. This is not a light release either it is packed full of awesome Battletech goodness:

The BattleTech 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set thrusts you onto the battlefields of the 31st century. This box contains everything needed to play:


  • 24 unpainted, ready-to-play plastic BattleMech minis



  • 2 unpainted, premium-quality plastic BattleMech minis



  • One 12-page full-color quick-start rulebook will have players into the action in minutes



  • 36-page book of pre-generated BattleMech Record Sheets



  • One 80-page full-color rulebook



  • Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56-page full-color book of universe



  • background and BattleMech technical data





  • One 16-page full-color Painting and Tactics Guide



  • Two heavy-duty cards of compiled tables



  • Two 18? x 24? game-board quality maps



You can find out all about it at the official site:

http://battletech.catalystgamelabs.com/2011/02/26/25th-introductory-box-set-street-date-also-available-for-pre-order/



 

Fantasy Flight releases 40k Chaos RPG

Titled Black Crusade, Fantasy Flight games removed the wrapper from the project yesterday.
Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Black Crusade, the fourth standalone RPG in our popular Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay line! This remarkable experience offers players a new perspective on the conflict between the Imperium of Man and the forces of Chaos by delivering the unprecedented opportunity to play as a Disciple of the Dark Gods, whether as a Chaos Space Marine or a human Servant of Chaos.

Looks like the tables are turned in this edition and you get to play some bad guys. Or are they bad guys? Your call.

The full website is here

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=154&esem=1

Friday, February 25, 2011

Progression of a Skaven Warlord

About to finish up painting this little guy. Was a lot of fun and the details were easy to pick out.











Blunt Force Gamer Podcast Episode 5 is now available

This week we discuss how our games went last week in both Fantasy and 40k, we talk a little ramming and pursuit into fleeing units, gloss over trivia, introduce the blog of the week and stump ourselves over exactly what games Bioware has made.



Links featured in this podcast:

Phoenix Games Orlando

http://www.phoenixgames.us

Kevin's Miniatures and Hobby Table Blog

http://mageknightkevin.blogspot.com

Blood Angels missions for 40K:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=6900023a

Sturmtruppen WW2 Miniatures rules:

http://bluntforcegamer.com/forum/index.php?topic=41.0

You can click below to listen or subscribe via I-Tunes!

All of our back episodes are also located here: http://bluntforcegamer.podomatic.com

As always see our social media links in the upper right area of our blog to subscribe to us!

I-Tunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blunt-force-gamer-podcast/id407973995

Escalation League tonight at Phoenix Games!



Once again, as Friday looms over us I will be over at Phoenix Games at the escalation league. I fully expect to have my ass handed to me. But I will have fun while it happens. Go Go Terrible Dice rolls! In any case, come play with us if you are in the area! Had a great showing last week and looking forward to one this week as well.

Necrons: Can I say I told you so?

After all the great announcements I have heard as of late. It looks like there are going to be some new Necron models out around July/August.! Now granted this is mostly hearsay, so ease up on the wild accusations and finger pointing, but the boys over at Beasts of War are generally spot on. Here is an exerpt of the article and a link to the full one.

 
Word is reaching us that the Necron range (or at least parts of) is being run down now (i.e. not available to the independant stockists) which can mean only one thing… expect Necrons in about 6 months!!!

So, we could be looking at a July/August release for your favourite army of unstoppable death machines?

A couple of tidbits that we received:

The Obvious

  • We’ll be back is definitely gone (Feel no Pain has took over)

  • We’re hearing that Gauss weapons are rending (which makes sense and will please Darrell no end)

  • There will be a ton of Psychic powers listed as ‘Tech Upgrades’


The more ‘out there’ stuff that we have trouble believing

  • There will be a more ornate vehicle (maybe monolith?) with moulded glyphs

  • The feel of the range has been re-skinned to make it less ‘Terminator’

  • Spyders have been redone

  • We hear they are getting a reboot on the scale to rival the Dark Eldar!


We’re not hearing that its gonna take the same ‘feel’ as Forgeworld’s Tomb Stalker, apparently it was created and released completely independantly of the core design team. This seems a little bit like disinformation – but knowing GW I would not be entirely surprised.

 

And here is the link to the full article.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Warhammer game three: Skaven versus the High Elves

I switched roles Wednesday night and played what will be my main army after several tests which is the Skaven. I got together with an old buddy at the GW Battle Bunker and we battled it out in a small learning game that surprisingly had a lot of tense moments. One thing I like about Warhammer Fantasy is that in small points, even though your champions and magic won't be that great, you still can have a very fun game.


We played 750 points and I took two 30 clanrat blocks, a warlord, and a 19 model unit of Stormvermin. On the side I had a warpfire thrower weapon team and a level 1 warlock engineer with a warplock pistol.


Our magic was limited to just one spell a piece but that made it easy to get the flow of the game. On the opposite side I was faced with a pointy eared force of 10 swordmasters, some archers, a bolt thrower and a solid block of elf warriors as well as a level 1 mage.




 

This time we actually used deployment and while at first I was not happy with my setup a few factors and things I did paid off. First off the warlock engineer I had I kept out of the unit so he could skulk around and get spells off from cover and use terrain to his advantage. I didn't want his mobility hampered by being in a unit. I put my warlord in the Stormvermin unit and that unit had a +1 combat resolution banner.

The second thing I did was hold my big combat unit in back and let the blocks of clanrats eat arrows and missile fire as I bore down on the elves. The Stormvermin did not get into combat though as fast as I wanted and really did not make an impact until turn 5.

By the end of turn 4 I had the battle under control but was being threatened by my opponent's last unit which had broken and cut down my clanrats on my left. The time for decisions had come. I could either get the Stormvermin into combat with  a miraculous 15 inch charge or turn to take the brunt of the spearman attack.

I also had a unit of clanrats left on my right. I had to get those archers he had at the back of the table off the board since they were picking me apart. Meanwhile on the right my warlock and warpfire thrower had managed to take down the bolt thrower.

My opponent lost his mage in turn 2 with a double 6 roll followed by a Dimensional Cascade. Since then I had had free reign on the magic turn and my little Rat Caster was running around zapping everything with lightening.

As turn 5 started I faced my fate and decided to DOUBLE CHARGE the archers with the clanrats and the stormvermin. This got me away from the spearman and allowed me to possible wail on the archers before it was over. His stand and shoot was nearly ineffective and I rolled high enough on both charges to clear the over 1 foot I needed!


My attack worked and the archers broke and fled off the board, as did my stormvermin in the pursuit. In turn 6 my warpfire thrower laid a full template on the spearman killing 8 and they broke and that was that. The battle was over and the Skaven were victorious! I cant wait to build more and get this army fulling rolling...and use a warp grinder to make some tunnels!

 

Flames of War Vietnam and new bases for WW2

Battlefront has been busy lately and today we got wind of their Vietnam full release with a book as well as some new sculpted bases for their WW2 range.

You can read all about it on their hobby page here: http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=2462
Last year in Wargames Illustrated we tried something new and let a charge of enthusiasm for an exciting period, led by Pete, culminate in our first attempt at adapting the Flames Of War mechanics to other periods. The result was a wonderful success and with so many people getting excited about both the idea and the period we realised that it could not simply be a one-off. What we have decided to do is bring you Vietnam part II this April with a following instalment each year. The rolling plan has us adding to the forces, models and how it can be played. This has made us realise that Flames Of War Vietnam has become our second period and it will receive ongoing support.



Their new WW2 bases are pre sculpted and setup to reflect certain theatres of war. Also they have PRE ARRANGED SLOTS for the figures to fit into. ABOUT TIME. The worst thing about Flames of War is making the bases and uses that freakin spackle crap.



 

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Rats!

Just a quick post today.

I used a quick method to paint these. Primed Army Painter Leather Brown. Did the Flesh in Vallejo Light Brown (929) the green in Vallejo Intermediate Green (891) and then the Purple rags in Reaper Colors Amethyst Purple. The metal was Vallejo Gun Metal Grey. The brown shield was GW Scorched Brown. Washed the whole thing in thick wash of Badab Black. Then if I want I may go back and highlight later. Eyes are GW Blood Red, the teeth are GW Bleached Bone.Some metal bits I picked out with GW Mithril Silver when I was done. I also used Vallejo Bronze on some shields. Clanrats take gear from a huge pile of scavenged goods so I don't want things to look too much the same.

I have a ton of Vallejo paints because I like the dropper bottles and I used to play Flames of War. So I switch between many of them and Games Workshop paints.

And that was it.

One model I did not paint the flesh and left it the primer color but he came out too dark. However not all rats are created equal and he will just be the low man on the Rat Totem Pole.





Monday, February 21, 2011

Second Warhammer test game: High Elves vs Dark Elves

Yesterday was a 1000 point test game against my friend Paul's Dark elves. We didn't use the deployment rules at all and just slapped units down and duked it out as I taught him the majority of the game. I forgot less rules than I did the last time but also learned quite a few as well.

One of the complicated rules we had happen was a unit fleeing and then the pursuing foe going into a fresh block of enemy troops.

I also learned about Dark Elf magic as he dropped a Black Horror spell on my block of archers. Needless to say almost all of them died and they ended up fleeing. I did a good deal of damage to his Sorceress's block and almost killed them all. I had picked Lore of Light to test that deck out and to see how it played out. I used buffs and banishment the best I could but got Timewarp which was a spell I wish I had traded in for as I never used it. I dropped the noble and the Battle Standard I had in the first game I did and used those points to boost up my Swordmaster unit and they did quite well. My Elyrian Cavalry was charged by Cold One Knights and obliterated on turn 3. Mental note: don't let that happen again. Ever. I have some Dragon Princes of Caledor but need to get them assembled.

[caption id="attachment_3837" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Black Horror is bad mmmkay?"][/caption]

Next up for me Wednesday night is another game where I am teaching yet another new guy how to play. This time only 750 points High Elves vs Skaven. Since it is after work and we have limited time we wanted the points low and fast.

Pictured below: my Swordmasters take a charge from Executioners and Corsairs. However both my units are buffed by my Mage.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

First Warhammer Fantasy Battle not one for the record books

Well my first 1000 point battle for Warhammer Fantasy was played out Saturday at the Chicago Battle Bunker and while it was fun it was also quite the learning experience for a player formerly versed in just Warhammer 40k. First off to lead in my opponent (Jonny P from Zlurpcast) and I  were only playing a 1000 point battle with no deployment and just a straight up meeting engagement type mission.

What we decided to do since it was our very first game was simply plop the units down across from each other on the board (in deployment zones) let him have the first turn with his Beastmen and then just have at it. What we learned was a lot about hand to hand combat, the magic phase and tooling a list properly.

I brought some simple core units and one special unit along with a level 3 Archmage and a Noble with a Battle Standard Bearer that granted +1 movement. That was my first waste of points. I was not ready for the immense speed at which units now cross the table and get into the nitty gritty of it. I had Sword Masters of Hoeth and spearmen also.

As you can see below 1000 points does not buy a lot of troops for High Elves:





With that in mind I also had a few blunders. Mainly remembering key features of my army. For example for some weird reason I forgot that Swordmasters have two attacks. I also forgot that the special rule "always strikes first" allows them to reroll misses. With those features gone they got handed a lot of losses in turn 2 when combat was engaged. On the left side of the board my Archmage did quite well early on and so did my archers widdling down a 30 plus block of beastman to 15 or so before they got in close.



My Archmage took High Magic and ended up with Shield of Saphery, Fury of Khaine and flames of the Phoenix. I used Flames to set a beastman unit on fire and peppered my opponent with Fury of Khaine when I could and then my archers got off several shots that hit the mark. Still though moving, long range and cover can add up and I wasted a turn taking poor shots where I needed 6+ to hit.

My main problem was forgetting how awesome Swordmasters were on the right flank and they soon broke and fled due to my forgetting their attacks and such. Lesson learned I guess make sure to double check everything. I even had a printed roster too and totally missed that.

The end came quickly once the beastmen got within charge range and buffed themselves up with Primal Fury and the like. A learning game is a learning and this was certainly that.



Overall it was a fun battle even though we stumbled through the rules and had a lot of questions about saves and reforms and banner bonuses and the like. If I had to do it all over again I would drop the magic standard at 1000 points. And oh yeah....I would buy my noble armor....

I will redo my list and tighten it up a bit now that I know what to expect.

There were a lot of fantasy players out and about including a sweet Empire Army:

Wulfsmod for Squad Battles Modern War

Iron Wulf is back and he has posted a small graphical enhancement for John Tiller's Squad Battles Modern War. You can read all about it on the Iron Wulf Mod Site:

http://tfe4.wordpress.com/graphics-and-sound-mods/modern-war
Well for Blitz SQB members or any SQB player looking for an enhancement to the stock graphics in modern war check out a version 1 of my humble lil graphics mod! This is not a total conversion or anything drastic like that.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Come Play 40k with Darryl Tonight

I, (Darryl) am going to be playing in a Warhammer 40k Escalation league tonight at Phoenix Games in Orlando, Fl. If you want to join the league or even watch as I get myself completely owned, come on in. Games are at 750 points tonight and we are starting (around) 6pm (EST). I will also be doing mini-interviews and battle reports on as many games as I can muster at a time. Depending on how quickly I get wiped off the board more or less.

In anycase, I look forward to seeing everyone there, and even if no one reads this and comes in, just know: I will be there.

Unpacking the Citadel Realm of Battle gameboard

The Citadel Realm of Battle Gameboard is a first for Games Workshop. Composed of six 2'x2' modular tiles, the Gameboard can be built in a number of ways, broken down between games and kept safe and sound inside its own canvas storage bag. Here I open the bag for the first time and show everyone what the panels look like and the storage.

Terminator Tactics by BoW

Another quick great video from the guys down at Beasts of War, specifically Darrell. Hey, I like his name. In anycase, in this video Darrell gets down and dirty with how he uses his terminators. Great way to think, and a very nice strategy as well agaisnt foes who cannot frag assault into terrain. Watch the video, comment, and let Darrell know what you think! I personally don't use any terminators in my current army list. However, when my leagues point values go up, they are one of my first considerations.

As a side note, Beasts of War also has great videos involving painting and warmachine. Go on over there and check them out.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

More info on the Grey Knights!

Well, not really so much more info, but a few more rumors / corrections on rumors / what have you. In any case, the boys down at Blood of Kittens have a wonderful post on a few rumor pullbacks. I've been reading them for awhile now and so should you. As a side note, they will also be at Adeptacon, so go say hey. Here is a quick excerpt of the post and the link so that you may go forth and read the rest as well.
So I been getting a flurry of emails from folks wanting to know what is up with some of the rumors being floated around of late. Anyway I am here to put down the law on a few of them.

  • Nemesis Ward Staff can be only bought for one Grey Knight per squad. So that means only one will be able to take one of those mean wounds.

  • Unlike reported before by me and others GKT do not get Storms Shields (with very few exceptions). That means you are stuck with sucky +5 invul saves on termies. What you do get instead is all nemesis force weapons grant a +1 to all invul saves in assault. That means +4 saves in close combat.

  • A full man unit of Paladins average around 600-800 for 10 of them. So don’t expect to spam many of them.

  • Add to that the Paladin Captain that makes them troops is the most expensive model in the codex over the cost of a Land Raider.

  • Sadly the Dread Knight MC thingy cannot be put in a Stormraven.

  • The worst change that I hinted at back when I first reported the rumors last year. The whole Teleporting Grey Knight once per game thing is for the Grey Knight squads in the Fast Attack slot. That means those guys and the Stormraven are your only FA choices in the entire codex. Normal GKs will not be able to teleport in the game.


These changes should put some doubt in the hopes or fears that the Grey Knights are super broken.

Link to the full the article: http://bloodofkittens.com/blog/2011/02/17/network-news-grey-knight-rumor-pullback

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Episode 4 of the Blunt Force podcast is now live!

In this episode we finally get our segments out there and introduce a little organization to the podcast at last!

About as organized as two hyped up miniature gaming players, each new to the respective systems they are playing, can be!

In this episode we talk about the huge news week surrounding Grey Knights, Tomb Kings and Orcs. We then move on to some modeling information and how far Darryl has advanced his Blood Angels army. After that it is into the new segment the Playbook where we cover Storm Ravens and Skaven Hellpit Abominations. After that more trivia and a weekly wrap up with shout outs!

Links featured in this podcast:

Phoenix Games Orlando

http://www.phoenixgames.us

IWFB.org

http://www.iwfb.org

Zlurpcast.com

http://zlurpcast.com/

Realm of Battle Board Blunt Force Unpacking video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6vOgRfiJ_k

You can click below to listen or subscribe via I-Tunes!

All of our back episodes are also located here: http://bluntforcegamer.podomatic.com



As always see our social media links in the upper right area of our blog to subscribe to us!

I-Tunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blunt-force-gamer-podcast/id407973995

Software helps with miniature gaming battle reports also

Not just computer wargames rely on a good type of design and editing software to make After Action Reports jump to life. Many miniature game players have been experimenting and using a software title called Battle Chronicler and putting it to good use.

http://www.battlechronicler.com/index.html



From the website:
Battle Chronicler aims to make it quick and easy to produce great looking battle reports that other gamers will want to read. Using the latest developments in Windows technology Battle Chronicler delivers fantastic graphics and a ultra modern user interface.

So if you are miniatures wargamer looking to enhance your hobby with some cool software then you have come to the right place.

Put to use the software can indeed make for impressive battle reports as seen at the link below:

http://companyofthedamned.blogspot.com/2010/10/revenge-battle-report-oct-27th-great.html

Monday, February 14, 2011

GW teases Fantasy players with Valentine's Day surprise: Tomb Kings in May

Dubbing the day "Valentomb's Day" GW has released a torrent of hints and sneal peeks revolving around Tomb Kings today.

Of course people will start to go crazy but GW has released just two very close up shots of some models and a long article which leads me to believe there will be a major reveal coming up.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=14300091a

All the hype is centering around these images:

Your guess is as good as mine folks.





The images were accompanied with some text as well:
The armies of the Tomb Kings are vast, unstoppable hordes that know neither fear nor remorse - and they shall not rest until all who stand against them are laid low.

This May Warhammer: Tomb Kings is released, containing everything you need to use the legions of Nehekhara in your games of Warhammer.

Alongside the new book we'll also be releases a slew of amazing new miniatures for Tomb Kings players to collect and add to their armies. Details are being kept firmly under wraps for now, but more details will be available over the coming months. To make sure you're the first to see the new models and read the latest news keep your eyes fixed to the pages of White Dwarf, the Games Workshop newsletter and the What's New Today blog.

In the meantime, if you're a Tomb Kings player (or thinking about becoming one) it's time to start building up your Undead hordes in preparation for the new arrivals. So, out with the large drybrush (and the pot of Bleached Bone) and onwards to glory!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Baal Predator: A Step by Step Painting and Assemblage Guide (Part 1)

If anyone has any shadow of a doubt that I am a Blood Angels fan, let this be squashed now. Here is some quick background information on this post. I am a relatively new player to the 40k universe and am playing in my local hobby stores escalation league, (Hobby Store: Phoenix Games) on Friday nights at around 6PM. Also, I tend to be a perfectionist, especially with painting. Most parts I have painting individually before assembling.

The paints that I am using for this are as follows:

  • Boltgun Metal

  • Codex Grey

  • Spacewolf Grey (As a highlight)

  • Chainmail

  • Scab Red

  • Red Gore

  • Blood Red

  • Blazing Orange

  • Goblin Green

  • Scorpion Green

  • Skull White

  • Hawk Turquoise

  • Bleached Bone

  • Burnished Gold

  • Shining Gold

  • Chaos Black

  • P3 Armor Wash

  • P3 Flesh Wash

  • White and Black primer


That is a pretty exhaustive list. If you are just trying to pump out a predator, rhino, whatever you can skip some of the colors and go for a more basic quick paint that you can come back to as you have time and desire to make the model pop even more.

A quick note about my priming style for vehicles: I tend to let the primer crowd in certain areas so that when it dries it has a cracked appearance to it. Not only does this make the vehicle look weathered, but it allows me to not have to put “battle damage,” everywhere in order to maintain a used look. Also, I dry brush for vehicles. Especially if I want a weathered quickly painted get back into the action type look. When I do a Tau or Eldar vehicle I tend to paint more with an airbrush and more uniformly. You’ll see this when I bust out with a Stormraven in a few months.

To start, I always leave tracks on the sprue to paint for tanks. It makes it easier to manage, little bits don’t go flying everywhere and it is just as easy to clip them off and give them a quick touch up with chaos black. In fact, this technique works very well for parts that are very small and easy to touch up. Although to be fair, I do sometimes cut out other smaller parts to make sure I get a full primer on it. Especially if that part has to hold a good amount of paint or is a very visible part of the model. Following the tracks, I remove the chassis and side walls prime them up with white primer and get them set to paint.

Grey Knights in April

It was announced back in January that Grey Knights would be returning to the 40k universe in April with a new codex and some plastic miniatures. I once thought that it would herald my return to Warhammer 40k but after what I saw yesterday at the Bunker while watching a bunch of Fantasy games being played I know that I will be too involved with that system to ever go back to 40k. The tactics and the way the game plays suits a former rank and file miniature player like myself. That is not to say that later on this year I wouldn't mind checking out what the Grey Knights have had done to them after the hype dies down but right now 40k is a huge afterthought in my miniature gaming.

I enjoyed my gaming time in 40k and I love the lore but I just have had enough of the miniatures game. Blunt Force Gamer podcast co-host Darryl has made great strides in his Blood Angels army this week and will have more news from the 40k aspect as we go on. For now I have plenty of work ahead of me with Bloodbowl and Fantasy.

View some leaked pics here:

http://heresy-online.net/forums/showpost.php?p=874803#post874803

In case you missed it here is the Grey Knight announcement:
As the Emperor prepared for his final confrontation with the traitor Horus, he granted one final gift to Mankind, a safeguard and protection against the horrors of the Warp - the Grey Knights. A brotherhood of warriors as elite as they are secretive, the Grey Knights are a shining line of silvered steel that stands between humanity and the Daemons of Chaos.

Trained as the mightiest paragons of mental fortitude and martial discipline in the Imperium, the Grey Knights maintain a vigilant watch for daemonic incursion, responding wrathfully against the scions of the Dark Gods, and those who dally with them.

Clad in baroque Terminator armour and wielding powerful weapons such as storm bolters and Nemesis force weapons, the Grey Knights tear through the enemy, unleashing an onslaught of psychic powers and sorcery to sunder the foe.

The Grey Knights are an unstoppable force, the manifestation of the Emperor's will, valiant warriors who willingly sacrifice their own humanity so that Mankind itself can endure.

This April Games Workshop releases Codex: Grey Knights, alongside a comprehensive range of fantastically detailed Citadel miniatures. Although details are being kept firmly under wraps for now, you can expect an exciting selection of plastic kits to enable you to build your own Grey Knights army.

Over the coming weeks we'll be releasing more details both here on the Games Workshop website and also in the pages of White Dwarf - to ensure you're the first to get the news, make sure you subscribe to the Games Workshop newsletter and keep an eye on the What's New Today blog.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The GW Realm of Battle Board

A lot of talk went around the web when this monstrosity was introduced:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=&pIndex=4&aId=10100005&multiPageMode=true&start=5

Plastic Legions has a good write up on this board here

http://plasticlegions.blogspot.com/2009/02/citadel-realm-of-battle-finished.html

For that price of $290 (USA) it should be the best thing since sliced bread. However if I add up all the tables I have built or ruined in my 15 plus years of miniature gaming and the money I have wasted because I had to move and trash my huge table I realize if I had something like this back then my troubles would have been solved.

I am not the best hobby artist. Anything I could paint on this table to make it look great would be basecoats and a lot of drybrushing. I am not even that keen on flocking it. Storing it would be no problem and the occasional twice a month game I would have means that getting it out and using it would not be a momentous problem. Since it is durable, modular to allow smaller games, and easy storable this table was a no brainer for me. Also it appears my car has gotten smaller over the years and hauling pieces of wood from Home Depot is not an option. I can walk right into the Chicago Battle Bunker and get this table so I think I will. It allows me the freedom to have a couple of buddies over when I want to game in peace and it gives me a massive project to undertake in the spring once it warms up around here.

I will keep everyone up to date on my progress should I go ahead and pull the trigger on this purchase.



Thursday, February 10, 2011

John Tiller Software announces feedback results

A while back John Tiller asked his gamers to provide him with feedback on what they would like to see in his wargames.

You can read about that here: http://bluntforcegamer.com/?p=3500

Those results have finally been posted over on the main page of his website:

http://johntillersoftware.com

In a quick summary here is a breakdown of the post:
We were very pleased with the response to our survey both in number of submissions and the quality of your ideas. It was also gratifying to see such a good overlap between games we want to develop, or are currently developing, and games you want to play. Your specific survey responses are being shared with the scenario designers. Here is a summary of what you told us you are interested in:

  • Panzer Campaigns - Probably the biggest response area. You suggested over twenty five new games in this series you are interested in seeing.

  • Civil War Battles - Suggestions were along the lines of addressing the remaining major battles and adding some new features to complete the series

  • Napoleonic Battles - You identified about seven battles needed to complete the series with Leipzig and the Peninsula being the major ones

  • Squad Battles - Another big response area. You suggested about fourteen new games in this series of interest to you.

  • Modern Campaigns - Plenty of responses here, totalling around eleven different game ideas.

  • Strategic War - Completing the World War II in Europe series is definitely a priority here plus I'm working on several new implementations of the game engine in other eras.

  • Panzer Battles - A new series with no specific games announced yet, but lots and lots of interest in this.

  • Early American Wars - The suggestions were to expand the series concept to include all kinds of different small scale wars from around the world.

  • Musket and Pike - You definitely want more games in this series with a total of twelve games being suggested.

  • First World War Campaigns - This series has started off with a bang and you want more games in all of the First World War theaters.

  • Naval Campaigns - You had about ten new game ideas for this series that would greatly expand its scope.


  • Modern Air Power - Your suggestions for this series cover both historical and hypothetical future air combat.

  • Wednesday, February 9, 2011

    Games Workshop announces new Fantasy Orc and Goblins line

    Along with the new line introduction which includes a wicked cool spider being ridden by goblins they have announced a new hard cover army book. Hold on to your wallets though as the new army book gives GW a reason to raise the price on it to a heft 37 dollars. It clocks in at 112 pages however and is in full color.

    Details on the new book are here:

    http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440004a&prodId=prod1120031a

    Tuesday, February 8, 2011

    Blunt Force Gamer Podcast Episode 3 is now LIVE!

    This episode represents a new beginning for the podcast which was previously going to be just myself going solo. This episode I welcome back my old host from the Banstick Podcast days Darryl and we cover what direction we will taking the audio portion of this blog.

    Included in this fun filled episode are the following topics:

    • How Darryl got started in miniature gaming

    • We talk PC Bloodbowl, a little Dawn of War 2

    • What our local gaming stores in Chicago and Orlando do for us

    • We have a short segment on Army Builder

    • We announce our trivia and even have a poll up for which faction Darryl should buy for Warmachine!


    As always you can subscribe to us on I-Tunes here:

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blunt-force-gamer-podcast/id407973995

    Also you can check out our many many podcast links and events on our brand spanking new message boards here:

    http://bluntforcegamer.com/forum/index.php?board=5.0

    Website links mentioned in this episode:

    GW Battle Bunker Chicago: http://gwchicagobunker.com

    Bloodbowl Tactics: http://bbtactics.com

    Adepticon (Illinois Miniature Gaming Convention) http://www.adepticon.org

    Sci Fi City Orlando: http://www.sci-fi-city.com/orlando.htm

    Phoenix Games Orlando: http://www.phoenixgames.us

    Map Mods releases massive updates for all Panzer Campaign titles

    Map Mods website, the site that hosts files to modify maps and counters for some HPS Sims titles, has updated their content for Sicily '43 and France '14. I don't personally play these games in the 2D view but the Map Mods are still very slick for a total interface overhaul so check them out!

    Along with that ALL MODS for each Panzer Campaign game have been updated for the following reasons:

    • New and sharper, as in 'less blurry', unit counters.

    • A change that applies to PzC titles only: Switched colors between the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe unit counters. Wehrmacht is now grey and Luftwaffe is light blue.


    Go to the official site to pick up your new downloads and modify your Panzer Campaign titles!

    http://www.hist-sdc.com/MapMod/index.htm

    ALSO as if that was not enough Map Mods for the recently released John Tiller Software title Kharkov '43 have been released.

    Quite a busy few weeks over at the Map Mods site!

    Saturday, February 5, 2011

    Warhammer High Elves underway and some podcast notes

    Get ready this post has LOTS OF LINKS. Follow them all for more information.

    Taking a slight break from wargaming this month to kick start my miniatures addiction again so here are some starting photos of my assembly and pre painting of the High Elf army I am building.

    The game in question is of course Warhammer Fantasy Battles. While I am doing this my buddy and soon to be podcast co host Daryl has started a Warhammer 40,000 army and collection. He lives in Florida so we hope to cover the genre from two different states.

    This is not our first miniature gaming coverage. If you check out our YouTube channel you will see we were all over Adepticon last year as well as GenCon 2010. I won't be going back to GenCon this year electing instead to check out Chicago's comic book shows and Wizard World.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R5VAJVRvHE Adepticon 2010 Part 1

    Yes that is right. I said PODCAST. The Blunt Force Gamer podcast is already up here at this I-Tunes page and at this Pod O Matic site however those two were simply tests before we expand our show.

    Along with wargaming news the podcast will cover our hobby attempts. This is to be further developed later down the line. We hope to have episode three up sometime this month once we iron everything out!





    Thursday, February 3, 2011

    Organizing

    Taking months off from miniature gaming took a toll on my paints and my tidy setup. Gone was my painting light, long deceased in a moving accident, as well as many colors of paints that had plain dried up and become useless.

    I decided, before my influx of Warhammer Fantasy Stuff arrived in the mail, to drag everything out and reorganize my paints. I also found a new light nice and cheap at a local hobby store. I ended up finding a ton of Valejo paints, Citadel paints, all my brushes and the various utensils one collects when modeling. Below are pictures of my salvaged lot: