"brick". it's not just the name of a character from "anchorman".

first, space marine players got this:

then they got this:

now they're getting this:

which has the same aerodynamic properties as this:

and really reminds me of this:

yo joe. 

thunderhawk image property of forgeworld

stormraven image property of games workshop

stormtalon drawing image courtesy of beastsofwar.com

stormtalon wd images courtesy of eldargal on the BOLS forums.

thunderhawk hurr image property of xenite (credit or ask permission, bitches!)

skyhawk image is taken from yojoe.com and is probably originally property of hasbro

 

man-o-... what? it's not? dreadwhat? are you f'n kidding me?

blood angel brother deino by laundryhamper

two years ago, gw rereleased it's standalone big box game space hulk. initally, i was rabidly opposed to the idea. my list of pros and cons were as follows:

pros:

• gorgeous models
• re-release of a great rules mechanic with only the slightest of tweeks to the system to make it even more playable.

cons:

• card components. with all the advances that gw has made to its plastic terrain i was hoping for some cool plastic modular hulk corridors as and rooms and the fact that it didn't seriously irked me
• cost
• splash release with no pre-release play or demo opportunities. 

while the cons didn't outweigh the pros significantly, i felt the lack of demos and pre-release game opportunity was gw simply assuming that they could produce any sort of drivel and sell it to the rabid masses. in fact, when i worked at the u.s. hq in glen burnie, there was a running joke that gw could put a pile of dogshit in a 40k or fantasy box and hobbyists would buy it. 

don't believe me? have you seen the original range of dark eldar? 

in the end, space hulk did pay off for gw and completely sold out. despite my initial protests I did, indeed, purchase a copy, and today an unopened copy of space hulk can sell for more than twice as much on ebay. 

all-in-all it was a good gamble for gw. so good they're gonna do it again...

image property of games workshop

only this time it's something different. according to rumor, this isn't a rerelease of man-o-war, but a completely new game, and like space hulk "this product has been produced in limited qualities and is only available while stocks last - make sure you get it quick..." 

from the gw press releases, i like the way the models look, but gw has consistently produced amazing models. my biggest question is: how does it play? there's a slickly produced video with phil kelly and his sideburns showing the contents and highlighting the play, but i can't justify dropping $115 on a game i can't play/demo first.

i could continue to rant about how i feel about dreadfleet, but duke's inferno does a much better job.

electralux in the 41st millennium?

the advance orders for the blood angel stormraven gunship went live today.

as far as i'm concerned the jury is still out on this one.  personally, i think it looks like someone added wings to a vacuum cleaner, but blocky is the style for space marines.

 

regardless, gw is getting really good at these second wave releases.

now if only they could perfect their pricing...

+edit/update+

thanks to xenite for his link to this image:

which correctly identifies the aerodynamic inspiration for pretty much all space marine vehicles.  of course, any suitably inebriated rocket scientist will inform you that even a brick will fly provided you strap enough engines to it...


all images property of games workshop except for that last one which is all xenite, baby!

is that a space hulk in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

i didn't go to gencon.  everyone of my friends rave about how awesome it was.  it's kinda annoying really, but i'll probably wind up going next year.  even though all the footage online show huge lines of fat bastards wheezing over copies of games that no one else can buy yet.

and i can only image the magnitude of gamer funk and steampunk costume desperation...

but one good thing did come of it.  i had a friend (thanks mike!) pick up a copy of fantasy flight games' death angel.

the game is a cooperative endeavor for 1 to 6 players, who take on the role of imperial space marines tasked with clearing a xenos infestation from the space hulk sin of damnation.

folks familiar with the games workshop property that inspired this little silverline game will know all about marines versus genestealers (or 'stealers).  for the rest of you, imagine this:  space men fight nasty aliens in a derelict ship.  sold yet?  you should be.

i tried two solo games today, and i have to admit it's a helluva challenge and a lot of fun!

here are my thoughts broken down:

pros:

• small and portable like the rest of the silverline.  great quality in the printing of the cards and all components.  as usual. 
• nice length of game (about an hour to play)
• gets the environment of space hulk right.  great atmosphere, art, and very tense gameplay.  unlike the board game, the card game has location cards that are marked to illustrate areas where 'stealers are more likely to appear than others, but this doesn't reduce the amount of tension, and as you start to lose marines, it really does become harder and harder to manage your fire lanes and kill the 'stealers before they eat your face.
• simple gameplay that is pretty straightforward and easy once you learn the way the cards work.
• a nice cooperative mechanic that allows for a variety of choices for actions that are resolved in a particular order.  fail to be a good team member, and you could be killing not only yourself, but the rest of the squad as well. 
• nice variety between the various marines allowing a team that is good at shooting and close combat. 

cons:

• the rules booklet.  the layout is awkward and requires some flipping back and forth in the booklet to get a grip on the way the various cards work within the rule system.
• would like to have either a small zip top bag or tuck box for the components included. 
• would like the marines have more than a 50% chance of killing something when attacking.  imperial space marines are genetically engineered killing machines.  i would probably suggest having the kill pip (a skull) on 4 of the 6 faces (taking it to 66%) of the die.  to compensate for this the blip piles could contain more 'stealers and each location could "spawn" an additional 'stealer during the event phase.    

overall, it's a lot of fun, and definitely worth your hard earned gaming dollar!

"in the quiet words of the virgin mary... come again?"

when someone told me the cost of the new warhammer fantasy eighth edition rulebook, my first reaction was the quote above.  

my next reaction was that $74.25 must be the cost for the uber-cool collectors edition.  eventually i realized that games workshop truly intended to sell it's basic warhammer rulebook for $75.   

i felt that if gw were going to attempt to separate me from my hard earned cash, it would only be fair if i blogged about the event and what i thought about it.  

so here are my initial thoughts: heavy (literally and figuratively), nice quality (amazing color throughout and great paper), monolithic, good rule updates, and speeds up the game.

i read through the rules and gained an appreciation for the changes throughout, but the question “is this worth $75?" remained.

as a conscientious  consumer and hobbyist, i have to consider my budget; especially in this economy. 

to be fair, contemplating the worth of games workshop products can be a effort in futility.  after all, the company seems to price its product according to the unit’s worth in the game as opposed to the actual cost of the product produced. 

is there any other way to explain how a 10 model bestigor herd ($41.25 and 92 pieces in the box)...

...costs 60% more than a 10 model gor herd ($24.75 and 74 pieces in the box)?  

need more evidence?  fine.  the bestigor box costs 60% more than the 10 model ungor herd that costs $24.75 and contains 98 pieces.  

some readers may feel the compunction to defend gw’s pricing practices and this is your right.  i've heard it all.  it's a luxury hobby, i can play other games, i don't have to play with the new rules, etc.  

but before you blindly and blithely ride to the defense of gw's pricing consider the following:

the typical vendor discount on gw product is about 40% of the retail price; meaning that you pay $74.25 (plus tax) for the rulebook while your friendly local game store pays about $45.  this pricing structure is one that  gw has had in place for a long time, and ensures that the company can realize a profit while selling the rulebook at $45 each. 

food for thought.

the other problem i have with the rulebook is that out of the 512 pages i only need about 150 of them.  meaning that i'd be using only about $23 of my rulebook's worth

so i’ve come to the conclusion that the warhammer fantasy rulebook is not worth $75.  you’ll be better served by shopping the internet and finding a better deal for it. 

all images property of games workshop

Furioso Update

been doing some painting on the furioso dreadnoughts.  as you can see i got the second one built, and most of the effort has been in priming and washing with some basecoating and blockcoloring. 

i used the army painter red spray primer to start with, and after achieving a nice even coat, i let it dry and cure for about 24 to 36 hours.  after that i applied a 50/50 wash of games workshop's badab black and devlan mud.

once the wash was dry i began working the red with vallejo's blood red.  the metal is a base of vallejo's tinny tin.  the front armor plates and the legs are tinny tin with a thinner than usual coat of gunmetal over it (i like the depth that thin layers of metallics create).  the blood talons are mordian blue.

more work forthcoming soon!  please feel free to comment and if you've got questions, i've got answers.

furioso dreadnought

one of the really scary things in the new (2010) blood angel codex is the furioso dreadnought.  so i've decided to add two of them to the force.  here are some early assembly snapshots of the first of them...

 

 
as you can see, i've added a lot of extra bitz and gubbins to the new venerable dreadnought chassis.  i've always felt that a marine's armor should be a shrine to himself and his chapter.  i can see a dreadnought being a shrine to the chapter and the imperium. 

the piece i like best is the set of blood talons that i picked up from paulson games.  well cast, easy to clean, and nicely detailed, they are a breeze to fit onto the model. 

i'll add more content as i continue to progress on this dreadnought and the other.