Warhammer 40,000 - New Life ?

Hi all,
Colin here - and after a good hard read of the new codex, I thought I would offer some food for thought ...

The 40K game is struggling. My opinion and that of others. It's latest edition ruleset created some rather uncomfortable views and rules that we just flat out don't like. With the new codexes coming on stream, we also have to recognise that the older codexes are very outclassed. This all takes away from the experience. Coupled with the growing school of thought about increasing GW prices (Dire Avengers - really???) Lots of us aren't playing as much. 

And Bolt Action is REALLY Good .. :)

With the release of the latest Space Marine Codex, there is an opportunity here for GW to pull their train back on track. Most EVERYONE has a space marine army, and this new codex - if it is Grrreattt will bring a lot of us back to the table, and Might - just might bring us back to a semi regular gaming level for WH40K.

So, does it work?

Well - errr for me at least and it seems a lot of people in the internet-geek land ... YES!

It reads really well, it has new fluff and has toned down the Smurf agenda, whilst making them a serious contender for first choice . The rules are modernised and the Chapter Tactics really bring a new feel to the army.

Personally, I have even rewritten my Salamander list - wow :-) And that brings me to my last point.

Their online rulebooks are a seriously good idea for us, we are all moving into a technical age and tablets are becoming two a penny. You can pick up a good Android table for £100 brand new these days. I normally "acquire" static e-books and they work fine. I bought the "enhanced" Space Marine IPAD only e-book and it is REALLY GOOD. Each army list entry for example contains the special rules AND their explanation in the section. Touch Zealot for example and you are given the rules - Fearless and Hatred, AND their full explanation. Cant remember the stats of the graviton gun - one touch and hey presto. Want to skim the entire psychic powers list - no problem.  Lovely, Lovely.  It was a flawed launch as they tried to launch an "Army Builder" - which fizzled badly and they have pulled the book temporarily to fix that - roflstomp :)

Still the new enhanced codexes are really , really good - BUT £35 for a book without paper?? Seriously GW?  This is what mature programming costs??

Hmf , still miffed :)

Cheers - hope this generated food for thought.

Skewiff.

Wargames Illustrated Special 300th Edition

Hi All,

This October see's the 25th Anniversary of the launch of Wargames Illustrated, this also is the 300th Edition. Massive bumper issue with over 280 pages of Wargaming material.

The theme for this issue is 'Last Stands & Against All Odds', they have chosen both dramatic and period non-specific articles ranging from Ancient, Medieval, Horse & Musket, Colonial, American Civil War to WW2 and modern.

The other article that the club may be interested in is Battlefront Minatures has an article on the new 'Open Fire' Box Set due for release in Late October, which is awesome, as the new plastics are great.

Cheers

Baz Team Gambit

Bolt Action

Hi All,

Just to keep you updated, on the current Pre Order from Bolt Action, they have the German Army Book up on pre-order at £14.99, if you place an order with Warlord you will also get a  exclusive free minature of Otto Skorzeny.

Another bonus to anybody interested in taking up the 28mm Wargame Bolt Action is that Warlord are currently offering a 20% discount on Bolt Action products, if you use the Voucher Code 'wartorn'.  Not sure how long this will last, so take yourself over to their website for further details of there products.

Thanks

Baz Team Gambit

Bolt Action

Hi All,

Just to keep you informed of the new Game by Warlord and Osprey 'Bolt Action', some games have been play tested by some of our members and their reaction and lists are below for you to look at.

game 1 down - 700pts - demolition scenario - drawn on objectives and drawn on vp's but an epic scrap that went too and fro for 7 turns - very impressed early doors - now on to game 2...........

game 2 completed - 700 pts - annihilation scenario - drawn on objectives and drawn on vp's again - once again the fighting swung both ways and Dave nearly had the game at the start of turn 3 - game ended on turn 6 but if it had carried on I was up against it - you really are never out of these games though............. one huge lesson for all - flame throwers are devasting to both friend and foe! :S

game 3 completed - 700 pts - hold until relieved scenario - victory to Dave win on objectives and vp's - bombed by my own planes and then raped by a flamethrower team (again!) my infantry just couldn't claw it back despite a valiant assault from my CO who took down the jerry CO as a final act of spite - not enough though the Brits got battered! :(

Lists from the 3rd game of Bolt Action playtesting:

Dave - Waffen SS: 700pts

2nd Lt - Vet with 1 extra man
1 Vet squad 10 strong with rifles
1 Vet squad 8 strong with 2 LMG's
1 Vet squad 7 strong with 5 assault rifles
1 Vet MG42 MMG
1 Vet Medium Mortar
1 Vet Sniper
1 Vet Flamethrower

Phil - Commando's: 700pts

2nd Lt - Vet with 2 extra men
1 Vet squad 7 strong with 5 SMG's
1 Vet squad 7 strong with 5 SMG's
1 Vet squad 7 strong with 5 SMG's
1 Vet Vickers MMG
1 Vet Sniper
1 Vet Flamethrower
1 Vet Foward Air Observer
1 Reg Forward Arty Observer (Brit Freebee)

we've had a few lists and only had access to infantry as yet with squad composition being a source of hot debate............

one thing we both agree on - once the pin markers start to stack the vets pay for themselves in a real hurry

oh and that arty and air support are probably to be viewed as a gimmick at best - in 3 games 3 times they have wrecked the side using them! lol!

Take a look at the minatures over at Warlord Games

Cheers

Team Gambit

Hobby updates

Hi all, Pete here again with some hobby thoughts and updates on current projects.

Every time I walk past the figure cabinet in the hallway, I check out the ranks of undercoated roman legionaries waiting for some attention. I picked these up middle of last year and they are cracking figures, produced by Warlord Games. Typically for me, I got as far as painting the centurion in good time, then moved onto the next project. I'm really keen to give these a bit more attention in the near future.


At the same time as buying the romans I also ordered the Kings of War undead horde from Mantic. I hooked these out of the cupboard and examined the frames again several nights ago. I'd dismissed these when I first heard about the range, but after checking out the stand at Salute last year and receiving a demo sprue in the mail, I thought I'd take the plunge. No idea when i'll actually get round to sticking 'em together, but they really are good models. Only little gripe is no transfers for shields; the kits come with stickers instead. But, for 50+ pieces for £30, they're awesome value, and you can easily paint the shields. The mantic range (currently Dwards, Abyssal (Chaos) Dwarves, Elves and Undead) is expanding soon with a line of Orcs, and the shots of the development pieces look top notch. Next time you're near Kids Dreams in Portslade, head in and check out the Kings of War range.
Speaking of unfinished projects, currently modified and undercoated is my Sopwith Camel for Wings of War (WW1). Olly and I agreed we'd buy and mod planes for our club night games. I'm on a bit of a painting kick at the moment, so maybe this week... pics to follow.

I've just put down my brushes after working on John's Necromunda Ratskins gang for most of the day. These are coming along really quickly (by my standards at least) and within a week, they've been assembled and converted in places, based, and painted up to the first wash stage. This is the milestone I aim for as it starts to tie the blocked-in base colours together and give a bit of depth to the figures. I must admit, I wouldn't normally go for figures like these, not just because of the 90+% metal phobia (see previous posts!) but because the figures are absolutely jammed with details. I tend to paint figures that offer mini paint-breaks; that is, there are areas on the piece that are just flat surfaces in between the details sections, but these have been an interesting experience so far.
On the Tyranid front, the army is mostly built - (the starting line-up, that is), although I have three figures that generate extra models as the games go on (two Tervigons and the Parasite of Mortrex) so I need to make an amount of extra pieces that aren't accounted for in the list. I need to make a concerted effort this week to get the four Shrikes put together, then the list is done. I've converted up a few more 'Ripper swarms' that represent the Inquisitor's guard platoon and managed to capture the 'Sarge is acting strangely' rule rather nicely, I think...

As an aside, I spent a bit of time last week on the KR Multicase website, sorting out transport for this lot. I've been using these cases for a number of years and can't rate them highly enough. The guy who set up the company is a packaging expert years of experience and this certainly shows through in the design of these cases. For the Tyranids, I'll need to go for the quad-size case with a combination of around a dozen trays that will accomodate all the pieces in the army, plus inevitable colour-coded dice, as well as my Wings' plane, Magic decks, Necromunda gang, Mordheim warband with a few slots left for cowboys or pirates. It's a club-day's worth in a box.

Lastly, but by no means leastly, I've been working out a new Mirran faction-aligned Magic' deck. I've butchered my old green and artefact decks to come up with something which has potential. It's needs a couple of tweaks as 2 wins in 6 games isn't a great start. It all centres around Genesis Wave (courtesy of my wife Kelly xx) and a heap of mana to empty chunks of my library onto the battlefield in one swoop. This effectively self-mills, but hopefully strikes with enough punch on the following turn to win the game. There must be a way of dealing with all those beardy phyrexian-aligned infect decks out there and i'm determined to crack it!

Well, until next time, catch you later!

Pete of team Gambit.

ps, two mythic rares (inc one foil) in one booster... does it get any better?