Being Someone Else, with a Magelock Pistol!

In a bit of a departure from the normal wargaming stuff, I have a bit of new reading material in the form of a belated Christmas present, the Iron Kingdom Roleplay Game Core Rulebook.

A review is probably in order.

But first an admission. I do not do roleplay games anymore, and I haven’t for a very long time. This is largely due to time limitations but also because I much prefer the arty side of miniature gaming. This said, my roleplay credentials, while a bit out of date, are extensive; including Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, Mechwarrior, Torg and many others.

Codex Tau Empire

It only took four days to get here from Blightly, but I now have a copy of the new Tau Empire codex in my paws, and you know what? I’m impressed.

Firstly the bad stuff. No getting away from it, it is expensive at £30. Actually, here it is really expensive at almost £40 with the current exchange rate. In fairness it is 40 pages longer than the previous codex, it is in full colour, and it is a gorgeous hardback book; however it seems pricey as an entrance point to an army because you need the codex.

Of course, I would (and have) happily spent this on this book because it is very very shiny, however I wonder if Games Workshop are setting the bar a bit high for new and younger players to get into the hobby.

For the Greater Dwarf

It has been a while, but the new Tau Empire Codex is finally on the horizon. Actually given Games Workshop’s annoying policy of dropping new releases with no warning the third Tau book actually hits stores next weekend.

This have given me an excuse to purchase my first copy of White Dwarf in a very long time, because I wanted to look at all the pretty pictures of new toys and I have been meaning to look at the ‘new look’ White Dwarf for a while.

Oh, and they pull a huge picture of the new Riptide battlesuit on the cover. Did I mention the new shiny toys?

Bigger Shoulder Pads are Better

Welcome to part two of my Hyperion diary. Last time I talked about its rules and my first impressions. This time, it’s time to assemble the beastie.

It has to be said, this isn’t the biggest or most complex kit I’ve assembled. I have built a lot of Games Workshop and quite few Forgeworld vehicles. As a rule, injection moulded plastic kits tend to have a lot more parts, and resin tend to need lots more work.

Steamroller 2013

Earlier last year I posted some of thoughts regarding the 2013 version Warmachine/Hordes tournament format, Steamroller. Now the full version is published and I’ve now played it, I get to share my experiences of Steamroller in general, and Steamroller 2013 in particular.

Steamroller is only the beginning…

One of the most interesting developments in Steamroller this year the fact Privateer Press have split the format four ways. The base point is the standard Steamroller pack. This is a more highly polished version of the pack from previous years, complete with variants so you can tweak the format.

Poddy Casting

Earlier in the year I did a review of a few podcasts I was listening to. Well, it is about time that got updated because I have been listening to two other Warmachine/Hordes podcasts quite a lot since then.

Elite Cadre

The Warmachine podcast that doesn’t take itself too seriously according to the tag line. Elite Cadre is recorded by some regular tournament goers in the Birmingham area of the United Kingdom, and is very English. As such, it is a great taste of home and English humour, which is something I occasionally miss over here.

Amongst all the community features and general madness, the guys also have a section entitled ‘Spelling it Out’ where they analyse one particular warnoun and share their wisdom…

After a year, the Elite Cadre are running a professionally produced and highly entertaining podcast. Highly recommended! However, moving on…

Steamroller 2013

One of the changes moving between muppets and SPIF last year, was the the introduction (to me at least) of the Steamroller rules (linky here).

When I left the UK Warmachine was still very much a new thing at my local club and we were still getting our heads around the basic rules. The guys are SPIF on the other hand, are veterans; and I think the whole Steamroller format is much more prevalent in the Swedish meta.

Anyway, this means pretty much every Warmachine game I’ve played in the last twelve months has used a Steamroller scenario. And as a general rule, I suck at them.

To Infinity, and beyond!

175 years into the future. Humanity has extended through various star systems.

Science advances, economy proposes and all appears to be going reasonably well…

…yeah, like anyone is going to believe that!

I’ve been banging on about Infinity here and there for a good while now, so it is way past time that I put my money where my mouth is. Conveniently, Max at club decided his Farrow needed to fund some more piggies so I managed to pickup both the Infinity main rulebook and the Human Sphere expansion at a bit of a bargain price.

First Impressions

Both of books are hardback at run to over 200 pages of full colour goodness. All of the artwork and the look and feel of the books are very anime. The first half of the main rulebook and two-thirds of Human Sphere is backstory, setting up the Infinity universe.

There is still Only War!

Like many other Warhammer 40000 players, I picked up the 6th edition rulebook yesterday. So, it’s obviously a good opportunity to add my own mad thoughts to the chorus of reviews elsewhere on the interweb.

First impressions

OK, I’m obviously getting old because I don’t mind the hefty price tag, but I do rather wish this new rulebook was a lot lighter. As it is, this is about forty percent bigger than the previous version, and by all accounts, about a hundred pages longer than it needs to be.

We all know the baby version of the rulebook will be in the box set later in the year, but guys, it’s HUGE!

We’re DOOMED!

My copy of Imperial Armour 11: The Doom of Mymeara finally arrived in the post yesterday. I’ve always been a big eldar fan so I was really looking forward to this book, despite the fact that like all Imperial Armour books, it is a little pricy (just over £48 with shipping).

However, on the plus side, as a book, it is something hobby related that doesn’t need to be painted! Well, that’s my justification anyway…

First Impressions

I already own several Imperial Armour books, including IA3: The Taros Campaign and I have really enjoyed them in the past. The Doom of Mymeara is a little lighter than IA3, however I have to say I am very very impressed with the production values compared to the old books.

To start with, it is almost all colour, even the black and white bits (if that makes sense), and the artwork is absolutely top notch. A big thumbs up here!

It is also a very substantial book; not quite as heavy as the Taros Campaign, but it feels like £40 worth of glossy gaming book. This is very promising…