You can’t eat plastic

As the holiday time is fast approaching us it is not a surprise that Games Workshop is gearing up for the season. I am not really amazed at what I saw in the Advanced Order section of the web site but in this current period of financial distress I am not sure who is going to plunk down $515 for these boxes. 

The Dwarven Defenders box looks interesting and its not a bad group of figures (unlike the recent Marine Spearhead) but be aware that its over $500.

This set contains 142 finely-detailed miniatures, including: 24 multi-part plastic Dwarf Warriors (including a full command group), 32 multi-part plastic Thunderers/Quarrellers (including a full command group), two multi-part plastic Cannon/Ogryn Gun, one metal Flame Cannon, one metal Gyrocopter, two metal Bolt Throwers, 20 metal Slayers (including a full command group), 20 metal Hammerers (including a full command group), 20 metal Longbeards (including a full command group), one metal Master Engineer with Handgun, one metal Dwarf Lord on Oath Stone, one metal Standard Bearer, one metal Daemon Slayer, one metal Runelord with great Weapon and one metal Dragon Slayer.

Two more armies will be available on November 1st, a Vampire Count and High Elf army box. The Host of the Von Carsteins box is going to set you back almost $400  while the Defenders of Ulthuan will be $370.00. Now if you happen to have that much cash laying about and plan on playing any of these armies anyway its a good deal. You do as usual you do same some money buying in bulk.

Still with gas at $3.50 and food prices on the rise I couldn’t see dropping that amount of cash this holiday season.

Warriors of Chaos Advance!

Games Workshop advance orders now list some Chaos Warriors goodness.  The Spearhead is going to set you back $271.00 but if they are you thing they are usually very god deals.

This box set contains: one 128-page Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos, 10 multi-part plastic Chaos Warhounds, five multi-part plastic Marauder Horsemen, five multi-part plastic Chaos Knights, five metal Warriors of Chaos Chosen Command, five metal Warriors of Chaos Chosen, one metal Khorne Lord on Juggernaught, one metal Nurgle Chaos Sorcerer, one metal Chaos Lord On Daemonic Mount, one metal Wulfric the Wanderer, one metal Sigvald the Magnificient and one metal Khorne Chaos Champion.

Also on the list to be released on Oct 18th
Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount
Nurgle Chaos Sorcerer
Khorne Chaos Champion
Chaos Marauder Horsemen
Chaos Warhounds
Chaos Knights
Chaos Ogre Mutant
Chaos Ogre Standard Bearer
Chaos Ogre Musician

WAR what you going to do about it?

I thought that I might bring my Blood Elf to at least 70th level before I stopped playing but it didnt happen. I couldnt get into it really and I imagine that I am just burned out (at least 2-3 years in playing) from playing World of Warcraft. I thought that maybe I would switch to Warhammer Online.

I actually started another game which I will get to but so far I have heard a mix bag from Warhammer. It is a shame they needed to blow this one out the door. From my group I have heard issues of horrible stuttering frame rates, lack of any real content and server slowness but still for the most part they have been happy with the game. One of the largest complaints, which I am not too surprised is the long lines to actually play the game

One negative the new (and old!) player will find is the queuing on servers – upon running up the game client, a list of servers is displayed. If you are brand new, and have no guild alliance, I would suggest you select a server which has no numbers in the indicator saying its population levels (note that Order often is less populated than Destruction side). Queues of 300+ players waiting to get into a full server is not unknown in the evenings, with times to play going over 1 hours at times.

As much as I like the Games Workshop games I think I am going to wait. I am not a huge fan of PvP but if you’re a fan Warhammer Online is the game for you.

Now with my World of Warcraft account canceled (my to the dismay of my kids) I picked up Lord of the Rings Online. I will say that I am very impressed. The graphics are the best Ihave seen in a while and the content of course is excellent. I mean “they have a cave troll!” Soloing isn’t difficult except for a few quests that you need to join a Fellowship.

I can say that for the most part with Warcraft I never joined a group. In LOTR I joined a Fellowship the first night I played. People are very friendly and willing to help. What I do like is content is mixed so it is not uncommon to see high level characters in the area around Bree. Unfortunately in Warcraft the only time you see high level players is when they are going to gank you because they are bored.

What is exciting is that throughout the game you are part of the Lord of the Rings story line. As you progress you help Frodo and company. I have so far helped out Strider (who was waiting for the hobbits to arrive in the Prancing Pony) and met Gandalf. I entered the Great Borrows last night with a pretty large Fellowship made of mid 20ish characters. We had to drop one player because he kept pulling everything, but once we settled in no Borrow Wight or Spider stood in out way. That is until we ran into a large room with lots and lots of Wights. After most of us were incapacitated we called it a night.

Fun game, look forward to progressing . Right now the new Volume of LOTR is in Beta, “Moria”

Games Workshop Modular tables

I have been a fan of modular tables for some time especially if it is easy to move around. I have a large WWI trench set that I use for many 15mm fights. Games Workshop is now coming out with their own modular tables. Selling for $175 you get 6 2×2 modular boards. You can mix and match them as well. Look for them in your local Games Workshop store in the next few months.

 

Games Day UK 2008 – Space Marine Rhino

The THQ Blood Raven Rhino made an appearence at the latest Games Workshop Games Day. Some great photos showing the second wave of miniatures, more plastic Orks and more.

http://web.me.com/james.clay/GamesDay_2008/Photographs/Photographs.html

Chaos Mortals Rumors and Updates

More Chaos Mortals chewy goodness. As it is supposed to be released in November we should see the new book make an appearence in the newest White Dwarf soon. Reading over various rumors the following has been compiled, thanks to Warseer and the rest for the rumors. OK here we go…

New models in the first wave
- Plastic Chaos Knights (5)
- Plastic Marauder Horsemen (5)
- Plastic Warhounds (10)
- Metal Chosen Warriors with great weapons

- Metal Chaos Lord of Khorne on Jugger
- Metal Chaos Lord of Khorne on foot
- Metal Chaos Lord on Chaos Steed
- Metal Chaos Sorcerer of Nurgle
- Wulfric the Wanderer
- Sigvald the Magnificent

Coming up in febuary:
- Plastic Daemon Prince(!)

Spearhead box contains 36 minis and the army book:
-5 Knights
-5 Marauder Horsemen
-10 Warhounds
-10 Chosen
-6 metal characters

Battalion box is rumoured to contain:
-12 Warriors
-20 Marauders
-5 Marauder Horsemen
-10 Warhounds

Army special rule
All units in the army can re-roll failed PANIC tests.

Mark of Khorne
Frenzy

Mark of Nurgle
attacking models get a penalty of -1 WS and BS

Mark of Slaanesh
Immune to Psychology

Mark of Tzeentch
- 6+ Ward save (or +1 to your Ward save if you have one already)
- Wizards also gain a +1 bonus to cast spells
Chaos Gifts
Additonal points a character can spend very much like Vampire Powers work
Eye of the Gods
There is apparently a table of chaos rewards that characters and units can get to roll on before or during the game.

2: Gain Stupidity (no extra effect if you have it already)
3-6: various boosts
7: No effect
8-10: various boosts
11: Gain Fear
11: Gain Terror
12: Stubborn and 4+ Ward save
Duplicate boosts are re-rolled. Effects last for the rest of the battle.
Chaos Magic
There will be separate lores for the mortal followers of Chaos, they will not use the Daemon lores from the Daemon book.

Lore of Slaanesh
-Not changed much from the Hordes of Chaos list

Lore of Tzeentch
#6 Unknown name, cast on 15+. Does 2D6 hits at 2D6 Strength. On an 11 or 12 for Strength the unit (and any characters in it) is removed

Lore of Nurgle
No details

Lords

Chaos Lord
- some new metal models (a generic one on steed and a couple of Khornate ones)
- heaps of options
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Sorcerer Lord
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Daemon Prince
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Heroes

Exalted Hero
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Sorcerer
- new metal model for a Sorcerer of Nurgle
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Character mounts
- Chaos steed
- Daemonic Steed
- Juggernaut of Khorne
- Steed of Slaanesh
- Disk of Tzeentch
- Palanquin of Nurgle
- Manticore
- Chaos Dragon – takes up extra Hero choice
Core units

Chaos Warriors
- the boxed set stays the same for the moment, but there is a new direct order upgrade frame
- all units get Chaos armour, not just Chosen
- normal Warriors get 2 Attacks (but are still “only” WS5)
- 1 point more than in the old book (for a much better stat line)
- presumably all units can get a magic standard
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Marauders
- presumably the boxed set stays the same for the moment
- base cost 1 pt cheaper (not known if they get any more equipment as standard)
- can get Marks of Chaos

Marauder Horsemen
- new plastic set of 5 models
- can get Marks of Chaos
- can re-roll pursuit rolls if they wish

Warhounds
- new plastic boxed set of 10 models
- only unit that does not count towards the minimum number of Core units in the army
- can buy scaly skin and/or poisoned attacks
- can’t get Marks of Chaos
Special units

Chosen Warriors
- now a separate entry
- Weapon Skill 6, otherwise similar to Warriors
- start the game with a roll on the Eye of the Gods table (sort of like Possessed in 40K)
- new set of metal models with great weapons
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Chaos Knights
- new plastic boxed set of 5 models
- 40 pts each, with stats equivalent to old Chosen Knights (i.e. 2 attacks, and chaos armour), though base S is now 4
- units start with magical weapons that also give them +1 Strength (i.e. 5 total) and may swap these for (non-magical) lances
- cause Fear
- there is no longer any Chosen knights, though normal knights get nastier since they (like the new Warriiors) have the profile of 6th edition Chosen
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Chaos Chariot
- new plastic boxed set at some point
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Forsaken Warriors
- apparently a unit of Chaos Warriors that are on their way to getting a bit too many mutations for their own good
- Frenzied
- Movement 6, but Weapon skill 4
- D3+1 attacks, including the bonus for Frenzy
- heavy armour only and no weapons (so no additional hand weapons, as was rumoured)
- Otherwise quite similar to Warriors, and only slightly more expensive.
- They are human-sized guys and come on standard 25 mm square bases. They don’t skirmish.
- can’t get Marks of Chaos

Chaos Ogres
- Get Chaos Armour
- Can be given Marks of Chaos

Chaos Trolls
- base cost 10 points cheaper, but back to 3 attacks
- If they regenerate 2 or more wounds in the same phase they get a roll on the Eye of the Gods table
- can’t get Marks of Chaos

Dragon Ogres
- now get command options
- can’t get Marks of Chaos
Rare units

Chaos Giant
- can be given Marks of Chaos

Hellcannon
- only take up 1 Rare choice
- can’t get Marks of Chaos

Spawn
- still 1-2 per Rare
- Marks have supposedly changed a bit

Shaggoth
- better stat line for essentially the same cost
- only take up a single Rare choice
- can’t get Marks of Chaos

Chaos Warshrine
- Similar to the VC Corpse Cart in that it is on a chariot base, but moves and fights like a monster.
- In the shooting phase, can give any unit within 12″ a roll on the Eye of the Gods table
- lets champions gain rolls on the Eye of the Gods table if they kill enemies in challenges
- can be given Marks of Chaos
Special characters

Archaon
- 685 pts
- Mount of the Apocalypse lets him ignore difficult terrain
- there is only 1 version and he is still on his mount.

Galrauch

Valkia the Bloody (female khornate Daemon Prince)

Kolek Suneater (Shaggoth)
- second-oldest Shaggoth
- Strength 8 with 6 attacks and a weapon that does D3 wounds
- several 8s for stats
- can call down a special lightning attack (details unknown)
- attracts lightning spells cast within 12″ of him

Sigvald (Slaaneshi Chaos Lord)
-has a mirror shield and can suffer from Stupidity due to looking at himself in it

Wulfrik the Wanderer (Undivided Marauder Hero)
- captain of a magical ship called the Seafang which he said around in. It basically allows him and a unit of Marauders to enter the battle from any table edge, similar to how Dwarf Miners work.

Throk, The Troll King (Troll Hero)
- WS5 S6 T5 W4 A5
- 175 pts
- makes Chaos Trolls a Core unit, even if he’s not the army General
- all monstrous units (Ogres, Trolls, Dragon Ogres, Warhounds, Monsters) can use his Ld (of 8), even if he is not the general AND they can also re-roll break tests
- his vomit attack (called Copious Vomit) does D6 hits at S6 and can also be used as a one-shot S5 breath weapon that also ignores armour saves

Scyla (Khornate Spawn)
- an old special characer from 5th edition
- re-release of existing model
- upgrade for a Spawn, but treated as a character

Vilitch the Curseling (Tzeentch Sorcerer Lord)

Festus the Leechlord (Nurgle Sorcerer)

Warriors of Chaos Spearhead on the Way

With the new Chaos Warriors army book on the way Games Workshop has released the Warriors of Chaos Spearhead. Looks like we are going to see new plastic kits for Chaos hounds, Chaos Marauder Horsemen, and Chaos Knights along with a number of new metal models.

Spearhead box contains 36 minis and the army book:
-5 Knights
-5 Marauder Horsemen
-10 Warhounds
-10 Chosen
-6 metal characters (Khorne Lord on foot & Jugger, generic Lord on steed, Nurgle Sorcerer, Sigvald the Magnificent and Wulfric the Wanderer)

 

What I am looking forward is the new Chaos Prince model that is to be released in plastic. I will need one if not two for my Chaos Marine army so I am looking forward to its release. I hope the new rules live up to everyones expectations…..

Las Vegas Fantasy GT Results

Here are the results of the Las Vegas Fantasy GT

Total Players: 92

The Top 20

A. Spiers – High Elves
C. Addison – Dark Elves
T. Van Dyke – Daemons of Chaos
M. Lewandowski – Daemons of Chaos
L. Horn – Dark Elves
E. Vigil – Vampire Counts
D. Bowman – Daemons of Chaos
R. Felix – Vampire Counts
R. Baker – Wood Elves
B. Edwards – Bretonnians
B. Gallegos – Daemons of Chaos
E. Reppas – Daemons of Chaos
T. Mansouri – Daemons of Chaos
R. Munsul – Daemons of Chaos
Z. Davidson – - Daemons of Chaos
S. Leoni – Bretonnian
E. Burgess – Vampire Counts
B. Shocki – Tomb Kings
E. Boritas – Daemons of Chaos
T. Kugler – Vampire Counts

Best Overall – A. Spiers – High Elves
Best General 1st Place – C. Addison – Dark Elves
Best General 2nd Place – T. Mansouri – Daemons of Chaos
Best General 3rd Place – L. Horn – Dark Elves
Best Sportsman 1st – E. Reppas – Daemons of Chaos
Best Sportsman 2nd – B. Gallegos – Daemons of Chaos
Best Sportsman 3rd – T. Van Dyke – Daemons of Chaos
Best Apperance 1st – S. Goldstein – Empire
Best Apperance 2nd- M. Lewandowski – Daemons of Chaos
Best Apperance 3rd – R. Felix – Vampire Counts
Player’s Choice – E. Vigil – Vampire Counts
Favorite Opponent – I. Botts – Vampire Counts

Break Down of Armies by Number and Percentage

Daemons of Chaos – [15] (16%)
Vampire Counts – [15] (16%)
High Elves – [13] (14%)
Dark Elves – [10] (11%)
Empire – [7] (8%)
Brettonnians – [6] (6.5%)
Wood Elves – [4] (4.5%)
Tomb Kings – [4] (4.5%)
Orc & Goblins – [4] (4.5%)
Ogre Kingdoms [3] (3%)
Lizardmen – [3] (3%)
Beasts of Chaos – [2] (2%)
Dwarves – [2] (2%)
Skaven – [2] (2%)
Warriors of Chaos – - [2] (2%)
Chaos Dwarfs – [0] (0%)
Dogs of War – [0] (0%)

Best Finish by Army and Number of Top 30 Finishes

Daemons of Chaos – 3rd (11)
Vampire Counts – 6th (7)
Dark Elves – 2nd (4)
High Elves – 1st (2)
Brettonnians – 10th (2)
Empire – 7th (1)
Wood Elves – 9th (1)
Tomb Kings – 18th (1)
Lizardmen – 25th (1)
Orc & Goblins – 32nd (0)
Skaven – 33rd (0)
Ogre Kingdoms – 60th (0)
Beasts of Chaos – 43rd (0)
Dwarves – 45th (0)
Warriors of Chaos – 66th (0)
Chaos Dwarfs – DNP (0)
Dogs of War – DNP (0)
Top 30 Overview

Avg Battle Score

Daemons of Chaos – 73.64
Vampire Counts – 68
Dark Elves – 72.75
High Elves – 80.5
Brettonnians – 70.5
Empire – 54
Wood Elves – 66
Tomb Kings – 57
Lizardmen – 57

More Space Marine goodness

Ok folks we are getting closer, the book looks good at least from the outside. It does appear it is packed full of Marine goodness so those who praise the Emperor should be pleased. Below thanks to BoLS is a little bit more….

• Marines: 16pts (yep no longer 15pt)
• Vanguard Veterans may not assault the turn they deepstrike if an IC is attached. If they decide to do the charge they also cannot run or shoot.
• Sternguard Veterans is customed designed to take out different races, an expensive but I see popular choice.
• Terminator Cyclone missile launcher 2-shot weapon with krak or frag
• The Ironclad dreadnought is AV:13/13/10, mount two hunter-killer missiles and maybe two heavy flamers
• Scout Bike Squads can field Grenade launchers so with outflanking enemy tanks will be the marine choice of targets
• Razorbacks now can field twin-linked assault cannon, ouch!
• Land Raiders with its Power of the Machine Spirit and fires at full BS:4

Chaos Mortals Update

More information is coming out of the warp on the new Chaos Mortal army book for Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Thanks to Warseer for this informaton -

Rules:
- Army wide re-roll panic
- Mark of Khorne causes Frenzy, has different effect for Giant
- Mark of Nurgle causes -1 penalty to the WS or BS of a model attacking
- Mark of Slaanesh benefits the unit with Itp, also gives ASF to characters and rare choices
- Mark of Tzeentch gives +1 to ward save (6+ ward to models without one), also +1 to cast for sorcerers
- May be other effects for different units but if there are, they are currently unknown
- Gaze of the Gods table, roll 2D6 for the following:
- Characters roll every time they win a challenge
- Chosen roll once at the start of the game
- Trolls roll every time they successfully regenerate two or more wounds at once
- 2 on the table causes stupidity, 7 does nothing, 11 makes unit fear causing, 12 gives a 4+ ward save and stubborn. The remainder of results are various benefits, some of which are MR3, hatred, and stat boosts.
- Chaos characters may now take Chaos Gifts on top of Magic Items, much like the VC’s Vampiric Powers
- Lore of Slaanesh returns virtually unchanged, other lores are now greatly improved
- Characters must challenge in combat if they can
Models:
- new plastic Knights (5 for 17.50EURO)
- new plastic Horsemen (5 for 17.50EURO)
- new plastic War Hounds (10 for 20EURO)
- new metal Chosen with Great Weapons
- new upgrade sprue for Chaos Warriors (direct only) containing GWs, Halberds, and God-specific bits
- new metal heroes:
- Wulfrig the Wanderer
- Sigvald
- Nurgle Sorcerer
- Khorne Champion
- Khorne Lord on Juggernaut
- Undivided Lord on Chaos Steed
- plastic Daemon Prince NEW
- Spearhead is released on October 18th (170EURO) and is now available for pre-order on maelstrom games; contains all the definite models listed above (bar the Daemon Prince) aswell as the army book
- main release for November 1st; battalion will be available with 12 Chaos Warriors, 16 Marauders, 5 Horsemen, 10 Hounds
Special Characters:
- Archaon; 675pts, still has Dorghar, is unhindered by difficult terrain
- Galrauch
- NEW Sigvald; Slaanesh champion with mirror shield, gets distracted by own reflection in shield causing stupidity; ASF A7
- Wulfrig the Wanderer; Marauder character, animal in challenges; can enter from any table edge
- Valkyrie the Bloody; Khornate Daemon Princess character; fly, S7 on the charge, killing blow
- NEW Kolek Suneater; Shaggoth character; 2nd oldest Shaggoth; “Ruler of the Tempest rule” – enemies within LOS hit with Lightning Bolt on even rolls, odds hit Kolek and make him frenzied; attacks do D3 wounds each
M8 WS8 S8 T6 W8 I1 A7 Ltd8 605pts
- NEW Throg the Troll King; “Lord of the Monstrous horde” rule allows army of monsters by making trolls core, allows all monsters to use his leadership; benefits from the Gaze of the Gods table; his stat line:
M6 WS5 S6 T5 W4 I3 A5 Ltd8 175pts; hero choice
Has a S5 breath weapon he may use once per game, can make D6 vomit attacks instead of his normal attacks and these allow no armour save and are magical
- NEW Scyla Anfinngrim; Forsaken like character; he is a rare choice only, but counts as a special character
The List:
Lords

Chaos Lord
Exalted Sorcerer
Daemon Prince NEW
is the same as the WD list from what I’ve been recently told

Heroes

Exalted Champion
Aspiring Champion
Sorcerer

Core

Warriors 15pts
M4 WS5 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I5 A2 Ltd8 AS4+
Shield:1pt/model
Marauders 4pts
now only 4pts/model basic
Hounds
do not cause panic in rest of the army; may be given either scaly skin or poisoned attacks for 3pts/model
Horsemen 14pts NEW
may now take marks; can re-roll pursuit rolls

Special

Knights NEW 40pts
M7 WS5 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I5 A2 Ltd8 AS1+
Have magic weapon that confers +1S basic; thus making them S5, may be exchanged for a lance; thus making them S6 on the charge but without magical attacks; CAUSE FEAR
Chariots NEW
cheaper; two for one
Chosen Warriors NEW
M4 WS6 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I5 A3 Ltd8; unfortunately wasn’t told their save
Forsaken Warriors
M6 WS5 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I5 AD3+1 Ltd8 AS5+
Two Hand Weapons, Frenzy
Trolls NEW 45pts
Ogres
have Chaos Armour, may now be marked, still may have 2HWs or GWs
Dragon Ogres
may now be marked

Rare

Spawn
Giant
may now be marked; marks differ
Hellcannon NEW
now only 1 rare choice; may once again take daemonic gifts
Shaggoth
may now be marked; marks differ
Chaos War Shrine
chariot type model, gives benefits much like the Dark Elves’ Cauldron of Blood; allows one per turn to roll on the Gods table as one of its benefits; may not be joined by characters, moves and fights as a monster; radius for it’s effects is 12″ and they work in the shooting phase, the one benefit I know it can give is to allow any unit in range to roll on the Gaze of the Gods table