40K: Astro Mag Issue 5 is released

Astro Mag

At one time there were any number of good gaming magazines on the market covering all sorts of genres from Sci-fi to Fantasy gaming. For the most part at least in print the independent magazine is dead to be replaced with glossy corporate magazines which appear at times to be just fancy catalogs. However the internet has allowed small groups of writer-gamers to get together to publish independent magazines. Some are closer to fanzines while a few reach towards professional in quality and appearance.

I mentioned the Skavenblight Gazette a few weeks ago for those Warhammer Fantasy Skaven fans (still nothing on the new book) today I am sending you to Astro Mag. Astro Mag is jammed packed full of interesting articles on Warhammer_40,000: Apocalypse gaming. Be sure to check them out.

Sisters of Battle take Comic-Con

Kommissar from RelicNews posted some awesome photos of his wife in a Sisters of Battle costume from the Comic-Con, reading through the posts it was a very popular costume. Be sure to scroll down the post to view the other photos..

Warhammer ‘Ard Boyz Preliminaries

Warhammer ‘Ard Boyz Preliminaries Prepare for the Warhammer ‘Ard Boyz Preliminaries on September 26th. Do you have what it takes? Check the website for the full Warhammer ‘Ard Boyz schedule. Also, two to three weeks before the event, there will be a downloadable rules pack, a list of retailers near you where you can play in the Preliminary or Semifinal events, scenarios, and more.

‘Ard Boyz Tournaments are a three-part, competitive series of events hosted by Independant Retailers across North America. For the last two years we’ve hosted ‘Ard Boyz Tournaments for both Warhammer 40K and for Warhammer Fantasy. We plan to add War of The Ring to the mix starting in 2010 to make an ‘Ard Boyz event for all three of our core systems!

Unlike the traditional tournament format you may be familiar with, that takes into consideration your painting and sportsmanship, the ‘Ard Boyz Tournaments focus on one thing and one thing only; how well you play the game! These tournaments are the place to field that nasty list you felt guilty about playing, or that massive horde army you couldn’t hope to paint it in time.

Skaven Skaven everywhere!

So I posted some time ago that I was starting a Skaven army. This is still true. Although the army is unpainted I did get a chance to play with them a couple of times. I will say I wasnt disappointed, sure they arent Daemons but hey thats not a fair comparison.

The first game I played was with a brand new player. I was showing him the different armies and how they work. He fielded my Dwarfs and I took the ratmen.  They held their own, A second game I actually faced them with my Dwarfs. I played someone who knew them well, so it was a good lesson. Here are a few things I noticed..

Skaven clanrats are good, not great but good. As they are cheap to field they can get a  good static CR. Most likely with a big clanrat unit its going to start at around 5. (1 out number, 1 standard, 3 ranks)

Jazells can really rough up another army. I took 7 of them which tore into a unit of Longbeards quite well. My Skaven oponnent took 10 of them and absolutly owned my Dwarven artillery. STR 6 is nothing to sneeze at. Kick some cavalry in the teeth with thesr guys.

Skaven magic is pretty good. I had faced Skaven Grey Seers before so I generally know what they can do. However their warlock engineers are impressive. My Skaven opponent only missed 1 spell out of at least 18 cast through out the game. Sure he killed off two of his enginners but left at least two units of dwarves dead. 2D6 STR5 lighting is very good, especially against light or medium infantry.

This is just  start of course, Ill have more to say on them as I get a few more games in….

40K : Space Wolves

Well its official Games Workshop has released a date of October for their new 40K codex and it appears that its the old Space Wolves. Stay tuned for future updates.  Now if they would post a date for the Skave, wasnt this supposed to be the year of Warhammer Fantasy Battle?

Incoming! Space Wolves

The Space Wolves were one of the first Space Marine Chapters founded by the Emperor; fierce and barbaric heroes of legend who charge fangs bared into the teeth of the enemy. In October, this Chapter of ferocious warriors is being re-launched with a brand-new Codex and range of Citadel Miniatures.

 Space Wolf Grey Hunter
This stunning Grey Hunter has been assembled using the forthcoming multi-part plastic box set; just one of the fantastic new Space Wolf sets coming in October!

WHFB: Skavenblight Gazette

Enjoying its second year of publishing Skavenblight Gazette has been going strong producing quality information about your favorite rat men. Each issue covers various topics from short stories to paint guides. Be sure to check them out. The current issue is #6

Skavenblight Gazette Issue 6

• Ask Seer Squeek
• Black Library – Grey Seer preview
• Cyanide Studio Interview
• Confessions of a Dwarf
  - Globadier painting article
• Do You Mind – Psycology tactics
• Clan Spotlight – Clan Sleekit
• Of Shadows and Death – Story

Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game

Fantasy Flight Games is  to release a new two person card game based off the Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy Battle world.

The Invasion Begins…
The Old World seethes with ancient rivalries and boils in the cauldron of savage warfare. Enemies and allies alike face off against one another to settle ancient claims, and to live the glory of battle for themselves.

Brought to you by famed designer Eric M. Lang, Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game is a two-player card game of intense warfare, clever kingdom management, and epic questing. Players must carefully allocate their resources as they seek to build their kingdom, complete quests, and attack the enemy’s capital.

Will you play the indestructible grudge-bearing Dwarfs, the shrewd and manoeuvrable Empire, the savage and destructive Orcs, or the entropic and mutating forces of Chaos? Or will you cleverly craft an alliance, playing the combined might of the forces of either Order or Destruction?

Warhammer Invasion LCG Core Set contains:

• 1 Rulebook
• 220 Cards representing 4 factions
• 4 Capital Boards
• 35 Resource Tokens
• 60 Damage Tokens
• 4 Burning Tokens

40K: Planetary Empires

As a follow up to the Warhammer Fantasy Battle Mighty Empires, Games Workshop has released Warhammer 40,000 Expansion: Planetary Empires. Mighty Empires allows you to run a campaign using a click together map.

Planetary Empires allows you to create a complete Warhammer 40,000 planetary landscape that can be made and remade any number of times, and provides a way of playing campaigns and map-moderated games of various kinds. Designed to help you run evocative, narrative-driven campaigns, Planetary Empires gives you the chance to inject some character into your games of Warhammer 40,000.

This box set contains one Planetary Empires campaign set, including: 48 plastic snap-together hexagonal map tiles and a full rules booklet written by Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson. Also included are: 12 Shield Generators, 12 Manufactorums, 12 Power Stations, 12 Command Bastions, and 96 Banner markers.

Note: This set is completely compatible with the Mighty Empire Campaign set

Army Builder V3.2

Army Builder V3.2 is in beta testing right now, and will be released sometime during July 2009.

New Features & Changes

• Save rosters to PDF – Email PDF rosters to tournament organizers or friends, to print out exactly like normal Army Builder printed output.
• Model list output – View the combined model list for your roster, including how many individual models of each type are required, and the equipment they need. Turn your roster into a “what-to-pack list” with a single click!
• Mobile friendly output – Save your roster to a “mobile friendly” output format, for viewing on your iPhone or other mobile device. Touch a unit name and it expands, displaying all the unit details – touch it again to hide it.
• Updated user interface – We’ve updated the user interface to take advantage of the larger monitors more prevalent today. Army Builder 3.2 is now optimized for viewing on a 1024×768 monitor, while gracefully scaling up and down to higher or lower resolutions as needed.
• Do more work with fewer clicks – The “New Roster” form, the starting page for all new armies, has been overhauled to make it easier to configure your roster. Choose a race or a predefined points cost with a single click. Ruleset information to configure your roster is displayed right there on the form.
• Added flexibility for common tasks – The Options list now displays every option in a tree structure, allowing you access to more options with fewer clicks. Any categories you’re not interested in can simply be collapsed and ignored.
• More information at your fingertips – Army Builder 3.2 gives you more information about your choices in several ways:
  • Composition group info windows now display the minimum / maximum counts for each category.
  • In the options list, right-clicking on an invalid option explains why it’s invalid.
  • Validation errors can now include more descriptive error messages.
• New interface design – Many buttons and other areas of the interface have been redesigned for a more modern, cleaner look and feel.
• New features for data file authors – Many common tasks for data file authors have been improved, reducing the workload for data file authors. Army Builder 3.2 also catches more common errors, resulting in quicker debugging time, and higher quality data files for the user.
• All this and more – Many other minor improvements are included, including validation icons at the top of printed output, improved text summary and BBCode output, optimized HTML generation, and more!

Other Details

Army Builder 3.2 will be a free update for users with an active Army Builder license. It will be released sometime during July 2009.

40K: Prayer to the Emperor

Games Workshop 40K fanfilm for Warhammer 40K, The Death Korps Trooper – Prayer to the Emperor