Jan 7th Fantasy Tournament at Anthem Games

I started off 2012 with a Fantasy tournament this month. My first ever since 8^th edition and with just a few games under my belt and went with the expectation that I was not going to do well but wanted to get both the experience and practice in for the game.

In attendance we had 9 players in total, which was a terrible thing as someone was always going to get a bi every round instead of being able to play. Nothing sucks more than having to sit around for 2+ hours and watch other people play. We had a mix of aggressive tournament and passive tournament players in almost equal portions.

The army breakdown looked like this:

1 Tomb King

1 Vampire Count

2 Skaven

1 Bret

1 Lizardman

1 Orc and Goblin

1 Ogre

1 Warriors of Chaos

My List was like this:

The Undying Legions of Bubba Hotep

280pts Liche High Priest (Hierophant) Ramtep

Lore of Nehekhara, Earthing Rod, Lv4, Talisman of Preservation

265pts Liche High Priest Setta

Lore of Death, Lv 4, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Endurance

208pts Tomb Prince Bubba Hotep

Ironcruse Icon, Armor of Fortune, Biting Blade, Shield, Chariot

194pts Tomb Herald Harolda

Light Armor, Great Weapon, Battle Standard Bearer, Standard of the Undying Legion, Chariot (55)

136pts Archers x21

Musician

130pts Archers x20

Musician

375pts Chariots x6

Full Command, Banner of Swiftness (15)

85pts Tomb Scorpion

85pts Tomb Scorpion (Spider)

310pts Ushabti x6

Ancient

120pts Screaming Skull Catapult

Skulls of the Foe

135pts Casket of Souls

175pts Colossus

Extra Weapon

Round 1 vs. Chaos Warriors

My first draw was against Lance with his Warriors of Chaos. This was perhaps one of the worst pairings I could expect. His army was solid and the mission was very slanted towards his list. Lance was a good opponent and we had an excellent game.

His list was roughly:

1 Character in each unit including Festus, a Tzeench Warrior and X

3 blocks of 20 Chaos Warriors (Tzeench, Nurgle and Khorne)

1 Large block of Marauders

2 War Shrines with the Mark of Slaanesh

2 Units of 5 hounds.

Lance won deployment and we were playing “Blood and Glory”. Our Breaking point is 3 and I only had 4 Fortitude. Lance had I think had 5 or so. 3 for the Units and 2 for the General, not sure if the War Shrines counted.

This game could be summed up like this: I had two very bad magic phases and a second turn failed charge with my chariots set the tone for game of a downhill slide. The Nurgle unit locked my Chariots and slowly ground them down. The Khorne unit piled into my right flank and creamed the Ushabti, Colossus and the Catapult. On the last turn the Tzeench unit was slowly grinding me down there.

If the magic phase went better I would have had a chance perhaps, that and the charge. I feel that the game would have changed to a different tune.

Due to the nature the scenario Lance did not table me, granted he came close and earned 17 out of 20 points. We got a few bonus points and moved on to the next round.

Lance, Chaos General

Warriors of Khorne sweep past the Bone Giant.

A failed charge by the chariots allows the Warriors of Nurlge to charge!

The fight on the left flank.

Near the end.

Round 2 vs. Skaven

This match was against Richard and his Skaven playing the “Dawn Attack” scenario. Richard has been a long time Fantasy player and a great guy to play against.

His list was a mix of large blocks of Skaven (one Stormvermin and Clanrats/slaves), several characters, a Plague Furnace with a large unit of Plague Monks, a warp lighting cannon, two small units of giant rats, three units of Gutter Runners with slings (two flanked) and Hell Pit Abomination

Richard won the dice toss and picked his table side. Most of his deployment rolls placed him in the center. Mine came up about the same way.

Again, the first early part of the game was a series of bad magic phases and no opportunity for a good charge with the chariots or Ushabti.  On Richard’s first turn he nailed my Tomb Prince with the Warp Lighting Cannon, failed the “look out sir” and poof! The Giant charged and was mauled by the Plague Monk unit. The X mauled the Ushabti, chariots and destroyed the archer unit with the Hierophant as well. By the end of the game I had a catapult left and nothing else. I was pretty much tabled again by intimidating hordes of rats; I did manage to deal some damage to a few blocks of units with the Storm of Skulls which was the claim of fame for me and the Catapult hitting the furnace dead on inflicting a few wounds on it.

What went wrong here was again the magic phase failed me for two turns, only later in the game did it help but by then it was too late. I also lacked any major bulk force to hurt his blocks of troops in the end.

Richard, that rat bastard general.

Skaven Deploy

Skaven Advance

Plague Monks vs Bone Giant

NOM NOM NOM NOM

Suprised by a Desert Spider (aka a Tomb Scorpion)

Round 3 vs. Ogres

The last match was against Bob and his Ogres, Bob is a long time player and one of the most laid back players that I have met. I really enjoyed this game with him and the outcome was a pleasant surprise with a draw. We had the “Battle for the Pass” scenario that made for an interesting game.

Bob’s list was something like this. Fire-eater, Butcher, BSB Bruiser, Leader. He had about three large units of Ogres (some was Ironguts), a large Leadbealcher unit (6-8), Sabrecats, Thundertusk with Hunter with harpoon gun, 2 small gnoblar units, and the Iron Blaster.

Again this was a quick sum of the game and mostly got interesting on turn 5 and 6 when the Ogres was close enough to charge. My Ushabti managed to win a fight and chased after the Leadbealchers. The Giant named “Teabag” long ago wrecked an Ogre unit with the General in it, and then wiped out a Gnoblar unit. The large beastie was shot down between magic, archer fire and a catapult shot. The Fire-eater unit with the BSB also took several hits and was wiped out to just the BSB standing with 1 wound left. Of course my magic phases was slightly better but still below what I had hoped they would be.

When we did a tally it came up a draw with full bonus points for Bob and one short for me.

Bob, the Ogre Slaughtermaster!

Deployment

Shot of his Fire Eater.

Da Boss!

The battle unfolds!

Teabag (aka the Bone Giant) flanks the Ogres and plows through them!

Ushabti battle it out against the Leadbealchers!

Lessons Learned:

1)     Don’t rely on magic to win a game for you. I needed larger blocks of units and stronger choices to help win.

2)     Never forget you have a Banner of the Undying Legion! Several times I forgot this bound spell to cast. This would have kept the Chariots alive a bit longer perhaps. I think I may make some magic cards of my own for magic items as a reminder. Nothing fancy just something printed on an index card with an image and information on a sticker that is on it.

Ogre Kingdoms Review (my point of view)

I am still pouring over the Ogre book but I figure I would toss out a army book review to those that are interested in reading more insight about the book from those that already own it.

Lords:

Greasus Goldtooth: For 545 points he isn’t all that impressive when it comes to stats when you compare him to a Tyrant. Down two movement points, up one toughness, extra wound, slower imitative and down 2 attacks does not create a good start to selling this guy. “Everyone has their price” could be useful depending on what army you’re up against. Many would just laugh or take this ability in stride. Hoardmaster lets him work like a beefed up BSB able to auto rally and gives the bonus. His magic items are great but again are they worth those point investment? Unit immune to psychology and a 4+ ward save? All hits in combat (outside of impact and stomps) are at STR 10 and d3 wounds each. Plus, they didn’t allow him Ogre Charge (yet they mention the rule in the Sceptre of the Titans rules. I doubt you will see this bad boy on the table very often, except by players that just really want to throw him out for a good laugh. Being a slower model he will bog down a unit and cause yet another disadvantage.

Skrag the Slaughterer: Well, unless you’re a Gorger fan, there isn’t really a great spot to work this high priced Slaughtermaster in. Ok, he has Frenzy (which can be a bane as well as a blessing), Immune to Poison (ok that is good), Killing Blow (ok) and Terror (not what it used to be). Again, doubt you will see big boy on the table often.

Tyrant: Bubba here will be the popular #2 choice to any Ogre list, perhaps #1 if magic isn’t on your priority list. He is the Swiss army knife choice of the Ogre list when it comes to combos. I expect to see some interesting mixes over the next few months!

Slaughtermaster: I can now have them as a General? Better magic? Yes please, I would take at least one! This guy will be the cornerstone of most lists from here on. Lv 4 will give you the metagame of +2 to casting and dispel attempts. Magic could be a deadly foe to an Ogre list and wise players will be ready for it.

Heroes:

Golgfag Maneater: First I have to say his model is perhaps the worst of the Ogre Kingdom line. What do you get for 260 points? An overpriced Maneater with beefed up stats! Sure you get 20-120 points in free magic items, BUT you are technically already paying for it, the only nice perk is you get to pick before the game. Golgfag’s Maneaters rule isn’t anything special and sucks really, your dictated to take that and limits your choices for any other Maneater units you would want to take. Perhaps if they changed it to may include in addition to as bonus abilities or not count to those on the chart somehow. You may see him in some “fun lists” to have a good laugh.

Bragg the Gutsman: An overpriced Bruiser, what he offers isn’t enough to justify his price. Great looking model and will be used as something else in the army instead.

Bruiser: The Battle Standard Bearer is a must for any army. Don’t leave home without it! A second Bruiser could provide a support function as needed if you’re savvy with a good build for them.

Hunter: Better weapons and can ride a Stonehorn than the old Hunter from prior. Still, he is a tough sell against the other choices of Heroes in the book. Plus, the Stonehorn would eat up a chunk of your points and only would be useful in lists over 2500k where you have room to use up more points and add other goodies to the rare slots.

Butcher: A good support mage to the Slaughtermaster, expect to see either him or a Firebelly in every list as a second caster.

Firebelly: Flaming attacks, Fire Breath, 4+ ward vs. fire and Lore of fire for 20 more points than a Butcher? Yes please! Not to mention a beautiful model! Expect to see this guy pop up in lists all over. I suspect plugged into a secondary unit of Ogres as an IC for them.

Troops:

Ogres: Cheaper now, free light armor is the only major change. Now you can have more in your army! Well, at least a few more.

Ironguts: For 13 more points you get heavy armor and a great weapon, which totals 13 points and is the same throughout the book. So the choice is do you want armor or not? Great weapons or extra weapon/iron fist instead?

Gnoblars: Cheap! Annoying to put the 2.5 point cost in as that makes list building a pain. Always take Trappers! 25 points and forces a unit to make dangerous terrain checks? Yes please! Roles you will see here is bait, flank protection and screens for the rest of the army.

Special Units:

Leadbealchers: Expect to see at least one per OK army from now on with 24” and STR 4 with AP and Multiple Shots (d6). Slow to fire your only disadvantage? You ignore modifiers for moving/shooting and multiple shots! So, only a few modifiers affect your shooting!

Maneaters: Did they improve? Hell yea! Again, these units should be a common unit in most OK builds from now on. Sucks to have lost the Cathayan Longsword but life goes on. Now your able to pick skills for them makes the unit very versatile for any army style.

Sabretusk Pack: Cheap in cost for single unit hunters. Keep them around to snag skirmish units up and war machines. Pair one up with a Hunter and you have another Vanguard unit. Depending on how you kit the Hunter out, you could sit in cover and use the vulture or bolt thrower to shoot or just perhaps sneak forward to take out small units in the back.

Yhetees: For 44 points I would rather take more Ironguts. Their only advantage is speed and a tad stronger than an ogre. Even the “Aura of Frost” rule does little to increase their value as a viable choice.

Gorgers: Slightly buff ogres that can Ambush. These guys could be useful in sneaking into the back field and taking out artillery and weak units. They are also insanely expensive and have no armor to protect them for a single turn before they can raise hell. Not a great choice IMO.

Mournfang Cavalry: This is by far the one single unit to give an honest appraisal on. Why? They are fast, tough, can have a 2+ save and offers up some great options. Yet they are expensive at 60 points a pop (in retrospect this is the cost of 2 ogres, looking at the Ogre and Mournfang they match up pretty well). Still, if you take 2 or 3, take one loss and your rolling against a LD 7. Could put a banner of Discipline in there for an 8, still not that solid. You could keep them near your BSB and General, but then you are at a loss to not take advantage of their speed. Solution is to take at least 4-6, but then you get a pretty sizeable price tag in the exchange. 360 points base for 6, you could have purchased a 12 Ogre Unit or two 6 man blocks when you put it into perspective. Sadly, they didn’t allow Tyrants or Bruisers the option to take a Mournfang as a mount. That would have solved several issues.

Rare:

Gnoblar Scraplauncher: Moving to the rare slot really hurts this guy. Plus with the changes in 8^th on stone throwers leaves it a little to be desired. Add in the cost and it moves to the bottom of the list quickly.

Ironblaster: A very popular golden boy that will grace many lists IMO. This is cannon that Nuln would be jealous of! Chariot, Armor 4+, Move and Fire Cannon, Volley of Cannonballs, 36” range, STR 10 and d6 wounds or STR 10 GRAPESHOT. OUCH!!!!! I would take two please!

Giant: Now that the broken rule is gone, the Giant has stepped up to a decent status again. The only problem is he is going to have to content with an Ironblaster (cheaper) or the two big boys (Stonehorn and Thundertusk) that for a mere 50 points get some serious perks compared to the Giant. You may see the token giant appear in a game, I plan to toss one in mine! I own one and think it would be a nice model on the table.

Stonehorn and Thundertusk: I am going to lump these two into the same review for one simple reason. They are both just about the same. The Stonehorn is your basher and the Thundertusk is more of a shooting means with some nasty close combat thrown in. Really, your choice will be down to taste or perhaps some players may take one of both or two of one! The Stonehorn is without a doubt the better of the two with their ability to charge doing 3d3+3 possible impact hits! Natural armor of 4+ and reduced damage to multiple wounds makes this guy a brick to fight. The Thundertusk is a support monster able to shoot the frost/ice shooting attack allows the riders to shoot as well or can carry a Hunter instead. Plus you have the numbing chill within 6” to force any enemy model with 6” to strike last. That can put some fear into a player if they know about it or one hell of a shock when you tell them this after they charge your Thundertusk. In any case, both are excellent choices and we will see some of these beasties appear on the table!

In GW News

The second part of the Sister’s of Battle Codex is out in White Dwarf! Someone gave me a copy of the PDF floating around to read about the changes. A bit of old news, but here is some thoughts....

Much like how the Blood Angels PDF was, there was nothing of real substance until the codex hits. When the new codex hits, it will be full of different changes, new miniatures and new units among other things and no where close to the actual PDF version. This is just to give you an idea of directions that the new codex is going to go much like the Blood Angels one prior.

Some noted items in the PDF:

1)      Fast Attack choices came out the queen of the mini-dex. Why? Seraphim dropped in points. Dominion Squads get the scout rule. Yes please, I will take 3 units with Immolators with 4 melta guns.

2)      GW dropped “fast” from Immolators. Guess they felt it was too sick to drive 12” and still blast a TL multi-melta or heavy flamer.

3)      Uriah Jacobs will be in every SOB list to get the Faith Point reroll.

4)      Faith points are not scaled to game sizes. A bad call by GW. I suspect they will tackle this during the new codex.

5)      Repentia can now steal rides so they may be useful now.

6)      Immolators got TL heavy bolters with Inferno rounds. So, twin linked to hit and reroll to wound. Nice and free upgrade.

In other news….

GW has posted several New Releases!

Fantasy:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat440005a&rootCatGameStyle=wh

40k:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat440161a&rootCatGameStyle=

In review the Lhamaean is going to be a big seller for GW. It is a great looking model, from what I hear filled with options. Many people have talked about using her as Lady M or a female Archon(ess) from the Dark Eldar Codex. This may perhaps be the next "female commissar" that GW that was one of the most popular IG models ever!

The Sslyth is just an amazing model.  Sadly, the court is not a practical unit for competitive games. I see this guy making an infrequent appearance in tournament games but the typical gaming night he will be hanging around. As a reptile owner (Ball Python), I want to buy at least one to paint up. Maybe try to work him into the Inquisitorial warband (they are mercenaries after all!).

At first glance the Lizardman Oldblood looks great then after you study him for a moment, It is a model that is too busy visually for me. They did a great job, I just don’t really like it.

I really like the plastic Nurgle Lord they made. A simple model but has some excellent conversion oppertunities. A quick head swap, remove the axe head and add a scythe to the end with some extra haft added and I may have a new Death Guard HQ. He could then be either a Chaos Sorcerer or Lord with the mark of Nurgle! I already have a nice metal figure converted so this would make a nice secondary option.

Fantasy Ogre Kingdoms Book:

Picked this book up over the weekend from some prize earnings from a tournament. Despite my gripe of the $40+ price tag it was a well done book! I hope to toss out an "offical" review from my POV as a player that is returning to Fantasy after taking off last edition and waiting until the current one had time to settle. It is my goal to give a fresh review that won't be the same'ole that you see around the internet.

The Black Box is unveiled!

GW also teased these pictures, which gives some credit to the rumors of a Fantasy Ship style game that will be the new Black Box like how Space Hulk was. Check the link below and go to the bottom of the page, the teaser is right there!

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blogPost.jsp?aId=18200002a

Skaven vs Vampire Counts Battle Report

VS

 

Met up with Mark (a local Warhammer player) at one of the LGS, Skull'N'Bones for what was my second offical game of Fantasy facing off against his Skaven.

My first game was against Empire with a friend of mine by the name of Chris that haunts another LGS, Anthem Games. As I was new as he was this was more of a fun game than anything and was intended to allow me to try the new rules out. We had the weird mission of  “Dawn Attack” that randomly puts your army out on the table which really twisted the game around to my favor. We made several mistakes all through the game but we had fun all the way through to the end.

Mark and I rolled up some scenery for the table getting about 7 of them. Two swamps, one Khemri, one Shrouded mists, a hill, another hill that was the Anvil of Vaul, a building, a wood and Alter of Khaine. We scattered the scenery about and rolled to see who deploys first. Selected my side and placed first. My goal was to put him on the cluttered side of the table to slow down his ability to counter my moves.

My list was a mix of this and that just to try out some new things:

Vampire Lord <4+ ward save, helm of the trickster, +1 magic level (Vampire, not the upgrade) and Loremaster (knows all of a single lore, I picked Vampire>

Necromancer: Black Pierapt, Dispel Scroll and had Danse and Invocation spells.

Cairn Wraith (from the White Dwarf)

Skeletons with full command and spears x30

Ghouls x25

4 Fell Bats

8 Black Knights with Barding and Full Command

Varghul (proxiy)

Terrorgheist (proxiy)

Corpse Cart

He had:

Engineeer

Skaven Seerer Lord

Battle Standard Bearer (one that rerolls)

Doomwheel

Warpfire Cannon

Skaven burst gun

Skaven Flame thrower

Block of Plague Monks with frenzy (30)

Skaven Slaves Block (50)

Stormvermin Block with Halberds (50)

Skaven Warriors large block (50)

He had all with banners and commands, a few banners to help his list and some magic items on the characters. Mark played a semi-soft list as usual. In a 2k points game, I did not take a H-Pit Abom, nor did I take a Screaming Bell, nor did I take a plague furnace. The only thing that I took with any teeth was the Doom Wheel.

The game was over by turn 2, called it on 3 once the Vampire Lord was dead and the army was turning to powder.

First round was good for me, went to setup some charges. The Gheist flew to the edge of the woods ready to engage the Doomwheel or a Skaven Flank. The Knights, Varghul, Skeles and Ghouls marched forward to the Skaven. The Fell bats landed to his left flank.

Then I had a great magic phase (all spells went off). Picked up a few spirit Hosts including killing his ratling gun, putting a wound on the warp cannon and taking a few random skaven along the way for 5 wounds worth in total. Raised a few skeles to the bunker unit. Nailed a few more Skaven with magic missile. Then my luck ended.

Mark pushed the Skaven forward, had one failed charge. Well, maybe not all my luck was gone yet!  Then he started to take some shots at me with a rocket, the cannon and the flamer. His magic phase was a bit bland and uneventful, I think he got one or two spells off on his turn. His shooting phase was the nail in the coffin with the Hamster wheel of doom wounding the Terrorgheist for 3, the Black Knights lost a few, lost a row of ghouls among other stuff.

Second round was the deadlock for me. I charged with the Gheist, Varghul and Black Knights. I hoped that the Varghul and BKs could punch through a unit and then cause further havoc later in the game. Magic phase was up, I rolled really bad for magic…only able to toss three dice for a spell but got a 6-6-6. I got off the spell that allowed me to restore 3d6 wounds to multiple units. The Unit took a large STR 10 blast, the vampire avoided harm by using the Helm of the Trickster to reroll the wound and I got a 1!

I added a wound back to the Gheist, Black Knight and loaded the Ghouls back up.  Then the close combat phase, I rolled like poo on this one, we had a draw. The Wheel took a hen the wheel shot bolts and the hamsters attacked killing the Terrorgheist in close combat before he could wreck it. He got something like 10 hits and wounded several times. Enough to kill it in all, I passed maybe 1 6+ save for Regen.

Mark got of a series of charges. Hit the Vargul on the side, Slaves into the Ghouls, Plague Monks into my Skeletons. He got some magic off in this phase after I burned the dispel scroll the round before that added insult to injury. The Varguhl , Vampire and Skeletons was mauled to death when he used a banner on his Plague Monks and the Varghul was dragged down screaming.

At the top of 3 for laughs I rolled. Most of the army went poof. A good general knows when to admit defeat. Good game there man! Rematch at some point!

The Terrorgheist is new and untested as it just appeared in White Dwarf this month. I was not impressed but I know if it was able to hit the Doomwheel it would have ripped it to toothpicks in seconds. The Cairn Wraith was meh for this game also, didn’t hit a situation to frustrate my opponent with an Ethereal character.

Lowpoint for Mark was:
His magic phases was meh (slang for no so good) during the game. He did get scorch off one time on the ghouls to the tune of 7 ghouls or so. I also got frenzy off on the storm vermin which only added 5 attacks (very deep ranks for steadfast on 10 with reroll). For the most part magic didn't do nearly what I thought it would do.

For me my first turn spells ALL  went off like 4 of them in a row.. He tried to stop one with 6 dice and failed with a 1,1,1,2,2, and a 4 I think. It went off on a 20 or something. It was the Wind of of Undeath. It killed my Ratling gun! first turn.

Highlights for the Skaven - the Doomrocket hit and killed the corpse cart - d6 wounds is a bit much for the one shot 30 point item - but that's what the rules say.

The Plague Monks were the kings this game with the Plague Banner (rerolls hits and wounds in ONE combat). Very good against low armor, medium toughness units such as skellies. With 3 attacks each in horde formation they eneded up with 42 attacks. In the end after saves and multiple rolling a total of 17 skellies bit it. After combat resolution, the entire unit crumbled and Vampire Lord too.

Highlights for the Vampire Counts - The wind of undeath getting off, the skaven player unable to charge their storm vermin into the Black Knights (thus allowing the lances to get their +2S on their charge next turn), destroying the rat gun first turn before any use!
Irresistible force of summoning to heal 9 wounds across the board on his weakest magic phase (he had only 3 dice but made very good use of them). In fact, I  got all of my magic spells off the entire game. I'm not absolute on that.

In the future, I will have to make a comeback against these rat bastards! Skaven always been a thorn in my side no matter what edition!

Pictures of the game:

Meet Mark, that Rat Bastard! (just kidding!)

First Turn movements.

Hamster Wheel of DOOM!

My summoned spirit host and Fell Bats eyes his cannon and flanks for openings.

Best proxiy every! My Terrorgheist. Epic battle!

Doomwheel swings around behind the knights!

Skaven move to finish off the undead!

The Future of Fantasy and 40k. Where we are going. Part 1

Think about the Future! Jacknickelson as the Joker

So, where are we going with trends and development for Fantasy and 40k?

Starting with Fantasy, I have just stepped back into the game about 2 weeks ago, so I have a refreshed perspective as I avoided 7^th and was an avoid fan from 6^th edition on back for many moons. I have noted some unique trends and changes that GW is doing to steer Fantasy forward into a new direction.

The basic rules is where I will start. For the most part they are just about right, much like how it was back in 5^th and 6^th. In 8^th they did manage to speed the game up slightly and added some new dimensions to the game with hordes, ranks able to fight, stomp/thunderstomp, etc….

Magic has become more powerful in many ways, but a tad more balanced. One thing that pushed me out of 7^th was the stupidity of the mounds of power/dispel dice you could horde in a list and use. Many of the new spells are game changers and perhaps need to be balanced a bit more with some updates.

Psychology is still the big disappointment. It isn’t what it was, when you fought Vampire Counts you was AFRAID to lose a fight, because you would run. While VCs had crappy troops, a clever player could crush other units with the right combo of characters, flanking and magic. Starting in 6^th LD values started to rise, more units was getting strubbron or flearless. Thus taking away from the power of psychology, which to me is a big thing in both modern and ancient warfare. Now, the basis for fear is yea, it will be harder to hit, but how often does your opponents fail those LD tests? To me this is the area that needs the most love in Fantasy by game designers.

Missions/Games have become interesting with the advent of 8^th. Unique deployment zones, mission objectives and of course scenery that has random elements making a game more flavorful and interesting. A good push from the daily grind of the same basic mission format of line up and beat one another to a pulp.

Monsters is building up to be a key focus. Every army is getting some mega looking monster with each book and with the Vampire Counts getting the Terrorgheist in the White Dwarf as an official unit, I think we are going to see more and more going into other army books. The kits are fantastic but are starting to become a bit more common as in the past they was rare and unusual things to see on a battlefield.

Storm of Magic, this is what I call the Apocalypse of Fantasy. Excuses to mix armies into one another, toss out some big monsters and play games using crazy elements of magic. The concept is solid like Apocalypse but I think this expansion will short of GW’s goals for profit. Playing more elaborate and complex games of Fantasy will be the shortfall of the game and will not be a main standard. What is nice is all the scenery and cool miniatures introduced to work into the standard games thus making their miniature investments worthwhile.

White Dwarf Going Old School!

That’s right! I purchased my first copy of White Dwarf (#379) this weekend in what may be almost 2 years. I have broken my personal boycott of the magazine as the content clearly sucked. It was little more than a large, elaborate catalog that was expensive at $9 a pop designed to sell goodies to the kiddies. It was little more than Tofu of hobby magazines, filling but no real taste.

It warmed my undead heart to see the Vampire Counts get some love in this issue with a new unit, new models and updates to their Army Books.

GW may finally have seen the value again in their magazine as a means to update rules, add new things to old books and to maintain the hobby. This was how the White Dwarf was long ago: alternate rules, updates, changes and great hobby articles that was worth reading. You was afraid not to subscribe or buy an issue at your local store as you may have missed some great articles.

They managed to finally pack an issue with painted bitz from the Terrorgheist and Zombie Dragon sprue. Rules for the Garden of Moor, a new unit the Terrogheist, added new heroes (going back to the old codex before) and included a good battle report to help cement it all together with some hobby articles also.

Then they printed the first part of two of the Sister’s of Battle Codex. For the most part, it has some concepts that are interesting but the army is unplayable as Faith is really nerfed at least until they get their official Codex. We all remember the Blood Angels one done in White Dwarf. It turned out nothing like they published really. I am sure the Sister’s will get lots of goodies just like the Blood Angels.

I encourage everyone to write to Games Workshop and compliment their work in this issue and encourage they continue down this path to make their hobby magazine better!