Indiana 40K Championship

Indiana 40K Championship

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tau: Launch Wave Information



Slick here again. The Tau are nearly here with minis hitting shelves next week! Below you will find all of the launch wave information. Advance Orders begin March 30th, Release date is April 6th. Will you join the greater good? What will you be getting? It seems like everyone will want at least one of the new Riptide suits...

Product
Info
Price
Codex: Tau Empire
104p Full Color Hardcover
$49.50
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team
9 minis
$65.00
Pathfinder Team
13 minis
$35.00
Hammerhead Gunship
1 mini
$60.00
Sun Shark Bomber
1 mini
$65.00
XV 104 Riptide Battlesuit
1 mini
$85.00
XV88 Broadside Battlesuit
3 minis
$50.00
Cadre Fireblade
1 mini
$20.00
Tau Empire Battleforce
30 minis
$120.00

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Dystopian Wars: Magenta Battleship



Slick here again with another Dystopian Wars update. This is actually a ship I've had for quite some time, it just never managed to find its way onto the blog. Back when the French only had a single battleship and it wasn't certain that they would be a full faction, I decided to add an ally to my Prussian forces and thus this one Magenta. It still needs some detailing but it is good enough for the tabletop in the meantime. Comments welcome!




Friday, March 22, 2013

News: Forgeworld Newsletter #337 - Outrider Squadron



Slick here again with the latest Forgeworld news. The Horus Heresy minis keep coming and the latest release brings us the Legion MkIV Outrider Squadron which is essentially Heresy-style Space Marine bikes. Here is the description from Forgeworld:

Outrider squadrons are mechanised Space Marine reconnaissance squads who take to the field of battle mounted on ruggedly-constructed ground bikes. Equipped with twin-linked bolters, often augmented with heavier firepower in the form of melta-guns, flamers or plasma guns, Outriders are used for rapid encirclement as well as hit-and-run attacks against targets of opportunity behind enemy lines. Their chief advantage is speed and mobility, their bikes enabling them to cover ground far faster than infantry, and to go where heavier vehicles cannot.


As you can see, these bikes are much sleeker than the marine bikes we are all used to and I really like the placement of the bolters on the sides. These are going to be quite pricey though at 60 pounds for a squad of 3. A squad of these might be great to distinguish a biker command squad though. Click on the picture above to see the full details on the Forgeworld page.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

News: New Russian Coalition Veliky Escort



Slick here again with some Spartan news. The Russian Coalition is set to receive a new model for its Escort to help differentiate it from the Frigate -- the current Frigate model is pulling double duty. Here is the information released by Spartan Games:

Speaking of the Russian Coalition, we have listened to the Spartan Games Community and created a new model to represent the Russian Coalition Veliky Class Escort. The curious circular hull affords it unmatched manoeuvrability, and it's powerful main turret and Ack Ack batteries will help protect your largest ships from enemy fire. It's available now from our Parts Service...

It is pretty cool that there are gaming/miniatures companies out there that actually want to cultivate a positive relationship with their customers which can lead to developments such as  new minis. This is just one of the reasons why Spartan is doing so well right now! If you haven't checked out any of their games there is no time like the present to get into these fantastic systems!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Tau: Hammerhead - No longer available on GW's site?



Tau rumors are and details are practically a flood now. Interestingly, the Hammerhead gunship appears to no longer be available on the Games Workshop site (no add-to cart). It might just be GW updating something for that particular page or this could just be a simply reboxing. On the other hand, the vehicle could possibly be getting some additional upgrade bits or other components. It could also be a move to consolidate the Devilfish, Hammerhead, and Skyray into a single box (with a likely price increase).We'll know fairly soon with the release not too far off now.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Forgeworld: Night Shroud Bomber and Tomb Citadel


Slick here again with the latest 40K news. Forgeworld's latest newsletter unveils two exciting additions for the Necrons - the Night Shroud Bomber and the Necron Tomb Citadel which is a complete section for a Realm of Battle board! Check out the pictures and descriptions from Forgeworld below:


Necron Night Shroud Bomber
Necron Night Shroud BomberThe Night Shroud is a dedicated bomber that is larger than the more numerous Night Scythe and Doom Scythe craft, alongside which it operates, whose origins date back countless aeons to the lost battles of the War in Heaven.
The Night Shroud was built to carry a relic of that ancient and apocalyptic conflict, so-called Death Spheres, containment vessels that imprison the merest fragment of anti-matter. The Death Sphere's potent warhead is kept out of phase with the material universe until the sphere detonates, when it unleashes an energy blast capable of annihilating anything it touches.
Realm of Battle Necron Tomb Citadel
Realm of Battle Necron Tomb Citadel The stasis-crypts of the Necrons are protected by great defensive structures; near-impregnable fortifications designed to stand against the ravages of eternity, hostile action and deadly environments. Tomb Citadels often stand on the outermost borders of a wider complex. They act as watchtowers and outposts that are often the merest tip of the iceberg; the fathomless depths of silent galleries and stasis-chambers that make up the nameless cities of the Necrons extending far below them.
A Tomb Citadel is far more than an inert relic of strange aeons past, however. Each is a near-living war machine in its own right, and Imperial combat records record these brutish structures rising from the very earth, or phasing strangely into existence in the midst of a Necron assault. If not quickly destroyed, these dread ziggurats will form a beachhead from which the undying legions pour forth to destroy their foes.
Full rules and background for this construct will be included in the forthcoming Imperial Armour – Volume Twelve: The Fall of Orpheus.
Both of these fantastic new releases are available to pre-order now for despatch from Friday 5th April.
With many tournaments moving toward allowing Forgeworld, will the Night Shroud Bomber bring in a whole new level of 'cron air'?

Thursday, March 14, 2013

X-Wing: Unboxing Slave I



Slick here again with our latest unboxing video. Today we're taking a look at the mighty Slave I for the X-Wing miniatures game. We also discuss the pilots and their abilities. This is one of the coolest ships in Star Wars and to be able to field it is so much fun! Enjoy!




Have you added Slave I to your imperial forces? 

X-Wing: Unboxing and Review Part 3



Slick here with the conclusion to our X-Wing unboxing and review. We cover some more mechanics and gameplay as well as some general thoughts on the game. Enjoy!


X-Wing: Unboxing and Review Part 2



Slick here again. We continue our unboxing and review of the X-Wing starter set as we delve into some of the mechanics of the game. Enjoy!


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

News: Spartan Games April Releases


Slick here again with the latest Spartan releases coming up in April. The most exciting bit of news in the upcoming releases is the long awaited League of Italian States faction for Dystopian Wars which has seemingly been re-upgraded to a full faction!!! All of the ships look awesome and the faction also introduces tiny ship tokens in the form of torpedo boats. These should be pretty effective depending the rules. I will definitely be getting into this faction. We'll have complete coverage of them once they're released so stay tuned!

Below are the Italian starter box pics:


Naval starter set



Naval support group

(Images from Spartan Games. All rights theirs.)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

X-Wing: Unboxing and Review Part 1



Slick here again. Today we have some more X-Wing coverage with an unboxing and review of the starter set. If you haven't heard about this excellent game from Fantasy Flight Games and you even remotely like Star Wars and/or miniature gaming, you are in for a treat. This game is definitely worth getting into!


X-Wing: Wave 2 Ships First Impressions




So the Wave 2 ships ( YT-1300, Firespray, A-Wing, and TIE Interceptor) all hit store shelves earlier this week, and all I can say is that I am really impressed.  Fantasy Flight Games is putting out a number of great products right now and getting a good portion of my gaming budget lately.  Earlier this week for my birthday I purchased Descent 2, and it's expansion, Liar of the Wyrm. Last night, a Falcon, a Slave I, 2 A-Wings, and 2 TIE Interceptors.

First impressions of the Wave 2 ships is that average game sizes might be increasing, currently options are starter (1 X-Wing versus 2 TIE Fighters or to increase the point total to 100 points a side).   In free play, I see team games (2v2, 3v3, 4v4 or even larger games in the works) and I also think players will bump point totals to 150 or 200 points a side.  There is even talk at the FLGS that a massive Battle of Yavin type game might be around the corner, and that players will draft for unique/named pilots.  I am really interested in getting in one a game of that scale, but I don't think that my corporate sponsor (employer) would be too keen on that idea.  I also am thinking you might actually see more actual squadrons ran in the game, I like the idea of having a squadron of 12 TIE Fighters face off against a half squad of X-Wings, I think that just reminds me of the hours and hours I spent playing the original X-Wing computer game back on my 386 that was running DOS 6 and Windows 3.1 at the time.  (WOW, that just seems like an eternity ago having that pre-Pentium Intel processor and those operating systems)

As for the ships themselves, I am going to review the Interceptors and the A-Wings together, since both ships have similiar roles as far as interceptor/reconnaissance/escort type roles.  The best way to describe the ships would be as very quick and agile, with the TIE Interceptors having a bit more raw firepower in the way of lasercannons, the A-Wings on the other hand have some shielding and the chance to upgrade with missiles.  Also both ships have the boost ability available without upgrade, while the booost takes the place of another action, a skilled gamer will use the boost to quickly get his/her ship into position for another attack run.  I think it will be interesting to see how players start building squadrons with the availability of the Interceptors and A-Wings.

Prior to the Wave 2 release I can tell you I was most interested in getting my hands on both the A-Wings and the Interceptors, after running a game taking Boba Fett with his Slave I and two Avenger Squadron Interceptor against Lando Calrissian in the Millenium Falcon with Nien Nunb and two A-Wings, I must say that I am sold on the Slave I.  I think utilizing the Slave I in the manner that I did in my first game with it is the way to go, although not a true starfighter it is a pretty tough ship to take  down. Although its hull is not as tough to crack as the Falcon is and it doesn't quite have the shielding of the Falcon, the ability to have both missile and torpedo upgrades, and the nasty bomb upgrade does  make it seem more of a fighter when compared to the Falcon.  For my first game with the Slave, I can say that I kept my distance from the A-Wings, allowing my Interceptors to focus on the A-Wings, and try to soften up the Falcon when they had shots.  I tried to keep the Slave out of direct fire arcs for the Falcon or at least keep as much distance as I could, since my opponent had the boost upgrade on the Falcon. I knew with that upgrade he could out manoever me and keep out of my firing arcs without any problems, leaving me in a very bad situation.  That first game I took the following upgrades on the Slave: Slave I title, Heavy Laser Cannon, Mercenary Copilot, Siesmic charges, Stealth device and Expose.  I was least impressed with the Expose upgrade, it seemed extremely situational at best, and I never felt that I was in the right situation to use it.  I am going to give it a few more games before making a decision to drop it, it just seems to me that there isn't a good alternative for the points at this time.


And that leaves me with the ever popular Millenium Falcon.  Not actually having run it in game, these are all impressions that I have in regards to the stats for the Falcon and how those stats seem to play out in actual games.  The Falcon has the highest hull rating and shield rating of any ship in the game right now, which is what I would expect for a highly modified smuggler ship, the dual turrets seem balanced against other ships where as if they are rolling well, they should be able to take out a TIE Fighter or an Interceptor in a turn, but not on a constant basis, and the agility dice leave something to be desired, but I guess for the size of the ship it makes some sense.  I just feel completely unimpressed for the points cost for the Falcon itself, the Falcon with Chewie, Lando or Han as pilot just seems too expensive, and the generic smuggler pilot doesn't have the stats I would be expecting. Again, you might want to take this review on the Falcon with a grain of salt, as I haven't ran it in game yet, and eventually I am planning on running the Falcon, but for the time being, I think I will be sticking with the Slave I.

There you have it, a brief overview of the second wave of ships for X-Wing the miniatures game, and if you continue reading, I have included a brief overview for the rest of the game and the first wave ships.  So if you haven't had the chance to buy into the game, or even seen the game in action, let me give you a quick break down, I realize that Fantasy Flight is just getting around to getting shelves EVERYWHERE restocked.  The starter box is priced at $40 for an X-Wing and two (2) TIE Fighters, pilot and upgrade cards, a deck of damage cards, dice, moving templates, and gaming tokens.  Enough to get your appetite whetted and for you to realize that a second starter is really needed to get some repeatablity out of the game itself. If your looking to get a more or less standard sized game of a hundred points, you are looking for the expansion blister X-Wings, TIE Fighters, Y-Wings, and TIE Advanced.  At $15 a piece, the expansion X-Wings and TIE Fighters provide you additional pilots unavailable within the starter box, and the Y-Wings and TIE Advanced add some tactical variance and stragedy to keep things interesting.

So I thought I would give you a slight break down on the the strengths and weaknesses of the ships, and how I tend to them, at this point I am going to skip going into specifics on the pilots, as I haven't had enough games to know which ones I prefer and how to effectively use them all.



So to start out with, the staple of the Rebellion lists, the Incom T-65 X-Wing.  Up until now (with the release of the second wave ships) the Rebellion X-Wing was the building block of the Rebellion lists.  Whether you went with a small list and included Wedge Antilles and/or Luke Skywalker or prefered running a X-Wing swarm or a mixed squadron approach with Y-Wings, you had to run the mighty X-Wing.  A very balanced ship, with great fire power, a decent manoever dial, and plenty of shields and hull to hold out against the TIE fighters, a well equiped pilot, droid and torpedoes with some serious tactics can make an X-Wing a formiable opponent.

While the X-Wings are very versatile, the Y-Wings are much more specialized and fit a rather limited more supportive role.  As a bomber, it doesn't have the speed or manoeverability of the X-Wing or the TIE Fighter and really shouldn't be dog fighting in the the middle of things.  I prefer to equip the Ion Cannons for 5 points and use it as a long range method of keeping opponent's ships tied up.  With a strong hull, but lacking in the shielding and defensive (agility) die, I don't recommend relying on too many Y-Wings on your force, but I might rethink my stance with the release of the A-Wings.  
TIE Fighters are the mainstay of the Imperial fleet of starfighters.  

Cheap, easy to produce, and devestating in the hands of a skilled pilot (if an Imperial pilot can survive more than an individual combat or two), the TIE Fighter can, in numbers, can overwhelm the better equiped Rebellion starfighters.  With just a little more speed and agility than a X-Wing, but significantly less resistance to damage, and not quite the sheer firepower of a single X-Wing.  So far TIE swarm tactics, seem to be very popular amongst the Imperial players at my FLGS.



The other first wave Imperial fighter is the TIE Advanced.  With the speed and manoeverability of a TIE Fighter and the shielding of an X-Wing, the TIE Advanced is meant for more as a one-on-one dogfighter that can go toe-to-toe with X-Wings and Y-Wings.

In addition to the game setting and the familiaity of the units, the simplicity of the rules do really make the game.  Each ship has a movement dial which is set and placed face down next to each ship.   Each pilot has a pilot skill which also corresponds to their initiative.  Pilots activate in order of initiative and then make their movements by placing a movement template in front of the base that the ships sit on, the bases have prongs in which the movement templates sit within.  After a ship moves, you can give it an action, such as evade or focus.  After all the ships have moved and been given actions, then the pilots get to attack in reverse initiative order.  And so when all of the attacks have been resolved, you repeat the entire process starting with setting the dials again.  The rules are light enough for younger players and strategies ae becoming increasingly more sophisticated with addition of the second wave ships and the possibility of larger games. 

So there you have it. Look for our unxboxing and battle report videos for X-Wing starting very soon. What has been your experience with X-Wing thus far? 







Dystopian Wars: Prussian Bunker



Slick here again with another quick update for my Prussians. I recently added the massive bunker fortification to my forces and here is a quick work in progress pic of it:


Let me know what you think!

Dystopian Wars: Prussian Mobile Airfield Complete



Slick here again with an update to my Prussian forces. I have completed the Seydlitz Mobile Airfield now and here are some updated pics! Let me know what you think!




Wednesday, March 6, 2013

X-Wing: Battle Pics


If you like Star Wars then you should definitely be checking out Fantasy Flight's X-Wing game! Below are some pics from our latest event! Pew pew pew!

Check back soon for several unboxing videos and an onverview/review of the game.








Sunday, March 3, 2013

TippCon Update: LotR CCG Tournament Added!



Lord of the Rings fans rejoice as we have added a tournament for the LotR Collectible Card Game to our lineup at TippCon! The event will begin on Day 2 (Sunday June 16) at 6:00 PM and will include some fantastic prize support! You can view the tournament document below:

TippCon LotR CCG Tournament

If you want to test your skills against some excellent CCG players you will want to grab a ticket for the event below:

TippCon LotR Event Ticket



Painting: First time paint job


This Dark Angels Librarian is the first model I painted and I felt like sharing it with you all. Until now I've mainly focused on the game side of the hobby. What do you guys think for a first effort?




Dystopian Wars: Prussian Mobile Airfield Update


Slick here again with an update for my Prussians. I've been working on the massive Seydlitz mobile airfield! This is one of the coolest models in the Dystopian Wars range. I've still got some finishing details to work on but here are some in progress pics. Comments welcome!




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