$195 For A FREE Game? What The Hell!

Quite often I will take a flick through Board Game Geek and the web in general to see what's happening on the Print and Play front. There are a lot of great games out there for literally nothing more than your time and effort.. And obviously a little toner and card stock.

That's not always the case though as this shocker has shown me!

Dungeon Plungin' came up on my Print and Play radar a long time ago as a freebie, so imagine my shock when I found someone retailing it for $195! Make that $235 if you want to go "Deluxe".. And for deluxe, read some components mounted on chipboard. Hardly deluxe in my book. Other than that you're looking at shelling out all that money on card stock, but no matter which way you look at it, this mark up is a disgrace!

I mean, given the current value of the USD ($195 is roughly worth £121.69) let me put that into context for you. For less I could buy any one of the following dungeon crawls (with frankly vastly superior production values):

Dungeonquest (£49.95)

Descent 2nd Edition (£63.00)

Super Dungeon Explore (£74.99)

Hell, I could even find a copy of Warhammer Quest for that kind of money! Warhammer Quest of course not being freely available right here. Now tell me what part of this game being sold at such a ridiculously high price doesn't scream of all kinds of wrong!?

Drone Guns, Fantasy Style

An idea has just occurred to me whilst watching Futurama: Bender's Game. It came to me during the scene where the Planet Express crew decided to directly assault Mom's icy lair and she rolled out the seemingly endless wall of Killbots.

I thought to myself, those could just as easily be animated ballista guarding the fortress of some powerful enchanter or artificer who doesn't welcome visitors as robotic drones with lasers for arms or, Gatling Guns mounted in their torsos... Because that's how I think. :0).

It seemed a little odd at first but then I began to wonder why the concept hadn't hit me sooner. Especially after the hordes upon hordes of animated suits of armor that I have waded through time and time again whilst playing Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II.

So what I have in mind is fitting several of these devices to key defensive locations, such as turrets or, as a full defensive line along the battlements, with animated suits of armor or other automatons instructed to reload them. Preferably, I would use repeating ballistae (which I picture looking a lot like this) for a sustained rate of fire against marauders and charge the "crew" with simply clearing jams and changing "clips" but the design and implementation is purely up to the whim of the GM.

Alchemy's Workbench #6: Laying Down The Velvet Gauntlet

Here's one they made earlier.

As well as the terrain that I am currently painting up for a friend, he has also handed me several of his other unpainted miniatures to work my magic on. One of which is this challenging little number from Games Workshop.

A quick search of their website soon turned up an image of what the finished project might look like and, it's interesting to see that they went with much the same color scheme that I had imagined (I had to guess as the box has long since gone missing).

Whilst in all honesty I have to admit that the shape and form of this model isn't exactly my cup of tea (it's lacking a certain something that I can't quite lay my finger on) it should prove to be quite interesting to paint as it should require nothing more than basic techniques to achieve what you see above, which is admittedly a rather nice overall finish.

Looking forward to this one but, it'll be some time before I get around to this one I imagine as I still have a handful of terrain to do, 35ish 20mm undead, a handful of 20mm adventurers, a not so 20mm troll and, potentially some more terrain to paint up beforehand!

Not to mention all the other models that I have my eye on...

Cyborkz - Resistanz Iz Futile

Who wouldn't want to add a few Borg to there miniatures collection?

The trouble is though that if you do want to, there just aren't any good Borg miniatures readily available. In fact, I'm not sure there are any "out of the box" Borg available full-stop. Of course, I could be wrong but, I can't find them!

So, what's a modeler to do? Assimilate of course! ;0).

My first thoughts on going custom were that Cadian Shock Troops would make a pretty good starting point for any Borg model. I'd need new heads and probably a few servitor arms from other models but the end result should be pretty close.. Or so I thought.

Then I found this picture on-line:

Click to enlarge.

Whilst the Cadians would do a fine job representing labor and transport drones, the arms would need some serious modification for every other type. The Games Workshop servitor arms just weren't going to cut it.

Not particularly practical from a personal point of view as I have none of the parts in my bit box nor anything to mod them with, meaning that this idea could quickly turn into a cash sink.. But looking in my bits box did give me a brainwave.

I have 40 or so Marauders from Mantic. Orks, that straight out of the box have a very Borg look about them. At one point I was even going to convert several of these to Mech Boyz for 40k. So, these would seem to be the perfect low-cost option for the project at hand. After all, the Borg didn't just assimilate Terrans did they?

So, depending on how well this pans out, I may even produce an unofficial codex for them. Not that Games Workshop will ever let you bring them to their gaming table... You can always use the paint scheme and ideas though, bringing cybernetically  enhanced Orkish killing machines to a workshop gaming table near you.

Alchemy's Workbench #5: Hulk On Hold

Just a quick update on my little side-project of combining the Dungeons and Dragons Adventure Game System and, Space Hulk to create a truly solitaire experience in the grim darkness of a Tyranid infested hulk.

It's probably not the update that you were all looking for though.

As I have SO many projects on the go at the moment, I have decided to shelve both this and the Diablo II conversion project until a couple of others are completed and, I can give them the due attention that they both deserve.

In the short-term, I have decided that the best number of projects for me to be working on without the risk of getting hopelessly side-tracked is probably two to three. Picking the three with so many pots on the boil was a hard one though but, I have decided to run with the following:

• The Dungeon Masters Series: I'm halfway now and I have really enjoyed working on this one, so there was no way that this one was going to get put on-hold when it's running so well.

• Flashpoint: This is a project that I have had sitting around for a few months that is pretty much in it's final stages now. Unlike my other projects however, this will be a salable product that can be yours for all of a dollar.. What is it though? Oh, it's just the only set of miniatures rules you'll ever need. ;0).. And I'm looking for a distributor.

More on this one to come.

• Assorted Painting and Modeling Projects: I have a whole bunch of miniatures and terrain (some my own, some that I'm doing as favors to other folks) that I am painting up when I have some time to spare, as well as a number of models that I am building from scratch.

These represent some of the only time that I am spending away from my laptop of late, so I certainly wasn't going to can them!

That said though, I certainly intend to showcase some of my finished works here. I may even lend a helping paintbrush in the future to folks who need it (I don't charge by the way but a few miniatures thrown my way as a thank you never goes a miss. ;0))

So, that's where I stand at the moment. Lots of stuff going on to the back burner.. But only until I have time and space for them.

Where's The Doctor when you need him?

Fantasy Product. Fantasy Prices!

I'll preface this post by saying that it is not really like me to come down hard on small businesses but, by the end of this post, I will be!

Let me start though by inviting you all to take a look at this post over at Alien Dungeon.

Normally I would root for fledgling and independent publishers like these guys but, I really have to draw up an objection to their pricing policy. More so, I also have to question them as to what the hell were they thinking when they came up with it!?

To ask for $100 investment in a new product line when all you're offering is a handful of miniatures and a rulebook essentially is ludicrous! Even Games Workshop, who are the worst of the worst when it comes to price bloat only charge £61.50 for their base product (that frankly gives you a lot more bang for your buck) and, that's a price tag for an established product line.

You know it must be bad if I'm coming down on the side of Games Workshop when talking about value for money! It's probably also worth saying that Games Workshop didn't have the benefit of a kickstarter to produce their product line and they STILL don't charge that much!

I would be interested in hearing what other people have to say on this but, to me it looks like greed, plain and simple.

2 For 1 On Marine And Chaos Forces!

There's no sale though. Just a loophole within the Warhammer: 40,000 rules big enough to park a Baneblade in!

A loophole exacerbated with the reintroduction of alliances in 6th Edition. So, imagine if you will that you could not only effectively collect two armies more or less for the price of one but, that you could field three armies instead of two without breaking the new alliance rules.

How cool is that!? But, how do you pull it off?

The trick here is to pick your paint job. What you are going for is finished models that look something like the Fleshtearer in the upper right of this post, just minus the decals and insignia.

They're black and red, you declare them as Fleshtearers, they're Fleshtearers right? After all decals are an optional extra by and large. An added extra that you really don't want!

The thing is though that the Red Corsairs are also decked out in red and black as you can see in the picture to the right. So those Fleshtearers could easily be Red Corsairs... After all, they've got no insignia to suggest otherwise right? ;0).

There you have it! Two armies for the price of one!

If you want access to the Blood Angels Codex, Wargear and, alliances, field them as Fleshtearers. If you want access to both the Space Marine and Chaos Codex's, Wargear and alliances, to mix and match on a whim, field them as Red Corsairs!

Taking the later option even opens up the possibility of a Necron alliance.

Space Marines laying down oppressive firepower, Chaos Daemons deep striking with impunity and, Necrons withering armor whilst point blank refusing to die... What hope does your opponent have?

It's A Good Thing

 One of the most impressive home grown finds that I have been lucky enough to come across in the past few months is Project Good: The Battle by Project Good, a small UK independent publisher that could well make it big.

I say this because they have managed to break one of the biggest rules of any tabletop skirmish game. The often unwritten rule. The rule that dictates what is acceptable when choosing a force to bring to the table.

Games Workshop go the whole hog with this. Not only do you have to use their miniatures but, they even go as far as telling you pretty much what your army MUST consist off. True, it's not quite that regimented but, it's not far off it is it?

Other games present you with a similar situation by imposing you with a specific setting or genre. In Project Good: The Battle (PG:TB) though that goes straight out of the window. You can use any miniature you have to hand, whether that be toy soldiers, old action figures or, as listed in their very own miniature manual, the dread cucumber!

So there you have it! A game where you can bring any miniature to the table. Now that's a good thing!!

What this game is effectively doing is giving you the green light to collect and paint as many different miniatures as you like and, giving you a game to play them all within. No more laborious army painting as one-on-one combat is the norm. No more limitation on what you can and can't bring to the table. No real limitations at all!

All that and only a light A5 rulebook. Now that's what I call a game!

Why not give it a look?

Plasma Dawn!

Well, despite my expectations in this article that I posted up earlier, it would seem that the whispers of the warp had a certain, almost eerie ring of truth to them.

It has to be said, and indeed, I did say it, that when I heard the rumors that the 6th Edition Starter Box would contain such a high-volume of plasma weapons, I didn't think for a moment that the rumors could be true.

It was just so "Un Games Workshop".

Here they were, proposing to peddle a product to new players that in my opinion had great potential to deter them from wanting to take the hobby any further and, that does little to sell the new rules to those players.

Frankly, I am still left asking myself, what the hell are they thinking!?

The tactical squad of Dark Angels is clearly sporting a Plasma Cannon, and if the write up here is at all accurate, there are at least another two plasma weapons in that squad. That's three opportunities every time that squad fires to blow itself clean appart!

So, "tactical" isn't the word I would use given that plasma weapons only get moderately better stats than bolters and, bolters don't explode. Bolters are also cheaper as a buy in when it comes to reckoning the points cost of your forcelist, so I can see no real reason for including them.. They kinda suck to be honest.

That aside however, I must concede that by and large, the sculpts for the new miniatures look pretty amazing, with a good mix of models in there for you to bring to the table. Certainly far more imaginative than Black Reach. So in that respect, Games Workshop should certainly have no trouble selling this box set to the masses.

It is just a shame that when people actually do get some of the models to the table, that they will find them self-destructing before they've made a dent in the enemy.

This should make demo games in-store interesting to say the least!

Alchemy Bytes #13: World Wide Web Of Wonders

I found this amazing little wonder in my Facebook feed today and just had to share it.

I have been pondering doing something similar for quite a while. Ever since I first saw this in fact.

Personally I found the art in Toy Mallet: 40c quite evocative. It set me thinking on just how much fun it could be to field a cutesy and fluffy force in such a grim setting.

Also I expect the looks on the faces of other gamers and, indeed the Games Workshop staff as you began to unpack your army ready for battle would be priceless!

In fact, the only factor that has stopped me creating such an army is budget. Admittedly a Battleforce would probably suffice but that's still £80 to spend on what is essentially a one-shot practical joke. Not Cheap.

Still very tempting though...

DMotivational #5: Let's Hope The One Ring Gives A Good Armor Save!

Whispers Of The Warp

A leak...

One of the most interesting blips on my scanner of late has to be the supposed leak of the contents of the Warhammer: 40,000, 6th edition starter box here.

Looking over the information though, I strongly suspect that what we have here is either false readings or a hoax... Sadly.

I say sadly only because the line-up looks so interesting. Which is a pretty big give away that this is not what you're going to get!

Games Workshop love to play it safe when it comes to introducing new players to the hobby and, a battlefield full of plasma weapons is anything but. Roll a '1' when firing and there's a good chance that you're going to blow your whole squad to hell. Which is both entertaining and amusing but, really not in the Games Workshop mind set.

Some aspects of the information presented in the post certainly have an aura of truth about them though.

... Or yet another hoax?

The most prevalent rumors about the release from all over the web suggest that the box will be a Dark Angels / Chaos smackdown and, there has indeed been a fair amount of hype surrounding a plastic Chaos Dreadnought that is expected to be included.

The load out also seems reasonable (besides the weaponry in general), with the Dark Angels almost mirroring the marine forces in Black Reach in numbers and composition. Some might say that they're suspiciously similar and, it's these nagging doubts that lead me to believe that what you see here and, what you'll actually get may be two VERY different things.

Thrift Store Finds

I have a reputation amongst my fellow gamers.

I'm lucky. REALLY lucky. Lucky to the point that whenever it comes to contesting dice rolls, someone around the table will remind whoever I am up against that they're rolling against me. As you can imagine, that is quite a reputation to have when it comes to gaming and, without any sense of ego I can say that it is well deserved.

I am lucky. REALLY REALLY lucky and, it doesn't end at the gaming table. I have made some pretty amazing finds in thrift stores over the past few months, so I thought I would take a moment to share a few of them with you, what they're actually worth and the pittance I paid for them.

The first great find this year was Gorkamorka. Not only was this game a limited production run but, the copy I found was for the most part untouched. The orks and what not had been assembled but, the books where virtually unread, the bulkheads that came with the set where still on sprue's and, the vast majority of the card-stock components where unpunched.
Approximate Value: £80ish.
I Paid: £10.

Inside that very same box there was also a sealed blister of metal Blood Bowl Chaos Cheerleaders, circa 1998.
Approximate Value: Hard to say as I have no frame of reference. There isn't even a similar item to be found on E-Bay. I would conservativly say in the ball park of £30 though.
I Paid: Nowt.

My next lucky find was Heroquest. I have wanted a copy of this for years, so there was no way in hell that I was going to leave that sitting on the shelf. Upon picking it off the shelf however I noticed that the box seemed to be bulging at the seams. What ever could be in here? Well there was only one way to find out given that it was all taped up. I bought it (like I said, no way in hell I was going to pass this one up. Especially with a mystery element attached).

When I got it home, JACKPOT! Not only was there a complete copy of Heroquest inside in good condition but, also the better part of three expansions! Sure, they may be missing a couple of miniatures all told and two or three card pieces but this was still an amazing find.
Approximate Value: £130.
I Paid: £4.99.

Only a week ago a thrift store dive uncovered 60 Lord of The Rings Miniatures for the tabletop skirmish game by Games Workshop. The most impressive aspect here for me was that the vast majority of those miniatures where metal and, included a close to complete fellowship.
Approximate Value: £35.
I Paid: £2.50.

Today was no exception to the rule either, turning up as I have Carcassone plus two expansions (one of which is unpunched).
Approximate Value: £20ish.
I Paid: £3.50.

Today also turned up a copy of a nice little abstract strategy game called Queen Bee. A little research has turned up the fact that this appears to be a first printing (by Condor), but little more. Either this little gem is remarkably unpopular or as rare as hens teeth. I suspect it may be the latter, making it an ideal candidate for a write up and review. It's also rules light, abstract strategy. Which is just awesome!
Approximate Value: Not a clue.
I Paid: 99p.

 

 

Links

Blood Bowl Board Game Geek Entry

Carcassonne Board Game Geek Entry

Gorkamorka Board Game Geek Entry

Heroquest Board Game Geek Entry

Lord of The Rings: Tabletop Battle Game Board Game Geek Entry

Why Pay More?

When it comes to building an Ork force for Warhammer: 40,000 cost can quickly become a problem.

Outside of what you can currently pick up inside of a Black Reach starter box set, you are going to need grunts and lots of them. Boyz form the core of most Ork forces and given that a 10 man squad currently sets you back £18 and, you realistically need somewhere between 6 of these before you throw in all the bells and whistles (Nobz, Trukks etc) setting up a warband, even a basic one, can easily set you back hundreds. Ouch!

But what if you could pull off pretty much the same effect for a fraction of the price? Allow me to introduce you to Mantic.

Mantic are not a new name when it comes to miniature gaming in the UK but their Ork range has been a long time coming. It has to be said though, well worth the wait. Whilst the plastic could use a little work the overall product really does give you a lot of bang for your buck, working out at about a pound a model with a couple of vehicles thrown in for free in this box set.

All-in-all you can get 40 Slugga Boyz and 10 Mek Boyz with Kustom Mega-Blastas out of this box (or 50 Slugga Boyz if you prefer) and the trikes included could easily be considered to be Wartrakks, worth £16.50 each with Games Workshops current prices.

So that's £141 from Games Workshop or, £49.99 from Mantic

Now whilst i can never honestly see Games Workshop allowing you to use these models in any of their stores (no surprise really) for your friendly games and local gaming groups there shouldn't really be any problems. The idea of Orks is "Kustomization" after all.

The Games Workshop Picture Book... Oh Sorry, I Mean White Dwarf #391

And from that half-arsed attempt at humor to a half-arsed excuse for a magazine.

Picking up my copy of White Dwarf this month it has to be fair to say that I wasn't exactly going to be flabbergasted if i found them showcasing material for 6th Edition given it's recent release. They're a business after all, so selling themselves is what they're going to do. Imagine then my surprise to find virtually nothing on the whole affair inside. With that surprise only being surpassed by my disgust at the lack of content in general.

All-in-all I reckon that the text of this 120 page magazine could be happily broken down into 10-15 pages, with fair chunks of that being promotional fluff. But what of the other 105-110 pages? Pictures. Picture after picture of what the staff have been painting.

Now, whilst i take a passing interest in the works of others, taking inspiration here and there, i really don't need more than 100 pages in one magazine dedicated to showcasing what have frankly become sub-par paint jobs (when compared to the paint jobs of old).

In fairness I don't doubt for a second that most of the staff painters could dry brush me into a oblivion but, my eyes work just fine and standards are definitely slipping.

Just pop into your local store (because there is always a free copy knocking about and you REALLY don't want to buy this issue) and check out the shoddy Necrons on pages 44 and 45. Now compare those to the paint jobs on the new releases at the bottom of page 11. I'm not wrong am I?

Yet the frankly shameful effort gets a double page spread and, the stunning work only a relative footnote. Add to that the blur on many of the photos throughout (probably covering up more bodged brush strokes) in what is to all intents and purposes a picture book and you end up with utter crap. Over 100 pages of utter crap in fact.

My advice. If you haven't bought it, don't.

Orks Don't Get to Have Nice Things

After months of ownership last night marked my first game of Warhammer: 40,000 with the Black Reach box set outside of Games Workshop and, boy did they ever make an epic fail in putting together that army list.

The Warband as it Stands

Out of the box the Ork player receives 20 Boyz, 5 Nobz, an Ork Warboss and, 3 Deff Koptas. From the word go this a poor selection for an Ork player with only 500ish points to spend on their force. It is perfectly understandable that Games Workshop would want to throw a wide variety of models into the box to attract new players but this really shouldn't come at the price of playability.

One Simple Tweak

Orks are by nature a 'horde' army and, those Deff Koptas whilst looking cool (and being limited edition) really have no place in such a small warband. In my personal opinion those 135 point would be much better spent on an additional 20 Boyz (coming in at only 130 points).

In gaming terms those 3 dice from the Deff Koptas (admittedly with re-rolls on misses). just became 20 dice. An amazing 60 for the first round of assault if you charge in (with Slugga Boyz)! Easily enough to bring some hurt to even the most hardened marines when you get up close and personal. Which is the point of playing Orks. Hit them hard, hit them fast and, shouting WAGGGGGHH!! a lot.