Despatches from the Outrider

Reshuffling The NHL

2011-10-24T23:38:00.001-05:00

The reincarnation of the Atlanta Thrashers as the Winnipeg Jets (complete with the classiest uniforms in the league) has drawn into stark relief the need for the National Hockey League to reorganize their 30 franchises and alter their scheduling policy, to better market the league and to avoid imposing starkly disproportionate travel demands (and corresponding game-time/marketing penalties) on certain affiliates. Commissioner Gary Bettman seems to understand this--but certain franchises (primarily established North/East Coast teams, grandfathered into the most favorable travel impositions and most ideal game schedules) seem opposed to 'taking one for the league' if it means their perfect situation is impacted.

Hockey has to stop thinking so parochially, if they hope for their sport--and League--to more broadly prosper.

If the NHL were to realign to four Divisions--an East and Central in the Eastern Conference, a Midwest and West in the Western Conference--it would preserve existing rivalries and unburden certain centrally-located franchises (Winnipeg and Dallas the most) of grueling travel miles (and away-game start times that rob the teams of home media audiences); it might look something like:

•NHL Eastern Conference•
East Division:
Boston
Carolina
Florida
New Jersey
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals

Central Division:
Buffalo
Columbus
Montreal
Ottawa
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Toronto

•NHL Western Conference•
Midwest Division:
Chicago
Dallas
Detroit
Minnesota
Nashville
St Louis
Winnipeg

West Division:
Anaheim
Calgary
Colorado
Edmonton
Los Angeles
Phoenix
San Jose
Vancouver

If there was a desire to split the two New York and two Pennsylvania teams into opposite divisions, one of each could be switched (say Philadelphia into the East and the Islanders into the Central); Nashville and Columbus could be interchanged (this alignment makes sense time-zone-wise but with the other Central teams clustered in the north-mid-east, the marketing possibilities of games against the Predators and vice versa might make fiscal/promotional sense). And as configured the East Division doesn't have a Canadian team--one with an east-coast-time-zone could easily be shuffled in if desired, though there isn't a good candidate to shuffle out. And this could need adjusting if Phoenix loses their team (especially if Quebec lands it).

Fortunately, it would not make quite as much difference which Division a team was in under this proposal, as with only two Divisions--and thus only two Division winners--the other teams will be fighting every other franchise in their conference for the remaining six playoff spots.

Restructuring of schedules would first prioritize home-and-away games for every NHL team with every other NHL team--it is healthy for the League to give every fan a chance to see a given superstar in their own arena at least once every year. That accounts for the first 58 of a season's games; adding a second set of home-and-aways with the other 14 teams in a franchise's conference would push the regular season schedule to 86 games, but would be the fairest way to achieve a balanced schedule (and with the greater variety of opponents, would probably *feel* shorter and provide an attendance boost, as well); as a season extension would have to be negotiated with players (though now's the time to do that), 82 games could be retained by having teams play home-and aways with the other six (or seven) teams in their Division, then an alternating home-or-away third game against the seven (or eight) teams in the other Division in their Conference, then fill their remaining three (or four) games out against other Division opponents they were comparable to the prior season (East One versus East Two, Central One and East Three, a weighted schedule a la the NFL) until the schedule balanced. This would mean most teams would see every team twice, the teams in their own Division at least four times and some five, and the teams in the other Division in their Conference at least three times and some four (see above why 86 games would be preferable :).

Rivalries would be preserved, the entire continent would see the entire League every season, travel would be more balanced (Midwest teams will still travel the most, Dallas and Winnipeg still probably most of all--but it would be north-south, same time-zone) and the only crazy out-of-time-zone games any team would have to face would be rare--once or twice a season--and potentially interesting enough for fans to want to stay up late.

The NHL needs a move like this. The opportunity to make it happen is right now.
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Dallas Stars Management Want To See As Empty an AAC as Possible...

2011-09-13T09:30:00.002-05:00

It is no secret that the Dallas Stars are a franchise operating with one arm tied behind their back until they find a real owner. Their management, however, is still responsible for the decisions they make--and need be held accountable when those decisions insult the faithful.

The management has made the decision to treat all pre-season games as 'full price admissions' this year--even for those fans who had already bought a game package with some...hope, if not expectation, of a pre-season game promotion to be included, as in years past.

When dealing from a position of strength, any retailer can dictate terms: car dealers can charge above sticker for in-demand models, clothing stores for hot designer labels--and winning sports franchises for the glorified practices call 'pre-season games.' The emphases there should be on 'position of strength' and especially 'winning'--because it has been too long since the Stars dealt from either.

Let's recap: their sport and it's professional league, the NHL, still hasn't recovered from a lost season, lacks a real US national television presence, and struggles to remain the fourth of the 'big four' against such interests as soccer and mixed martial arts; the team has, in consecutive seasons, dispatched the only two recognizable faces they still boasted in the broader DFW community then failed to retain their only real star player; and when last seen on the ice, was blowing a gift opportunity to redeem a late season collapse and make the playoffs (playoffs they haven't otherwise sniffed in years). That ain't strength.

So their plan to try to address this negativity and build some buzz and momentum for 2011-2012 is to see how empty they can make the American Airlines Center in pre-season? And then--what? Hope all those empty seats generate phantom enthusiasm from MIA fans to come back for the real games?

One of the problems with sales tactics like jacking up prices for hot cars, designer clothes and pre-season games even when dealing from strength is that it is classic 'short term gain at long term cost:' even the buyers who pay it know they are being had, and may not be so interested when time to make a routine purchase from that same seller comes along again--and those who are sufficiently put off or offended not to pay it in the first place get turned, in a moment, from ally to adversary.

If even the short-term gain isn't being had by such management decisions...

The Stars need an owner. Yesterday.

One hopes one of the first things that still-imaginary person does is take whomever is making these management decisions to the woodshed, for the willful devaluing of his hockey team...

Thanks for killing the buzz before game one for a team everyone expects to struggle even if everything goes well, management. I suppose that's why they call it 'management' instead of 'leadership.'

I will still be cheering my Stars. Just from home, where they can't hear me. And from where I am unlikely to get sufficiently caught up in the experience that I make returning a priority. Which, of course, is why they call such courtesies as free pre-season games extended to ticket-package buyers 'promotions'...

'Super' Miniatures from Reaper/Pathfinder

2011-07-18T09:09:00.000-05:00

As a comics fan long before I was a wargamer, and a wargamer now most of my life, I am an irredeemably dedicated fan of the SuperSystem superhero/supervillain miniatures skirmish game, and of the game-specific line of Superfigs miniatures which accompanies it (the dedicated SuperSystem website seems to be down presently; information--as well as a tremendous variety of play-aids--can be had at the SuperSystem Annex and award-winning miniatures painter Agis Neugebauer has a showcase of his Superfigs work.

Great as Superfigs are, one can never have too many four-colour hero and villain models. Reaper Miniatures has some dedicated candidates in their wonderful--and wonderfully diverse--Chronoscope line (how I would love a shot at developing a coherent miniatures skirmish game out of *this* collection of models!), but it is their more recent Pathfinder Fantasy series which has my current attention: ostensibly Paizo's 'D&D 3.5+' fantasy system, the Pathfinder world must have a great deal more than traditional dungeon-delving going on, if these epic good guys and bad guys are wandering around in it! I have used links to Paizo's site as I have used them often through the years (and they offer a discounted price on most of the miniatures in question); if you want to see more and/or order directly from the source, Reaper has a great reputation for customer service, as well, and you can start at http://www.reapermini.com.

Grey Maiden

Grey Gardener (a pulp masked hero if ever one walked down a shadowy alley)

Red Mantis Assassins (male and female)

Hellknight

Pactmaster

Plague Doctor (especially suitable for a pulp campaign)

Skinsaw Man

Skinspawn (a perfect henchman for the above)

Stag Lord

Scarecrow

The Scribbler

Whispering Tyrant (the figure which of them all just radiates 'master villain')

I hope some of this piques curiousity about SuperSystem--I know I could use more opponents, and more Friendly Local Game Stores (FLGS) willing to carry the line!
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Butcher Bird Flies Again

2011-04-12T13:02:00.003-05:00

An authentic WWII Focke Wulf Fw 190 has flown again--in Arizona and Washington.

A JG54 Fw 190A-5, crashed outside Leningrad in 1943, has been resurrected by billionaire Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection; the frame is original, the engine rebuilt from remaining BMW 801 salvage. Much of the reconstruction was overseen by JME Aviation in the UK before completion at Casa Grande, Arizona, where the Fw 190 was test-flown in December 2010--the first genuine 'Butcher Bird' to get airborne in over half a century.

The Fw 190 will homebase at Everett, Washington, where efforts to reskin it in it's original JG54 paint scheme are underway.

Restored Butcher Bird first flight

Fw 190A-5

Pigs Fly No More

2011-04-01T12:37:00.003-05:00

Though it would be difficult to find an aircraft with a past more fraught with political interference, the General Dynamics F-111 overcame all to render decades of service to NATO air forces, from Cold War stand-off strike capability to surgical missions into the modern era of asymmetrical conflict, the F-111's unique combination of near-fighter speed and maneuver capability, bomber payload delivery, and nose-to-the-earth terrain-hugging radar effectiveness providing a mission effectiveness and flexibility that remains difficult to equal.

Some combination of aircraft will have to, however...for with the formal retirement of the Royal Australian Air Force's strike fleet, all F-111s are retired.

Known to it's US crews (fondly) as the Aardvark (reportedly for it's pronounced snout), to the RAAF it was a contraction of aardvark's literal translation, 'earth pig'--simply, the Pig.

An RAAF pilot with the second-most flight hours in type, squadron leader Steve Clarke with some 3400, was a pilot for the Pigs' final sortie. The type leader, Captain Brad Insley (United States Air Force, retired) was present for the final flight and got one last Pig ride, as well: in the cockpit of an F-111 he had flown to Vietnam in 1972, as it was towed to permanent static display.

With it's distinctive cockpit pod and variable-geometry 'swing wings,' the F-11, like the Navy's F-14, was an obvious artifact of it's era...and it may be that era has passed. Not without challenge, however, or trial. All of us still alive and free owe some measure of gratitude for the fact to Pigs that flew--and the men who made that so.

Despatch: Hail Caesar!

2011-03-21T10:49:00.003-05:00

Warlord Games follows up their Black Powder ruleset with a hardcover set of Ancients rules, now available for pre-order from the Warlord website with an incentive of an exclusive, otherwise unavailable pewter miniature of a quintessentially Roman legionnaire adorning the rulebook's cover:

Of particular interest, 'Hail Caesar's' authors: Rick Priestley, abetted by Alessio Cavatore...
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RIP Adrienne Roy

2010-12-26T19:09:00.001-06:00

DC Comics colorist Adrienne Roy passed away Dec 14, apparently after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer.

In an era when 'four color comics' did not define a type of traditional superheroic comic book action so much as the literal limitations the medium placed on adding color to the illustrated action, Roy was a master; she brought flash, vibrancy and style to George Perez' inspired work on New Teen Titans...but for me it was the sense of mood and atmosphere she added--with an extremely limited palette, and for a variety of different artists--to literally hundreds of Batman family comics I will remember most.

The Batman then did not need deconstructionist writers variously breaking his back, destroying his city, killing him, zombifying him and/or painting him as hopelessly psychotic to make his world seem dark and shadowy. He had Adrienne Roy.

Thank you for your work, and rest in peace.

Christopher Allen
Dallas, TX

Enter--the Helicarrier!

2010-12-03T10:02:00.000-06:00

Sometimes something gets made that one just must have. That thing for our household this holiday season is a toy I never expected anyone to make, despite it's unalloyed coolness: the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier! A fixture in the Marvel Universe from it's first appearance in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's uniquely-Marvel answer to the sixties spy craze, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.*, the Helicarrier rose to greatest prominence in the late-seventies 24-issue Marvel Godzilla comic book, as it and various of Nick's supporting agents pursued the great Toho monster across the Marvel universe:

Like so many supporting elements of that comic book universe, however--the Warriors Three, Zabu the sabertooth from the prehistoric Savage Land, Stegron the Dinosaur Man, the Prowler--it's charms always seemed appreciated by too small an audience to ever expect to see it brought to any kind of three-dimensional life. The success of the 'deformed' Super Hero Squad mini action figures line, however, has led to an animated TV series starring same...and a centerpiece therein is their 'flying headquarters,' which has been incarnated as a centerpiece toy for the Christmas season. And though it's name may have changed, and it's design been 'kiddified' consistent with the source--make no mistake that under the garish colours and superdeformed proportions is...the greatness of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier!

Fortunately, this household happens to have an eight-year-old boy who loves his superdeformed superheroes, who will be profiting from his father's decades-long Helicarrier mania this Christmas.

*--and S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Enforcement Division, no matter what irremediably more idiotic and less memorable moniker current deconstructionist Marvel talent insists on rebranding upon it; Stan Lee said that's what S.H.I.E.L.D. means, and that's the end of the conversation, for me.
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Does the Hobby Want--or Need--Army Composition Scoring?

2010-11-24T14:30:00.002-06:00

Scoring for an Army's Composition in organized Warhammer 40,000 (or Warhammer Fantasy) play--especially tournaments. Is it needed? Does it have a role, if not? Is there a way to do it fairly?

The answer to the first question is, simply, no: it is not necessary to the success of play. The codices for each army, a construction framework such as percentages or the Force Organization Chart--and a determined points value--are the only essential tools for composing armies. And there are numerous organized events and tournaments which do not feature any scoring for Army Composition, or otherwise address the issue beyond the requirement that a participating army be codex-legal and adhere to the indicated points value and Force Organization.

The answer to the second question is the meat of the subject, really. If Army Composition scoring is not necessary, and some events succeed quite satisfactorily without it--why add it? It is undeniably extra work for a moderator, to score and ensure compliance, and there are clearly significant portions of the player base which do not embrace it. The reason for Army Composition scoring in organized play is simply that the game is not an abstract construct, like chess; it--and the codices which allow army construction within it--attempt to do more than balance each army for competition, they also attempt to help players create a simulation on the tabletop, and tell a compelling story. Allowing army builds from codices without prejudice can be likened to allowing chess players to build their side with as many knights, rooks or queens as they choose instead of pawns (thus creating 'power armies' or 'tiered codices' or whichever descriptive phrase of your choice indicates that in the Hobby not all codices and not all entries in codices are evenly balanced, competitively): it wouldn't be 'fair' in chess so chess doesn't allow it--and providing some scoring for Army Composition in organized play attempts to address it insofar as possible, for 40K. In that light, it would seem that yes, scoring for Army Composition has a role...especially as long as there are also events available wherein it is *not* used, as well, for those who do not enjoy or appreciate such restraints.

That role can only be properly filled if the scoring for Army Composition seems to participants to accomplish its intent. Thus, the third question--can it be scored fairly? Of the two reasons players tend not to like scoring for Army Composition (the first being not liking any penalty being assessed for building an army other than how one prefers), it is experience with unfair Army Composition scoring in organized play that leaves the most distaste. We've all heard the horror stories: armies identical in build receiving different scores; armies built to a given judge's hard-and-fast notion of what is 'right' getting high scores when they seem to fly in the face of the game's background; not knowing what judges wanted in a build before--and often after--getting scored.... Army Composition was always a component of Official GW GTs in the 90s and early 2000s--and was always controversial, because they rarely told you what their build criteria were, and/or how they had applied it. You got your score, at the end of the GT--you just never knew why. Things came to a head when a particular judge answered an interview question about ideal Army Composition by saying that his perfect vision of a 1500 point army was 100 space marines on foot; while reasonable players knew what he was driving at (a representation of a company of space marines), a simple application of this Army Composition to the then-extant rules revealed there was no physical way to get a hundred marines into such a list, never mind within a Force Org chart and never mind that such a force, denied mobility or heavy/special weapons or leadership, would get pasted in almost any mission imaginable. Even as this pronouncement raised the already ire-filled argument about Army Comp to new levels, competitive players began trying to apply the philosophy in GTs--reaching the height of ridiculousness when one such was awarded 'Best Army Composition' at one Grand Tournament for a Chaos Space Marine army which featured the then-legal composition of six 50-strong infantry Chaos Cultist hordes and multiple Great Unclean Ones of Nurgle. Not a single actual Chaos Space Marine in sight.

It was in light of such antics that Army Composition went away completely in many events, or took on radical refining in others, the latter in an effort to continue to allow it to fill its role but to do so fairly. The best such--then and still--is Astronomi-Con's Army Composition: it presents players with guidelines that try to address the role indicated above, but does so completely voluntarily--so that a player can break the Army Comp guidelines for a modest scoring penalty if they think they can make up those points in battle with their higher-end performing army--and completely transparently--so that every player knows how his choices will affect his score.

Is it perfect? No--no more than the game itself is perfect, or perfectly balanced. Very often, players have to 'break' the Army Composition guidelines for a simulation- or story-based reason, as much as in an attempt to power-up their build; the best example I can think of from the recent AstroDallas was a Tyranid player whose love for that army has always been built around large monstrous creatures, especially carnifexes, and who had to take big hits to his Army Comp to get those monsters on the table even though almost no one fears Tyranid 'godzilla' builds under the current codex, *especially* the grossly neutered carnifexes. But the important thing is that 1) he knew what doing so was going to do to his Army Comp score in advance, and was able to decide if that penalty was enough that he needed to go out and start adding hordes; and 2) when he decided it wasn't and he'd rather play the army he liked, he could do it anyway.

I am on record as preferring not to have an Army Composition score in events I run. I recognize the inherent imbalance in the codices, and choose to address it by allowing actual participants to include their perception of the opposing army build as an element of their Sportsmanship scoring. This is where I have always believed it belonged, because the relative 'funness' or 'unfunness' to play of an army construction is almost always a reflection of the relative 'funness' or 'unfunness' of an opposing player to play--and on the occasions I encounter someone who has power-built an army but who is really fun and sporting to play against and has put a great deal into the simulation aspect of that army as well, I am if anything inclined to score him the higher for it, Sportsmanship wise, because that is not very common (the inverse, of someone who shows up with a very thematic army they've invested tremendously in the simulation aspect of but who winds up being a complete douche to game against happens, too--and Sportsmanship *still* seems to be a reasonable area to address that, in scoring). Is this perfect? Of course not--the most obvious flaw being, as in any player-scored aspect, that often the least Sporting players will use that very element of the overall scoring in manipulative ways. Play your buddy, who is obviously a jackass to everyone in the room with his contentiousness, and who has tweaked his army to match, and give him perfect marks for Sportsmanship including his build? Yeah--you've beaten the system. Bravo to you, a-hole...but don't think everyone doesn't know you did it, and don't be shocked when *your* Sportsmanship scoring seems lower from your opponents other than your buddy than you thought you deserve, and maybe costs you a placing.

The important thing to remember in either case is that players know this aspect of scoring will be present in advance; it at least presents the opportunity for addressing imbalance, and achieving a higher level of competitive fairness, and if it isn't their cup-of-tea, hobby-wise, there are plenty of 'harder' organized play events out there, for their investment of time, effort and expense. That is 'fairness' at its most balanced.

The Ard Boyz events come under a lot of criticism in discussions of any aspect of the Hobby other than tabletop results--but in my view they shouldn't. They are to gameplay what Golden Daemon competitions are to the painting aspect of the Hobby: an organized event narrowly focusing on that part of the overall Hobby, not a replacement for organized events which fully embrace and celebrate as many aspects of the Hobby at once as possible. Just as Golden Daemon should not diminish the accomplishments of a Best Painted or Best Army trophy winner at a broad-hobby event, Ard Boyz play should not dictate to broad-hobby play. Let them all exist, and let hobbyists decide where they are happiest participating.

And if, in a given area, there *aren't* enough events of any one type or another, and a hobbyist has a very strong feeling about it...there are always plenty of retailers looking for events, and someone with the commitment to run one. Doing so is biting off a chunk of work, to be sure, but will have a much longer-term impact that simply talking about it or posting about it. In the ongoing matter of scoring for Army Composition, as in the rest of the hobby, as in life...effort trumps opinion. I know Astronomi-Con was formed from a challenge to its moderators, after an unsatisfactory organized play experience, to 'see if you can do better'...and they have.
CEA
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Fine Historical Miniatures Hardcover Released

2010-10-14T10:52:00.002-05:00

The price will ensure this fine tome is not for everyone...but for those for whom such things might be a priority, Kevin Dallimore is (like the releasing company, Wargames Foundry) a recognized and respected name in historical miniatures circles, and I expect the quality of this 308 page, 900+ colour photo illustrated volume to match their reputations.

Get it Here!

Night Spinner Summary

2010-10-12T13:57:00.001-05:00

The multipart plastic Eldar Night Spinner is now readily available on your local stockist's shelves, but the rules have thus far only been printed in White Dwarf (North American issue 365, June 2010, the same issue which published the Spearhead ruleset). Although most organized events (like tournaments) still require participants to have the in-print version of any rules in order to use a unit, and Games Workshop will doubtless have the Night Spinner rules available as a codex-legal download from their website, this summary should allow purchasers of the kit who may have missed that issue of the Dwarf to begin friendly play (and allow those facing one to begin readying, as well!):

From WDNA 365 June 2010:

Eldar Night Spinner
Vehicle, Heavy Support
115 Points

BS3 FA12 SA12 RA10 Tank, Fast, Skimmer

Twin-linked Doomweaver: R12"-72" S6 AP- Hvy1, Barrage, Large Blast, Rending, Monofilament Web (any unit hit counts as in Difficult and Dangerous Terrain next time they move)

Twin-linked shuriken catapults (may upgrade to cannon for 10 points)

May take: -Vectored engines...20 points
-Star engines...15 points
-Holofields...35 points
-Spirit stones...10 points

Celt Starter Army Deal at Warlord

2010-09-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

http://shop.warlordgames.co.uk/celtic-horde-starter-army-4789-p.asp

Warlord Games occasionally puts amazing historical miniatures starter army boxes together for sale from their website for a limited time, usually centered around their core multipart plastics with key blistered metal figures as special features. This time, they've created a starter army box for ancient Celts--featuring almost US$150 worth of models for less than US$100. If you've an interest in 28mm historicals, you can't go wrong with sculpts of Warlord's quality at a price like this...

The Wrath of the Norse!

2010-08-30T11:27:00.001-05:00

Interesting in-scale little plastic kit on offer from Warlord Games:

http://www.warlordgames.co.uk/?p=7385

The application for 28mm historicals is obvious; what occurs to me as well is that it would make a great centerpiece for a Warriors of Chaos army in Warhammer Fantasy Battles--and (for those willing to chop something this cool up a bit) an even cooler terrain/objective!

The Modano Quandary

2010-06-25T23:11:00.002-05:00

Mike Modano's future in hockey has taken a new turn with reported comments in the last week, and created what local sports enthusiasts are calling 'the Modano Quandary' for his lifelong team, the Dallas Stars.

Let me help clarify. There is no 'quandary.' There's options 1a or 1b, which are unfortunately mutually exclusive due to NHL rules but which either one offers some positives going forward; there's option 2 which will be initially disappointing but is Mike's call and will be just fine, down the line; and there is *any other effing thing*, all of which will make the Stars, manager Joe Niuwendyk, coach Mark Crawford, owner Tom Hicks and anyone else associated with it irremediably hated men in North Texas. For life. Figure that on struggling ticket sales, Stars management.

Option 1a is, Mike decides to play for the Stars another year, affording him and his fans a farewell-tour year something like those final two storybook games of last year's otherwise disappointing season.

Option 1b is, Mike becomes part of a new ownership team of the Stars (which has the ancillary enormous benefit of seeing off the horrific blight upon North Texas that is the Hicks Sports Group).

Option 2 is, Mike retires. We who believe (unlike some other sports icons like the often-compared Emmit Smith) that Mike has proven he can still play as a contributing 3rd or 4th line center, will be saddened...but last year ended so magically for him, and us, and we know he will become a future enormous part of the franchise going forward if it ends happily like this, so we can live with it.

Any other option--and we. will. hate. the. Stars. He goes to another team and plays, and some part of our relationship with Mike will be damaged, as well--but Mike won't be paying for it in lost revenue and ticket sales and skate fees at StarCenters and whatever else.

A Stars team minus Modano, and Marty Turco, and maybe Jere Lehtinen, had better win quickly because the remaining other draws are known for their appeal mostly only to we hockey faithful who are coming anyway. They *cannot* afford to actively piss off the fanbase.

Mike wants to play, we want him back. In black, green and gold. Period.

Screw this up at your *enormous* peril, Stars.

Deathwatch!

2010-06-25T23:08:00.003-05:00

FFG's Free RPG Day offering was 'Final Sanction,' debuting the next (and most anticipated) offering in their 40K roleplaying line, Deathwatch (allowing play as Space Marines, finally). Though I missed getting by my local game stockist for the day because of Astronomi-Con Dallas (a trade I will happily make any day), I've finally gotten to pick through a friend's copy of 'Final Sanction,' and I like it. The system mechanics are what they are (I am not especially a fan, having dealt already with these rules via Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader), but like those previous offerings the art and production values are up to GW standard, as (most importantly) is the embrace of the Intellectual Property: this *feels* like the 40Kverse.

Using the Deathwatch as an rpg paradigm is an outstanding way to get Space Marines into play (and should allow easy cross-integration with RT and especially DH); the only thing I noticed is that the module clearly genericizes the Deathwatch into servants of any and all Ordos of the Inquisition (rather than the pure alien hunters they've always been). Wonder if this presages any changes for 40K, come the new Inquisition codex?

'Final Sanction' has me jazzed to run a session of Space Marine role-playing; if anyone has a friendly gaming store with a copy left, please let me know (and you get dibs on the first slot in the Kill Team!).

Thank You, Astro Dallas Sponsors

2010-06-23T15:48:00.002-05:00

The inaugural Astronomi-Con Dallas would not have been the runaway success it was without:

HobbytownUSA Dallas: HTUD donated the table and city ruins for 'Urban Sprawl,' and were the *only* North Texas retailer to take advantage of Astro's unique sponsor a player' program of sending one of their staff 40K experts to participate; anyone who got to play Jeff and his Howling Griffons space marines, thank HTUD! The Post-Astro Apocalypse Megabattle reward for Astro attendees will also be hosted by HTUD, as will the summer-long North Texas 40K Playoffs, beginning with Bracket One this Sunday!
Reaper: In addition to prizes, Reaper gave *every* Astro Dallas participant a limited-edition three-pack of their quality paints (I used one of their blues as an accent colour for my Iron Hands to make them notably different from Ultras or Crimson Fists in traditional Citadel blues, and I think it worked nicely). We are fortunate to have Reaper as so supportive a North Texas-local manufacturer.
Warlord Games: The full-colour box set of multipart plastic Roman Legion and limited resin Testudo formation donated by Warlord as prize support were admired all weekend; if such quality 28mm historical gaming pieces are something you would like to add to your miniatures-wargaming hobby, let your local retailer know: they will gladly stock what you will buy!
Battlefront: Manufacturers of the great Flames of War WWII game, Battlefront contributed the terrain which became 'Truck Stop' and free posters which were eagerly snapped up by Astro Dallas attendees. If you would like to play Flames of War, let your local retailer know!
Gale Force 9: GF9 is already wellknown in the hobby for their lines of game accessories and assembly/painting/basing product; they've now added top-quality pre-painted terrain, which covered the GF9-sponsored, classic-Astro 'Sink The Baneblade!' table.
Adeptus North Texas provided pre-Astro Dallas promotion, including run-up events, and prizes for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40K to reinforce it's role as a central clearing house for information regarding all aspects of the Games Workshop hobby in North Texas, as well as the awesome Cybo-Skull accessory and a free ticket toward winning it for the first 25 Astro registerees; if your hobby friends are not on the Adeptus emailing list, get them hooked up for the latest locally.
Games Workshop: In addition to a wealth of coveted prize support product (including rare Forge World kit!), GW contributed tickets to GamesDay, the premiere celebration of the Hobby, and by making the Astro circuit part of the official Indy GT lineup, admission to two finishers for next year's tourney final in Las Vegas!
The Gamers Realm: In addition to their regular beautiful tables and plentiful terrain, TGR built tables exclusively to debut at Astro Dallas, provided prize support, and most importantly, *made* Astro Dallas happen by hosting the event and doing all the ferrying and logistic duty such an undertaking required. Matt, Jack and the TGR staff, there aren't sufficient thanks; hopefully, current and future purchases from TGR will convey the community's appreciation.

To all 38 players who came out--you've proven yourselves hobby champions. Though we drew from extremities of North Texas--west beyond Ft Worth and east as far as Tyler--in the end, Astro Dallas was an *all North Texas* event. That should send a message to GW about how ready the Metroplex is for future major organized hobby celebrations (GamesDay Dallas, anyone)...and bodes well for the attendance at future Astro Dallases, once attendees begin coming in from Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Lubbock and out-of-state--including, perhaps especially, the great veteran gaming community of other Astronomi-Cons. If Astro Dallas 1 was the first Astro to ever turn profit in it's inaugural iteration, the sky's the limit, going forward--thanks to the support of and confidence in it, sight-unseen, by this community.

And, most importantly, thanks to Christian Augst, Mike Major and (labouring behind the scenes and across the border--this time) Keith Grant, for the best time it is possible to have playing 40K.

Watch http://www.astronomi-con.com for information on how to participate in the circuit's remaining 2010 tournaments in Winnipeg and Vancouver, Canada (you *know* you want to) and http://www.adeptusnorthtexas.com for word on the latest hobby activities in North Texas...and on Astronomi-Con Dallas 2011!
+++

Tales of Battle

2010-05-13T15:23:00.003-05:00

'Tales of Battle' is a high-production-value fanzine devoted to Warhammer Fantasy Battle--specifically the WHFB Grand Tournament Circuit--which has just reached its milestone sixth issue...no small feat for what is essentially a two-man operation.

Each issue covers the latest developments in the Warhammer world, via reviews of such things as recent army book releases, through the prism of what has happened on the GT circuit. There are, as well as reviews, frequent army showcases and occasional modeling workshops--but even these are geared toward the GTer. An excellent example is local hobbyist Matt Mayer's article about Dwarf entrenchments in issue five: although Matt does a great job expanding on the basics for building the model (presented in an earlier issue), making it 360 and addressing a defect in one of the recommended building materials, and the article would stand as valuable from that perspective alone, the remainder of the article elaborates on how the entrenchment played at the Alamo GT.

It isn't in any way a criticism to point out this emphasis; and in fact much of 'Tales of Battle's' success is probably due to it's catering to a specific potential audience. It is just something potential customers should know: there are frequent uses without elaboration of abbreviations and terminology which have become commonplace over the course of GT play which a non-GTer may have difficulty deciphering, and a general sense of familiarity amongst the circuit's top players (which understandably include 'ToB's' staff) which can leave readers interested in Warhammer but less a part of the GT subculture scratching their heads.

It might be fair to suggest clarity in such matters could be improved by judicious explanatory editing...and it is also fair to warn readers in advance that if they are bothered by the presence of other errors one expects to be cleaned up by professional editing--such as spelling or punctuation errors, mid-paragraph changes in tense, etc--such things are too common in issues of 'ToB' to ignore. 'Tales of Battle' is a fanzine; as it's colour, graphic design and photo reproduction have improved from issue to issue, it is easy to forget that it's creators and contributors are producing it out of affection for the subculture, and by definition are professionals at something else. Nevertheless, five bucks is five bucks; some readers won't stand for muddy or inaccurate photos or diagrams at that price, and others may not for muddy english...

Each issue of 'ToB' can be counted on to include regular features: those present from the start have included in-person coverage of the most recent GTs, Masters of Battle interviews with hobby (meaning circuit) notables, Table One (a fully-diagrammed battle report from climactic tables at recent GTs, a particularly impressive, labour-intensive piece of work) and The General's Tent, offering playing advice. I have found something of merit in all these regular columns; I learned more about Wasteland Wars and it's tireless promoter on the Adeptus North Texas mailing list, Brent Collins, in issue 4 than I had known, for example (all of which makes me want to get out to Lubbock someday even more), and the General's Tent on GT Etiquette in that same issue should be something every hobbyist reads.

The irregular features have been spottier--short WHFB-ish fiction, painting and building articles and army showcases increase the zine's appeal beyond the GT circuit players circle, while commentaries from such players and/or about activities on it can be so insular as to be offputting. Issue 5's At The Crossroads of Overlord is a fine example: an article about four East Coast players' attempts to claim a season-overall championship through play in the last tourney event was fascinating, once into it--but with far too little explanatory set-up about who they were or how they reached that point to be very clear. Doubtless for others on the circuit who know them or know the whole story, it was sufficient; for the remaining potential WHFB-loving audience it took a lot of inference while reading-through, to get satisfaction.

In particular, I would enjoy seeing more reviews: the format in issue 5 which judged the Skaven Army Book by familiar letter grades for Imagination/Excitement, Balance (which it did well on) and Rules Clarity (where it nearly failed) was enlightening.

'ToB's' newest feature will be as an outlet for 'unofficial' WHFB playlists. This started as a well-received, fan-created army list for the long-officially-unavailable Chaos Dwarves, which has been accepted for official play at certain GTs (the 96 page PDF can be downloaded at http://www.warmongers.ziggyqubert.com for the interested); author Kevin Coleman adds the Fimir (for the true WHFB grognard) in issue 6. It is a neat idea, and the initial impression the list makes upon this Black Orc player is positive, ruleswise--but it's credibility is, if not destroyed, badly undermined by the worst case of the aforementioned amateurish proofing/editing yet seen in an issue...

'Tales of Battle' is the brainchild of North Texas' own Ben Burns, ably assisted by Matt Birdoff. Copies are available locally at The Gamers Realm and Area 51 for $5 each; subscriptions can be had for $25 at http://www.talesofbattle.com and, while I am no WHFB GTer, I felt I got my five bucks worth of entertainment and am happy to have found all six issues through local retailers. I anxiously await the seventh.
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Rule Clarification: Descent of Angels

2010-04-23T21:55:00.001-05:00

The new Codex: Blood Angels is somewhat unclear about which units and characters benefit from their 'Descent of Angels' Special Rule.

The Special Rule verbiage on page 23 indicates it applies to 'a Blood Angels unit with this special rule;' if interpreted to mean therefore only those units with 'Descent of Angels' listed in their individual unit Special Rules, only the HQs Dante, Astorath and the Sanguinor, the Elite Sanguinary Guard, and the Troop Assault Squads appear to benefit from 'Descent of Angels.'

However, the Equipment listing for Jump Packs on page 62 states that *any* 'Blood Angels model with a jump pack has the Descent of Angels special rule' and then specifically refers to page 23 (emphasis mine). This would extend the benefit of the Special Rule to any other character capable of purchasing a jump pack, and to jump pack equipped units which do not specifically reference 'Descent of Angels' in their unit listing. Vanguard Veterans are the unit of relevance here, because 'Descent of Angels' combined with 'Heroic Intervention' could be especially powerful (a possible negative consequence of interpreting the codex this way)...but the ability to join any BAdex character wearing a jump pack to a like-equipped squad, as this interpretation would allow, seems an equal positive.

I think the unit which best clarifies which way this rule should be interpreted is the Death Company. It's unit listing does not confer 'Descent of Angels'--but Chaplain Lemartes, who can now only be bought as an upgrade to the Death Company, does have the 'Descent of Angels' Special Rule, which would be meaningless if his mandatorily-attached squad could not benefit likewise.

As the jump pack listing confers the Special Rule and the rule explanation limits it to those *with* the Special Rule, the interpretation most consistent with both of those codex assertions would seem to be that the presence of a jump pack on a character model or unit of models in an army built using Codex: Blood Angels confers 'Descent of Angels' to that character or unit, regardless of whether the Special Rule is specified in their unit listing alone.

This has the benefit of allowing Independent Characters other than the three (very unique) special characters so identified to strap on a jump pack and run with assault marines, and clarifies the Death Company (and, yes, makes Vanguard Veterans *very* hard).

Unless errata'ed otherwise at some point by Games Workshop, this will clarify how 'Descent of Angels' will be ruled at any events I moderate, and other local retailers and referees are welcome to refer to it, for consistency.
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Wound Allocation In V5

2010-04-13T23:56:00.003-05:00

Prefacing this with the acknowledged opinion that V5 Wound Allocation is stupid, counter intuitive, unnecessarily time-wasting and fiddly, and a change made almost certainly only so that it was something different from the system put in place by the previous Studio regime--we are nevertheless stuck with it. I understand players who simply choose to disregard it and assess casualties the old way, and frankly I tend to do so most of the time, too...but being less than diligent about enforcing proper V5 Wound Allocation has created multiple ways of playing this locally, several of which conflict--with fairly dramatic consequences. With Astronomi-Con only two months out, I have undertaken to get this right.

There seem to be two ways of interpreting the rule (and in fairness to the local gaming scene, in sorting through the forums to get the consensus correct answer on this, this is a common problem everywhere):

You split your targeted unit into as many different (by gear, stats, whatever) types as necessary and assess each Wound, one to a model at a time, *per type*.
You split your targeted unit into as many different (by gear, stats, whatever) types as necessary but assess each Wound one per model, only moving to specialist types when the basic type models have all received a wound.

The difference is small but meaningful, especially when only a few Wounds have been made (if there are enough inflicted Wounds to place at least one per model it doesn't matter): taking the book's five man Dev squad (page 25) as an example--what if, instead of the illustrated eleven Wounds (allotting at least two per model and three to one, pretty clear), the squad had suffered only three Wounds--two from bolters allowing a save and the third from a melta allowing no save? Do you assess the Wounds by the three types, as in 1) above, in which case a bolter armed target, a missile launcher armed target and the Sgt each must take a Wound with the melta wound being assigned by owning player's choice (probably the marine in the bolter armed group), or by model, as in 2) above, in which case one bolter armed marine is still going to get vaped, and either the sergeant or a missile launcher marine is still going to have to make a save, but the second bolter armed marine would get to take the last save, protecting one or the other (but meaning at least one type within the unit never gets allocated a wound)?

This really matters even more in larger squads with many more 'bullet shields' and fewer special and heavy weapon toters. It would matter in this example if there were a third basic type (bolter armed marine) model--as then, if 2) is correct, *none* of the other, specialist, types need face taking a save.

As it happens, 2) *is* correct. The rules specify that players must allocate one wound to each model in the target unit before a second can be allocated to the same model. They also specify that models with any differences in profile, etc, must be set out by type...but *do not* specify that this must be done first. Reading the Rules As Published, this latter requirement of setting out affected models in a target unit by type is *only* necessary if the number of wounds requiring saves exceeds the number of basic-type models in the unit, or if (for whatever reason) the owning player wished to allocate wounds to a type other than a basic model. Which would mean, for our example, 2) above is correct Wound Allocation. For an average ten marine tactical squad, six wounds could typically be taken before the owning player has to start dividing into types; for larger squads (orks being an excellent example), many, many basic type models can take an inflicted wound before needing to begin dividing into types, for Wound Allotment.

Your specialized models with better statlines or equipment, in other words, *do not* need to begin being assigned to make saves until the number of wounds inflicted on their unit exceeds the number of basic type models able to take those hits.
+++

Going out Stars-style

2010-04-08T23:41:00.010-05:00

There is no question the season, for a Dallas Stars hockey loyalist, has been disappointing; and, further, that perhaps all three bulwarks of the franchise were playing their final home game tonight. But for one night, everything was as it should be, again: Jere Lehtinen and Mike Modano set up the team's first goal, Modano scored the second with barely a minute left to send the game to overtime--then in the shootout Lehtinen and Modano both scored again, and Marty Turco stoned the opposing shooters to make the perfect ending stand up, for an electric victory.

I want them all back. There is no question Modano still has it, and makes everyone around him better, and what a helluva fourth line center he could still be; the talk certainly seems to be that he is leaning to retiring, and the argument can be made that the Stars are ready to run Richards, Rebeiro and some combination of Ott/Benn/Wandell down the middle without him; I counter that Modano, returning at the level he is still playing, allows some of those centers to stay on the ice as wings, and the front line becomes even more formidable. Bottom line, he is still greatness and if he wants to play one more, I will be heartily cheering. Lehtinen has had difficulty staying healthy and there have been games where he has looked spent...but those who know far more than I say his mastery of all the little, inobvious, intangible things is second to none, and that if he could be had at a bargain, he will be welcomed back. If he can contribute consistently like he contributed tonight, that would be grand. Marty is likeliest to be gone simply because the Stars, having signed their future goalkeep, will not give him a starting keeper's salary--wouldn't even if they somehow remedy their grotesquely-handicapping ownership situation in the off-season--but...if it happens that he isn't offered giant money elsewhere, one hopes the Stars have kept the relationship open enough that if he is forced to consider a lesser contract, he would welcome the one that keeps him home. I do not expect that to happen: someone is going to realize Marty's biggest problems this season were Dallas' woeful blue line, and realize how much his presence in goal will make them better. They way these things tend to work, it will probably prove to be a team which will allow him to make the Stars pay, repeatedly. But by all reports he is beloved in that locker room, and he certainly is in this community (and in this household, where 'wanting to be like Marty' has turned my seven-year-old into a rabid Stars fan, a budding hockey player...and allowed him to show us things we never guessed he had, as his team's soccer goalie)...and you hate to say goodbye to class like that.

But if they must go...what an amazing way to go. Life rarely follows the script; tonight, for Marty, Jere and Mikey, the heroes rose to the moment, and saved the day, and got to take us with them as they went out in style. Stars-style.
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April 1829: The Fall of The Raven

2010-04-06T12:13:00.002-05:00

Mention 'Sam Houston' in 21st century America and the image conjured by the name is of a giant of the War for Texas Independence, and in the governance of that same republic once independence was won; a man as big as the towering statue of him which overlooks I45 in Huntsville, Texas.

It is worth remembering that he was all of those things, while still being as human--and flawed--as us all. And his darkest moment of failure culminated almost two centuries ago this month.

Houston was an Andrew Jackson man. He fought under Jackson at the Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River against the Red Stick indians, where he was nearly killed but his relentless courage was noted by Old Hickory; both were promoted from Tennessee militia to regular army as result--Houston to Washington to recuperate from his horrific injuries, where he watched in fury as the British burned the upstart nation's capital in the War of 1812, Jackson eventually to New Orleans, where his makeshift coalition of bayou Cajuns, southern gentlemen, blacks slave and free and Jean LaFitte's pirates shattered those same British, further idolizing him in Houston's eyes--and when the two turned after to politics, they did so as virtual father-and-son, Jackson eventually to the presidency in no small measure due to Houston's relentless support in Congress, and Houston ultimately to follow Jackson to the governance of Tennessee, and commandery of her militia (whence he would take his title, like Jackson before him, of General). As the tidal wave of liberalized 'western' democracy reshaped the face of the establishment 'eastern' American republic in the late 1820s, there were no small few who believed the tall Virginian who had lived among the Cherokee in his youth and earned the name 'colonneh,' or Raven, would continue to follow his mentor on to the presidency.

His resume lacked only the social touch. The Raven needed a wife.

He took one in Eliza Allen, blonde and blue-eyed daughter of a Gallatin, Tennessee colonel. She seemed the perfect fit, embraced by the gentry of Nashville, and Houston, by all accounts, fell deeply for her.

And never recovered--for within three months, it was over, and Sam Houston's rise with it.

It is still not absolutely clear what happened. Considerable aspersions of character were suggested of Eliza, which so provoked Houston that he swore in print to kill any man who questioned her purity. She slipped after into obscurity, and Houston refused publicly ever to speak of it, the rest of his life; most likely, it was the simple, calamitous combination of a man in love with a woman who loved another, which neither could reconcile.

By April of 1829, the marriage was over (Houston not being of either honor or temperament to demand Eliza remain in a loveless union of politics or convenience), Houston had resigned the governorship of Tennessee due to 'overwhelming...sudden calamities'...and The Raven, once destined for greatness in the East, had disappeared, miserable, beaten and failed, into the west.

Fortunately--for Sam Houston and for the many liberty-minded settlers of the next decade--to the west lay Texas. Without the 'calamity' which took him down so completely in disgrace by April of 1829, there likely would not have been a man of his stature west of the Sabine in 1836, a man capable of making the difficult, wrenching decisions which kept the newborn republic alive in the face of overwhelming adversity, of weathering the bitter scorn of the humiliating 'Runaway Scrape' without breaking; he had broken once, and been so tempered by it he would not falter again. By the April of seven years later, the old Sam Houston was reborn...and when the time came to turn and break Santa Anna and Mexico instead, at San Jacinto, in the name of liberty, freedom, the selfsame rights so essential to the democracy of the west that had changed the American nation a decade earlier and borne him to triumph after triumph, this time, Sam Houston was ready.

The Raven had risen, phoenixlike, and borne a nation up with him. A weight he likely would not have been equal to without the tempering of disgrace, in April of 1829.
+++

Hobby Synergy

2010-03-26T09:59:00.002-05:00

There has *never* been a better time to be starting a Warhammer 40,000 army in North Texas.

That is a pretty unqualified statement, I know--but consider how much play value is available to a hobbyist who decides to begin playing 40K right now (or start a new army for same):

a purchase of any basic Citadel box set (a cost of as little as under thirty bucks) from The Gamers Realm gives admission to their months-long Escalation League.
a minimum purchase of forty-five bucks worth of GW product from Lone Star Comics Dallas gives admission to their months-long Escalation League.
there was no additional cost to participate in XMax Games' Moon XM campaign, which included brand-new campaign mission designed to allow new forces onto the table in small points increments and a two-day, five round Doubles tourney Mar 20-21--and they will be starting another all-new, no-cost-to-play mapbased campaign (using Planetary Empires) April 3.
HobbytownUSA Dallas just completed a centerpiece modeling and painting contest.
Lone Star Comics Mesquite will offer a multi-player mega-battle in early June.

And those are just the events local retailers have made Adeptus North Texas aware of; I know the Grapevine and Frisco GW stores have ongoing events which would be complementary (not least of which is their excellent Academy programs), Comic Asylum and Area 51 regularly run events and contests for 40K, most of the other Lone Star locations have their own events (particularly the Plano crew), Comic Book Craze in Garland continues to build their GW presence, etc.

In terms of entertainment bang for the buck--it doesn't easily get better than this.

Supporting local stockists who make space available for play and--perhaps even more importantly--put effort into events which keep the hobby fresh and fun is the best way hobbyists can ensure such stockists remain. When they make such supporting purchases this good a value, everyone benefits. A squad or similar box from TGR, a beast from HTUD and the minimum Lone Star Dallas purchase could come in at about a hundred dollars--and produce *months* of league and campaign play, until summer. That kind of synergy didn't exist in North Texas until very recently. Let's ensure, as customers, it remains.
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Space Hulk: The Heresy

2010-03-26T09:06:00.001-05:00

One of the (many) things Warhammer 40,000 hobbyists, designers and the keepers of Intellectual Property at Games Workshop seem perpetually of two camps about is playing the events of the 31st Millennium Horus Heresy out in miniature.

If *I* were emperor, the Horus Heresy would never have been explored in the kind of detail the recent Black Library novel series has done--precisely because it has added very little (one really strong book, a couple higher quality books, and a raft of under-par disappointments) and robbed the Warhammer 40,000 background of mystery, stature and scope in the process. Mythic events stay mythic better when we concretely *know* very little about them.

Fantasy Flight Games' new and expansive board game Horus Heresy will provide additional detail...and bring the events of the Heresy that much closer to game play (admittedly still not in miniature--though the game pieces look very much like the sorts of things we miniatures hobbyists will *have* to have...).

And GW itself has occasionally toyed with recreating the Heresy in 28mm--though usually for 'showpiece' events like the GamesDay Seige of Terra table--while steadfastly positing that there will never be official rules or models supplementing the existing forty-first millennium background with armies, characters and events from ten thousand years earlier.

That is pretty much my preference, as well; when you start statting up Leman Russ, Magnus, Horus and the Emperor for 40K play, their magic goes away (see 'destroying the mythic' above).

*If* I had the power, however, I *would* explore the Heresy in miniature, in a very specific way--a way GW themselves have recently templated for us, so successfully: I would release a self-contained game, with the draw being the specific models everyone would like to have from the Heresy, in a limited edition. In other words: Space Hulk: The Heresy. Purists would get it for the ability to possess 'official' Guileman or Dorn or Mortarion miniatures, 40K players would get it to turn the included models into their own elite, ornate Ultramarine or Imperial Fist or Death Guard characters, GW would make a short fortune...and be able to 'officially' say there still weren't 40K minis (or more importantly, statistics) for Heresy-era figures.

If such a game were successful (and does anyone think it would not be?), GW could cover the major Heresy players in supplemental releases, over a series of years.

Imagine the first limited edition game recreating Horus' battle barge in Space Hulk board tiles (compatible with existing segments, of course, and of the same extraordinary quality) and featuring the confrontation between Horus and the Emperor; perhaps in addition to those two awesome miniatures might come Sanguinius, figures of Heresy-era Blood Angels and Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus/Black Legion. I'd even find a way to put the villain Erebus from the Word Bearers in there, to balance the Blood Angel primarch. What hobbyist would not want such a game? Follow that a year later with a supplement pitting Guileman against Alpharius, with Heresy era Ultramarines and Alpha Legion, or Perturabo and Iron Warriors against Rogal Dorn and Imperial Fists. Culminate the series with the piece de resistance: Leman Russ and his Space Wolves against The Thousand Sons and Magnus the Red, all with exquisite Citadel limited-edition 28mm models--40K scale miniatures that still were not 'really' 40K Heresy-era products--and GW could bridge both Heresy camps...at a likely considerable profit, besides. Win/Win/Win.

All I ask for suggesting the idea is a copy of my own of each game--and (for purely selfish reasons) that the Mortarion sculpt look especially wicked cool :)
+++

Despatch: Plastic Minotaurs

2010-02-20T01:25:00.002-06:00

Acknowledging that I am probably a hard-sell--I love the existing Citadel pewter Minotaur models, they were the core of my previous edition Beastmen army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and I had a small hand in creating the Minotaur HQ option for same (what became the Doombull) so I have a certain entirely-unearned-but-real-nonetheless emotional sense of ownership toward them--my initial reaction to the all-plastic, multipose Minotaurs released along with the all-new Beastmen Army Book was *not* enthusiastic.

Having assembled my first unit of three, however, my opinion has modified, to the positive.

The negatives remain: I do not like how oversized they've become compared to the existing metals, I do not like some of the strange anatomical decisions made by the sculptors (chiefly the weird non-hooved hybrid feet and the 'bubble-muscle' look), I do not like how fur/pelt detail has become stylized rather than realistic (an aesthetic choice across the new Beastmen line which looks cartoonish and fake and doesn't work at all, for me), and I do not think the heads resemble either the existing Citadel Minotaur look or real bovine creatures. It has been suggested there is a World of Warcraft influence....

Those points made, I observed in building the actual models that much of these (admittedly subjective) aesthetic issues could be pretty-easily modified by a painting approach which geared the Minotaurs either toward the existing GW look, or just toward a more subdued, realistic approach generally; it appears the Eavy Metal versions seen in advance of their release in White Dwarf uniformly opted to accentuate the design choices made in the sculpts (an admittedly understandable marketing decision). This is particularly true of the heads, which are more recognizably Minotaurish in bare plastic.

And as has been the case with GW's multipart plastic figure kits for some time now, the technical execution is impeccable (sharply-cast details in high-quality plastic with little flash and outstanding fit) and the parts value is high (after assembling my three Minotaurs I had two heads, three sets of horns, four sets of arms, almost a dozen weapons and myriad optional extra detail bits left over). Particularly impressive is the ability to model full command, or three hand-weapon-and-shield, two-hand-weapon or double-handed great weapon armed Minotaurs in each box.

Will they replace my mighty pewter beasts, if I ever return to fielding Beastmen? No. But might they augment those worthies? That they might...
+++

The Hoard of Arthur?

2010-02-14T11:50:00.002-06:00

In July 2009, an amateur with a metal detector uncovered on of the greatest hoards of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver yet found, buried in Staffordshire, England. The find has now been tentatively dated to the AD 600s--an era to conjure with--and the nature of the treasure does not suggest noble burial, as at Sutton Hoo, so much as hastily-hidden war gain: virtually all of it is military, from helmet fragments to sword hilts, virtually all of it appears to have been used (and recently) as opposed to ceremonial or ornamental in nature, and such things as still-evident rivets on the gear suggest it was ripped from it's original owners hastily, and buried to hide it. 'It looks like war booty,' according to the archeology head of Staffordshire. 'Losing these objects, (a Saxon) king would have lost his status and authority.'

So much is lost and unknown from these dark ages--called the Insular Period in Great Britain as it seems almost completely isolated from events occurring across Europe, about which little enough is even known--we may never know who the defeated Saxon was...much less who conquered him, stripped him and his warband of the objects which demonstrated their power, and threw them into at least temporary disorganization and chaos by hiding away their status symbols. But it fires the imagination to consider literature, folklore and tradition's likeliest candidate.

Modern 'historical' Arthurian scholarship tends to put its favorite candidates for an historical King Arthur earlier than this, into the early sixth and even likelier fifth centuries...and given what the two great historical documents (the Anglo Saxon Chronicle and the History of Gildas) of the era say--or rather *don't* say, at least explicitly--about the dux bellorum of Roman Britain's successful-if-brief turning-back of the Germanic invasion of the isle, they are probably right. There is no shortage of evidence--including in their own literary tradition, the epic Beowulf--of Anglo-Saxon internecine warfare in these dark times.

But could it have been 'the Bear' and his mounted champions of the Romanized and perhaps Christianized British tribes, who struck this blow against barbarism and brute tyranny on the Staffordshire plain a millennia-and-a-half ago? Fortunately for the poet or romantic in us all, the times were too dark to definitively answer no....

'And here we leave Arthur...who was never historical, but everything he did was true.' --Thomas Berger, Arthur Rex

Source: Kate Ravilious, 'Archeology' Jan/Feb 2010, page 22, Archeological Institute of America
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Return of the Legion of the Damned. Almost.

2010-01-30T21:11:00.002-06:00

I have a confession. I love the Legion of the Damned.

Their half-page entry in the original 2nd edition Codex: Ultramarines was the coolest thing in a very cool book, and hooked me right from the outset of my foray into the hobby. The Damned's inexplicable, supernatural origins and qualities of mystery and quasi-horror heavily influenced the conceits central to my own DIY space marine chapter, the Void Phantoms (or as they are better known--not coincidentally--The Undying). As soon as I had finished the initial basics of my own marines, I picked out the ten coolest-looking old, out-of-production models in GW's catalog to form my squad of Damned, and placed my first order from the now-gone, greatly-missed Citadel UK Archives. The holy grail of my early, pre-eBay/Internet collecting was the Legion's Sgt Centurius named character (and I can still recount where and how I finally got him). When GW released dedicated Damned miniatures some years later, I was at my stockist for a box first day. I have always had Legion of the Damned in my armies--one need only look as far as the stats and background for the 'Outrider' special character mascot for my blog to understand the depth of my attachment to the Legion--and I am on record as being very pleased both to see the Legion of the Damned returned to the 40Kverse through their Elites entry in the V5 Codex: Space Marines, and with the rules and stats therein, which suit them well. Now GW has upped their appeal even further, with gorgeous new pewter sculpts and a White Dwarf entry slighty rewriting the codex line to make them even more fun to field. The Legion of the Damned are back. Well...almost.

The White Dwarf US 360 article is very good, not only updating the Codex entry to fit the way the new sculpts are kitted out (the sergeant particularly) but also showing several sample army builds incorporating Legion, and nicely re-covering the mysterious unit's over-two-decade history. Almost.

There is a great black hole of Damned background missing in both the V5 rules and the article's history...and the Damned are diminished for that.

It is no secret that there are design philosophy differences between the current GW Studio and those who preceded them, with the former out to redo much of what the latter created, in their own image; fine--that is the nature of work-for-hire, and the right of those left standing (so long as they don't screw up something good in the doing, the consumer/hobbyist loudly qualifies). But any continuity-driven creative work is stronger when it incorporates what has gone before, rather than invalidating it. By ignoring a significant era of Legion history--and even taking veiled shots at it, in the article--GW has undermined something of what it has otherwise accomplished so admirably, in executing their return.

The article recounts well the Legion's debut, in White Dwarf 99, and subsequent V2 Codex entry. It even pictures the limited edition Sgt Centurius model released in 1996 (still possibly my favorite Citadel miniature ever). But it ignores everything done with the Damned in the subsequent V3-V3.5 years...and those were some of the most active developments for the Legion, from a gameplay perspective, in their long history.

It bears expressing that *I* did not much care for this iteration of the Damned, covered mostly in White Dwarf Chapter Approved articles. I was happy, as a fan, to see the Damned return (they went unaddressed in the first third edition Codex: Space Marines), the new entries expanded a bit further on their background and lore, and as noted the gorgeous pewter Legion of the Damned Sergeants, Marines and special- and heavy-weaponsmen, released as both a squad box set and as blisters, were welcome additions. But these rules took the Damned far past the mysterious squad they had been, adding Damned characters, vehicles, even Terminators in successive lists...in short, making the Legion a viable alternative full Space Marine army, one which was even GT Tournament legal. That wasn't consistent with what the Legion had always been--a mysterious, small band of interventionist heroes, not an entire army-gone-to-war--and sat badly with at least as many hobbyists as embraced the idea.

But it *happened.* For a period of time--and a time recent enough to be familiar to a significant percentage of the hobby community--that *was* the official conceit GW offered for the Damned. For an article as otherwise comprehensive about the Legion to willfully ignore that entire continuity--to in fact attempt a kind of textual sleight-of-hand suggesting it never occurred (through improper crediting of the previous models' provenance and through a boxed text specifically saying such larger-than-squad size appearances by the Legion were unknown) does the game's background a disservice. Would it have been so monumental a writing task instead to respectfully nod to that era by saying appearances by the Legion of the Damned in strength greater than individual squads 'are the stuff of legend, reported in past millennia of Imperial history by scribes of questionable authority, unverified; consigned to records of dubious' or 'what if' histories--but neither ever unproven.

And I could have done without the shot by one of the new-model sculptors at the first set of Damned pewters from editions ago: yes, those were largely existing Space Marine models with 'bones and flames sculpted on,' but that is exactly what the task required, and what the Damned *were,* and there are a lot of hobbyists still 'in the game' who love those models.

Finally...I would dearly love to have Sgt Centurius back. Not the specific model--as beautifully-sculpted as it is, it was a limited edition release and I think it poor form to advertise something as limited then ever make it widely available. But it would be a very cool thing to have his special character rules updated for V5...

Make no mistake: It is good to have the Legion of the Damned back--and better than ever, in many ways: as good as the previous sculpts were, these *are* even better, and the V5 rules capture the traditional atmosphere of the Damned perfectly. It would be even better if GW had not shortchanged them their full history, in the doing.

ARMY OF THE DAMNED

If one's view of the Damned permits them to exist in a more-than-a-single-fleeting-squad kind of way, the current Codex: Space Marines provides options for simulating that.

The core of such an army would be the three ELITES Legion of the Damned squads, of course: at maximum size each exceeds 300 points even before any special, heavy or sergeant gear is added. That is two-thirds of a standard 1500-point army accounted for.

There are six options for adding the mandatory HQ choice. None of them are perfect--but a couple get very close. To 'feel' like the Legion, such HQ choices must have the required Invulnerable Save and be able to Deep Strike. The former is conferred to any Independent Character with an Iron Halo (Chapter Masters and Captains), a Rosarius (Chaplains) or who can equip a Storm Shield or can wear Tactical Dreadnought (Terminator) Armour; Terminator Armour also confers the latter (so do Jump Packs, which expands the options slightly but--with one exception explored following--do not get addressed further in this article because to me the Damned *must* materialize as if from nowhere, rather than ride in on a plume of smoke and fire, however admittedly cool that latter imagery may be). A Damned HQ IC can therefore be built either from the generic Space Marine Chapter Master, Captain or Chaplain entries in the Codex and equipping with Terminator Armour--choosing a Storm Shield for the Chapter Master or Captain even makes the Invulnerable Save 3+, to perfectly mirror the V5 Damned (though a skull-faced Chaplain leading the Damned just *feels* more right :). Players who prefer to template an HQ from one of the Codex's special characters cannot get as perfect a match: Marneus Calgar upgraded to the Armour of Antilochus has Deep Strike but only a 4+ Invulnerable Save (though his Eternal Warrior Universal Special Rule more than makes up for it and *feels* very consistent with the lore of the Damned); the omnipresent-on-V5-battlefields Vulkan He'stan has the 3+ Invulnerable Save through Kesare's Mantle but his Artificier Armour confers no Deep Strike; and the best statistical match, Lysander (Terminator Armour, a 3+ Invulnerable through his Storm Shield, Eternal Warrior *and* one awesome melée weapon in his warhammer, the Fist of Dorn--all reasons why he is my favorite V5 template) sees the other two special bonuses he confers--Stubbornness to his army and Bolter Drill to his squad--vastly diminished in impact in a Fearless, Assault Terminator-heavy army (see following). Depending on which option the player chooses, his Damned HQ raises the army's cost by as little as 130 points (a Terminator Chaplain) to as much as 265 points (Calgar).

The only additional units in the Codex which provide for all models an Invulnerable Save and the ability to Deep Strike are Terminator Squads and Vanguard Veterans. Assault Terminator Squads kitted with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields are perfect Damned--but like all Terminators, are ELITES choices, and all three of your Army of the Damned ELITE slots are likely to be filled with squads of authentic Legion. They remain options to consider for Planetstrike! and Apocalypse games--but you could take as many squads of the Legion as you wanted in Apocalypse anyway. We will come back to them before we are done...but let us consider the Vanguard, first.

The Vanguard Veterans are a V5 codex entry which has, in my experience, been underseen on 40K battlefields...but which make interesting additions to a Damned army. One reason they are taken less frequently than their (admittedly excellent) Sternguard Veteran brethren is that there are such other excellent, effective and economical choices for Space Marine commanders amongst the Fast Attack Org chart; for a Damned force, most of those aren't thematic. And while they do enter via Jump Pack Deep Strike rather than 'materializing from thin air,' as noted above, the Vanguard differ from standard Assault Marines in two critical, Legion-worthy ways: they can all equip with Storm Shields, conferring to them a simulacrum of the Damned's supernatural invulnerability, and they possess a unique ability, the 'Heroic Intervention,' which can allow them to appear at the critical time and place and launch a battle-turning assault from deep striking, in the very best tradition of the interventionist-themed Legion of the Damned. Of course, a full squad so equipped is going to cost in the 500 point vicinity--but nothing in a Damned army comes cheaply...

And there are still no TROOPS choices which fit. This is irremediable with the current codex; there are only the two options, Tactical and Scout Squads--which, great though they are, emphatically are not suited to represent the Damned. The only table-legal solution is to create a non-Damned 'mini army' within the larger Damned framework, a two-TROOP minimum codex marine force which represents, from a background perspective, the imperiled Loyalists whom the Legion materializes to rescue. If any of the previously-suggested supplements to a Damned roster ring inauthentic, a purist could expand this component to whatever degree (though the army obviously becomes less truly a Legion of the Damned force the more this is done), and it is an easy segue toward a Damned army for any player who already has some Space Marine force, however modest (which, face it, is almost all of us).

But it isn't a complete Legion of the Damned. There is no way to get there from here, under the published codex rules.

For fun, however, there are always 'house rules'--localized alterations to standard play created to achieve just such a desired, legally-impossible effect--and here is one for anyone interested in fielding an Army of the Damned:

No Aid But Their Own: A Codex: Space Marine player desiring to field an exclusively Legion of the Damned army--defined as one in which all characters and non-vehicle units Deep Strike and possess an Invulnerable Save, are all converted and painted to visually represent the Legion of the Damned, and of which at least one ELITE choice is an actual Legion of the Damned squad--may take •two• Terminator or Terminator Assault Squads as TROOPS choices.

As mentioned above, Terminator Assault Squads equipped with Storm Shields are particularly good Damned proxies--but contest for the same Force Org slots; this house rule allows an Army of the Damned builder to maximize his three authentic Legion choices, and add two of their nearest proxies, solving the otherwise insolvable issue of the mandatory TROOPS choices, as well.

And add an appropriately evocative character to lead them, and the points tally is hovering right around 1500.

The question of vehicles alone remains. At its 'army of its own' apex, the Damned had access to all manner of typical Space Marine tanks and transports; under current edition rules, none of those could materialize alongside the Legionnaires as they walk out of inexistence. A player interested in adding any will have to justify them as arriving 'just out of sight,' then rolling to the clarion call of rescue. Land Speeder variants (excepting the Storm, which would be carrying Scouts, something the Legion conceit cannot convincingly justify) can Deep Strike in, and although they lack the invincibility of a permanent Invulnerable Save do present some interesting possibilities for conversions. The thorniest question is presented by the Dreadnought in all it's variants--which of all the additions heaped upon the Damned concept as it expanded was always the coolest: while it cannot Deep Strike, a Dreadnought can arrive via Drop Pod...and nothing says that arriving Pod itself did not shimmer into existence out of nowhere, ghostlike, in the wartorn skies above a battlefield, moments before impact...heralding yet another unlooked-for rescue by the Army of the Damned...
+++

Chemical Warfare in 256 AD

2010-01-26T14:37:00.000-06:00

Around 256 AD the Persian Sassanid (lately called Sasanian) Empire beseiged the Roman Fortress of Dura, in Syria. Though the Persians never breached the walls, the undersized and unreinforced Imperial contingent eventually fell; everyone within was executed or deported east to live the remainder of their lives as slaves. A recent reexamination of the original 1930s excavation has revealed how: Sassanid sappers digging tunnels under the fort were ready for Roman counterminers tunneling to thwart them from above--when the Romans broke into the Persian tunnels, readied braziers of pitch and sulfur were lit. The resultant rising cloud of sulfur dioxide gas overcame the Roman legionnaires trapped in the dark and congested space in seconds.

This earliest evidentiary use of chemical warfare was not without the consequence that has made it anathema to civilized soldiery throughout subsequent history, however: collateral damage. Along with the bodies of some twenty Roman soldiers excavated in the tunnels were remains of a single Persian soldier...probably the sapper who had set the braziers afire, but miscalculated his escape time and been overcome in the tunnel darkness by his own deadly chemical trap...

•Source: Samir S. Patel, 'Archeology' Jan/Feb 2010, page 26, Archeological Institute of America

Background, Beardiness, and The Way We Play...

2009-12-03T22:18:00.000-06:00

A recent event I moderated touched off anew the conflicting approaches players take to the hobby of miniatures wargaming. Though there are gradations in every player, most fall to either the 'competitive' side or the 'simulation/storytelling' side. It is worth knowing which way you prefer to play--as very few organized events cater well to both.

This divide in approach is by no means limited to the hobby, of course. It may go by other names depending on the framing event, but virtually anything with a win/lose result sees it: in sports, there is the constant tension between 'winning at all costs' and 'playing with standards,' for example. Whatever the venue, it boils down to whether the participant •most• values 'experience'--the enjoyment gained from actual play--or 'outcome'--the satisfaction derived from triumphing.

Sportsmanship--how a participant comports themselves--is an element of this...but especially as it pertains to the hobby, is something apart, as well, so I will address it independently.

The local event was a tournament--which by it's definition is more attractive to 'outcome' oriented players, as opposed to story- or simulation-driven events like megabattles or campaigns--but which clearly and in advance advertised that it was going to break a few rules in the 'competitive balance' area usually so necessary to such outcome-oriented events. In this case, participants were offered the opportunity to bring units more powerful than standard army composition allowed--but with the caveat that such units might face in-scenario handicaps which would re-level the playing field. The motive was not hidden from participants: the sponsoring venue was new to the hobby, and wished their customers to be able to pick up starter games or starter army boxes and put together a playing force from whatever it's contents were, while also offering veteran players a reason to come familiarize themselves with the new store by picking up a needed unit and knowing they could immediately turn around and use it.

The whole thing was presented from the start as a variation on the familiar tourney scene, the attraction being the challenge of overcoming new threats under new mission conditions. The problem arose amongst players concerned that such powerful units would prevent them from winning. In other words--none of the event's particular appeals, which were 'experience' enhancing, offset the dismay felt by 'outcome' focused hobbyists that their desires would not be satisfied.

The back-and-forth became more heated than it should have, however, because some of the hobbyists either did not know or had not come to terms themselves with which kind of way they preferred to play.

There is not one approach necessarily better than the other, and certainly there is no 'right' or 'wrong.' That is one of the reasons the question of sportsmanship must be addressed separately: there is a tendency to categorize the theme/background/story players as better sports, as hobbyists who 'get it,' and the truth is that there can be 'background bullies' or 'history snobs' who are just as offensive presences in story-based events as 'win-at-any-cost' types can be competitively...and there can be masterfully-proficient tabletop tacticians who are as gracious and fun-to-play as they school you in a competitive tournament as any story-telling opponent can be in a campaign. The whole question of what kind of person you are as a gamer is independent of what way you play.

The danger for an 'outcome' emphasizing hobbyist, of course--as in any competitive pursuit--is that his satisfaction •must• come at the expense of his opponent. One who appreciates the 'experience' may well find moments of enjoyment and satisfaction in the hobby in loss--even in multiple losses--but the further toward the 'outcome' side of the scale a hobbyist veers, the more difficult it can be to be gracious in defeat (and the more difficult it can be to control one's exultance in victory). Asshatdom is only a step away for this gamer (yet another reason recognizing whether this is the way you play is valuable--because who wants to be an asshat if it can be helped, really).

Hobby leader Games Workshop struggled mightily with this issue as their self-run Grand Tournament circuit grew increasingly significant in the late 90s/early 00s. They had always emphasized that the 'non-tabletop result' aspects of their hobby (modeling and painting, composing to the established background, having fun playing) were as important as the outcome of any game...but hadn't worked out with complete satisfaction how to score these more experience-based aspects in a tournament setting. Worse, they kept whatever solutions they had come up with secret. Army Composition scores especially became controversial--pointedly, when a GW official would have a comment become public like the infamous 'perfect space marine army comp is 100 tactical marines on foot' remark--a composition the then-current V3 Codex would not even allow if it •had• been desirable, or thematic, or made sense. Very few hobbyists left GTs of that era happy; experience-based players weren't getting much and stayed away in droves and the outcome-based majority couldn't all win against each other. Fortunately, independent hobbyists recognized the system's failings and undertook to fix them by example, running their own, better events (the Astronomi-con circuit at http://www.astronomi-con.com being the pioneers and still the best)--and GW, to their credit, recognized and integrated many such fixes in their own GT and Rogue Trader Tournament packages first, then began integrating the independent events themselves under their official GT Circuit banner in North America (the current roster is viewable at GW's website and will climax in summer 2011 with winners from all the qualifiers meeting under GW's aegis in Las Vegas for a grand showdown).

But--again to GW's credit--while fine-tuning this tournament circuit to fairly and transparently reflect the breadth of the hobby in scoring, making the tourneys much friendlier to the 'experience' oriented hobbyist, they've further legitimized the 'outcome' element of the hobby community through the creation of the Ard Boyz Tournaments--which are exclusively settled on tabletop results, a 'generalship' equivalent to their Golden Daemon painting championships.

Of course GTs, company-run or independent, are still ultimately competitions, so the competitive player should always feel at home there; and there will continue to be story-emphasis events like campaigns, specific-battle recreations and multiplayer megabattles (including official events which incorporate all three, such as the Apocalypse 'Lucky 13s') for those sorts of hobbyists, as well. Historical miniatures wargamers will find their hobby equally provides broad-spectrum events, from pure recreations/simulations to cross-era competitive tournaments (think yourself a real general--try succeeding against the cannons of medieval Burgundians with your Egyptian charioteers!).

The trick these days isn't lack of events catering to the way a hobbyist plays--it is the hobbyist himself knowing his preference, so he can either gear his available hobby time to sympatico events...or, hopefully, broaden his hobby experience by occasionally tackling an event of a different kind. There is nothing wrong with sticking to what you prefer (though trying to prod event sponsors and/or moderators into turning a given event into something it is not is unwelcome--go make the considerable uncompensated commitment of time, effort and expertise to be the moderator yourself if you feel strongly enough about it to try hijacking someone else's work); it simply means fewer opportunities to play than if your hobby tastes were broader. A fair-minded, 'challenge-me' approach will go far toward insuring you find something to enjoy in any given game, even against a really hard army fielded by an extremely competitive player, or in a background-soaked campaign against someone who knows every fact from every edition of his army's codex (and probably yours).

And there •are• armies out there which are completely legal in composition which are totally geared to maximize tabletop effect. This is simply because some concession must always be given to background in miniatures wargaming--as opposed to abstract 'wargames' such as chess. It is a truth of the hobby that there are units worth more than their points cost (and units worth less) and the 'outcome' based player is going to identify the armies with the most of these and load his composition with them as heavily as possible. This is one of the two ways I have always found best for a player to estimate where he is on the sliding 'experience vs outcome' scale: evaluate every unit in the army you take to a tournament for whether their inclusion is motivated by the models' coolness/your happiness with their painting/how well they fit your force's historical composition/how integral they are to your theme--•or• for how effective they are. Some, fortuitously, will be both...but if you are honest with yourself about why they are there, you can learn quite a bit about the way you play (for the other easiest way, see 'Sportmanship scoring,' below).

I have always found it fairly easy to identify an army composed for as much tabletop effect as possible--and have gotten better at it as I've broadened my hobby experience. Certainly it began as an artifact of competing in over a decades' worth of tourneys and especially GTs: when the GW GT circuit was at it's height in the early 00s, there were a handful of players who traveled to every one (and there were then more than a half-dozen a year) with the hardest possible armies they could compose, their sole goal winning--and remember, in those days, the non-tabletop scores (sportsmanship, army composition and painting) were VERY ancillary and totally •non-transparent•. By sheer circumstance I wound up pitted, in round one of a Dallas GT, against one of the winningest, hardest, most competitive players on the circuit fielding what was then considered among the nastiest possible army builds--the Eldar 'jedi council'--and (largely through a scenario friendly to the numerous Terminators I had brought--and his inability to deal with them since 'no one brought Terminators to a GT'-- and very lucky dice) I defeated him soundly. This unfortunately thrust me up onto the very top tables for the ensuing rounds, where I had to endure the era's other nasty builds (the dark eldar 'all-skimmer/all-dark lance' pt boat army, the 'get first turn and eat you before you move' V3 Blood Angels army and the just-released multi-HQ Black Templars army)--and players who made no pretense about being there for any reason other than winning. One even casually admitted how much he had paid someone else to paint his army so he could max those points. This was the least-fun tournament experience I ever had: no amount of (temporary) excitement at being on the high tables was worth the complete disregard these players had for theme, background or storytelling. I honed my 'army-built-to-win' radar, already reasonably sharp from years of other cons, to a razor edge that weekend and have learned a great deal about the kind of hobbyist I do not want be since (as GW has learned a lot about the kind of events they do not want to sponsor in the intervening years as well, through the example of independent tourneys like Astro or the local Lone Wolf, at which such narrowly-focused gamers and armies would now be very challenged).

It is this ability to 'build to power' that most often accentuates the difference between playing approaches--and leads to one of the hobby's least-attractive habits: the accusation of 'cheesiness' or 'beardiness.' Whining or complaining about another power build isn't an attractive character trait, any more than the building of such armies is (even if you are fairly accurate at identifying such builds). Having events specifically focused on building and playing with such monster compositions, like the Ard Boyz, is a partial solution...but there should be a mechanism for addressing what they are within the broader GT circuit, as well, •if• such events are--as was the event I moderated which began this discussion--intended to appeal to hobbyists all across the broad 'experience-versus-outcome' scale.

One solution is a weighted Army Composition score--such as Astronomi-con's--which imposes minor but increasing scoring penalties as players load their force composition with over-effective choices. So long as these penalties are transparent in advance--again, as Astro's are--allowing a player to build a non-penalized army, they can be effective even though they •are• guilty of forcibly altering a legal army through external arbitration, and require the moderators to make advance decisions about just which units are offensive (something not every hobbyist always agrees upon). To return to the example of the local event, some such notification of which units would be penalized and how was a thing certain of the 'outcome' oriented players wanted from me in advance, if they were to participate.

I prefer to let the players themselves 'level' such matters. This is where Sportsmanship specifically enters this discussion as it relates to our hobby, because many of our events (including most in the GT Circuit) score for it. We differ in this way markedly from other competitive events: most athletic competitions have codes of conduct which players can be looked-down-upon (or even expelled from the sport) for regularly violating--but there are no points added to or subtracted from final scores for instances of either onfield chivalry or jackassery. Chess federations do not invalidate a player's win if he gloats over the swiftness of his successful gambit after. Sportsmanship scoring in GW events stems from the company's insistence from the start that having fun--including making efforts to insure that your opponent has fun--is an essential component of the hobby. I agree with it philosophically, always have--even when what exactly a player was scoring with his Sportsmanship ballot wasn't always clear. From my perspective, so long as an army was legal under a given rules set's composition restrictions, •any• scoring of it should be the province of those who actually faced it in-game--so considering it's adherence to established background or history or theme and relative imbalance toward over-the-top unit inclusion should be considered in the Sportsmanship score. More than simply rebellion at the incomprehensible (and never-revealed) standards imposed by GW from beyond in assessing Army Composition (I lost it with this system utterly one year when a GT awarded Best Comp to a Chaos Space Marine army consisting of three Heavy Support Havoc Squads, a Great Unclean One HQ...and six Troops choices of Cultists with banners giving them Leadership check rerolls, an army which literally sat in a square of hundreds of Cultists with the Havoc heavy weapons firing from within every game--and which, as a 'Chaos Space Marine' army consisted of fifteen actual CSMs; but I digress...), observing armies which are not fun to play against and considering such a build in Sportsmanship scores is something I view as legitimate, have always articulated in rules sets for events I moderate...and which GW adopted eventually adopted in their GT rules packs.

It can be the most telling external analysis to a hobbyist of how they really play, as well: when Sportsmanship scores include assessments by opponents of a player's army build, and a consistent pattern develops, the player may have to come to terms with how important 'winning' really is to him in a way he might not have without external motivation.

Of course, as a balance for the nastier builds which might appear in the aforementioned event, Sportsmanship score penalties were not accepted by some of the objecting players...and the reason why should by now be clear if I've done my job in this essay: Sportsmanship, while not restricted to either 'experience' or 'outcome'' players, is distinctly a part of the experience of participating in the event...and not going to appeal to victory-oriented hobbyists as a tangible equalizer to something they perceived as threatening to their chances of being satisfied by the event.

It bears repeating that we are discussing preferences here; a player whose hobby interest is purely focused on outcome (ie winning) is not 'wrong,' any more than a hobbyist who paints but never fields his minis is wrong, or a hobbyist who immerses himself in the game's background to shape his army composition and tabletop play is right...•but• one conclusion which is inescapable is that in the instance of this event, and those like it, the 'outcome'-oriented player missed out on participating in play.

If he knows what satisfies him in the hobby, knows where he is on that 'experience-versus-outcome' scale, knows how he plays--and decides this wouldn't 'do it' for him--he probably made the right decision...not just for himself but for those he might have faced. But that knowing is important, not just because he may have missed an event he would excel at and be an asset to if he is wrong--but also because without recognizing where one is, in one's approach to how one plays, one cannot change, broaden, expand.

28mm Ancient and Medieval Historicals: A Brief Overview

2009-09-01T21:23:00.004-05:00

Since a recent question on the Adeptus North Texas mailing list, several hobbyists have written me privately inquiring further about the current state of Historical miniatures wargaming in our favorite 'GW' scale. I figured I would attempt a quick overview to try to address these questions, and any other unexpressed interest that may be out there. You may have a potential opponent--or interested retailer--convenient to you, awaiting only mutual discovery!

First, I should qualify that my comments will be limited to Ancient and Medieval Wargaming. There are thriving Historicals of every era out there, from ECW (English Civil War) to Napoleonics to the Vietnam War, and WWII and ACW (American Civil War) are probably the *most* currently popular Historical eras being wargamed...but AnM (Ancient and Medieval) most closely resembles GW's Fantasy skirmishes--and I am an Ancient and Medieval history major (albeit now some two decades removed); that's where my interest lies, so that is where I am best able to point you right.

Anyone interested in the state of the hobby should start with the Society of Ancients ( http://www.soa.org.uk ), whose quarterly magazine, the Slingshot, is a near-perfect alchemy of enthusiast history, wargaming figure/rules reviews, latest historical book reviews, and battle reenactments/scenarios/reports that combine both history and wargaming.

Beyond the SoA, rulesets are the next thing one should explore. Rather than recommend any, I encourage interested hobbyists to get games in with the various systems; there are a great many, and there is no better way to figure out which rules play the way you like than to actually game with them. Moreover, it would do me little good to write about the relative virtues and vices of Armati vs DBMM vs Tactica, et al, if no one local to you plays any of those. I will briefly mention three systems:

•Field of Glory is the most readily available current ruleset commercially, as it is supported by famed military publisher Osprey and available through any retailer which stocks their books. The rules and supplements for specific eras are gorgeously-presented graphically; the game mechanics feel (to me) very--perhaps *too*--traditional. Same-old/same-old syndrome. Your mileage may vary.

•Ancient and Medieval Wargaming is a book format ruleset by Neil Thomas; although it abstracts rather than simulates as a guiding principle, which runs contrary to my traditional preferences, the abstractions are placed, in his book, in the context of specific battles of historical consequence from the Ancient and Medieval world, which serves to thoroughly ground the entire work with satisfying substance.

•Warhammer Ancient Battles (and Warmaster Ancients) are, as the names suggest, adaptations of our familiar GW rulesets for historical armies. In many ways, these might seem the ideal AnM rules, because they are reasonably available commercially, professionally presented, and familiar--and in some cases they *are* nearly ideal (though be warned the basis of the system is 6th--versus 7th--edition WHFB). I am biased against WAB somewhat because (in my view) it critically botches the key army of the Ancient World in simulation, the Roman Legions (though Adrian Goldsworthy's alternative rules in the most recent Slingshot look to have corrected many of the particular issues I have)...but if you play Warhammer Fantasy Battles (and any army *other* than Rome), you probably ought to give WAB consideration.

That business addressed, comes the fun part--the toy soldiers.

There are other scales (Warmaster, in fact, is 10mm, like it's fantasy counterpart) with 15mm, 20mm and 25mm the most popular--but hobbyists having at Historicals from a GW orientation are likely to prefer 28mm--or 'heroic'--scale, as the perfect compromise between figures of sufficient size to capture detail and artistry and still be small enough to simulate battle with on a tabletop.

In 28mm, there are more than a few small manufacturers who cast in metals--Crusader, 1st Corps, Gorgon, Gripping Beast, et al--but the undisputed leader is Wargames Foundry, also known as Foundry Miniatures or simply The Foundry ( http://www.wargamesfoundry.com ): they have been at it long time, their lines are extensive (and their sculpts often gorgeous) and they are located, conveniently, right near Nottingham, UK, the toy soldier capital of the world. Their proximity to GW means many of that giant's SF and/or Fantasy figure sculptors will work for Foundry when they wish to indulge an historical whim.

Building an army completely from pewter is no small investment, even with Foundry's army bundles and occasional sales...but even if a hobbyist prefers to begin with a foundation of plastic models from manufacturers such as those listed following, rare is the era that will not see it's forces improved in quality and variety by inclusion of models from metal-casters such as Foundry.

And--as of just recently--modelers *can* do 28mm Ancient and Medievals in plastic. This is an enormous development toward potentially broadening the hobby. Just as GW has staked it's future on the reduced cost, increased flexibility and ease of work which comes with modeling in multipart hard plastic, at least two major companies have staked themselves to the same potential, with Historicals.

Wargames Factory ( http//www.wargamesfactory.com ) is the newest such company, and has generated considerable interest chiefly because of the extremely low retail prices their multipart plastic model sets boast. There have been, in turn, criticisms of the comparative softness of their molding plastics (and how same accepts adhesives) and especially of their sculpts, which appear to vary wildly not only in quality but in dimension (check out the veritable giant helming one of their Celtic chariots for a good example); more than one source has suggested these problems reflect the company's policy of casting directly from computer-modeled images, rather than traditional artists-master sculpts--which is a part of how they are able to offer such prices, to return to the original point. If Wargames Factory can trend further toward the scale model and away from the toy figure as they mature their processes, while keeping their retail prices attractive, their impact could be significant.

Meantime, the field leader, the company that brought the concept of 'mass market plastics' to Historicals wargaming, is Warlord Games ( http://www.warlordgames.co.uk ), also Nottingham-based, also with deep GW ties (White Dwarf's best editor ever, Paul Sawyer, is one of Warlord's founders). They have an extensive line of pewter sculpts of exceptional quality, some fine resin pieces, as well...but have made their name with multipart hard plastic Historical regiment boxes very like what a hobbyist would expect from a 40K, WHFB or LotR box. Like Foundry, they also offer discounted army bundles--in many cases keyed to building armies to specific rulesets--but because they can create the foundations for these armies from their multipart plastics, building an entire army isn't so daunting a fiscal investment: I've an Imperial Roman army from Warlord more than twice the size of my Post-Roman Briton (Arthurian) army from Foundry and Gripping Beast, PLUS a nice battery of Roman war machines...all at less cost.

Will Roman Legions and Germanic Barbarians clashing in the Teutoberg Forest replace Space Marines and Orks (or High Elves and Orcs) on many tabletops? Unlikely--but then, one needn't necessarily 'replace' the other, so much as complement it. Hobbies are for relaxing, for fun; if you think you might find Historicals fun, the sources listed should get you started.

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Despatch: Blastscapes

2009-07-30T22:16:00.005-05:00

The online community has reacted with startling harshness to Games Workshop's new Planetstrike!-specific hobby terrain offering, the Blastscape--so I hustled out to grab a bag for myself after the online furor. The pieces in the Blastscape bag are designed to specifically replicate on-table several of the Planetstrike! 'special effects' Attacking armies can unleash upon Defenders in games of Planetstrike!. With it in hand (and having recently painted several sets of the similar Moonscape Craters for various retailers), I can make the following definitive assessments:

1) The Terrain pieces in the Blastscape bag ARE NOT comparable to those shown in the White Dwarf battle report introducing Planetstrike!, the advertising section of the same issue, on GW's website or, in fact, on the back of the Blastscape retail bag, either in substance or detail; those painted pieces appear to be resin, whereas the Blastscape pieces offered at retail are unpainted vacuformed plastic.

2) The vacuformed Blastscapes DO have a damage-inclined area--the high point of one piece strains the bag's ability to protect it in shipping because it is such a prominence, and if it gets crumpled it--like all vacuformed plastic--will deform, stress and break. This is the prominence in one of the earliest online reviews which reportedly punctured; I can confirm mine is broken, too...but should also note that it is only that peak of that one piece that has demonstrated damage in the bag I purchased, or any others I have examined.

3) Those criticisms being acknowledged as valid--I find the quality of the five vacuformed Blastscape pieces is quite good *given the medium*, easily on par with the Moonscape Craters bag (which have seen fine service in MegaBattles and tournaments at several local retailers, now, without any ill effect). If the pre-release pictures used on the website and in the Dwarf (and, probably worst, on the Blastscape packaging itself) did not exist and had not raised false expectations, I do not believe there would be many complaints about these pieces' tabletop utility at all; and

4) The set of five retails for less than twenty bucks US. That is what vacuforming allows. These pieces rendered in more detail in resin would cost at least that APIECE, I estimate. Done in vacuform, a player can easily cover even very large tables with these terrain effects.

The Blastscape bag provides: a terrain piece with multiple close craters, representing a crash or perhaps a multiround solid-shell barrage; a piece with multiple asteroids impacted; the much-talked- about orbital strike seared-lance- of-molten- earth piece (which *is* very cool and should be a great deal of fun to paint); a terrain piece with multiple bits of craft wreckage; and the problem piece, a huge piece of impacted wreckage (which has driven up a high wedge of earth, the topmost point of which is suffering the damage in packaging).

I understand the complaints; GW--intentionally or not, and since I suspect the painted pieces used in the battle report, online and on the packaging are the resin masters for the actual vacuformed Blastscape pieces, I am willing to give them benefit of the doubt on intent here--pulled a bait-and-switch with the Planetstrike! Blastscape terrain, advertising a level of precision and detail in the painted resin sculpts the actual vacuformed plastic retail offering could never match. Given I would not have spent a hundred bucks or more on resin Planetstrike! effect terrain pieces, however, regardless of quality--nor I suspect would many hobbyists--and given the inexpensive vacuformed pieces offer customizing/converting possibilities working with solid resin would not...from my position the Blastscape is a hobby product of outstanding value and utility. If GW would like to make it up to us by offering resin castings of those terrain piece masters at a significant discount--as a gesture of good faith--on the other hand....

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2009-07-05T21:53:00.002-05:00

Imperial Bastion Planetstrike! Terrain Kit: This is a nifty little thirty-buck model: the floors are modular, so combining kits can render very tall towers (great for Titan-cover in Apocalypse) and nice low shielded bunkers and entrenchment strongpoints (especially when combined with the new Aegis Defensive Walls) as well as the standard Bastion (which, it must be said, is the most common way this kit is likely to be configured, and is perfect for standard games of 40K and Planetstrike!, and pretty applicable for Cityfight and Apocalypse games as well).

Each kit includes considerable parts for customization and personalization, as has become GWs norm: of particular interest are the complete quad gun and lascannon turrets and the communications array, useful little subassemblies which will find their way onto lots of other terrain pieces, I suspect.

GW offers a 'Chaos Bastion' which includes Chaos sprues, and 'orkified' versions using all the bitz from the recent Trukk, Battlewagon and especially Stompa kits will be easy to convert, so the kit has plenty of application.

With a number of floor modules added my Bastion is about to become the basis for a control tower overwatching my in-progress airfield table; I suspect the variations on the basic Bastion will be endless, for terrain-oriented hobbyists. I am looking forward to battling for control of some of them on local tables soon!

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Best Books on War

2009-05-26T07:39:00.001-05:00

May 25 is Memorial Day in the US. To honour the sacrifice of those with the courage to have served--and with express gratitude--herewith Military History magazine's list of Best Books on War, in the sincere hope that through study comes understanding.

THE ILIAD (Homer)
THE HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR (Thucydides)
ON WAR (Clausewitz)
WAR AND PEACE (Tolstoy)
RED BADGE OF COURAGE (Crane)
PERSONAL MEMOIRS (Grant)
FACE OF BATTLE (Keegan)
WITH THE OLD BREED (Sledge)
BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM (McPherson)
WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE...AND YOUNG (Moore with Galloway)
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Remarque)
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (Jones)
CAINE MUTINY (Wouk)
CIVIL WAR: A NARRATIVE (Foote)
FORGOTTEN SOLDIER (Sajer)
ONCE AN EAGLE (Myrer)
GOODBYE, DARKNESS (Manchester)
EISENHOWER'S LIEUTENANTS (Weigley)
WORLD AT ARMS (Weinberg)
PATTON (D'Este)

As MH chose not to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction, I would add Slaughterhouse-Five (Vonnegut), Citizen Soldier (Ambrose), Art ofWar (Sun-Tzu), War and Remembrance (Wouk) and--to round arbitrarily to 25--any history of choice by Walter Lord (my personal military choices would be either Incredible Victory--about the Battle of Midway--or A Time To Stand--about The Alamo; Lord's research may by now be dated but his prose and, especially, sense of the dramatic moment of each chosen story brings history to life).

Mirror, Mirror...

2009-05-08T08:46:00.001-05:00

There are good Star Trek movies and bad Star Trek movies.* And there are Star Trek movies the faithful--*we* faithful--like, and that we hate. Relative success or failure can depend upon many things...but it begins with 'Is it Star Trek?'

Star Trek *isn't* Star Wars. It isn't like any other franchise-- science fiction or otherwise--and creators violate it's core tenets at their peril. These can be trivial (expansive, symphonic scoring *is* Star Trek, insipid, folk-rock song ballads are not) or they can be moral/ethical/philosophic (placing others above self *is* Star Trek, personal quests--especially for God but also for family, or revenge, or selfish gain--are not), but whenever creators of big-screen motion pictures or small-screen series have defied them, the result has usually been rejected (and, to the justification of the faithful, has usually been as bad as it has been disliked). And--continuity matters. That has always been a part of the Star Trek legacy. Those behind the final series incarnation, 'Enterprise,' nearly killed the franchise, they broke so many conventions (see 'ridiculous song' above)--but their cardinal sin was rebelling against what they described as slavish continuity restraints so violently that what they created-- whatever it's other merits--wasn't Star Trek.

It is into precisely such peril that creator JJ Abrams steps, in his feature film attempt to reboot the franchise: how do you make something exciting and fresh and new which relies so at its heart upon all that has gone before?

'Star Trek' accomplishes the dual goal of being good *and* good Star Trek by--as all good Trek feature films before it did--being Star Trek first. There is not a frame of film, not a moment of dialogue, not a chord of music which disrespects what has gone before...and when it indulges it's past most directly, the moment is moving to the brink of tears.

Quibbles are as numerous as tribbles, and enough of these there may be that some faithful will not like the movie; the shape of this Enterprise (likeable in angles emphasizing its 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' esque saucer, awkward when its 'Next Generation' hull and almost ugly when its assymetric, lightbulblike nacelles dominate) is polarizing, whether some of the cast evoke their originals nearly to caricature while others fall hopelessly short of their predecessors' charisma is already a heated debate...as is whether the degree to which the film cribs from the series' most successful, 'The Wrath of Khan' (for my purposes--if you are going to emulate something, pick something good).

By the time the last Star Trek film whimpered from theaters, however ('Nemesis,' which had its sentimental adieus but was neither very good nor very Trek) the franchise was at best an irrelevancy, and bordering on becoming a cultural punch line. 'Star Trek' is good enough on its mainstream merits to moot that, to reinvigorate a hopeful, optimistic, bold and smart storytelling vehicle again (at a time when we could all use that kind of bouyancy)--and to set an example in so doing that respecting someone else's sandbox when you come play in it does nothing to diminish the beauty of the sand castle you may create there.

May this Trek universe go on to Peace and Long Life.

*--The 'Good' Star Trek movies, for the record (the specific order is mine, but the consensus is pretty broad):

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek (8): First Contact
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Many would elevate The Voyage Home above The Search for Spock (the one anomalous 'odd-numbered Trek movie' which inarguably defies the 'odd ones suck' curse); certainly, it is the most popularly-accessible and mainstream of the series, but STIII's operatic sensibility has its adherents as well and II, III and IV work best as a trilogy in sequence anyway.

Star Trek (7): Generations also has proponents and is probably the best of the 'not so good' Star Trek movies--but while its dramatic successes are profound and elevate it for those of us who really like it, its failures are enormous and difficult to work past, for those who do not.

Star Trek (9): Insurrection has a nicely-nuanced mature romantic subplot undone by ridiculous villains and a general sense of inconsequence, and Star Trek (10): Nemesis feels uncanonical and indulgent. The less said about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the better; probably, in light of the evidence of the latter two, 'Enterprise's' ridiculous song and various citable instances from every iteration of each series, any vocalizing in a Star Trek incarnation should be prohibited.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture cannot be discussed objectively here. As noted, there is good and bad Trek and Trek which is loved and hated, and they needn't be the same; so it is that I am emotionally inextricably hung up with this film. It brought my beloved 'classic Trek' back from the dead, in glorious 70mm widescreen with the most soaring Jerry Goldsmith-composed music and the most aesthetically beautiful starship ever designed. It may be slow, even uncinematic, and cerebral to a fault. But I can quote every line of dialogue from memory and will stop-down for it every time I run across it on late- night TV and when the Admiral orders Sulu to take her out I will get a lump in my throat till the day I die. Because it *is* Star Trek.

Two New IG Armies In One...

2009-04-28T08:28:00.003-05:00

With the release of the newest edition Codex: Imperial Guard, many hobbyists will be considering how best to begin such a Warhammer 40,000 army. As it happens, GW has provided an ideal framework through a recent Datasheet for Apocalypse: following its guidelines in constructing a starter 40K IG army will conveniently provide a player with an assembled force useable in two different kinds of play, simply by adding the Datasheet's centerpiece Superheavy tank. Let's walk through the process.

The Datasheet in question is the 'Shadowsword Domination Force,' published in White Dwarf (US issue 351). One of the first 'combined arms' Datasheets GW has released for Apocalypse play, the Domination Force assembles a 'Tank Fleet' around a single centerpiece Superheavy model, in this case the wonderful new Shadowsword Titan-killer variant from GW's recent all-plastic modular Superheavy tank release. The Shadowsword itself would be key, for Apocalypse play: these enormous games are magnitudes more fun for participants who bring Superheavies as parts of their forces--and the special rules of this Datasheet address keeping that Shadowsword alive (and thus more fun to have along) as long as possible.

The 'Fleet' the Datasheet provides guidelines for building around the Shadowsword, however, is entirely composed of traditional Imperial Guard elements straight out of the new Codex; following these guidelines through the prism of the 40K Force Organization chart will give the army builder not only an entire, coherent Apocalypse force to bring to the table but--absent the signature Superheavy--a very nice starter 40K army, as well.

The first thing the Datasheet requires (in fact, the *only* requirement other than the Superheavy--everything else is optional) is a minimum of three and a maximum of six Leman Russ Battle Tanks. These act as 'escorts' to the Shadowsword in Apocalypse games; in a 40K Imperial Guard army, they constitute Heavy Support choices, and come in a multitude of variants (seven, largely distinguished by the configuration of their main gun). A standard 40K Force Org allows up to three Heavy Support choices, easily accommodating the three-Russ- minimum the Datasheet requires--but the new Guard Codex allows such tanks to be purchased in Squadrons of up to three, each Squadron taking only one Heavy Support slot, so the Datasheet maximum of six Russes is equally feasible, as well.

The next 'Fleet' option in the Domination Force is the addition of 0-2 Hydra Flak Tanks, to protect the land task force from aerial harassment. Whether to include any Hydras in the starter 40K army needs to be considered from the outset, because they are Heavy Support choices in Codex: Imperial Guard, as well: to select even one, a player will have to devote one of his three available HS slots to it (although both could be taken with that one Force Org slot if any are, as they are available as Batteries), meaning at least one set of Russes will have to be fielded as a Squadron, as well, to get the Apocalypse minimum three on the 40K battlefield. There are advantages and disadvantages to fielding vehicles in Squadrons; for beginning IG players, it is probably most straightforward to avoid placing such 'big ticket' points-intensive models as Leman Russes in Squadrons if at all possible.

The rest of the Domination Force's components form the 'fleet's' pickets--light perimeter assets designed to scout the task force's path ahead and prevent penetration by an enemy to it's essential core. Conveniently, these forces are chosen from desirable elements of a 40K Imperial Guard army.

Every standard 40K mission requires forces composed with a minimum of two Troops slots from the Force Org chart. The Domination Force Apocalypse Datasheet calls for 0-4 Infantry Squads; in IGdex parlance, those are Troops choices. The easiest way to represent the former via the latter is to choose Veteran Squads: each Squad of a Veteran Sergeant and 9 Veteran Guardsmen is bought individually, so selecting two properly composes your 40K army with the two required minimum Troops choices, and you may select as many as two more and remain consistent with the structure maximums imposed by your Apocalypse Datasheet. Moreover, each Veteran Squad is allowed to equip with a Chimera Armoured Transport--another requirement the Datasheet imposes (in order that the infantry can keep moving with the 'fleet').

The heart of almost every Imperial Guard army since the days of the first V2 IGdex has been the Infantry Platoon...and you *can* stay within the structure imposed by the Datasheet and build from a Platoon to meet the two Troops choice requirement of a standard 40K army--but it reduces your options considerably: a Platoon consists at minimum of a Platoon Command Squad and two Infantry Squads, constituting a single Troops choice. In the new Codex each of the three can be given a Chimera, so such a minimum sized Platoon could be constructed leaving a Veteran Squad to be chosen as the second Troops choice (and fourth and final Datasheet Infantry Squad). The advantage of such a construction is the Command Squad, with its junior officer's access to Orders and wargear; the disadvantage is that the two regular Infantry Squads are inferior to the Veterans, that you aren't getting access to some of the best things a Platoon offers an IG player--the optional Heavy and Special Weapons Squads--because they cannot get Chimerae, and that you use up all four of your Datasheet 'Armoured Fist' allowances just meeting the Troops requirements: choosing Veteran Squads instead would allow up to two of those slots to go to such interesting Infantry Squads from the new Codex with Chimera access as Storm Troopers, Psyker Battle Squads and Ogryn Squads. As Company Command Squads are classified as Infantry Squads, the 40K-Mandatory HQ Force Org requirement could even be filled (but see following).

The remaining picket option for the Domination Force is 0-3 Sentinel Squadrons. The '0' means none are mandatory--but any 'fleet' commander who ventured out without at least one of (and likely as many as possible of) these fast, mobile, versatile and hard-hitting Imperial Guard walkers to scout his path and protect his flanks would deserve whatever ill befell him. Sentinels are Fast Attack choices in the 40K Force Org, come in Squadrons of 1-3 per slot, and are available in both Scout and Armoured varieties (the Armoured variant increases Front Armour from AV10 to AV12, adds the Extra Armour upgrade at the expense of the Move Through Cover and Scouts special rules, and adds the Plasma cannon as a primary weapon upgrade). Filling all three Fast Attack slots with full Squadrons of Sentinels is very tempting (especially for Apocalypse play, where the Datasheet's 'Piquets' special rule allows the fielding player to sacrifice the cheaper Walkers for Russes or Hydras--or Structure Points on the mighty Shadowsword itself!).

Unless the player opts to make a Company Command Squad one of his four Chimera-borne Armoured Fists, however, he still has the question of the 40K mandatory HQ Force Org slot to address. In the Apocalypse Formation, the Shadowsword is the command platform of the entire 'fleet,' it's commander the ranking officer of his Domination Force. The Superheavy cannot see the field in a standard 40K game-- but that does not mean said commander must be absent. Imagine the 40K version of this army is the assembled land force, enroute to pick up its designated Superheavy charge: it would not be unreasonable to picture the Shadowsword's command crew alongside them for the journey--in fact, I can picture an excellent themed tournament army being constructed around such a notion, with the battles of each tournament round representing hostile encounters along the convoy's journey, and perhaps with the Shadowsword itself present as the centerpiece of the army's display base--and that leap to provide a single additional element to the 40K version of the army over-and-above the Datasheet's minimum/maximums opens up a variety of juicy extra modeling and gameplay options.

The Shadowsword's command crew could be constructed with the Company Command Squad options in the new IGdex, as above, and given a Chimera of their own, perhaps uniquely decorated as would befit such a 'captain's skiff' (to carry the Domination Force's naval analogy further). This would not preclude the already-referenced Chimera- mounted Company Command Squad, if the player wanted a command structure for his escorting force from their own chain-of-command (and the Force Org Chart allows two). If the player just wanted to add the 'fleet admiral' himself (assuming his crew awaits his imperious arrival at the Shadowsword), he could use the Lord Commissar IGdex entry as a template to fashion a 'counts as.' Or a player looking to make his Superheavy commander and crew play more uniquely might consider building such an heroic figure and his retinue from either of the existing Inquisition Codices. He could even give such an officer a Rhino instead of a Chimera, which the Alien and Daemonhunter army lists allow, if he wanted the Shadowsword proxy to really stand out. Most interestingly, however--if the player showed some restraint in maxing out on those Fast Attack Sentinels, above--would be the option of having the command crew born aloft for the journey above their landbound battle convoy in a Valkyrie Assault Carrier: not only would this add mobility and punch to the 40K force and give the new Imperial Guard hobbyist access to the niftiest new model in the IG army in his starter force--but Valkyries come in Squadrons, too...and what high- ranking 'land admiral' would go anywhere without a couple of squads of highly trained, well-equipped bodyguard squads (Storm Trooper Elites)?

And even though these flyers would exist outside the parameters of the Datasheet for Apocalypse games--the great thing about Apocalypse is that, beyond a chosen Datasheet or Formation's specifics, there *are* no Force Org requirements: a player can add such top cover without issue!

Given the various options outlined above, then, this is one straightforward sample build of a Warhammer 40K army which, with the addition of a Shadowsword kit, would become immediately playable as a Shadowsword Domination Force in Apocalypse events, games and multiplayer megabattles:

HQ1: Shadowsword Command Crew - 110Points: Company Command Squad (Company Commander w/ Power Weapon, Veteran w/ Medi-pack, Veteran w/ Domination Force (Regimental) Standard, Veteran w/ Vox-caster, Veteran w/ Lasgun).

TROOP1: Armoured Fist Squad Starboard - 145 Points: Veteran Squad (Vet Sgt, Veteran w/ Vox-caster, Veteran w/ Plasma gun, 7 Veterans w/ Lasguns; Chimera Transport).

TROOP2: Armoured Fist Squad Port - 145 Points: Veteran Squad (Vet Sgt, Veteran w/ Vox-caster, Veteran w/ Plasma Gun, 7 Veterans w/ Lasguns; Chimera Transport).

TROOP3: Armoured Fist Reaction Squad - 200 Points: Veteran Squad (Vet Sgt w/ Power Fist, Veteran w/ Vox-caster, Veteran w/ Grenade launcher, Veteran w/ Flamer, Veteran w/ Heavy flamer, 5 Veterans w/ Lasguns, Grenadiers; Chimera Transport).

FAST ATTACK1: Sentinel Pickets - 138 Points: Scout Sentinel Squadron (3 Sentinels w/ Missile launchers, Searchlights).

FAST ATTACK2: Command Crew Shuttle - 125 Points: Valkyrie Assault Carrier (Lascannon, Sponson Heavy bolters).

HEAVY SUPPORT1: Leman Russ Vanquisher - 245 Points (Knight Commander Pask, Hull Lascannon, Sponson Multi-meltas).

HEAVY SUPPORT2: Leman Russ Battle Tank - 170 Points (Sponson Heavy bolters).

HEAVY SUPPORT3: Leman Russ Battle Tank - 170 Points (Sponson Heavy bolters).

At 1448 Points, you may add vehicle options such a Extra Armour or alter weapons kit-out as suits, to reach a standard 1500 Point 40K army.

With the 'Knight Commander Pask' tank commander template character aboard, the Vanquisher is considered the Command tank; it, along with the Valkyrie and the Sentinels are optimized for anti-vehicle/anti-monster duty, with the two standard Leman Russes and the three Chimerae maximized for anti-personnel. The Sentinels' Missile launchers can back up anti-personnel if the opponent is of the horde variety, and the tanks' battle cannons provide additional (if imprecise) anti-armour capability should that need arise.

This force is light on 'boots on the ground' and significant hand-to-hand combat ability; if I were expanding it to 1750 or 1850 Points (or more), I would add a Commissar Lord with a Power fist to the Armoured Fist Squad tooled up for Reaction, and some Regimental Advisors to the Command Crew in their Valkyrie--particularly the two allowed Enginseers, one of which would immediately join the Lord Commissar in the Reaction force (one mechanic for the Superheavy, one for the escorts)--and probably a second Scout Sentinel Squadron; a fourth Veteran Squad Troops choice probably makes more sense than a Chimera full of Ogryn for the last Chimera picket, too...though the latter sure sounds like more fun.

I would start this army with the plastic Battle Force box of choice (either Cadian or Catachan) and one Squad box: that will provide all 35 Guardsmen needed, plus the first Sentinel, for under US$120. An Apocalypse three-tank Leman Russ Squadron box would add the essential mandatory 'fleet' tanks at a discount from buying them individually; the Chimerae, additional Sentinels and Valkyrie will need to be added a box at a time, unless relevant future Apocalypse or Squadron combination releases appear. What vehicle-heavy forces add to outlay, however, they tend to subtract in assembly and painting time; this is a compact, seven vehicle/three walker/35 infantry IG army that should be easy to use (you know what it does well and what it cannot do), especially for the starting IG commander--plus it is easy to transport, fun to start, assemble, paint, finish and play--

And, with the addition of that centerpiece Shadowsword Superheavy tank, beautifully themed...and best of all, ready to bring the might of the Imperium to the enormous amount of fun that is Apocalypse wargaming. Twice the Imperial Guard fun for the investment, by careful planning from the outset.

Good luck, 'land admiral.'

Why War of the Ring?

2009-03-27T09:21:00.003-05:00

If you ask a Games Workshop hobbyist to identify themselves with one primary game system, most will come down firmly in either the Warhammer Fantasy Battle or Warhammer 40K camp (various Specialty Games--Blood Bowl, Epic, Mordheim, Inquisitor, Warhammer Quest, Space Hulk--might once have had significant adherents, but it has been so long since any were regularly available on shelves few fans remain active in the hobby who are not first a player of one or the other 'primary' systems). The fact that GW has--and continues to fully support with both new-on-shelf product and regular White Dwarf magazine coverage--a third primary game system is not reflected by the hobby base...something Games Workshop is taking a major step to address.

The Lord of the Rings miniatures game enjoyed huge popularity during the theatrical runs of Peter Jackson's movie adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's seminal fantasy. Some sources indicate Lord of the Rings product outsold Warhammer Fantasy product in the US and Warhammer 40K product in Europe during those years (some sources suggest it outsold both product lines worldwide). Games Workshop took the opportunity to release a basic boxed set with each of the three feature films, including film-specific miniatures and rules-tweaks...then saved the best for last, releasing the game's current basic-box incarnation--which includes beautifully-sculpted members of the Fellowship, goblins and a cave troll all in plastic, plus terrain and the most polished iteration of the rules yet--once the film trilogy was complete. They have continued to support it with marvelous new plastics, highly-regarded pewter sculpts (Peter Jackson himself is a huge and public fan, so much so he included a number of GW sculptors and Studio creators in his final Rings film) and, perhaps best of all, supplemental rules books exploring areas of Tolkien's world and work either in greater detail than the previous general rules allowed, or which were not covered at all by the film series (with miniatures to match). LotR support in White Dwarf by the Studio personnel assigned to the game system has consistently been the best, most creative and highest quality the magazine has offered. In short, Games Workshop has not only *not* dropped the ball in supporting their LotR game line following completion of the three films, they've stepped up their quality of effort, laudably so.

It is just that few hobbyists have noticed.

That doesn't mean the line has been unprofitable; in fact, some sources indicate GW's LotRs miniatures line is still the third-best selling line of games miniatures in the world (behind WHFB and 40K). It simply has gone from being the closest thing the miniatures gaming industry has yet seen to a mass market product, at its height, to the kind of niche product line most other miniatures lines are and remain. And that isn't GW's fault...it is simply the nature of being a franchisee of a media phenomenon which has reached its emotional conclusion. Just as Star Wars product fell off the marketing map after Return of the Jedi in 1983 because much of its fandom felt 'the story was over,' so Lord of the Rings toys, costumes, replicas, trinkets, etc have largely disappeared from shelves following Return of the King. GW has soldiered on (no pun intended) with their miniatures game because the line remains profitable, and the system is good--but they would emphatically like to see their models for it not just sold and collected but actually played with.

To that end comes War of the Ring.

The one consistent limitation of the Lord of the Rings system created by GW observed by regular players is that, as a ruleset designed first around the scenarios, settings and adventures of the first film, which were mostly small-unit affairs, it became awkward to handle as the size of the armies and battles increased. GW tweaked this as the scope of the story expanded with The Two Towers, and again to accommodate the vast spectacle of the climactic battles in Return of the King...but at its heart, the Lord of the Rings game was and is at its best, most fun and most playable replicating skirmish-level encounters.

The new War of the Ring game takes the basic LotR rules concepts and mechanics and re-gears them for the monumental.

Now, players will be able to really recreate the feel of the siege at Helms Deep, or the Battle for Pelennor Fields. Vast armies will sweep across tabletops, invest enemy fortresses, or mount massive cavalry charges.

To quote one GW source, 'WotR will do for LotR what Apocalypse did for 40K.'

And, as with the basic Warhammer 40,000 game and its Apocalypse supplement, nothing GW does for WotR will diminish the LotR game: it will remain the choice for best retelling tales of indivual heroes and their warbands on the tabletop, for quick or pick-up games between friends.

There will be no basic boxed game version of War of the Ring. Like Apocalypse, it will be presented in a beautiful, lavishly-illustrated and comprehensive hard cover book. Its comprehensiveness is its signal virtue: every army an interested hobbyist might want to build for WotR is covered in the basic book, along with all of its variants, potential leaders and heroic characters/villains/monsters, and all of the rules one need know to play WotR. Players of LotR will recognize most of the terminology and mechanisms--but GW is treating WotR as a 'start from scratch,' so that no previous familiarity with LotR is required.

And as a new system, everyone will be starting from a level playing field, in building their armies for either fun or competitive play. And their WILL be competitive play: GW has never dropped LotR from its GTs, and expects WotR to generate a resurgence of interest in playing the game tournament-style.

This is a very good thing. I think LotR is GW's *best* game from both the pure 'fun to play' and the competitively-balanced standpoints. Fans of earlier iterations of WHFB and especially 2nd Edition Warhammer 40K are encouraged to give it a look--much moreso than either current version of GW's staple games, the role of singular heroes, and the impact they can have on battles, is dramatically more pronounced in LotR...just as any ruleset replicating a great tale of great heroes ought to be. However, the balance is generally spot-on: Aragorn, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas and the Nine *lead* their armies, but are not so powerful as to *be* the army. Sauron and the Balrog approach that level of power...but then, they should, and are distinguished by that singularity. It is an outstanding and evocative system, which moves quickly and feels 'heroic' (so much so, I have adapted the LotR rules for historicals gaming in the post-Roman 'Arthurian' era for personal use, after being repeatedly frustrated at the 'realism' of most historical miniatures rules systems failing to evoke the more mythic feel I wanted, and have been extremely satisfied with the result...and those who know me will tell you I take matters Arthurian very seriously, and with a difficult critical eye to satisfy :).

GW is hoping upping the scope of this game, to recreate the enormous battles which are among the trilogy's highlights, will provide a jumpstart for dormant hobby interest. The War of the Ring ruleset for just such huge battles seems to have retained much of what is so good about Lord of the Rings, added scope, size and spectacle, then leavened with some rules alterations to make so vast a game still proceed at a brisk pace (I particularly like the 'rather than modify results, roll as many dice as possible' approach). And they've added some marvelous lures: the base rulebook is a beautiful thing, as noted, the first new models (especially the plastic Ent!) are likewise--and the movement trays, designed to make GW's round-based LotR miniatures easy to use ranked up, for WotR, are terrific: I suspect 40K players will find them appealing for display and perhaps even play applications, as well as dedicated WotR use.

GW has built it; now, will the players come?

I hope so, for all of the reasons noted above and more. For one thing, discovering GW's line of LotR/WotR miniatures will open up a whole new area of collecting for players who've not tried the system: not just the new plastic Ents or Kingdom of the Dead figures, but the whole catalog of LotR miniatures crafted since the game's inception will open up to--and be 'like new' to--such hobbyists. And there are some wonderful miniatures in that catalog, from both the plastic and pewter versions of the Balrog to the awesomely villainous Sauron to the modular dragon--as well as original creations like Gulhavhar the daemon, which boast a laudable commitment to fidelity with Tolkein's universe.

If War of the Ring rejuvenates hobby interest in the Lord of the Rings miniatures game, such 'new converts' will not be the only ones who benefit: every closet fan of the game who has boxed up their figures for lack of opponents will profit, as well.

I've a vast cohort of valiant Rohirrim waiting for the call from sequester, to ride to Middle Earth's defense, should new Orcs, Olyphaunts or Easterlings appear on the tabletop horizon, because of War of the Ring...
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The Illustrated Alamo 1836

2009-03-06T13:18:00.001-06:00

In the pre-dawn of March 6, 1836, the fate of an unknown number (but probably around 200) of Tejanos, Texians and American Texas immigrant rebels and an unknown number (but probably in the high hundreds to low thousands) of Loyalist Mexican soldiers was decided at a place almost everyone has heard of...but that almost no one can properly visualize, as it was on the day: the crucible of Texas liberty (and an anvil upon which was struck much of subsequent North American history, from the nineteenth century through the present)—the Alamo.

Artist Mark Lemon has created the most thorough-going visual recreation of the Alamo to date, in his meticulously-researched and skillfully rendered 'The Illustrated Alamo 1836 A Photographic Journey'. From the 1/48th scale model Alamo he bases his work on, to the stunningly evocative photographic work which brings the model to realistic life, to the text analysis of both, including his reasoning behind some of the speculative decisions he had to make, Lemon's work is impeccable...and the result is a fuller understanding of the monumental hopelessness of a few hundred defenders securing so broad and open a 'fortress' against determined assault—and a deeper appreciation for the depth of their conviction to their cause, that nonetheless they tried.

While there are unfortunate errors in editing (Lemon consistently misspells Alamo commander William Barret Travis' middle name, for example), they are rendered inconsequential in contrast to the enormity and thoroughness of Lemon's research. Not only does he cover the physical plant of the Alamo on that fateful day (visitors to the shrine as it is currently preserved in San Antonio unfamiliar with the changes—and in some cases virtual demolition—the Alamo has been subject to in the years since 1836 will be stunned by how different a place it was), Lemon also details virtually everything known of the mission fortress' artillery battery, complete with illustrations of the guns, and provides one of the most cogently-argued analyses of which flag(s) flew over the commandery while it was in possession of the Texians, and why.

That this is a must for the library of every Alamo historian goes without saying. It will probably be of considerable interest to the model-builder and miniature military gamer, as well; though Lemon's triumphs here are ultimately in line with his intentions—to recreate history insofar as possible and do so with an artistry that transcends simple recreation—the stunning package that is 'The Illustrated Alamo 1836' is arguably one of the most beautiful, elaborate tributes to the scale modelers' art, as well, and deserves appreciation for that.

By the time the sun rose on the Mission San Antonio de Valero on March 6, 1836, the thirteen day seige was over. William Barret Travis, James Butler Bonham, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and her other defenders were all massacred (or soon would be, depending on one's fixation with how things for each of them ended, especially Crockett). Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the 'Napoleon of the West,' would dismiss the battle as 'a small affair.' But the most experienced heart of his veteran army lay wounded, dying or dead piled high against the mission fortress' north wall, and dedication to a cause—which was arguably still smouldering in the hearts of many beyond its most ardent disciples—had been fanned to incandescence by Travis' epistolary eloquence, by the band of defenders' courage, by the mercilessness of Santa Anna's massacre. Without the Alamo, there well might never have been a Texas.

Mark Lemon's book finally brings the birthplace of Texas freedom back to life, as it was—and takes us there.
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Who Shall Lead? Part Five: Space Marine Captains

2008-12-28T12:09:00.003-06:00

The Fifth Edition Codex: Space Marines changes the way a 40K player chooses the heroic characters who will lead his army. The previous editions' multi-level Independent Character options and near-limitless choices of Wargear from the Armoury are no more; instead, the new Codex presents an unprecedented number and variety of pre-constructed Special Characters—then encourages players to pick the one whose gear or abilities most suits that player's preferences, and use him as a 'template,' over which the player can lay his own Chapter's names, colours, history and background. And amongst the Special Characters available as HQ choices, nowhere are the options more varied than amongst the HQ type the new Codex *clearly* intends as the leader-of-choice for most V5 armies -- Space Marine Captains. Where other HQ choices have had their statistic lines bumped down a bit, Captains are actually stouter than in previous editions; and the Codex presents a total of five Captain Special Character types, plus the generic-build entry--more than the other four HQ options combined.

Which Captain suits what army-build/playing-style best?

SICARIUS: The Ultramarines representative feels the most like a traditional Space Marine Captain, from previous editions--only jumped-up on steroids. He brings army-wide Leadership, confers to another squad the ability to retain one of the Veteran Skills which might have characterized them in previous editions, and is awesome in assault against the foe. Sicarius weighs in with the Mantle of the Suzerain, a suit of Artificer Armour reducing his Save statistic to 2+ *and* adding the Feel No Pain special rule to his Iron Halo 4+ Invulnerable Save--making Captain Sicarius one of the most survivable characters in the game (though he remains vulnerable to the Instant Kill *if* an opponent can fight through all those saves with a Strength 8 or higher attack, just once).

His armament of plasma pistol and Talassarian Tempest Blade complement his survivability by making him one of the most fearsome close combatants in the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes; the Blade's ability to forego all Sicarius' attacks in favour of a single strike which will Instant Kill anything it wounds is an awesome odds-evener in these days of daemonic and monstrous creatures immune to such a fate, even from Force weapons, and grabs one's attention for considering Sicarius as a monster-killer--but wielded simply as a power blade with Sicarius' Weapon Skill of 6 and four attacks (five on the charge, plus the inbound plasma shot) makes Sicarius most formidable as a rank-and-file opponent slayer...doubly so, since his own vulnerability to being Insta-Killed is lessened against most such opposition.

Sicarius adds the Surprise Attack special rule allowing his side to reroll their attempt to seize initiative, the Rites of Battle special rule conferring his Leadership to the entire army for Morale or Pinning tests, and--most significantly--Battle-forged Heroes, which allows a player fielding Sicarius to give one Tactical squad a Veteran Skill upgrade. Those missing the previous edition's Traits system should give Captain Sicarius a long look as the template choice for their army commander based on this special rule alone: granted, it affects only a single Tac squad, but being able to carry over some ability which characterized your previous era army could be a big deal, toward retaining your sense of that force's identity in this new age. Against such positives, the only downside to choosing Sicarius is his cost: at 200 points, only the Terminator-armoured Imperial Fist Lysander is as expensive as Sicarius, among the five template characters presented in the new codex. For those points, however, Captain Sicarius will provide players one of the most familiar, most potent, most threatening and most survivable leaders available to a Space Marine army--and grant them a measure of their former identity, in the doing.

LYSANDER: the Captain of the Imperial Fists is as expensive as Sicarius--and even more survivable. The only issue with choosing Darnath Lysander as a template for your own force leader is that his special rules conflict with each other, in dictating his best battlefield role--making it difficult to get maximum effect from everything he can do.

Lysander is equipped to lead from the front, in hand-to-hand combat: he has Terminator Armour and a Storm Shield for a 2+/3+ set of Saves, and the mighty Thunder Hammer Fist of Dorn--mastercrafted, striking at Strength 10, with a +1 to the result roll on the Vehicle Damage Table. Add his ability to make units in his army Stubborn and the enormously impactful Eternal Warrior, and Lysander has the special rules to increase his assault effectiveness. Much moreso than Sicarius, Darnath Lysander is a serious vehicle- and monster-killing character template.

However, perhaps his most interesting rules are best used if Lysander is held back from close combat. He can Bolster Defences like a Techmarine (an artifact of his Legion's legendary seige expertise, doubtless)--and if he joins a squad any included model may reroll 'to hit' rolls with bolt weapons, courtesy of his Bolter Drill special rule. Imagine a Heavy Bolter Devastator squad fighting from an entrenched position with Lysander amongst them: horde armies beware!

But a player choosing to field him this way is foregoing Lysander's essential assaultiness (because he wields Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, the master of bolter discipline hasn't even a gun of his own to fire); and a player who wades into the enemy with Lysander surrenders the shooting benefit he could bring to a ranged-combat-oriented squad.

The closest thing to a happy medium, of course, would be to place Lysander in the company of his fellow Terminators, who with Storm Bolter and Power Fist as standard weapons suffer some of the same cost penalty for being good at everything that Lysander does. His Bolter Drill will make their Storm Bolters even more effective, and he will certainly increase their impact come the assault. Sadly, none of the heavies available to Terminators are Bolter weapons...leaving such a unit likely to be either shooting ineffectively with small arms fire at vehicles or monsters worthy of their Hammers and Fists, or using the latter in massive overkill assaults on hordes as follow-up to their fire volley.

One tactical use for Lysander which should see some play is as a counter-assault unit for shooting-oriented Space Marine players bedeviled by infiltrating, outflanking or other 'sneak up from behind' opposing army builds. Lysander directing fire from that aforementioned entrenched Heavy Bolter squad--then detaching to deal with Space Wolf scouts intent on ruining a gun line's day, should prove more than reasonably entertaining for the player leading with the Terminator Captain of the Imperial Fists.

And at the end of the day, Lysander is the only option, other than a generic build, for a Space Marine Captain in Tactical Dreadnought Armour. For Terminator afficionados, that alone will be reason enough to field him.

Lysander is good, make no mistake; his rules just make him so expensive it will be difficult to consistently maximize that effectiveness, for such cost.

SHRIKE: The Captain of the Raven Guard suffers no 'mission diffusion' contradictions in his equipment or special rules; Shrike is the template for the player looking to have his commander lead the proverbial mobile infantry assault--and lead from the front.

With jump pack and master-crafted, Rending twin lightning claws, Shrike is equipped to get to the fight with immediacy and to make an impact once there, with an Iron Halo Invulnerable Save to provide him staying power. His special rules confer Infiltration to himself and any unit in his squad (now doubly-useful in V5 with the outflank option), and his Chapter Tactics rule exchanges the standard Space Marine Combat Tactics for Fleet--a huge bonus for assault-oriented armies.

Shrike is expensive at 195 points--but the closest similarly equipped Captain built from the generic Codex entry is only going to be 40 points less without master-crafting, Rending or Shrike's Infiltrating and Fleet special bonuses. Using those latter two rules effectively can be tricky for some players, who might find merit in building the less-expensive version...but for most players looking for their HQ choice to be a swift and deadly combat machine, leading an elite, highly-mobile group of similarly motivated units, Kayvaan Shrike is the strongest Captain template candidate. He will not be an answer against opposing vehicles or monsters, as a choice like Lysander would be--but let Shrike get in amongst opposing infantry, with a Fleeting assault-oriented army at his heels, and he will undo many a foe.

Shrike's only real disadvantage is a codex limitation, rather than any flaw in his character entry: he cannot be backed up by the best close-combat Space Marines available. Neither the Command Squad entry nor the Honour Guard (should a player really wish to make a powerhouse unit and join Shrike to a jump-packing Chapter Master) allow for upgrading to jump packs at this time, and Vanguard Veterans give up their Heroic Intervention special rule if joined by an independent character. That leaves Shrike leading a standard Space Marine Assault squad, and said unit's lack of access to additional power weaponry has always made them an inferior choice to most opposing armies' assault specialists. They therefore will simply not provide Shrike the maximum backup effect possible (though a sergeant with a power weapon, power fist, thunder hammer or combat shield--or a pair of lightning claws of his own!--leading them will go a long way, as an equalizer...and having Shrike amongst them, granting them outflank to hit what they want and Fleet to get the charge, will still make them an effective choice).

VULKAN: There has been much renewed interest in the Salamanders, with the release of the new Space Marine Codex. Forgefather Vulkan He'stan is why.

If there is a reason the other outstanding Captain templates are not being universally embraced by players, it is probably because Vulkan is even better--and for several points less. Vulkan is as or even more survivable than the other Special Characters (possible save the ultimate tank Lysander), his relic weapon provides increased effectiveness against vehicles and monsters (the kind of things a Space Marine Captain *should* be destroying, in many players' minds)...and Vulkan's Chapter Tactic special rule is an absolute deal-closer: master-crafting *every* Thunder Hammer in his army, and twinlinking every flamer and melta weapon type, is just enormously combat effective.

It is difficult to find fault with Vulkan: a 2+ artificer armour Save, which he will rarely have to take because he also has a *3+* Invulnerable Save from his dragon-scaled Kesare's Mantle; a Strength 6 master-crafted power halberd as his melée weapon (with digital weapons to make *sure* when it hits, it hurts) and the equivalent of a squad heavy weapon in his Gauntlet for a sidearm; and a Chapter Tactic which is both obvious in the benefits it confers yet does not ram a specific play style down a choosing player's throat. The only real issue a player will have to address (if not playing Salamanders and using Vulkan *as* Vulkan) will be working out a background for his templated version which explains all the character's 'wonderful toys' without being boringly derivative...and frankly, that kind of challenge is part of the fun of a DIY chapter.

Vulkan being so iremediably Salamanderish *will* deter some players from choosing him, nonetheless; and the specific virtues of the various other HQ character template options will have their adherents; but barring either, Vulkan is going to find his way tocommand of many new fifth edition Space Marine armies--painted green and breathing fire or not.

He is that good.

KHAN: Kor'sarro Khan may prove to be one of the least-used Captain templates in the new Codex; that is understandable given the other options available, and given that what he specializes in is a difficult army construct for Space Marines to excel--but also unfortunate, because he does what he does with a maximum of 'cool' and a very reasonable minimum of points.

Khan can be fielded in two versions: with or without his special relic bike Moondrakkan. The bike option is the construct which seems to be what causes most players to consider Khan, and that makes sense: it is characterful (he is a White Scars special character) and at only 10 points more than the cost of an ordinary Space Marine Bike for a generically-built Captain, Moondrakkan confers to Khan extra movement (he can Run instead of Shooting) and the ability to Assault at the end of that extra movement (via Fleet). These are outstanding benefits for the cost, and anyone considering a bike-themed Space Marine army would be well-advised to lead it with Khan on Moondrakkan--but it does increase his total cost to 205 points (translating him from the most economical Special Character Space Marine Captain to the most expensive), and perhaps most importantly, it does not at present confer the ability to Run or Fleet to any squad Khan might be attached to/leading...which means, to benefit from Moondrakkan's special rule to maximum effect, Khan is going to have to ride alone. While his movement will likely be so flexible he should still be able to combine charges with other supporting units most of the time, this *is* still an extra complication for a fielding player; and more importantly, not belonging to a unit leaves Khan vulnerable to the character-assassinating machinations of one's opponent.

A more appealing option, though less obvious, is Khan on foot, without Moondrakkan. In this configuration, Khan is only 160 points, but retains all of his equipment and special rules except Fleet. That means he and any unit he joins may still Hit and Run and Furious Charge, and Khan still wields the mighty power sword Moonfang, which causes Instant Death on any To Wound roll of 6, regardless of an opponent's Toughness. All this, and under Khan's leadership all squads in his army which possessed Combat Tactics exchange them for the ability to outflank--including squads in dedicated transports! Those are exceptional, completely army-changing special rules, for 45 points more than an similarly-equipped generic-build Captain. They won't be for every player--in which case, 45 points saved is a not-inconsiderable sum--but for a mobility-based Space Marine army, Kor'sarro Khan is the Captain of choice...astride his bike, or not.

SPACE MARINE CAPTAIN: As with the other HQ options in the new Codex, there is still a place for a custom-built Captain. A player can build a Terminator-armoured or bike-riding Captain with different weapons fit-out and at a significantly-reduced cost from either Lysander or Khan, or one with a jump pack for less than Shrike; a Captain on foot with no more addition than an exchange of his chainsword for a power weapon is still frightfully effective, and only 115 points--130, if upgraded to artificer armour--and of course a player wishing to field a particularly-equipped model (twin lightning claws, as in Sicarius' previous incarnation, spring to mind) fortunately still has this route to go to. At the end of the day, a Captain built from the generic listing is going to be the choice for the player of predominantly shooty armies, both because the template characters all have a close-combat focus and because it is simply more cost-effective, as the points-saved translate to more firepower. Any player considering a 'lead from the front' kind of Space Marine Captain would do well to look at the five Special Characters, and see if any of the bonuses they bring to the table mesh with what the player intends; the bang-for-the-buck difference is considerable.

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Who Shall Lead? Part Four: Masters of the Forge

2008-12-11T09:12:00.003-06:00

Techmarines have filled the most bewildering variety of character roles in Space Marine armies throughout the game's editions—from independent single-Wound gadabouts to Command Squad-upgrade only unit components to Elite choices improvable to HQs under certain conditions—but in 40K V5, they are more diverse than ever, available as Elite options, leading units of mechano-organic servitors, as Heavy Support choices, manning awesome Thunderfire Cannons...and as an alternate army-commanding HQ choice, in the form of the new codex's Master of the Forge (in fact, it would be possible under this codex to field *eight* Techmarines in one Force Org, an escalation of the type's versatility never before achievable...and one I expect to face on a tabletop very soon *if* I don't get there first!).

The Master of the Forge is envisioned as a Chapter's most senior representative of the Cult of the Omnissiah and the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars. As such, he has access to gear available to no other Space Marine. A Master is similar to the other support HQ options—the Chaplain and Librarian—in points cost and limited stat line, but his options arguably make him more viable than either as a single or lead HQ character...and the conversion and design ideas which occur around the concept of a Techmarine-led army certainly inspire!

There are disadvantages to the choice, of course, and the most obvious in the context of this article series is that there is *no* Master of the Forge special character template in the codex, to give players an alternative to building one from the generic listing. It would have been interesting to have seen an Iron Hands Iron Father or Mentor Legion Forge Master special character, or to have seen Forgefather Vulkan He'Stan built from the Master of the Forge template instead of the Space Marine Captain...but absent such missed opportunities, a hobbyist seeking a Master to lead his tabletop force must turn to the generic listing.

Here there are build disadvantages, as well, some of them glaring. The Master of the Forge has no basic close combat weapon. He has no access to any kind of Invulnerable Save; he cannot even take Terminator Armour or a Storm Shield as wargear. He can be equipped with a bike, but a jump pack is not an option for him. And while his stat line is improved from the Librarian and Chaplain in two areas—a superior Ballistic Skill and an Artificer Armour Save of 2+—his Weapon Skill is reduced to Space Marine standard, in trade.

Those concerns addressed, however, the positives a Master of the Forge offers are many. His excellent base save has already been noted, courtesy of his Artificer Armour; add to that the wondrous bag of kit which is the Servo-harness (two additional power fist attacks, a flamer and the twin-linked plasma-pistol plasma-cutter, both of which he can fire in each shooting phase) and the Master of the Forge is extremely well-armed for his 100 point cost. It gets better when his special rules are considered: the Master is still a Techmarine, and so may repair damaged vehicles due to his Blessing of the Omnissiah, and is likewise able to Bolster Defenses, reinforcing the Cover Save of a single specified piece of ruin terrain by +1. Often lost because it is not mentioned in his narrative page in the front of the codex, but rather only in a small-text box in his later Army List entry, is a third Master of the Forge special ability: as Lord of the Armoury, any Master included in a Space Marine army gives the player the option of taking Dreadnoughts of *any* variant as Heavy Support choices, as well as Elite choices (intrigued by the earlier mention of an eight-Techmarine army? How about a six Dreadnought force, instead...). That is a tremendous amount of value for 100 points; investing in a power weapon (it says 'power sword' in the entry, but given how long Techmarines have been carrying power axes as their traditional weapon in the 40K universe, I don't think that needs be literal) is almost mandatory—and a good value for the 15 extra points—and adding digital weapons for another 10 will offset the reduced Weapon Skill somewhat, but a player is still getting a very versatile HQ choice for a comparative points bargain.

The only question becomes how best to use the Master, in this configuration. He is extremely potent at shooting, with that high Ballistic Skill and the ability to fire two weapons a turn, one of them twin-linked...but all of those weapons are comparatively short ranged, meaning involvement in an assault is almost inevitable, if he closes to use them most effectively. With a bolt pistol, a power weapon (or even a Thunder Hammer) and digital weapons purchased, he is not ineffective at close combat—in fact, with those two Servo-harness power fist attacks added, he is downright scary on the offensive—but should he come up against power weapon, or fist-wielding opponents (or the equivalent, like Monstrous Creatures, against which his own fists would be most effective), his lack of an Invulnerable Save will make him terribly fragile. V5 makes managing close-range firefights more possible than in previous editions, in the hands of a skilled player...but it is still a truism that once models get close enough to do the kind of shooting the Master excels at, a determined opponent will almost always be able to get to grips with them.

Fortunately, the Master's economic points price means that losing one in such a fist fight needn't be an army back breaker. It might even allow a player to afford a second HQ choice...such as Librarian, joined to a unit with the Master, and providing a measure of invulnerable protection to them all on the advance, via the Force Dome psychic discipline....

There is an alternative kit-out option for the Master of the Forge, however, which alters his focus completely, and which makes him an especially attractive HQ option for a player building a ranged-combat-intensive Space Marine army. That is the Master equipped with a Conversion Beamer.

Old disciples of the hobby, who have seen bits of marginal lore and arguably goofball equipment come and go throughout the game's five (plus) iterations, love it when something ancient and seemingly long-forgotten reappears in a new edition. So it is with the Rogue Trader era Conversion Beamer, an 'arcane mechanical relic' which certain Masters of the Forge will draw from their army to unleash hell upon the foe, if the circumstances ever become sufficiently dire. The addition of the Conversion Beamer option to the Master's list allows a player to drop all of his other shooting weapons in favor of manning one of these pre-Heresy artifacts—and very nicely streamlines the Master of the Forge's tabletop play focus, in the doing. A Master with a Conversion Beamer is most effective at distance; he will therefore be deployed well back from the assault front, ideally in cover (where his Bolster Defenses special rule will become doubly important) but with good fields of fire. And his mission will be to shoot; if he is doing anything else through the 5-7 turns of the game, things are probably not going well for his army. That means that, other than the extra 20 points it costs to switch out his Servo-harness and side- or shoulder-arm for the Beamer, a player need consider investing no more points in his Master of the Forge, not even for a close combat implement—as noted, if he is fighting, things have gone pear-shaped for the plan. The place such a 120 point HQ character would have in a shooting-oriented army is obvious, and especially as it leaves that many more points to devote to more guns, should become a very common choice to lead such a design. It bears consideration for other army builds, as well, however: such a Master could provide the core of a very effective fire base for a hammer-and-anvil style movement-themed army, especially as a secondary HQ behind a combat-monster dropping the hammer, and might prove economical enough to lead a small cover-fire/counter-fire element in a mostly assault-oriented force. In terms of efficiency and effectiveness, it is one of the most narrowly-focused Independent Character options in the game.

(I should address the one mini-controversy about this Master of the Forge build which has [as of this writing] not been officially errata'd by the Studio, and that is whether or not a Master which switches his Servo-harness for a Conversion Beamer is left with nothing, or is—as the Techmarine on which he is based would be—reduced to the default Servo-arm, which would leave him with one power fist equivalent close combat attack while he manned the Beamer: from a background standpoint, I cannot imagine any Techmarine, especially the highest-ranking, leaving for the field without some version of his tools of office; and he does retain the Blessing of the Omnissiah special rule even if he kits with the Beamer. So for friendly games, and in fact any game in which an opponent asks me, I allow him to default to the Servo-arm...but for competitive or tournament games, including any I neutrally adjudicate, I would have to rule in favor of any opponent who objects presently, as nowhere in the relevant listings does it specify subtracting the Servo-harness from the Master defaults to a Servo-arm. I suspect we will know for sure when the Conversion Beamer-armed miniature is released :)
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Who Shall Lead? Part Three: Librarians

2008-12-03T14:48:00.004-06:00

Of all the Hero choices available to a Space Marine player to lead his Chapter into tabletop combat, none have changed so much, through five editions of the game, as their dedicated psykers, the Space Marine Librarians. In V2, the avowed era of the 'super character,' arguably no Hero rivaled the Librarian, whose statistics at the ultimate level of Chief Librarian were the equal of any in the game, whose choices of Wargear cards included some of the best of all possible options, and who had an entire game play phase—the long-gone Psychic phase&mdashentirely to themselves; V3 shattered that, reducing Librarians to under-statted, over-costed HQ lightweights with almost-nonexistent Psychic powers whose wargear was even more overpriced than they were—you never saw Librarians in V3 Space Marine armies unless the player was simply an inveterate aficionado from a background standpoint, and even then their most characterful gear stayed in the Armoury. V4 attempted to remedy this vivisection with some success, returning some psychic disciplines, making essential gear like Psychic Hoods and Force Weapons standard equipment (at a more reasonable price break) and generally restoring the Librarian's battlefield puissance sufficiently to see their occasional return as an HQ choice in some armies.

Librarians in V5 represent both a further advance in such improvements *and* a step back toward previous diminishments.

On the positive front, Librarians continue to have both essential, characterful bits of wargear standard—the Psychic Hood and the Force Weapon—and even more positively, now have the best selection of psychic powers available since the halcyon days of Second Edition.

Unfortunately, both the Psychic Hood and Force Weapon are less worthwhile in V5 than they have ever been, and Librarians are more vulnerable to self-inflicted damage from using those multiple power options than they have been since V2's days of the dreaded Daemonic Attack card draw. *And* they suffer the same reduced stat line which afflicts Chaplains (see part two).

One wonders why the evident pervasive distaste for psykers in the Design Studio: Psychic Hoods now only defend out to 24" away from the possessing Librarian—a real problem against back-of-the-table-behind-terrain lurking Eldar, especially given the Librarian's increased vulnerability should he choose to lead from the front (about which more below)—and Librarians who suffer a Perils of the Warp wound are now the *only* instance in the game I can think of where a protective Invulnerable Save must be rolled *twice* to be effective (when a Librarian has access to an Invulnerable Save at all, which is more limited than it used to be). Worst of all is the fate of the Force Weapon: this once-great equalizer, which could throw fear into any opponent with its ability to summon the ferocity of the Warp into a Librarian's hands and potentially defeat even the mightiest multi-Wound enemy, was chiefly and specifically designed to battle the monstrous manifestations of that same Warp: Chaos Daemons. Now, any model which is immune to Instant Death from high strength weapons is also immune to Force Weapons...and of course that includes *all* Daemons, courtesy of their new Codex.

Without digressing into a rant about any or all of this, which given my passion for Librarians I could pretty obviously do :), a player considering taking a Librarian as an HQ choice needs to recognize these inherent limitations to one's effectiveness. They mean that, for all their increased psychic options, in V5 as the two editions previous to it Librarians will appear on tabletops far less often than the other choices available, except in three circumstances: as a secondary supporting HQ for a dominant army commander (like a Chapter Master, see part one), as a multitasking HQ option for a very experienced player who likes to win by making other aspects of his army perform to maximum effectiveness...and, as always, because some players simply like them, and the aspects of the 40K background they represent, too much not to use them.

CHIEF LIBRARIAN VARRO TIGURIUS

As with Chaplains, the new Codex: Space Marines provides only one Special Character template for Librarians. Tigurius is a character with a long history in the game; he is a good choice for inclusion not just because of that nod to his long history, and not just because of the Codex's intentional Ultramarine emphasis, but because the Librarians' downrated statistics do not measurably impact him as he has never been an over-the-top combat machine. In fact Tigurius has stats identical to those of a generic Librarian, offering no variety there—but he has always had two of the potentially coolest pieces of wargear in the game, and both are well-represented by this new incarnation: the Hood of Hellfire is a Psychic Hood allowing Tigurius to use an extra third power each turn, and the Rod of Tigurius is a mastercrafted Force Rod. Tigurius adds two special rules: Master Psyker means he knows *all* the V5 psychic powers (uprating the Hellfire Hood's special rule significantly, as knowing them all means there will be a high likelihood of getting three good opportunities to do something psychically each turn) and Gift of Prescience allows a player fielding Tigurius to re-roll any Reserve rolls each turn—including, if he chooses, successful ones.

All of which means for 80 points more than the closest similarly equipped generic Epistolary, you get access to all powers, the use of one extra each turn, re-rolls on your Reserves, and a single rerolled missed 'to hit' roll.

Is templating your Librarian from Tigurius worth that? Although it is less a no-brainer than choosing virtually any of the other Special Character templates for their obvious advantages, I think it *could* be worth doing—depending on the kind of player you are, and how you intend to use him.

Tigurius will appeal to the player of 'jack of all trades' type Space Marine armies. His Reserve re-rolls will allow such a player to always have the unit he needs available when and where he wants it, and his multiple-times-a-turn access to every kind of psychic power will give such a player the most possible movement, shooting and close combat options. Tigurius will improve the on-table efficiency of highly mobile, Terminator-heavy, or Tactical Squad dominated Space Marine armies...and will confound opponents confident of beating Space Marines because they've seen every trick in the Codex Astartes.

The problem with using Tigurius effectively in this manner is threefold:

Most simply, a player intending this approach has to know his rules, and be able to both think multiple turns ahead and stay focused on the given mission's objectives
Tigurius' 230 point cost is a chunk, and will take some of the assets the player intends to use with the Chief Librarian's abilities away—the classic catch-22
Tigurius' limited statline, lack of Invulnerable Save and 2—and only 2—Wounds means he cannot wade into the opponent's costliest unit and swing his way to earning his points back, as most Space Marine characters (certainly those costing over 200 points!) are generally expected to do

Especially in an era where many secondary missions award extra victory points for assassinating an opposing army commander, Tigurius is a precarious HQ choice, his cost not even considered.

Tigurius' optimal role is probably as a second HQ choice, acting as an adviser to a more 'lead from the front' sort of character who could take on the role of army commander; that would allow his fielding player to avoid exposing him to the hazards of the front line, and use his supporting abilities to maximum effectiveness. Unfortunately, Tigurius' cost is so prohibitive he is only likely to see such use in Apocalypse-scale battles...but a player of Space Marines emphasizing shooting or movement would do well to weigh how he might fit into their scheme, even at lower points totals.

LIBRARIAN

Even moreso than in the case of the Chaplain, building an HQ choice from the basic Librarian option is attractive. The current codex clearly envisions Librarians as support options for another, primary HQ choice, and in such case economy of points matters; choosing the generic Librarian without any upgrades provides everything a hobbyist might seek in such a role, as the Psychic Hood and Force Weapon come standard, including access to one psyker power, for 100 points. The only 'essential' missing is any kind of Invulnerable Save...but the only way any Librarian *can* add that is to switch to Terminator armour (not an unreasonable investment at 25 points, or 40 with a Storm Shield, but with all the limitations inherent in opting for Tactical Dreadnought Armour, and still a significant points upgrade) or use the psychic power slot on Force Dome. That *isn't* a bad power...but for a basic Codicier-level Librarian, it becomes his only one—and upgrading to an Epistolary to get a second is 50 more points. I don't anticipate seeing a lot of Epistolaries on tables, unless a player opts to make a Librarian their primary HQ choice...and in such case, even if they tool him up with Terminator Armour and Storm Shield and devote his two psychic power slots to other purposes, they will be facing some of the same limitations using Tigurius presents—a lot of points wrapped up in a limited stat line—at nearly the same cost but without Tigurius' myriad special effects (though at least you could afford him the Invulnerable Save through wargear which Tigurius lacks).

Fortunately, for those of us with longstanding respect for aspects of the 40Kverse Librarians replicate on the tabletop battlefield better than any other, some will still try...
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Who Shall Lead? Part Two: Chaplains

2008-11-24T09:39:00.003-06:00

From the advent of the third edition of Warhammer 40,000 in 1998, the field leader of choice for Space Marine armies has been the Chaplain: standard-equipped with both an armour-negating power weapon (in his Crozius Arcanum) and invulnerable save (in his Rosarius)—the first purchases other HQ choice Characters regularly made from the Armoury—a Chaplain rarely required more than the investment of another point for a bolt pistol and he was ready to lead on the tabletop...and lead from the front!

40K V5 adds some extra considerations and caveats to that general principle—not least of which, the 'powering down' of the basic stat line suffered by both Chaplains and Librarians in this new edition—but Chaplains remain an excellent HQ choice nevertheless, especially for beginning players or players looking to keep their Character/HQ expenditures to a minimum, in favor of other unit choices.

CHAPLAIN CASSIUS

The new Codex: Space Marines provides only one Special Character Chaplain template—but it is a good one: for only ten points more than the cost of the closest similarly-equipped generic Chaplain build, the Cassius template gives a player the Infernus wargear (a mastercrafted combi-flamer loaded with special Hellfire rounds), plus the excellent Feel No Pain universal special rule and—perhaps most significantly—a superhuman (even for Space Marines!) Toughness of 6. These latter represent in the specific Ultramarine Character Cassius the extensive bionic rebuilding he underwent, and players looking to build their own Chaplain on the Cassius template should consider how (via their background or choice of model) to explain their Character boasting such similar incredible statistics. Cassius nevertheless represents *such* a significant upgrade over the generic Chaplain for the points that I expect to see a great many hobbyists undertaking that effort.

All Chaplains lead best from the front, Cassius even more so...though it should not escape mention that his artifact combi-flamer Infernus makes him far 'shootier' than most, as well. An almost ideal deployment for Cassius would be in company of a unit of Sternguard, perhaps deployed against a high-value target via Drop Pod. Adding a Cassius-templated Chaplain to the kind of elite, Sternguard-dominated army led by a Kantor-templated Chapter Master (as discussed in Part One) would be all kinds of nasty...

A Space Marine player looking to get as close to the same kind of 'oomph' with a Chaplain HQ choice as he is used to, from prior editions, should examine the Cassius template thoroughly. The Infernus' mastercrafting will even compensate for the loss of Ballistic Skill. Whether as a supporting second HQ choice, or a good-value-for-the-cost single one (the Chaplain's traditional role), Cassius delivers.

CHAPLAIN

The virtue of choosing to equip a custom Chapter's Chaplain from the generic HQ entry is, of course, that the creating player is not locked into Cassius' weapon choices, nor limited by what he eschews. The Infernus is good—but does not provide the additional Attack in assault a bolt pistol does. And Cassius has neither a jump pack nor bike nor terminator armour...all of which can serve to either streamline or emphasize what a Chaplain should be doing, to take best advantage of his special rules: charging into close combat. Jump packing Chaplains leading Assault Marines are practically staples of many Chapters. And 25 points is still 25 points—especially relevant since, as noted, basic Chaplains tend to be the HQ preference of players wishing to invest maximum points in other parts of their army.

Finally, the generic Chaplain requires no thinking or modeling to justify Toughness and Feel No Pain—he has just ordinary superhuman Toughness, rather than extraordinary—all of which make the option a good one, still (though any consideration of taking a plasma pistol with the V5 Chaplain's reduced Ballistic Skill and loss of access to mastercrafting becomes the preserve of the true gambler).
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Who Shall Lead? Part One: Chapter Masters

2008-11-19T16:25:00.008-06:00

The Fifth Edition Codex: Space Marines dramatically alters the way a 40K player constructs his army, particularly how he chooses the heroic characters who will lead it: gone are the previous editions' multi-level Independent Character options and near-limitless choices of Wargear from the Armoury, allowing for maximum customization and personalization; instead, the new Codex presents an unprecedented number and variety of pre-constructed Special Characters—then encourages players to pick the one whose gear or abilities most suits that player's preferences, and use it as a 'template,' over which the player can lay his own Chapter's names, colours, history and background. In effect, Marneus Calgar is no longer just a choice for Ultramarine Chapter players, as in previous iterations of the Codex (and one only available for use with opponent's permission, at that)—he is a sort of 'preassembled generic super commander' set of statistics available to any player whose Space Marines would benefit from such an HQ choice. The name/uniform/background changes...but the rules remain the same.

For longtime players, this takes some getting used to—not just the new way of treating Special Characters (that actually began with Codex: Dark Angels, some time back), but the notion of such radically diminished personal choices in Character construction, as well. It can be a bit counter-intuitive for players new to the game also, however: having to choose from wholly-assembled rules-and-gear packages can require a fuller grasp of the game than taking a basic generic character and adding a piece of wargear at a time once did.

With that in mind, a review of the characters in the V5 Codex is in order, briefly summarizing what their specialties are, and what sorts of army builds they will lend themselves to—a primer of sorts for players new and veteran, to lead them toward the Special Character template who (properly renamed and painted/customized to the player's own Chapter) will help their army play the way they want.

The review begins at the top—with the most powerful HQ Characters available to players of Space Marines in V5: the Chapter Masters...

MARNEUS CALGAR

Calgar is the template of choice for players who prefer assault-oriented Chapters, with a sledgehammer leader fighting from the front. He is expensive—but for approximately 80 points more than the nearest equivalent generic Chapter Master kit out, Marneus adds an extra Wound, an extra Attack (actually two since dual-wielding power fists gives him the extra close combat weapon Attack otherwise denied fist-users in V5), plus the Gauntlets of Ultramar unique wargear, three additional special rules (including the critically-important Eternal Warrior) and the right to take three Honour Guard squads instead of one. He can also take to the field in Terminator armour for an extremely cost-friendly extra 15 points (and the stunning current-production Calgar-in-tactical-dreadnought-armour model is all the reason anyone would need for exercising that option). Marneus' only real drawback is his total cost; players who plan a ranged-combat or mobility-oriented army will likely not get his points worth, and anyone taking him at 1500 points or fewer will be challenged to support him properly, after the chunk he eats up. But that's as it should be: he is a Chapter Master—skirmishes are no place for him!

PEDRO KANTOR

The player looking to build a shooting-oriented army would do well to consider as a template for his Chapter Master the lord of the Crimson Fists, Pedro Kantor. He also lends to leading a small army comprised of veteran, Elite units...unsurprising, given his Chapter's checkered back story.

For less than 25 points more than the closest-equipped generic Chapter Master build, Kantor adds the 'Dorn's Arrow' super storm bolter gear, exchanges Combat Tactics for Stubborn for all affected units in his army, and adds two special rules which make Sternguard scoring units and give units within 12" of him +1 Attack. That is amazing value—particularly for the player who wants those expensive, Elite Sternguard in numbers, obviously—but also for players who intend to emphasize ranged combat: Stubborn will keep them in the fight firing as long as possible (with Kantor's super gun adding to the firepower), and when they have to hit back, they will do so with increased effectiveness.

Kantor still best fits in larger games, as befits a Master of the Chapter...but an elite, Sternguard-heavy veteran army built around him could prove a nasty, compact little surprise on the tabletop.

CHAPTER MASTER

A final word should be said about constructing a Chapter Master from the generic listing, here: while veteran players will find the options for doing so somewhat limited as compared to previous editions, and the value the two Special Character templates present are hard to ignore...at the end of the day, this option is the *only* way to get certain gear combinations onto a table (Masters with lightning claws, plasma pistols and non-dual-fist wielding terminator armour come to mind) and is also the only way to get the Master's special rules (particularly his Orbital Bombardment and Honour Guard) at less than 175 points. If your favorite HQ model from previous-edition games is geared a certain way and you don't want to field him as a Captain, the option of building him as a Chapter Master from the generic listing in the current Codex is just as viable as it always was.

Next, 'Who Shall Lead?' will examine the other HQ-option Special Characters in the V5 Codex as template-types: Chaplains, Librarians, Techmarines, and the most important—and most varied—sort, the Space Marine Captains...
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Wrath of the Norsemen

2008-10-22T20:19:00.006-05:00

'O Sigmar Preserve Us From The Wrath Of The Norsemen'
--Unknown Imperial Priest, Town Cryer 13

The Hordes of Chaos are gone. The Warriors of Chaos are among us. And that little change in wording means everything.

Games Workshop's latest Army Book for the Warhammer Fantasy Battle system goes a long way toward rectifying the distress created when, with the publication in early 2008 of Daemons of Chaos, GW veered away from their much-lauded prior approach toward Chaos army-building--that of allowing hobbyists to use elements of *all* the Chaos forces, whether mortal or daemonic or beastmen, so long as their army emphasized one as primary--and enforced a 'choose an army book and stick to it' model upon the masses. To say it wasn't broadly well-received would be understating; however, the new Warriors of Chaos book presents such a wealth of choices under its one stunning Adrian Smith cover--and does it so well--that most players will be mollified. Unless they wanted to include daemons, of course.

The primary credited author of Warriors of Chaos is Phil Kelly. Any Warhammer Armies book or Warhammer 40,000 Codex is necessarily going to be a product of the entire design studio...but it is always worth noting where the buck ultimately stops: if one name begins to be associated with a run of unsatisfactory codices, players should recognize that--and the converse is true. In Phil Kelly's case, he is the author of record of a number of really-well-received force books (Eldar and especially the hilarious new Orks for 40K amongst them), so hobbyist expectations are high...and with Warriors of Chaos, he has delivered again.

There are three things I look for in a new force book; a fourth, if it is a new edition of an existing book (as is the case here): 1) Does it reflect a proper grasp of the force covered; is it 'convincing?' 2) Does it do enough with that force's rules to make a new edition worthwhile, whether by tightening, focusing or expanding? 3) Does it do both with a proper respect toward what has gone before? And 4) Is it at least as good a version of the force book as the edition it replaces (and preferably, is it better)?

Warriors of Chaos succeeds wildly in almost every category.

One of the things best things about this Army book is that it hammers home who (or perhaps more accurately what) Chaos Warriors really are--and then builds the entire army list around that concept. Kelly has infused the book with a Norse feel, from the specific--an excellent background section detailing the Old World's northernmost climes, and the history of those who descend from it upon the civilized races of the south--to the general--especially in the grim worldview of those Old World tribes, so very like the outlook of our Scandinavian cultures of the eighth-eleventh centuries, upon whose Viking exploits this aspect of the Warhammer world is clearly based. Kelly's Warriors of Chaos are not paper-thin caricatures come screaming down with pointy-horned helmets and over sized axes...they are a people from a landscape always one extra-harsh winter away from starvation, for whom, because of the fountain of Chaosstuff warping reality at the Old World's pole, supernatural powers are not abstract concepts--they are real. They interfere with the world. They bring power, real power--but power which always comes with a price. Death is everywhere--so life should be seized, and all the glory possible wrung from it.

It is a helluva compelling ethos, for putting toy soldiers on a table spoiling for a fight.

If in its 'iron and steel' emphasis Warriors of Chaos succeeds admirably in evoking the 'force concept,' the way it proceeds to translate that concept into effect via tabletop rules is arguably even better. One of the strengths Kelly has demonstrated in previous force books is a knack for finding ways to massage the existing rules to make the covered army play the way it should, without forcefeeding hobbyists only one way to build armies within that framework. He plies that skill again here: without question, the focus of the majority of armies built from this force book will be Chaos Warriors, as stout a Core choice as is available in any army in the game. But players who like monsters will be able to build an effective--and evocative--army by emphasizing such creatures, and players who preferred to emphasize the 'hordes of frothing northmen' from the previous edition army book will find that an army of primarily Marauders can still be put together with this one, and must still be reckoned with on the tabletop. Where Warriors of Chaos shines, however, is in the rules applications and variations for said unit type: Chaos Warriors and upgrades thereto--from mounted Chaos Knights on Daemonsteeds to elite Chosen to the spectacular heroes at the very pinnacle of such status, the Exalted Heroes and Lords (and the Chaos Spawn which shamble about to illustrate the fate of those who reach for such heights of glory, and fail)--are the heart of this army book, and are evoked masterfully.

Throughout, there is clear appreciation for what has gone before. As he did in the Eldar Codex, where he was tasked with combining what had become, essentially, a half-dozen army lists into one and somehow show proper respect for them all, Kelly always keeps his particular emphasis on the grim-norsemen-become-something-more at the fore, without excluding important aspects of Chaos lore which have been with Warhammer--which have arguably *made* the Warhammer World something unique, something more than just another Tolkien filter--from the start. Almost every major Chaos figure who has ever made an impact in Old World history at least gets a mention in the copious background, and a fair few of them return as newly-statted special characters (including, admittedly, a personal old favorite, in the fallen Scylla Anfingrim).

As well-done as this aspect of the new army book is, it is also where the likeliest objections to the new edition will arise: in keeping with GW's approach toward Chaos as evidenced in both the Daemons books for Fantasy and 40K, traditions of long standing regarding the four Ruinous Powers are no longer in evidence. There are no sacred numbers, no animosities between specific Dark gods...in fact, Warriors of Chaos enthusiastically endorses mixing Marks and Gifts and Magic Items not only within armies, but on individual characters. Chaos is now a true pantheon, in the GW cosmology, and there is nothing amiss for a Champion of Khorne to now possess a Slaaneshi soporific musk to overwhelm with sensation those from whom he intends to take skulls. As a purist, I freely admit this drives me crazy; and I think in the long run, it encourages a 'genericizing' of GW's background, atmosphere and 'feel' which will be bad for the game, and by extension the hobby. Fortunately, there is nothing actively preventing traditionalist hobbyists from restricting characters, units and entire armies to one power, or numbering their soldiers in multiples of six, seven, eight or nine, using Warriors of Chaos. As time goes on, continuing to do so will simply mark out the old grognards, who will smile and acknowledge each other knowingly while the Old World goes on....

A new force book addressing the mortals of Chaos in the Warhammer world was absolutely needed, once Daemons set the new alliance paradigm. That necessity in place, Warriors of Chaos meets the challenge and surmounts it: it is a better army book than the very good editions which it supersedes, well-written, better designed rules wise, broader of choice than anyone could have expected (a new *female* Khornate champion? a positively kaiju-esque super shaggoth? a flying ghost-longship?)...and most importantly, accompanied by an onslaught of beautifully-sculpted new iron-and-steel-clad miniatures, to bring the grim pursuit of martial glory to Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletops everywhere.

The Hordes are no more. But in their place come the Warriors. The Wrath of the Norsemen is preserved.
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Are You Ard Enough?

2008-10-01T14:36:00.004-05:00

Games Workshop generally refers to 'The Hobby' by that broad term because it includes so many related-but-distinct activities, each of which has its adherents amongst hobbyists, and finding ways to reflect them all in their Grand Tournament circuit has proven one of the trickiest parts of making those events satisfying to the largest number of said hobbyists. While I believe they've done a very good job of that in their most recent iteration of GT rules, as noted in a previous blog, there is something to be said for the purity and clarity of events devoted to just one aspect of the hobby at a time.

GW recognized that early on with their Golden Daemon miniature painting competition; now they have begun acknowledging the other major aspect of 'The Hobby'--actual tabletop game play--with its own dedicated event series: the Ard Boyz tournaments.

At an Ard Boyz (so named for a particularly combative Ork army unit, which thus lends the circuit its orky iconography), a player is not scored for painting, for army theme or adherence to background or creativity of army list, or even for sportsmanship; so long as he meets the clearly-specified participation requirements, the player advances purely on what happens in his three rounds of tabletop combat.

Hobby events I favour--whether running or playing--have always embraced the entirety of the hobby, and so I have been asked whether I think the Ard Boyz' focus on pure generalship is a good thing or not; I believe context in this question is important--but I also think the answer is unequivocally 'yes.'

First of all--the Ard Boys events are *free.* Credit for that goes not just to GW but also to every Independent Stockist who hosts an event: because of them, every hobbyist who desires can participate in at least the first round of the circuit, the Retailer-level round, playing an entire Saturday of Warhammer Fantasy Battle or Warhammer 40,000 with challenging scenarios, against new opponents, at absolutely no charge. That is good for the hobby from any perspective. Moreover, the circuit provides the top three finishers at each Retailer-level round the opportunity to play again--for free--at one of several Regional-level rounds scattered across the country (also usually a location provided by an Independent Stockist worthy of support)...and top finishers at those events meet at a national Games Workshop function, usually immediately prior to a Baltimore GamesDay or Grand Tournament, for the climactic Finals--again, without charge. It is difficult to find fault in such logistics (yes, I am aware that players have to reach the various round venues on their own: GW and/or their local stockists are more than doing their part by providing opportunity--it is unrealistic of hobbyists to expect them to get them there to take advantage of it, as well; and yes I am aware that, by relying on local stockists to run the Retailer- and many of the Regional-level rounds, GW runs the risk that some may be administered much better--or much worse--than others: these things *aren't* as easy to administer as one might guess, such retailers are generally doing it for their customers' benefit, so while I would not discourage hobbyists from letting a retailer whose moderator struggled know about it, I would hope they would do so with some empathy for the comparative thanklessness of the job...and of course the reverse is always true: if you have a moderator in your area who does a good job with these events, choose the stockist he is administering for these events when you can, be sure the retailer knows the event was moderated well--and, perhaps, tell the moderator, too :).

Second--though related to the first point--GW generously supports the Ard Boyz tournament circuit with prizes. There aren't many paid-ticket events in this hobby with up to US$150 available in prizes, plus Certificates of Victory for the top three finishers and top-quality, limited-run t-shirts available to participants...and that is just at the Retailer-level rounds. Prizes can become as much a problem as an attraction in hobby events, I've found; the problem specifically arises when the prize becomes the point, either of being there or of how one plays. But at the end of the day, that isn't GW or the Independent Stockist's fault--that is pure-and-simple greed, and that lies entirely within the character of the participant, and where that vice rears its head, things inevitably suffer regardless of the circumstance (I will refrain from digressing to the national economy to make this subcultural point). Suffice that everyone loves to end a day of great fun by taking home something cool, and GW has supported participation in Ard Boyz most generously, to that end.

Finally--tactical skill may be the least-acknowledged of the hobby's aspects across the broad community: when we face an army on the table that is clearly more striking than our own, most of us have little trouble admitting it and appreciating the talent involved in a superior painting or converting or presentation job--but when we lose that game, it is always the dice which betrayed us (or blessed the opponent), or the scenario which screwed us (or favoured theopponent), or the unfairness of the opponent's new/beardy/cheesy/overpowered/undercosted codex or army book...never that the opposition was just a lot savvier at the nuts-and-bolts of move and maneuver than we were. Ard Boyz may not remove any of those rationalizations from the vocabulary--but by rewarding consistently good generals, it might increase the appreciation for their skill by a fraction, at least. From my perspective, that is a good thing: one of the attractive elements of this hobby is the opportunity it provides to continue to stretch the intellectual muscles, and it has always bothered me to see players who excel at that admittedly difficult-to-quantify aspect of the hobby diminished regularly.

Ard Boyz is most valuable in the larger context of the entirety of organized events within the GW hobby, however: if 'outcome-only' events were a big emphasis, something like Ard Boyz might be a circuit I would have concerns about--but the fact is *most* GW organized events, whether official (like GamesDays or the GTs or the Lucky 13s campaign) or independent (like the Adepticon or Astronomi-cons), tend to be of the 'embrace all aspects of the hobby' sort...or emphasize something else, usually painting and converting, like the GDs.

In that context, Ard Boyz fills a definite roll in the hobby--and given its inherent virtues noted previously, it is hard not to view it as a 'good thing', and encourage every interested hobbyist to take advantage of the opportunity to play in one. The Retailer-level round for 40K was completed in September; check the Games Workshop Events website for Regional-level round locations, to be held in October (the North Texas one will be at HobbyAnnex in North Dallas) if you want to come out and see what sorts of armies are 'ardest, in preparation for the 2009 circuit!

Viva Las Vegas GT

2008-09-17T18:19:00.002-05:00

Games Workshop's fall Grand Tournament Circuit began 2008 with the Las Vegas GT. With all respect to Chicago and Baltimore, both of which are venues of longstanding tradition for GW--I cannot imagine a setting more fun than the ballroom of the Treasure Island hotel and casino, right on the Vegas strip. The Las Vegas GT hosted 130 Warhammer 40K players, 100 Warhammer Fantasy Battles players and two dozen players of the Lord of the Rings strategy game. It was also the first tournament for Fifth Edition Warhammer 40,000 and for the new Dark Elves army book for Fantasy, and featured a three-round Doubles Tournament on Friday for interested WHFB and 40K players and a Challenge of Heroes (won unsurprisingly by mighty Glorfindal) for LotR. It was nevertheless a smooth and largely crisis-free event, highlighted by a Treasure Island buffet lunch for participants on Saturday.

The real highlight of any miniatures event, of course, is the parade of exceptionally painted armies. Unlike GamesDays, the GTs do not feature separate painting contests, ala Golden Daemon; the models on display at GTs are part of in-play armies. That so many could be painted to such an extraordinarily high standard for use, rather then display only, has always especially impressed me--and did so again at Vegas. Many, especially those which took home Best Appearance and Players Choice Awards, can be seen in GW's coverage of the GT on their website.

This year's Grand Tournament rules package deserves particular commendation: moreso than in recent years, the Army Appearance and Sportsmanship scoring portions were both comprehensively revamped and clarified for participants. GW now has their 'pure generalship' tournament in the Ard Boyz circuit; it is nice, therefore, to see scoring for the GTs re-embrace the many aspects of the hobby which amplify that tabletop experience--and to do so with clear, fair, balanced and comprehensive rules. Credit for the new GT rules package goes to Chris Gohlinghorst and Nicole Shewchuk...both of whom are quick to credit, in turn, the efforts of the hobby community, which has raised the bar for such expectations through independent events.

Army Appearance and Sportsmanship scores in a GT reflect that the hobby does not exist in a pure 'results on the tabletop' vacuum: how a player's army looks while winning or losing makes a big difference in the 'enjoyment of the experience' factor...and how the player and his opponent comport themselves probably makes an even bigger difference in whether or not the game, for both, is fun. Whether that matters to an individual player or not (and I will deal with the 'social contract' implicit in tabletop wargaming at some future point, which I guarantee will draw readers with vehement disagreement :), it is essential to the health and growth of the hobby, and it is good to see it take a complementary but significant place in GT scoring again (along with pretty clear guidelines tp players about how such scoring should be applied).

Ultimately, of course--it *is* still a tournament. Unlike a community event or storytelling-oriented gathering like a Campaign Weekend, the outcome really does matter more than the experience (or at least as much!). And when one general proves unbeatable through five rounds-- and not just unbeatable but unapproachable, taking on contender after contender on the top table and earning maximum-points victories--'who won the most' will still determine the GT's Overall champion. Congratulations to Marc Parker and his Ork horde: he has proved what many hobbyists already suspected--that with a terrific new Ork codex and a great starter force provided by 'Assault On Black Reach,' the orks are going to force players who consider themselves GT contenders to build something more flexible than the pure 'MEQ Killer'* armies which have predominated for some time. That is a good thing for the hobby.

A GT is not for every hobbyist...but every hobbyist should try at least one, someday. They dwarf the biggest Rogue Trader Tournament experiences, and as good as some of the Independent 'GT' equvalents are on the circuit (and some, like the Lone Wolf and Alamo GTs, the Adepticon and Quake City weekends, and especially the Astronomi-con circuit, are very, very good indeed)--there is something about an official GW-run GT that is unique. Its scope, elaborateness and sense of hobby spectacle are something every hobbyist should eventually try, and many will come to love.

Especially in Vegas.

*--'MEQ Killer:' An army list designed for competitive play which maximizes the unit and weapons choices available for defeating a particular kind of opponent--a space marine army, characterized by high armour saves and Toughness, but compensatorily low model-count, often called a 'Marine EQuivalent' because it can include Chaos Space Marines, Necrons and outre variants from other codices, as well. Extremely good at eliminating such army types, many variants of this construct are woefully inequipped to deal with high model-count armies, often called 'Hordes.' +++

Starting An IG Army

2008-07-29T21:27:00.006-05:00

"Everyone seems to play either Space Marines or aliens of some sort in 40K, and I understand the appeal, I started in the hobby with Space Marines, too. But I want to play the Imperial Guard. Unfortunately, the IG codex is a little more complicated to put together a starting army from...at least, it seems so to me. Any guidance, for a beginner commissar?"

Though I began as a Space Marine player just like you, and many hobbyists--they really are the icons of the forty-first millennium, so I think we can be forgiven that :)--I too find the gothic soldiery of the Imperial Guard appealing, and have fielded a small force. In my case I've used them exclusively with my Daemonhunters, as inducted Guard. Frankly, that is actually the path I recommend to players new to the IG: assembling a force is much more straightforward than the IGdex's Platoon structure, and while there are some limitations to what you can use, the core forces are available. Take a look at either Codex: Daemonhunters or Codex: Witch Hunters; you will find their 'choose a leader (HQ) and fill out your Force Organization Chart with individual units' methodology very similar to what you've used as a Space Marines player (and the various options for Inquisitors, Imperial Assassins and Operatives over and above the Guard options are extremely colourful, besides).

If, however, you are less an adventurist than a militarist; if you prefer reading Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts novels to his Eisenhorn or Ravenor series; if you want to start from scratch building a pure Imperial Guard army, codex-legal--it isn't difficult so much as it is simply different. And that difference is both fun, and a big part of what gives the Imperial Guard its essential nature. Far be it from me to dissuade you from such a pursuit; rather, I present the thoughts of one of the hobby's premier Imperial Guard commanders, Mike Major, to actively encourage it! Currently of Winnipeg, Canada and one of the two primary driving forces (along with Christian Augst) of the best event series in the 40K hobby, the Astronomi-Cons (http://www.Astronomi-con.com ), Mike is also a highly successful competitive player, including a Chicago Grand Tournament championship. His Colonel Arcturan Senekal is one of the best known figures in the sub-hobby of '40K fan fiction'--probably *the* best known IG personality. This is what Mike had to say, about assembling a starter army from the current Imperial Guard codex (the bracketed interpolations are mine, for clarity); having your Codex: Imperial Guard handy to reference the many things he refers to is recommended:

"I'd recommend [filling the requisite 1 HQ and 2 Troops choices with] a Command HQ unit, a 25 man Platoon and an Armoured Fist Squad. This keeps the cost and points down while you learn the army. There are a lot of routes to go with the HQ unit, but I think one of the best for a starter player is an officer with a power fist and possibly a commissar with him also with a 'fist. This gives you some solid countercharge punch at a relatively small point and monetary cost. Going heroic senior officer is best for this and I'd add both a trademark item to the officer and/or a standard. Best special weapons for this team would be a couple of flamers or a melta and a flamer. I'd stay away from the vox at first.

The first Troops choice is your Platoon, which consists of a Platoon Command unit and two or more Platoon squads. Platoon Command can either be similarly equipped [to the HQ Command unit] or set up for shooting. I prefer the latter myself as a one Wound Independent Character with a 'fist all too often doesn't ever get to swing. If you go the HtH [hand-to-hand combat-oriented] route, a PF [power fist] is still better than a PW [power weapon] as the LT [lieutenant, or junior officer commanding the Platoon Command unit] is probably still going to be swinging last anyway. May as well hit hard. If you go HtH for the Platoon Command, consider a second commissar with 'fist for them, too.

Platoon tacs [squads] are your shooting support. Give the squads a heavy weapon of some kind. In a small platoon I'd go with either a LC [lascannon] and a HB [heavy bolter] or 2 ML [missile launchers]. Basically you need flexibility. You can always swap out for another LC later as the army grows - or another HB or AC [autocannon] if you've gone heavy AT [anti-tank] in your Platoon Command.

AF [Armoured Fist] squads are fun, maneuverable but fragile. I like them with flamers or grenade launchers and generally give them a heavy [weapon] and a veteran sergeant to keep them flexible and in the fight. The basic weapons load out on the Chimera [their APC, or armoured personnel carrier; the vehicle the squad rides in] is a good one. Give it a heavy stubber or pintlemounted storm bolter and a smoke launcher. Searchlights are good too."

Follow Mike's instructions and you will have an HQ designed to heroically mix it up in fist fighting with the vastly stronger/faster/mightier superbeings, aliens and monsters of the 40K universe--achieving legendary status every time these underdogs win against the odds--and two Troops choices designed to provide a withering firebase, one of them mounted in a nice, inexpensive armoured vehicle to get around on the table top and snatch objectives with. I would reconsider giving the Armoured Fist squad a heavy weapon precisely because my style is to move, that is how I would use this unit--and if they are moving, they aren't shooting--and would definitely endorse the missile launchers as heavy weapons of choice for the Platoon squads: they are flexible, able to fire either anti-tank or anti-personnel, and template weapons in general have gotten better in the newest edition of the game. I am also fonder of power weapons than Mike, as I just hate to hit last. But that is one of the joys of the Imperial Guard--there are so many elements of it, you really can customize it to be the army you want it to be (or, if you follow my first recommendation, *armies*--as a Daemon- or Witch Hunter army plays very differently than straight Guard, with relatively few changes in models).

And when you've built the basic starter Imperial Guard force Mike outlines above--it is time to reward yourself, by making the next addition something special. With Guard, that can be an elite unit, such as storm troopers or Ogryn...but for most players drawn to the Imperial Guard, what it likeliest means is, it is time to add a tank. Not an APC...though the Chimera is a good looking and underrated specimen of one...but a full-on, battlefield-dominating, thunder-belching and fire-spitting monster. For Guardsmen, that means a Leman Russ Battle Tank. There are a great number of variants--not just those available at retail from GW, like the very impressive Demolisher, but the multitude cast in resin from subsidy specialty caster Forge World ( http://www.forgeworld.co.uk )--but your best first choice is the standard Leman Russ, complete with battle cannon primary armament (see above comment about the effectiveness of template weapons in the new edition of the game). Build a Leman Russ, to back up your heroes, firebase and APC. When you've done that, you will be not only an Imperial Guard player, a special enough breed in the Warhammer 40,000 community, but an official and duly sworn member of the treadhead society, as well.

That's when the fun really begins.

+++

Background Music Comes Forefront

2008-07-02T18:22:00.001-05:00

Every year, the Dallas, Texas-area Metropolitan Wind Symphony fills the sonorous Morten H Meyerson Symphony Center with movie music. If you are a fan of genre films, including television, their annual film music concert takes on special significance--not just because some of the most memorable and enduring film scoring has been done for science fiction and fantasy cinema, but because the Metropolitan Winds, and their conductor, Randal Bass, enjoy a special relationship with the pre-eminent practitioner of the art, John Williams.

Full disclosure: I am a film music geek. I use the term affectionately--but specifically: 'geeks' are most readily identifiable by their devotion to even the most absolutely minute of details about their fixations, and while I am not exclusively a film music geek (this is, after all, a miniatures wargaming-centric blog, I've already written about GIJoe conventions, and getting me started on comic books is downright dangerous, as I am certain will become evident in time, just for starters)--I am *devotedly* a film music geek. Mess with the objects of my affection at your peril. I warn about this in advance because it is necessary to understand why there were parts of the Winds' concert that I enjoyed rapturously, and parts that inevitably disturbed me...and so that readers will know that *they* might well feel precisely the opposite about both things, depending on whether they, too, are subject to taking their film music overly seriously :)

John Williams is an illustrative place to start. For many people, John Williams is synonymous with film scoring. He has the Oscars, blockbuster motion pictures and endless string of memorable themes to prove it. For many--arguably, most--people interested in a film music concert, pulling more than half your programming from Maestro Williams' repertoire would be perfectly logical and satisfying.

Find a film music geek and you will be hard-pressed not to find John Williams' influence on that love in evidence--and I am absolutely such a specimen: much as the household I grew up in was filled with classical, sacred and orchestral music from the time of my first memories, everything crystallized for me in 1977, with the double-album release of John Williams' score for "Star Wars." I love his entire ouvre, from the most well-known Raiders and Imperial Marches to the least-heard choral Glorias. But find a film music geek--this one included--and you will also likely find other personal favorite composers whose work has, over time, come to speak as personally as Williams'--and it inevitably chafes to hear lesser compositions from the Williams canon given live performances when geniuses like Erich Wolfgang Korngold or Jerry Goldsmith rate only a single work each. So we get grumpy over programming--and that probably won't bother most concertgoers at all.

Conversely--if they are going to tackle John Williams, it is nice to see an organization like the Winds do significant compositions beyond just the staples. At this year's concert, the Winds climaxed the first act with a dizzying medley of his two "Lost in Space" television themes (bad as that show became, it was scored from beginning to end by masters, and listening to the complex, explosive main titles Williams composed in light of what music scoring for television has become makes one mourn for the state of the art); then in the concert's second half, delivered the terrific-but-almost-never-heard-because-it-is-so-darkly-named "March of the Slave Children" from the second Indiana Jones film, "Temple of Doom," and beautifully executed both the mournful, Americana-midwest-defining "Leaving Home" from Williams' 1978 masterpiece "Superman" and a really-nicely arranged suite of Krypton/Fortress of Solitude music from the same film. Film geeks know every bar of this music, and positively revel in hearing it given a rare live performance...but more voices around me than one, after the completion of the "Superman" selections, bemoaned the lack of its signature theme, instead.

For the Winds, one person's 'lesser composition' is another's rarely-performed gem. Catch-22 :).

End of the day, the Metropolitan Winds obviously enjoy a great relationship with the composer, something their listeners are the ultimate beneficiaries of. Much as I might have wanted more Goldsmith or Korngold (or Elfman or Bernstein or Barry or...), I cannot fault them their programming choice.

(though I do have this quibble with their selection sequence: heavily advertising the concert as geared toward such music, it would reward those most eager to hear it not to hold all of it until the second act: my youngest hums the Raiders March as the personal soundtrack to his life these days, and had grown frankly frustrated with the programming of unfamiliar music he had to sit through until nearly concert's end to properly enjoy "Raiders" when it was finally played...whereas he might well have found interest in the exposure to some of that music had it followed hard on a early performance of a selection or two he'd come wanting to hear...)

Highly regarded movie critic Gary Cogill hosted the concert, as he has done for some years, providing running commentary between selections. Here again I absent myself from fairly commenting on the value of such a thing, because I'm such a purist about it: I want music, not talking, and if there must be talking I want it ontopic rather than working toward comic effect and I want it dead-on accurate instead of close-enough...and I recognize that's an intensity of experience most people do not share. I have been lucky enough to deal with Mr. Cogill a time or two personally and have found him as cordial 'off-stage' as on, and his enthusiasm for the Winds' music never flagged. I could do without spoofing a composer's name for a cheap laugh (there is no 'von' in Korngold)...but in fairness, the fact that bothered me probably says far more negative about me than it does him, really :).

Ultimately, genuine geek or casual listener, what counts is the performance. The Metropolitan Winds is a 501C charitable organization, and an all-volunteer orchestra, which performs a calendar of a half-dozen or so concerts annually; that is a big reason ticket prices to their film music concerts are so family-friendly (admission this year was twenty dollars for adults, half that for children, an extraordinary value for an evening at a venue like the Meyerson). The only thing 'amateur' about their performances is the fact the participant musicians do not do it for pay. The Meyerson is such an acoustically-glorious facility that it would be difficult for any outfit not to sound its best there; and the Winds' reading of their various concert pieces was extraordinarily bright and rich, with a particularly deep and resonant colour in their lower brass (the bass trombones were most notably 'on' that evening, and the Winds' supporting percussion were exceptional, especially handling all the special effects in a Goldsmith 'Wind and the Lion' suite). There were sections which were stronger than others, of course, and the truth that film music can be complex and difficult occasionally tested musicians to their limits. One does not go to hear Goldsmith or, indeed, Williams and not expect to hear horns and tuba and oboe taxed...but the Winds performers in each of these areas answered the composers' considerable challenges. The sound was pleasing throughout, and powerful when asked by Conductor Bass. If it is criticism to say that the only real negative I left the concert with was a desire to have heard the symphony perform *more* music (see 'film music geek' above), I suspect that is a criticism the fine talents of the Metropolitan Winds can live with :).

The Metropolitan Wind Symphony's 2008-2009 concert calendar can be found at http://www.metropolitanwinds.org and their signature concert of movie music at the Meyerson is already scheduled for June 28, 2009. Those of us who live our lives with music in our heads, whether it be while pushing model armies across tables in our own theater-in-miniature, or simply because we don't know how else to pass the minutes of the day, are encouraged to be there for it.

+++

GI Joe was there...and so were we!

2008-06-30T12:26:00.003-05:00

I loaded my two sons into the family all-terrain-transport (read: minivan) for Frisco, Texas--and the final day of JoeCon, the 2008 National GIJoe Collector's Convention.

The hobby of GIJoe collecting subdivides along very specific lines: the primary arbiter is one's preference for 12" 'classic' figures versus 3 3/4" 'star wars era' figures (there is also a new 'inbetween' Sigma scale, where the figures are about 8" tall, but that line doesn't yet have a noticeable fan/collector base). The 3 3/4" scale figures were just starting to dominate collecting when the lady wife and I went to the 1998 Convention on a nostalgic whim (and because it was in San Antonio, and there is never a bad excuse to visit San Antonio, and the Alamo); ten years later (and with a big-budget Hollywood movie coming out in 2009 based entirely on the 3 3/4" mythos), I found the 2008 con heavily geared toward the smaller line. Though that scale of figure and all of its attendant Cobra/Dreadnok/'Yo Joe!' mythos postdated my childhood, it had an advantage for my boys, and younger enthusiasts in general: the smaller scale figures and accessories are sufficiently inexpensive that a *lot* of them were given away as door and event prizes (kudos Hasbro and RadioDisney!), so both boys came home with such figures of their own.

I do not consider myself a collector. While I probably have enough action figures to qualify, most were bought for who or what they represented (I have Joes of many figures of historical interest, from Teddy Roosevelt to Ulysses S. Grant to George Patton, for example, and commemoratives of Tuskegee Airmen and NASA events as well as the Sea Wolf-class submarine launch) rather than specifically because they were Joes; moreover, I don't know nearly enough about the hobby. 12" Joes *were* the toy of choice in my youth, however...and I belong to a 'subera' within the 12" classic collector base, the Adventure Team, that didn't get much love a decade ago--but seems to be flourishing now, even dominating the (admittedly diminished) 12" market at the convention. This year's 'convention exclusive' figure pack was a 12" Adventure Team set, the 'Search for the Sasquatch,' which we had to have (and I can say 'we' legitimately, because the boys and I took it out of its packaging and set it up for play as soon as we got home)...and I noticed several such exclusives from recent conventions, including deep sea and polar bear themed sets, had decided 'AT' qualities about them, as well. I suspect the traditionalist Joe collector, whose interests are 12" scale and authentic military reproduction equipment, probably despairs of seeing the smaller scale overtake the hobby generally, and the more lightly-regarded Adventure Team era dominating classic scale--but it was a quite pleasant blast of nostalgia, for me: memories of my (admittedly hard-haired and hard-handed classic) Joe leading my brothers' and neighbor's life-like-haired and kung-fu-gripped Joes on day-long adventures through the cattle pastures and watering ponds of my rural youth (and later across the artificial dirt mountains of construction sites, as it became less rural) with all the great Adventure Team equipment of the era--led by the greatest classic toy I ever owned, the ATII Mobile Support Vehicle (thanks Mom and Dad :)--flooded back to me, as I walked the aisles with my own sons.

Any confluence of subcultures always fascinates me, at events like this: though I did not encounter the local 40K hobbyist who has built a small space marine force fully converted to represent the GIJoe villains Cobra, as I half-expected, one of the first people I bumped into in the hall was Mike Y'Barbo, former Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament Winner and a regular opponent of mine in the early tournament days of 40K third edition, toting a bunch of Cobra figures and models out to the parking garage (Mike, a Chaos and Dark Eldar player, and first innovator of what became a GT-dominating army theme for a time, the 'all dark lance all the time' mobile DE force, obviously has a villainous streak in him somewhere). Most pleasant surprise, however, was discovering artist Dave Dorman was a convention guest: Dave is one of my favorite talents, and among his many beautiful licensed paintings for various superhero, Star Wars and other GIJoe products, Dave also did the gorgeous box art for the Sasquatch con exclusive and con Tshirt, which he was happy to sign (you probably know Dave's genre art from somewhere, as his luminous style is very distinctive: Check him out at http://www.davedorman.com or his original science fiction work at http://www.wastedlands.com.

Kudos to longtime organizer Brian Savage and all of his con crew (check out the sponsoring GI Joe Collectors Club at http://www.GIJoeClub.com for subscriptions to the club newsletter/magazine, which also provides access to exclusive premiums like the Sasquatch set and first word, once it becomes available, about the 2009 JoeCon). I was particularly impressed with how much effort was made to insure kids--like the two I brought in tow--got fully caught up in the excitement: at noon, two score 3 3/4" Joes with functioning parachutes were dropped from a remote-controlled helicopter for the kids to chase, there was a 'GIJoe Boot Camp' where kids could earn merit badges for various thematic tasks like sharpshooting (with water guns), knot-tying, and team-boot-polishing; and a portable rock wall was set up in the parking lot (which my five-year-old at least attempted, and my nine-year-old triumphantly conquered). Inside, there was a 'play pit' with a handsome variety of vehicles, figures and clothing/equipment from all eras for kids to get hands-on with, and an obstacle course with 12" scale remote-controlled Stuart tanks that my sons could have stayed and played with for hours. Uniformed scouts (and, I believe, active-duty military personnel) were also welcomed to the event with free admission. All in all, a first-rate effort to make a collector's event, an adult-oriented con by definition, into something thoroughly family-friendly.

The 2000s are a different era to grow up in than the 1970s were. There are many, many more diversions in terms of toys alone to occupy a boy's interest, to say nothing of electronic games, ownable and rentable movies and hundreds of television channels (instead of five). And there aren't many places where a handful of boys can run off for hours unsupervised and turn an empty dog house into Adventure Team HQ, complete with tanks, all-terrain vehicles, helicopters and jet-packs parked outside to soar off in ever direction in, with only your kitted-out 12" Joe and your imagination to define your day. My boys have a couple of 12" Joes--and now some 3 3/4"s, courtesy of the con, as well--and when they choose to unpack them to play with, a great time is had...but in their 'toy hierarchy,' I don't suspect GIJoe will ever have the kind of supremacy for them he had for me, at the same age. I didn't have Star Wars figures and MegaBloks Dragons and Heroclix superheroes and, for my boys probably most paramount, Warhammer 40K to compete for my attentions. But it is nice that 'America's Moveable Fighting Man' (and his international co-conspirator, Action Man, who was also much in evidence at the con) is still out there, when he *is* called upon. It is nice that there is an event like the annual JoeCon which celebrates so enduring and positive a bit of subculture. And it is especially nice that they do it so well.

I re-joined the Club, before I left the convention. I look forward to receiving the newsletter again, especially as next year's movie ramps up. And if a JoeCon another year happens to be close, or happens to coincide with a family-vacation-worthy destination, I will look forward to going back. And I can guarantee I won't be the only one in this household now eager to return.
+++

Whither the Eldar?

2008-06-08T08:56:00.006-05:00

One of the interesting phenomena of fourth-edition Warhammer 40K has been the relatively thin embrace of the Eldar amongst hobbyists, since their new Codex.

When it came out, I genuinely thought their popularity would increase significantly—or rather, would again begin to approach its old levels. You see, the Eldar were the power army of V2 40K, a designed-Space Marine-killer race that had the necessary tools to beat almost every other faction at the time at their own game, as well. The Eldar kind of hung on to that reputation in the transition to V3 (especially with the original third-edition black book Wraithlord sporting a Toughness 9!), then steadily lost their pride-of-place as a power army of choice once their codices began coming out. They were still powerful—the Wraithlord remained (and remains) one of the best bang-for-its-points units in the game, the Craftworld supplemental codex essentially allowed Eldar to become the only army who could cherry-pick Elite units and make them core Troops choices (something the new Codex elegantly still allows with a few more game-balance-oriented controls), and then the codex supplement which gave us the Eldar Seer 'Jedi Council' created one of the most infamous army compositions for tournament play in post-V2 history—but they were already moving in a direction this most recent codex carried them completely to: the ultimate 40K combined arms force. The Eldar have almost no jack-of-all-trades type units, which can forgive their player a deployment or movement blunder by simply hanging in until he gets a chance to correct it: the Eldar general has to use each unit he chooses for his army to its best advantage, to excel. They are very unforgiving, if misplayed (or even casually played). And as there really aren't as many genuinely tactically gifted players out there as the trashtalking in an average game hall would suggest, many hobbyists in this edition have encountered Eldar armies they've been able to make short work of...and assumed the army plays like that under every hand. It doesn't. Once you've met an Eldar army in competition played by a truly skilled general, you will be wary of them ever after—perhaps most of all because when an Eldar general beats you, there aren't many 'codex' excuses to blame, or lucky die rolls to finger. The Eldar reward skill.*

I still admire the current edition codex very much. With the possible competition of the most recent Orkdex, I think it is the best of the 'new generation' codices.** I have come to realize its very complexity in use will probably mitigate against it ever becoming as popular as I expected it initially to be...but I also suspect that it will appeal to more and more hobbyists who reach a point where they want more complexity, more challenge, less 'obviousness' from their chosen tabletop army. And I think that combination—of veteran, experienced gamer and army list full of highly specialized but outrageously-effective-if-used-right tools—will bring more and more Eldar armies to the table in the near future which will need to be reckoned with.

Of course, they are still prancing, arrogant, pointy-eared xenos scum who nearly destroyed the universe once—and may yet still—through their utter inability to control their basest, most debauched urges. Whatever compliments I may direct toward their codex as the hobby's most currently challenging—that always needs be said of them, too.

* Though I have faced a number of genuinely nasty Eldar armies in Independent, Rogue Trader and Grand Tournaments over the years (including several of those aforementioned Seer Councils), for sheer 'Jedi Mastery' of the Eldar on the tabletop, credit in my personal experience goes to a gamer from Winnipeg, Canada named Dave Violago, a regular attendee of what I consider hands-down the finest hobby experience 40K has to offer, Canada's Astronomi-Con circuit, who left me feeling exactly like most 'monkeigh' feel around Eldar in the game's background fiction (about three steps behind them)—except that he was a gracious sport all the while he elegantly outmaneuvered my Daemonhunters all over the city ruins, and generally schooled me in all aspects of gameplay. If you ever get a chance, play him: you will never underestimate the Eldar again.

** Both the current-edition Codex: Eldar and Codex: Orks were written by Phil Kelly. Both rulesets are both competitive and marvelously evocative (the Orkdex has the distinction of being the only rulebook I recall which made me laugh out loud while reading it. Repeatedly.) and are a credit to the game system. I recommend them highly.

The Outrider
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The Outrider: Special Character

2008-06-08T08:55:00.013-05:00

(a wholly-unofficial, 'by-opponent's-permission-only' special character for Warhammer 40,000; by Christopher Allen)

Points Cost: 100
Force Org Slot: Fast Attack
Unit Type: Jet Bike

WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
4	4	4	4 (5)	1	4	1	10	3+ (4+ Inv)

Individual: An army can only include one Outrider

Wargear: Jet Bike (armed with a Plasma Cannon and Twin-linked Storm Bolter), Power Armour, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades

Special Rules: Fearless, Veteran Space Marine, Legion of the Damned

Veteran Space Marine: The Outrider is possessed of the experience of a Veteran Space Marine; as such, he may have either the 'Furious Charge' or the 'Tank Hunter' skill (but not both), chosen by the player before each battle.

Legion of the Damned: The Outrider appears from nowhere, in the midst of combat, at the moment of the Imperium's most dire need; the Outrider may be taken as a Fast Attack choice by any Imperial army (Space Marine, Imperial Guard, Inquisition, etc), and is ALWAYS held in Reserve, regardless of any mission-specific rules of deployment.

History

The Outrider exists on the periphery of organized, documentable experience, in the universe of the 41st millennium. Most authorities dismiss reports of his existence as aberrant; if he ever existed, they say, he is no more. His reputation has been sullied by the heaping on of gross exaggerations to any substance of truth his story may once have contained. Now he is a thing of 'might have been' or 'once was,' if he is even acknowledged at all, and the powers that be would just as soon the Imperium forgot him.

However, out on the front, in the field, where what is said matters infinitely less than what is done, the tales of the Outrider persist; and those who claim his experience and strong sword arm appeared at their moment of greatest need, to guide them safely through the perils of the 41st millennium, will swear both to his reality, and his nobility of purpose.

Documented reports of the Outrider's appearance conflict: many sightings describe his gear, equipment and general appearance as consistent with the black armour and skull-and-flame motif of the mysterious 'Legion of the Damned' (cf 'Fire Hawks'), and certainly the instances of commonality of reported battlefield appearances by both the Legion and the Outrider suggest some sort of link (if one is to believe either exists, at all); however, a minority of reports describe the Outrider appearing in the midst of combat clad not in the livery of the Legion, but rather in the trappings and colours of the very Space Marine chapters he reportedly appeared to aid.

Of the reports which cannot be definitively dismissed as fictitious, certain consistencies stand out: the Outrider never appears until the actual battle is joined; the Outrider rarely—if ever—communicates, once on scene (there are numerous anecdotal reports of him speaking to individual space marines, Guard soldiers, Inquisitional storm troopers or battle sisters, but he appears to assiduously avoid their more organized chains-of-command) ; the Outrider appears to be possessed of the most experienced of battlefield skills, rivaling the most veteran space marines, whether he appears to reinforce a gun line or lead a counter charge; and the Outrider always appears skimming onto the battlefield on an ancient Bulloch-pattern Imperial jet bike, of the sort which has largely fallen into disfavor across the Imperium as a tainted, 'xenos' technology. Curiously, there are instances of the Outrider appearing in the battle livery of recently-founded space marine chapters, as described above—chapters far too new to the Imperium to have ever boasted such jet bikes in their arsenals, to begin with.

Much like the Legion of the Damned to which he is putatively linked, the very suggestion of some supernatural quality to the existence of the Outrider makes him suspect and anathema, to Imperial authorities- -no matter how many noble deeds are attributed to him, in unconfirmed and unconfirmable after-action reports. If he does exist, the forces of the Imperium will continue to deny him and to try, with as much vigor as mankind's alien and daemonic enemies, to wipe him from the face of Imperial history. Until they do, he will likely continue to appear across the galactic frontier, driven by his own internal motivations, where those who have faith in him need him most.

If he even exists...

The Outrider
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Outrider Who?

2008-06-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

What the hell's an Outrider, and why should I care what one has to say?

The answer to the first question's objective, and therefore easy; the answer to the second's wholly subjective, personal, and ultimately up to you, the reader. I'll tell you what you can expect me to say in these Despatches, though. That should make it easier for you to decide whether you care enough to come back.

The hub around which this all revolves is the Games Workshop hobby. Probably you know something about that, especially if you've reached Despatches through http://www.AdeptusNorthTexas.com, the far-more-important part of this web-connection—and a site dedicated to said hobby, particularly as it relates to the North Texas region. If you found your way here through some other portal, please check Adeptus out: it is designed to be the site for the GW community in this area, with links to all current product stockists, descriptions of as many upcoming events as we get information about, and product updates as soon as they are official. It is not a 'rumour' site; everything which appears on Adeptus is fully vetted first. So it is a bit less salacious than some other hobby sites out there...but hopefully makes up for that in reliability. It will also link you directly to Games Workshop's own vast and extensive website, if you are unfamiliar with the hobby generally. If much of what follows sounds incomprehensible, go there to start.

I am a 'hobby volunteer.' It is important that it be understood that means I am not a Games Workshop employee, nor an insider in any way. I don't have backdoor connections to Studio designers; I am not privy to secrets—either corporate or Intellectual Property—any faster than such information becomes public knowledge. I am not, in other words, in any way 'significant' within the hobby subculture, save in the same way every hobbyist is significant: as a consumer of said hobby.

A 'hobby volunteer' is someone who organizes events for Games Workshop's various game systems—primarily Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000, these days, though the occasional opportunity to do something with a Specialist game like Epic, Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, Necromunda, Space Hulk or Warhammer Quest is always something I look forward to. I run tournaments, host multi-player mega-battles, moderate campaigns, do school presentations and introductory painting/army constructing/game playing sessions; I can be a judge or an instructor, by turns, but what I most enjoy is facilitating the storytelling behind games. From my perspective, the best aspect of this multi-faceted hobby is the way miniatures wargames can play out a story on the tabletop—a story in which the players are direct participants. My approach is, if you want perfect balance you must choose abstraction over narrative; the game you are seeking is called chess...and this isn't it. Though I enjoy competitive tournaments (and judge plenty of them) and find introducing the hobby to new participants very rewarding (and do it as often as I can), enhancing the simulation is what I emphasize. You will find that emphasis evident as these Despatches unfold.

GW used to have a formal organization of such 'hobby volunteers'...and they were called Outriders (to return to our initial column premise). I was one of them; making that cut wasn't easy, and I was proud of earning the label...and when Games Workshop decided the organization had outlived its usefulness and disbanded the Outriders, I didn't let go of it easily. In fact, I didn't change much of anything at all: due primarily to a great relationship with a local retailer and an enthusiastic interest in participanting in such organized events by my oldest son, which of course required my continuing to run them else no such would exist, I kept Outridering along, all through that vacuum. Nowadays, Games Workshop has begun putting their new 'hobby volunteer' organization together again, under a different badge entirely (which you can find more out about on their website if you are interested, and which I am sure is a topic I will eventually return to in greater depth here in a future Despatch)...but I've been the nominal 'Last Outrider Standing' for so long, I'm not changing. I'm old and hardheaded that way.

So that's what the hell an Outrider is in this context. In Warhammer Fantasy Battle's current edition, it is also a kind of advance-scouting light cavalry, out on the tip of the spear, armed with enough interesting equipment to make an impact but not core to the forwarding of things, and not likely to last if not quick on its feet. There's a worthwhile analogy there for any 'hobby volunteer' who gets notions of self-importance. In Warhammer 40,000, there isn't an equivalent Outrider—so I've written one. See the related link for his completely unofficial and grossly overpriced (but great fun) rules. The Outrider in 40K has intentionally been written to be a model almost any Imperial army could add, with the option of customizing his appearance to match one's own livery; this was done because 1) I absolutely love the 'Master of the Ravenwing on Jetbike' model but loathe the Dark Angels, and wanted to co-opt that model for Chapters other than the Unforgiven (including mine) without challenging the original statistically or in game-impact terms; and 2) I harbour a hope that enough hobbyists who read and (hopefully) come to enjoy Despatches will be motivated to paint an Outrider using that gorgeous model for their own armies, and send images in to create an entire gallery of the mysterious, nigh-mythical do-gooder (a Fantasy Battle Outrider gallery would be equally cool).

As to what you are likely to find in Despatches that might so motivate you—obviously, an interest in (or at least familiarity with) the games and/or the universes of Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 will place you and I on common starting ground. Despatches will cover all aspects of the hobby, from formal product reviews to 'states of the game' observations to recommendations about other media based on the WHFB and 40K universes (including comics, novels and the roleplaying games Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Dark Heresy). But Despatches has taken a bit of time coming together because I felt strongly that it needed to be distinct from Adeptus North Texas...and part of that was because I intend to write also on topics peripheral to the hobby, at best. Those may include film reviews, especially if there's a GW slant there somewhere; reviews of competing product; original hobby content like the Outrider rules, developed for local community consumption but with potential wider application. Background fiction plays a big role in 'advancing the story' in local campaigns; some particularly choice bits of it—whether written by me or by local hobbyists, might fit here, on occasion. And I can virtually guarantee the Despatches won't be very far advanced before some anniversary of historical significance rolls around, and I feel compelled to go on about it. My intention is to stay generally on point—but I think any hobby which first describes itself as 'miniatures wargaming' has an inherent connection to war...and war, as they say, is history.

So there will be 'plastic and pewter model pushing' Despatches...and there will be Despatches about the Berlin Air Lift, Britain after the retreat of Rome, and (inevitably; you have been warned) the Alamo. It will fall entirely to you, subjectively, personally and individually, whether you care enough to want to read them. Any of them, some of them, all of them.

I promise I will care about every one of them I write.

Christopher Allen,
The Outrider
June 2008
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