Archives August 2022

Lumineth Realmlords face off against the Disciples of Tzeentch in the latest Battlebox for Warhammer Age of Sigmar- Arcane Cataclysm!

Arcane Cataclysm is the most recent Battlebox for Warhammer Age of Sigmar from Games Workshop and features two exclusive models. Both models will be released later on down the road, I would expect in five to six months. Seems like a specific guess, right? My time frame is based on the release of the Echoes of Doom boxset and the fact the two exclusive models in that box are available for preorder along with Arcane Cataclysm. Echoes of doom was released in March and here we are five months later with them up for preorder as of the date of this article going live. Based on this same timeline I would expect the new Curseling and Scinari Enlightener to be released January, February at the latest. Some Chaos players will remember that the Curseling already had a model and may or may not be aware that it was released in resin. This is an entirely new sculpt in plastic.

Both the Lumineth Realmlords and Disciples of Tzeentch are converging on Iliatha, a land where ancient arcane weaponry has fallen. The Realmlords were tasked with keeping them safe and to stop anyone from retrieving the weapons. Weaponry that is arcane in nature and powerful sounds like a prize the Disciples of Tzeentch would be after.

Having no experience with the existing models for either faction previously but I must admit I am a fan of both factions after reviewing this box. With roots in the old High Elves army the Lumineth Realmlords are sleek some great detail in their armor. The Disciples of Tzeenth though don’t have any direct roots from the world that was but these models have a ton of detail just in the exposed muscles of the units alone and look fantastic. Check out our unboxing and discussion of this box:

Noel The Mortal Fate, an episodic adventure centered around a corrupt mayor, deals with devils and a young pianist caught in the middle.

Vaka Game Magazine brings us Noel The Mortal Fate, an episodic adventure centered around a corrupt mayors, deals with devils and a young pianist caught in the middle. The game starts with the night where the best pianist is chosen and will play a piece of music to protect the city. Players will take of Noel, Caron and sometimes BOTH. The story starts with the decision of the winner, Noel who everyone though should win lost and her sometimes friend took the win home.

Upset with the loss, Noel is approached by the mayor who suggests she meet him on the roof of an abandoned building to learn the truth of why she lost. Intrigued and believing she was the true winner Noel goes. She is convinced to summon a demon in order to kill the man she was told was behind her loss. As payment the demon takes her arms and legs and she is thrown out to sea. Learning he was tricked, the demon Caron accepts a deal to help her and the story is really underway.

Graphically the game has an art style that reminds me of older manga and simplistic controls. So far after two hours into the game I have found it very easy to play and learn but the dialogue is problematic. It reads like something a kid in junior high wrote but I suspect that has more to do with a poor translation of the original Japanese the game was written in. Despite this issue the game leaves me curious as to what the future will hold for a pianist with no limbs and whether or not the evil mayor will truly be defeated in the end. Is there hope for the demon as well? Only time will tell.

Shadeborn take on an assassin themed Skaven Clawpack in the latest Warhammer Underworlds title- Nethermaze!

Bellow Harrowdeep is the Nethermaze, a location that is essentially an eldritch labyrinth and the home to forbidden treasures. Both warbands are centered around sneaking, killing and are probably the closest alike warbands that aren’t part of the same faction. Games Workshop claims that this box contains the tightest ruleset they’ve released thus far, honed across multiple seasons of the game.

Games can be quite dynamic and almost cinematic. Nearly every turn is full of action and can turn the tide of the fight by just using the right abilities at the right time. The additional cards included for each of the Grand Alliances are a welcome addition as well and each new warband expands on that further. I would love to see some sort of hybrid game that combines the ability card deck building with the classic army battles of Age of Sigmar. As it stands this is a welcome addition to the Underworlds family, not to mention the new models. These are by far the best Skaven models we’ve received in decades.

The Other Warbands:

Mixing necromancy and mad science is the Exiled Dead. Oddly though this warband was advertised as part of Nethermaze but on the box is listed as part of Harrowdeep. Regardless of which edition of Underworlds they are tied to they are a welcome addition to the growing range.

Hexbane’s Hunters add new Witch Hunters to the world of Age of Sigmar and the first Witch Hunter themed warband in Underworlds. They also mark the first warband to be branded with the Nethermaze logo on their boxart that weren’t part of the starter itself. Check out our unboxing of them, they are some great models.

Little is known about Skullgrinder Herax but he is a member of the Gorechosen of Dromm, a Khorne themed warband entering the depths of the maze itself. He looks like a perfect fit for the Scions of the Flame, I think I see some “counts as” playing in my future.

Necromunda takes the gangs out of the hive and puts them against each other in the Ash Wastes but which gang will rule the wasteland?

When first playing Necromunda in the late 90’s I had heard of the Ash Wastes in the lore but the battles were kept to the Hive itself. Most of this region was more rumor than anything else. I’ve been told (but not proven) that issues of White Dwarf around this time included rules for this area and was one of the only ways to play there until now. The hives of Necromunda have stripped the world or resources and leaving the planet desolate and this region became known as the Ash Wastes. Storms of sand and ash regularly ravage or change the landscape and no area truly stays the same.

Out of the box you get a new gang- the Ash Wastes Nomads and a classic gang of Orlocks that come ready to fight in the Wastes. The base rulebook includes rules for the Orlocks and Nomands to use “vehicles” and mentions other gangs being able to use their own in the wastes but lacks the rules to do so. That’s where the Book of The Outlands comes in. It specifically has rules for creating customer vehicles for any gang. Terrain this time around is a bit different. We usually have tons of walls and industrial style pieces for the underhive but out in the wastes it is mostly rocks, sand and ash. Out of the box though it includes some Hab modules designed to help people survive in wastes and make for the perfect visual for playing these games. With the addition of the region and vehicles we now have rules for running people down by your vehicle or mount, adding to the realism. This happens from time to time in some of the battle reports I’ve seen and I know I won’t hesitate to put this to use. I can’t wait to see what else Necromunda has in store for us as we continue to expand.

Skaven are up to their nefarious deeds once again in Echoes of Doom for Age of Sigmar, this time causing havoc in the Everspring Swathe!

Skaven ride into the Everspring Swathe with a Screaming Bell and a new Deathmaster Assassin, will they be enough to escape from the vengeful Sylvaneth in Echoes of Doom? Skaven have had very few releases in the last few years beyond repackaging existing sprues and with the exception of Bloodbowl or Underworlds have had no plastic releases for assassins or gutter runners. That is, until now and he looks fantastic. Skaven aren’t the only ones to receive a new model in this box either. Sylvaneth players will get the Lady of Vines and a new unit of Gossamid Archers.

I am a huge fan of boxes like this as they make for an easy jumping on point for two armies and give you plenty of models for games of Warcry. There is also a lot of versatility in these boxes like with the Screaming Bell. This kit doubles as a Plague Furnace, however the assembly instructions only include steps to build the Screaming Bell version. This is the same with the Spirit of Durthu which has the components but lacks the instructions to be built as a Treelord. Even without the instructions though this is a ton of bank for your bucks.

Games Workshop has released a new version of Kill Team with Nachmund and Moroch, plus they sent us copies for the purpose of reviewing them.

Kill Team is essentially the skirmish version of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000. Players take small squads of fighters, or even a smaller and more elite force and battle for objectives or simply to eliminate the other team (this is my preferred way to play any tabletop game). Officially this is the fourth edition of the Kill Team game type but the third as a standalone title. The points systems are vastly different than your standard game of 40k but very similar in nature to that of Warcry in relation to Age of Sigmar. Now the first three editions also differed in points values when compared but Nachmund and Moroch are the third and fourth installments of this edition and are much more in line with Warcry.

Teams are comprised of roughly 1000 points and depending on the faction will determine how many models you will be using, for example, Adaptus Mechanicus will typically have more troops on the map than Astartes. Another big difference between this version and previous iterations is that the list building is much more limited this time around. For Kill Team I suspect this is to better control balancing for the game, possibly to minimize some of the min/maxing that some players do to give their play style an advantage. With the new limitations on list building I think this is a huge improvement because I like having a variety on the field of battle and like to fight a variety.

Overall I found this to be a great introduction game to the world of Warhammer 40k and in the smaller scale makes trying new armies much easier and way cheaper. The new models for Chaos Cultists, Astartes, Chaos Space Marines and Aeldari are some of my favorites for each of the factions. Kill Team: Nachmund features new Aeldari Voidscarred Corsairs and Chaos Space Marine models along with some familiar looking terrain and continues the precedent that every three months or so we will see a new Kill Team release, each centered around a different kill zone. Kill Team: Moroch features new Chaos Cultists (plus two classics from Black Stone Fortress) as well as 10 Phobos Primaris Marines. Additionally both releases of this edition have also had exclusive models. I can’t wait to see what other exclusive models and terrain will be coming with each new kill zone! This is a fantastic starting point for anyone looking for a new army or to add to an existing army.

The Arena of Shades puts the Nighthaunt against the Daughters of Khaine and introduces a new hero model for each side.

It should come as no surprise that Nagash believes that all souls belong to him and after Morathi’s recent ascension to godhood he has a big reason to hate the Daughters of Khaine. The Arena of Shades puts these two forces against each other in the city formerly known of Anvilgard as Nagash looks to settle the score after the events of Broken Realms. Typically with these boxed starters we see only one or two new models, usually one per faction but in this box we see a five model unit of Craventhrone Guard in addition to a hero for each faction.

While this box is no longer available through Games Workshop directly there are still a few third party sellers with it available. At release the box was $195 USD and considering the fact that you get over forty models, seven of them previously unreleased, this box is a steal. If you price out the individual components these items would easily cost $250 or more. Additionally White Dwarf subscribers will have already received cards to use the new units in Warcry, add these to the already huge lists for both groups in Warcry and you have even more options to help you dominate the field of battle.

It wasn’t long ago that Chaos Knights first came to Warhammer 40k but with this boxset they join the new edition and add psychic powers!

The new Chaos Knights Army Box features the new Chaos Knight kit, allowing you to make the Knight Abominant, Desecrator or a Rampager. The latter two are options from the previous version of the Knights and are exactly as they were in this kit but adding the pieces to upgrade to the Abominant. Of the three options the Abominant is the most stunning and I love the massive bone tusks coming from the helmet, not to mention the psychic abilities. The box comes with two other models- War Dogs that offer both melee and ranged capabilities.

Besides the amazing models this box also has transfer sheets, datacards and the collector’s edition of the Codex. Sadly this box as it was is no longer available for purchase but there have been some third party sellers offering it recently. The value on this box, assuming you can still find one, is fantastic. I only wish that we continue to see boxed releases like this going forward!

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. We are back with Part 8 and Lightyear!

Lightyear

This film starts off with a slight disclaimer, specifically that this is the film that Andy loved when he got his own Buzz Lightyear figure and that the release of the film was in 1996. Visually the film is stunning and considering how much backlash there has been over a same sex couple I was expecting it to be a bit more in your face. The fact that there is a same sex couple is handled without any fanfare, it’s there and no one draws attention to it, like it was any other couple and this is EXACTLY how it should be. It does not affect the story in any fashion. Additionally the film tackles some big topics that may be a bit out there for kids like time paradoxes, worm holes and even loosely covers the theory of relativity. I found the film to be good and was surprised that the story was not what I was expecting in any way. My expectations were that we would see a film that would be an epic action film based in science fiction, I also expected some campiness because this is meant to be the 90’s. We instead got a film that is more progressive than any 90’s scifi film would have been and much more inclusive than they would have been either. As I said, the film was good but it fell short of the scifi epic it could have been had they expanded the scope of the film more.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios?

Thondian Strongpoint is the first Realmscape box for the current edition of Age of Sigmar but will it be the last?

It’s not unusual for Games Workshop to release or even release a set of terrain following a current theme. Realmscape: Thondian Strongpoint is no different. What makes this box standout is not the fact that it brings back some of the recent Realmscape Expansion pieces but it adds some brilliant terrain you can’t get anywhere else, at least for now. Beyond these terrain pieces we also get a single model, an Endless Spell that EATS other Endless Spells- the Krondspine Incarnate. In a recent event where Alarielle completed her Rite of Life the Incarnates were created, further proving the realms themselves are alive. The Krondspine Incarnate itself is the spirit of Ghur and the Realm of Beasts is hungry.

At $220 USD this box got a lot of negative attention from the community because most that wanted it only wanted the Incarnate and for a single model Endless Spell that price is quite excessive. Kitbashing is always an option for those players but this is a bad ass model as it is. Despite how awesome the model looks this brings me to my real complaint with the box- the Incarnate. For an Endless Spell it looks fantastic but other than the head of it, nothing really screams “Realm of Beasts” about it. I feel like the spirit of Ghur should be some sort of massive beast, like a Mawcrusha or even the Hell Pit Abomination. Both of which would be a better fit as the spirit of Ghur. What I would have preferred would have been a living version of the giant skeleton that came with this box, a massive serpent monster would have been the perfect Krondspine Incarnate. This model itself looks like it would be a better fit as the spirit of Shyish.

Time will tell if we see other Realmscape boxes and I sincerely hope we see more as we expand into the other realms but I doubt we will see it happen at least until next year at the earliest. The reason is because of all of the Ghur themed terrain coming for Warcry over the next year. When we see them expand into other realms I hope we see more awoken Incarnates.