Category games workshop

The folks at Games Workshop shared an advanced copy of the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar with Dominion!

Dominion is officially released this Saturday (at the time of writing this) and we are here to discuss if it is worth grabbing if you haven’t already preordered. One of the two biggest disadvantages to this boxset, compared to others, is that it does not contain and terrain. The second is that if you don’t wish to play Order or Destruction Grand Alliances the only advantage to this set is the Core Rulebook and that is a steep price to pay for a rulebook alone. Now if you are like myself, I play neither Order or Destruction but my son does, you may look at this box and see a treasure trove of bits that can be used in conversions, like Yndrasta’s wings for example. Without any terrain or dice with it is this really a good option for those that don’t kit bash or play these Alliances? No, it really would not be.

Now as I mentioned I don’t play Order or Destruction but I love the style of the new Stormcast models enough that I would give them a try but more importantly the Kruelboyz are an entirely new faction and species or Orruck/Ork. As such they look more menacing on the table in my opinion and in the lore are much more cunning. At the very least I will be not only building and painting these lads but also playing my first Destruction army, ever!

Having played a couple games with the new ruleset I can honestly say that this is the most streamlined version of the game I have ever played and I’ve played a handful of games under each edition. My son and I each used the new models to face each other, him with Stormcast once again and I with the Kruelboyz and he beat me both times. To be fair though he usually wins unless it’s a skirmish game and I didn’t mind taking the losses. We had a great time with the new ruleset and it kept his attention better than either edition prior.

If you fit any of my examples above then this box is worth your time and hard earned money but if not then I would just go for the rulebook when available.

Our favorite rule changes or additions:

Keep in mind that these are in no particular order.
The first rule change is the use of command points and some command abilities being able to be used during your opponent’s turn. Our favorite of which is Regroup. I always hated making a mistake on my turn that left me vulnerable to a move I didn’t anticipate from my opponent. With regroup I can use a command point to adjust my line of troops to either negate their advantage or lessen its impact at the very least! Even better is Unleash Hell for your ranged units. If they are charged they can literally unleash hell on their aggressors and if the dice are in your favor may even eliminate the unit before they can hurt your weaker troops. Think of it like overwatch but in Age of Sigmar.

The second is monstrous abilities. Roar, Stomp, Titanic Duel and Smash to Rubble. Some will likely get more use after the charge phase than others like Roar or Stomp but the other two are our favorites by far. Titanic Duel will allow you to lock your opponent’s monster in a duel with yours and Smash to Rubble will allow you to not only obliterate terrain but also negate any effects it had if it was a army specific piece that carried abilities with it- like Skaven Gnaw Holes.

Now it’s time for some Dominion assembly tips:

For anyone planning on picking up the Dominion starter I have a word of advice- DO NOT clip the posts at all for J4 on Yndrasta The Celstial Spear. The posts as they are are barely long enough to connect. I also suggest leaving her wings off for painting.

Here is our version of Yndrasta:

And lastly, here is our unboxing video of the release:

C.L. Werner is one of the writers that not only continue to write for The Black Library, but has been doing it for decades. His latest release was Cursed City and is a precursor to the game of the same name.

C.L. Werner took some time out of his busy writing schedule to talk with us regarding Cursed City but warned ahead of time he couldn’t speak out his current projects (he’s admitted to writing two pieces at the time of answering our questions). Before we get to our “Covid-friendly” interview we will discuss our thoughts on the book itself.

Now both the game and novel of Cursed City take place in the city of Ulfenkarn, a city under the tight boot heel of the vampire Radukar, known as the Wolf. Emelda Braskov and her friends must take back control of her city and in the process slay the vampire and his spawn. Competing for control of the city is a secret killer referred to as Baron Grin, this moniker is given due to leaving behind a skeletal grin on his murdered victims. The name of this killer is not all original and doesn’t strike fear by name alone, what’s to be expected though when the name is given by an uneducated populace? I personally would have expected something a bit more sinister but Grin leaves no evidence of his identify other than the victims so it fits. These killings however cause Radukar to take notice as the blood of the victims is tainted and these are the few corpses that he cannot raise from the dead to do his bidding or give him answers. That’s all I’m going to share of the story itself because I don’t want to spoil anything for those planning on reading it.

Personally I have read at least a half dozen of C.L.’s books set in the various Warhammer universes and must say that his Witch Hunter series was always my favorite. Before I started reading Cursed City I had discovered he was in the same Facebook group, themed for the game itself. Soon after I was about halfway through the reading and I reached out to see if he would agree to an interview, as you can guess he agreed. After completing the story I was both impressed and disappointed. Impressed because this was by far the best piece of his I had read and disappointed because he wouldn’t be telling the rest of the tale, the game would do that. As for the game we nearly have the models painted and will review it in the coming month or so.

One thing I love about C.L.’s writing is that it is fast paced, I never wanted to put the book down as I always felt like I was in a state of “we need to see the end of this” before going to bed but then would immediately jump from this fire to the next. Things in the Warhammer worlds are never easy and this novel did a fantastic job of embodying that feeling. With the exception of a couple known characters, Radukar or Braskov for example, any character could die and there were several worth caring about. My personal favorites were always at risk, but the real MVP of the story was Morrvahl Olbrecht, a mage who would go to any lengths to see his goals met. Those lucky enough to get a hardcover copy of the book even got a character card to use in the game and if he performs in game even half as well as he did in the story he will be a must have for players.

As promised above we were able to ask (well, I phrased it as a few but it turned into a bunch of questions) some questions in a covid-friendly manner (I sent him the list of questions and he replied to them all via email). Here are those questions but first I wanted to give a huge thanks to C.L. for taking the time to answer them for us.

JC: Was Morrvahl Olbrecht an original character or was he added to the story after his creation for the game?

CL: Morrvahl is an original character who early on the studio decided that they’d make into a character for the game. The designers did contact me to go over the rules they wanted to do, so that way I could implement them into the narrative. So the character for the game is a bit of a community effort.

JC: How much of the story was mapped before it was determined to be tied to the game?

CL: The game came first and then the novel was planned around the established setting and characters. Mind, the game was still in development, so some things didn’t mesh completely perfectly, but I think it was a smoother alignment than a few other instances where I worked on a story rooted in something that was still in development.

JC: When writing a Warhammer story do you prefer to use original characters or start with at least one known character and build from there?

CL: I think that the fun of doing an established character is writing someone that fans will recognize and who is an actual piece in the games. The danger, however, is that it does limit what you can do with them in a narrative and readers will know that. Kind of hard to make anyone worried if Grey Seer Thanquol will die when they know you can still get rules for him and buy his miniature. Though sometimes the studio will throw people a curve ball, like when Captain Tycho was killed (I think that happened long enough ago that it doesn’t constitute a spoiler any more).

JC: Any chance we will see a return of Mathias Thulmann within Age of Sigmar or was he lost forever to the cataclysm?

CL: I’d never say never, but there’s a danger of too many characters from the World That Was entering the Mortal Realms. Really your best prospects are those associated with Chaos and some of the ‘recreations’ of various undead Nagash has known like Neferata and Arkhan.

JC: I loved that the story ends truly at the beginning of the game itself, is this the ending you hoped for with your story or did you have a more finite end in mind?

CL: The ending was actually changed once the studio decided to start the game off with a jail break. Originally there was a conclusion where the heroes would go to ground somewhere in Ulfenkarn.

JC: Did the model of Radukar the Beast influence your portrayal of the character at all or did that come much later?

CL: The book was just about completed before I saw any of the models. I only had some of the artwork to go off of for the depictions of the in-game characters and things like the Nightguard.

JC: How soon after getting approval from the Black Library did it take to write the book’s first draft?

CL: On Cursed City, I think I worked on it for three months after the outline was approved. I know it wasn’t much more than that as I started The Sword of Surtur not long after.

JC: As a writer outside of the pitch how much free reign were you given by BL on the story? (I’m assuming there were some predefined deaths/survivors)

CL: I was given a lot greater liberty than you might think. Obviously the in-game characters had to survive (hence why, as mentioned above, some of the characters aren’t featured in the game so there’s more ambiguity for the reader about how they’ll fare). The biggest change was in adjusting the capacities of Baron Grin’s cult. Originally they were to succeed in manifesting their ‘saviour’, resulting in a three-way battle between the heroes, Radukar’s forces, and Slaughn. That was felt to take too much of the menace away from Radukar, so we adjusted it to where the cult doesn’t succeed and instead becomes something the Wolf is able to exploit to trap his other enemies.

JC: Do you read works written by other BL authors? If so who do you follow?

CL: I wish I was able to keep up with all the Black Library releases, but I feel woefully behind quite a while back. When I was able to keep up, I was reading William King, Dan Abnett, Graham MacNeill, Gordon Rennie, and Jonathan Green. I follow Josh Reynolds, Nik Vincent, Mike Lee, Nathan Long, David Guymer, Nick Kyme, Chris Wraight, David Annandale, Sarah Cawkwell plus several other authors whose names I’m sure I’m neglecting at the moment.

JC: What tabletop games do you enjoy? 

CL: Boardgames I’d have to say Talisman and Zombicide are two standouts. The group I play with really doesn’t do wargaming that’s much more involved than something like War of the Ring or Blood Rage. 

As far as tabletop games I collect or have enjoyed in the past, I’d have to say Mordheim first and foremost. I still do Warhammer Underworlds and hope I’ll be able to get Anno Domini 1666 to the table sometime. In the past I’ve played Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Lord of the Rings, and Warhammer 40k, but just haven’t had the time for large-scale armies in quite a few years.

JC: Of those games which is your preferred faction and why?

CL: I generally end up gravitating towards the ‘horde’ type armies. Usually it is the variety on offer that entices me, and the associated lore is usually the tipping point. For anything Warhammer, I’m always drawn to the skaven. Those perfidious ratmen are what made me gravitate to the game back in the early 90’s when my wheel-house was much more into RPGs like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu.

JC: Kitbash or by the guides?

CL: Usually I stick to the guides, but when you need a really motley horde, for instance Mordor orcs in Lord of the Rings, I’ll start sawing away and swapping heads and such or doing a little sculpting with green stuff.

JC: Is Morrvahls staff unique and if so what’s the backstory?

CL: Gravebloom is a unique magic item, something acquired by Morrvahl to mitigate the toll taken upon him by his harnessing of Amethyst magic. I’m sure a good story could be told about how he came to possess the staff, but as yet I haven’t had an opportunity to write one (though Warhammer Community does have a short story about Morrvahl entitled ‘Nightguard’).

JC: Would you consider writing an origin story for Radukar beyond what has already been provided?

CL: I think an novel about Radukar before he came to Mournhold would be a great idea. I could picture it as being equal parts Sinbad the Sailor and Dracula! Might be something I’ll mention to my editor. (Please do)

JC: How did you come up with the wizards nightmare spell?

CL: That was suggested to me by my editor. It is a call-back to WFB and the spell ‘Arnzipal’s Black Horror’, which would technically be a Dark magic spell rather than an Amethyst one, but with the Lore of Death already being so close to Dark magic its use by Morrvahl is a good indicator of how dangerous his researches have become.

JC: Why did the scholar choose to try and raise Sloan to battle Radukar instead of finding a way to slay him?

CL: Vladrik felt that no mere mortal could overcome a monster like the Wolf, so he fixated on the idea of using a still mightier monster to destroy the vampire, one that would leap at the chance to avenge himself. Hence the decision to try and raise Slaughn and use the daemon prince to kill Radukar. Along the way, of course, the corruption of Chaos seeped into Vladrik and what might have started as an attempt to exploit a creature of Khorne devolved into veneration of the Blood God.

JC: Who was your favorite character from this novel to write?

CL: I’d say it would likely be Morrvahl. I tend to like conniving and underhanded characters because you can never be quite sure what they’re going to do… or why.

JC: What’s the story behind your pen name being your first two initials?

CL: Not sure there’s really much of a story. Many of my favorite authors employ just their initials, so I just followed their example. C. L. Moore, H. P. Lovecraft, and of course J. R. R. Tolkien are all authors who’ve had a big impact on my writing.

JC: Is there anything you would like to plug/mention to our readers?

I would have liked to plug Cursed City… if anybody was still able to buy it (JC: physically anyway)! Maybe a mention of The Sword of Surtur, which is my next most recent release.

It is an entry in the Legends of Asgard series being developed as a part of Aconyte’s literary Marvel Universe range. The novel follows Thor’s older brother Tyr on a quest to try and prevent Odin’s prophesied doom by stealing Twilight, the titular Sword of Surtur from the Fire Giant’s fortress in Muspelheim. The tone I strove for is a bit of alchemy between a Ray Harryhausen movie and classic Marvel Comics of the silver age.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer our questions and we look forward to your upcoming release. For those looking to check out Cursed City I suggest trying your local book stores or checking out the fantastic audiobook on Audible.

Games Workshop releases the first expansion for Kill Team in nearly two years- Pariah Nexus!

Kill Team has been a staple of the Warhammer 40,000 family for many years now and it wasn’t until a couple year ago that I gave it a try. The concept of Kill Team is quite simple, a small force for either faction tries to complete their objectives. Pariah Nexus is not quite the first step towards a newer style of Kill Team. Traditional games will play out like any other game of 40k or even Age of Sigmar where you play three dimensionally, where Pariah Nexus and Kill Team Arena before it were more two dimensional. 

One main item of note is that this truly is an expansion. It requires a rulebook for Kill Team itself for full gameplay. Other than the two dimensional rules this book includes six story missions and two scenarios for matched play. More importantly though is that it includes rules for nearly every (if not all) infantry types for both the Necron and Space Marine factions.

The biggest problem with this box is it’s natural imbalance. From the start (without modifying the lineups) the Space Marine forces make up nearly double the cost of the Necron force. However, the total number of models per side is comparable and the new sculpts look fantastic.

Gameplay for this style is reminiscent of the similar release for Necromunda a couple years ago where you had a face paced game that was a ton of fun but felt somewhat lacking without the third dimension. With a little imagination though this easily will feel similar to crawlers like SpaceHulk where you navigate corridors and all of your fighting requires your head on a swivel but there being no need to look high or low as everyone is one the same level. For value and replayability this box offers a lot especially for those that are already fans of the KT and 40K properties. My best recommendation though would be to homebrew a few extra scenarios and look to upcoming issues of White Dwarf for more.

Feel free to check out our live unboxing video on the official Table Talk channel:

Aeronautica Imperialis returns with it’s second starter box Skies of Fire with two new factions- Adeptus Militarum and Tau!

At this point Skies of Fire is more or less old hat having been released about a year ago now but we just love all things with Aeronautica Imperialis so here we are! We’ve talked about AI in the past, when we were with PopNerdTV, and gameplay-wise the game hasn’t really changed since then. Where similar games play on a two dimensional board and those two dimensions are the only ones you need to worry about it was a shock to consider my movements on third dimension. Height is a big factor in the game, too low and you’ll crash, too high and you’ll stall your craft.

The models have a lot of detail, far surpassing those of games like X-Wing and with comparable costs. With X-Wing I can purchase a single ship for about $10-20 where in AI I can purchase four craft for $40-60 and have more detail. The only downside to this comparison is that X-Wing models are preassembled and prepainted.

Verdict:

This game is a must play for fans of the dog fighting/space ship variety, especially if you are looking to improve on the basic mechanics of X-Wing. Whenever I played X-Wing I always wanted something more and variety wasn’t what I was craving, with Aeronautica we got it in spades. The complexity and realism of the fight makes this game a much more impressive contender in the genre and I hope we continue to see it in shops for years to come, some of us are still waiting on the Chaos releases.

Warhammer Quest and Perchang team up again with The Silver Tower!

Perchang is not one of those developers everyone knows but those that do seem to love them, I happen to be one of these people. They have taken a beloved tabletop experience and brought it to mobile phones. The latest iteration of the Warhammer Quest line being The Silver Tower.

New players start with two characters and quickly get the opportunity to get a third. To unlock additional characters you can collect or purchase blue crystals. 100 will get you a random character and 250 will get you a guaranteed 3* or higher character. That’s not bad at all considering the fact that you will average about ten per day by completing minor challenges. This challenges vary from collecting gold to gaining experience or killing certain enemies. Either way you can easily get a new character pretty regularly. Recently though they added a third option where every week for about 5 or 6 hours you can get a special choice. Some weeks this choice is from all of the Death faction characters or like this week’s a 4* magic user. For those impatient enough you can purchase additional gems.

Gameplay is similar to previous versions in that during the player’s turn you move your characters across the map and then perform your actions. However, one slight difference to previous versions is that you could move your maximum distance and still perform an action but with Silver Tower you can only move short distance and then attack, attack twice or move a long distance. Visually the game is simply gorgeous and the animations of your characters are rendered just as crisply. The game is fast paced and a ton of fun. I sincerely hope the team is allowed to do a hybrid of these mechanics but include a story mode with the newer Warhammer Quest- Blackstone Fortress.

Warhammer Underworlds returns with Direchasm! Will the Realmlords survive the return of Hedonites of Slaanesh?

The Hedonites have returned with their own warband for Warhammer Underworlds and face off in Direchasm against the Lumineth Realmlords. This pairing of forces is a huge plus by itself for me. Back in the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy many elves, now called Aelves, followed the Chaos god Slaanesh, known as the God of Excess and it’s followers were some of the most perverse. Eventually it splintered the elven people into two primary factions High Elves and Dark Elves. The Dark Elves were the group that followed Slaanesh and eventually stopped and moved to follow Khaine, the god of murder. Now the two forces are facing each other once again and have brought along some of the finest sculpts the franchise has released to date.

One of the biggest changes between versions of this game is models that now have a 6+ Wound characteristic and are defeated you will earn 2 Victory Points instead of the customary 1. Another change is that the Support mechanic is slightly modified. Basically before any models adjacent to the one attacking would support but you would subtract your support from the opponent’s support. Whomever had more support remaining receives the bonus. Now you simply take the support regardless and each support roll counts as a success instead.

As a starting box is concerned this iteration of Underworlds can be a bit overwhelming with some of the cards specifically. Previous versions a majority of the cards were more simplistic but allowed a bit of room for interpretation. The cards in this box give much longer descriptions but there is little room for interpretation. Everything is laid out exactly how they will work but the amount of wording can overwhelm newer players. For seasoned gamers though this will provide a dynamic experience in the realms of Warhammer Underworlds with some amazing models that would be fantastic starters for a Slaanesh or Realmlord based army. If you are a fan of Chaos armies or the Underworlds franchise then you will love this box.

Space Marine Adventures is back for a second round of Xenos murder courtesy of Games Workshop and local bookstores like Barnes and Noble.

With the first volume of Space Marine Adventures players took turns facing down the Necron threat, however this time it’s time for the Orks to rise. Players take on the roles of five Terminator Space Marines and move about the map searching for supplies while protecting a shield generator. Each Terminator hails from a different but classic chapter of Space Marines and as such have their own weapon load outs. To make this easier each marine is printed in the dominant color of their chapter (green for Dark Angles or red for Blood Angles for example).

These Adventure boxes are intended to be an introduction into the world of Warhammer 40,000. The models for the Terminators are push to fit and easy to assemble, making that part of the hobby much less difficult to ease in to. Even in this game there is lots of dice rolling to be had so it feels like a Warhammer game in that respect while using common model types.

My only complaint about this game is the lack of models. The other titles that game pre-boxed like this had models for both sides but Rise of the Orks only offers tokens for the Orks. One of the best things is the value overall. For the price of this box you get five Terminators where a box of only those models would be more expensive by far. As a tower defense style game this is quite enjoyable and an excellent value for the models you get. I highly recommend hitting up the local book store and scoring yourself a copy!

Will you have what it takes to take down the undead threatening Glymmsforge? Join the hunt with Crypt Hunters from Games Workshop!

Our friends at Games Workshop shared their latest self contained game found at bookstores– Crypt Hunters! Players choose to take control of either the Stormcast Eternals or the Nighthaunt Chainrasps. Perhaps one of the most unique features to come out of a boxed game is the map. Each turn the player in charge of the Chainrasps adds pieces to the map while during the same sequence of actions the Stormcast player removes any tiles that are not in Line of Sight. This means there is a virtually endless combination of map variations that can be played from game to game.

Like any other game from GW this box includes miniatures for each faction, allowing you to add models to your warbands/armies. As can be expected you will find assembly instructions contained within the box. The Stormcasts have limited wounds so the odds will be against this player as the Chainrasps constantly regenerate.

The game is enjoyable for the first couple of games but beyond that gets a bit repetitive. Even though the maps stay fresh it is the same foes to fight and the lack of variety makes it less engaging between playthroughs.

It’s time to hit the pitch with a second season of Blitz Bowl from Games Workshop and sold in book stores!

Who’s up for a game of Football (and I don’t mean European Football)? Either those crickets are pretty loud right now or I’m asking the wrong group of people. For those of us that don’t enjoy watching the American game of Football or playing for that matter there is a game where we can actually enjoy the sport but scratch our table top itches as well and that is Blood Bowl. Games Workshop though has taken a more inclusive approach with trying to bring more people to the hobby with Season 2 of Blitz Bowl!

One of the best things about the parent game Blood Bowl is how a single action can turn one play into several, dice willing of course. This can lead to games where only one player is taking a long turn while the other has to wait a while though. With Blitz Bowl you have three set actions per turn which means that everyone gets equal play. While being more dynamic it is still just as bloody. The biggest difference however is the fact that points can be earned by not just scoring a touchdown but also by completing various objectives. With a faster paced style of play with more opportunities to score this is probably the best version of the Blood Bowl franchise to introduce to your friends.

Are you ready to improve your painting game? DrTableTop’s Droptops and Paint Pills are here to help!

Many people that know me know that I am an avid painter and always looking for tools to improve either my setup or skills. A local shop started sharing some ads on Facebook for DrTableTop’s Droptops and Paint Pills. Intrigued I sent the team an email and they graciously sent us samples of both.

Check out our coverage of them both:

I highly advise to watch the setup video with Dr K himself as it shows you exactly how to put the tops on your Citadel bottles (check the bottom of this article for the video itself).

When I tested the top in the video I used a single pill as I didn’t have that many. Using it on one of my favorite metallic colors it blended it better than I expected. The only problem I found with the pills was that I simply didn’t have enough. I recently ordered 100 of the little porcelain balls, adding three to each of my metallic paints and got to shaking them. I have never seen those metallics come out so smooth. I paid about $24 including tax and shipping (in Arizona) to get 100 of them and for how well they are mixing my paints they are absolutely worth it.

The droptops themselves are smooth and easy to control paint flow. Caps fit snuggly and even handling them aggressively I have yet to knock one off without intending to. Even better the lids pop on so easily that you could do your whole collection in a matter of minutes (unless you have the whole line and then maybe an hour or so). The tops themselves are a bit more expensive than I first expected ($24.60 for a dozen before tax and shipping) but after you use them the pricing is completely justified. I refuse to spend money unless absolutely required and I’m already planning on my next order, which is saying a lot!

Here is the aforementioned video from DrTableTop!

https://youtu.be/yAizffLBY5c