Category Table Top Gaming

Based on the original by Vlaada Chvatil, Codenames is back with Codenames Harry Potter from USAOpoly.

USAOpoly continues to prove they are the masters locking down the best intellectual properties like Marvel, Disney and even Harry Potter with Codenames Harry Potter. This of course is not their first foray into the magical world of Harry Potter but it is the second one we’ve had the pleasure of trying out.

Visually the game has top quality cards using hires images from the various movies but at a glance the game looks more like a version of Memory. The concept is that as operatives of the Order of the Phoenix you must use clue or “Codenames” to lead your teammates to tracking down the hidden members of the Order. This sounds rather easy but you must do it while avoiding the Death Eaters in the field. As time turner cards are revealed you get closer to running out of time. This puts a bit more urgency in the gameplay and the need to decipher the coded messages more imperative.

The simplicity of the game is quite brilliant in that the game is limited in only how creative you are in creating and deciphering the clues. The game is typically quickly played, the first game taking about 30-45 minutes and followup games closer to the 15-20 minute mark. If you are looking for a quick game that features some of your favorite Harry Potter characters then this is a must purchase for you.

Maledictions is a Warhammer Horror Anthology from the Black Library and features such names as Graham McNeill and Josh Reynolds!

There are numerous anthologies published by the Black Library that are centered in the 41st millennium but Maledictions is the first in their Warhammer Horror lineup. Some of the authors have been around since the earliest days of the Black Library like Graham McNeill, Josh Reynolds and C L Werner. There are even some newcomers to the ranks of fabulous writers- Cassandra Khaw and Lora Gray! Lora Gray you may remember from last year’s Digital Horror Week.

The worlds of Warhammer 40k have always had a tendency to fall along the lines of horrific between the machinations of Chaos or the terrifying swarms of the Tyranid. This means that these stories must be absolutely dreadful to be labeled as Horror. Many of these stories however are about on par from what we’ve come to expect from the Black Library but a few definitely pushed the envelope a bit further. What makes this book really stand out is that it is the first I’ve seen that contains both Warhammer Fantasy AND Warhammer 40k stories. Overall this book is a great read when you are looking for easier to digest stories. These stories still kick some major ass despite their length.

Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):

Nepenthe by Cassandra Khaw

The Widow Tide by Richard Strachan

No Good Deed by Graham McNeill

Crimson Snow by Lora Gray

Last of the Blood by C L Werner

Predation of the Eagle by Peter McLean

The Last Ascension of Dominic Seroff by David Annandale

Triggers by Paul Kane

A Darksome Place by Josh Reynolds

The Marauder Lives by J.C. Stearns

The Nothings by Alec Worley

Dark Harvest follows the exploits of Harran Blackwood, a Warrior-Priest that must confront his past if he is to survive in this novel by Josh Reynolds!

Harran Blackwood was a Warrior-Priest, meaning he was a priest of Sigmar that was also a warrior in the first Warhammer Horror novel Dark Harvest. When I requested this book from the Black Library for the sake of review I hadn’t even read the details about the book. Simply put I saw the name of the writer and the cover and that was enough for me.

The story starts with Harran receiving a letter that reminds him of some rather painful memories. Arriving in the town of Wald in search of the sender finds something far older and more evil in the area. The story focuses more on slow building tension than outright horror. Along the way you learn that practically everyone in Wald is not someone worth redeeming. Told in a first person perspective Harran comes off as surprisingly relatable. He’s constantly trudging along despite his growing unease, while simultaneously battling with his own inner demons and the lies he tells himself.

Overall I found this book to be quite engaging and well worth the read. Josh Reynolds as always knocks this out of the park!

Adeptus Mechanicus troops face off against Necrons in this latest issometric Warhammer 40,000 tactics game from Bulwark Studios!

Feeling old? I know I am! Join the Adeptus Mechanicus today to replace your aging parts with tested machines! In Warhammer 40K: Mechanicus players take control of a small band of adepts in search of new technologies to exploit in the name of the Omnissiah. Borrowing from the classic Tactics format of game play, Bulwark Studios brings us a smooth foray into the world of Warhammer 40K and specifically that of the Adeptus Mechanicus and Necron tomb worlds.

Game play feels like those classic and oh so good tactics games, taking advantage of the simple mechanics to build an engaging game full of 40k lore, characters and models. The fact that the weapons effects and overall graphics are stunning is not to be looked over either!

The timing of this release though seems interesting as only a few months after the initial release the Indomitus boxset with the new Warhammer 40k edition was released. The two main factions were Necrons and Imperium of Man- Space Marines. The Space Marines are not quite the Adeptus Mechanicus but they fight for the same team and fight together often. The fact that this was first release some time prior on pc/steam leads me to believe this is more of a coincidence than anything else.

Warhammer 40k was the first game that brought me into tabletop gaming and still holds a high place in my heart with 9th edition.

The kind folks at Games Workshop have once again shared their games with us, this time the 9th edition of Warhammer 40k (as always this holds no sway on our opinions). Commonly referred to as just 40k or the trending hashtag of #New40k. Warhammer in all of it’s iterations will hold a place in my heart as the game that introduced me to wargaming, tabletop miniatures and painting. 

Back when we were with PopNerdTV our friends wrote a battle report as the official review for 8th Edition. We are here with the 9th edition of Warhammer 40k and are back to the traditional review format.

Without wasting much time we are just going to jump right in. As a whole I love this edition. Some of my biggest complaints came from previous editions where tanks and other warmachines couldn’t fire their weapons when opponents were in base to base contact. Thankfully they have finally rectified this clear error. The focus has deviated from being on rule sections and moved to styles of gaming- Open Play, Matched Play and (my favorite) Narrative/Crusade missions.

Now it surprised me to see this first drop relatively early into the COVID pandemic and my first impressions from the community was that it would not do as well as expected. In only a couple days the limited edition Indomitus boxset was not only sold out but Games Workshop even announced they would print however many copies were needed to allow anyone who wanted the coveted set to purchase their own copy. This did two things and both were brilliant. The first being that any customer could get this box that was originally going to be a limited release. Lastly the scalpers who were responsible with the purchases being sold out would not be able to sell them and price gouge the fans who actually wanted to play the game. Any company willing to raise their middle finger to scalpers deserves my patronage for certain.

Let’s talk about the models. Every model in the Indomitus release is a new sculpt with some truly badass poses. I always disliked loyal Space Marines but these models look awesome enough that I want to either field them or convert them for my own chaos armies. The new Necrons are not to be ignored either. The Skorpekh Lord and Destroyers are by far some of the best Necron sculpts ever produced.

Here is our live unboxing video:

Look below for some truly badass Necron paint schemes from our friend John Ashton (shared with permission):

Players take the role of their favorite Hogwarts heroes in the Hogwarts Battle Cooperative Deck Building Game from USAopoly!

In Hogwarts Battle players work together fighting against increasing odds but with the help of your expanding decks of spells you will be able to fight and eventually defeat them. The fine folks at USAopoly supplies us with our review copy of this game (along with others) and we let our son choose which we played first. So one thing became apparent early on in the game- the more players you have the easier the fight will be. Makes sense because anytime you have a set number of enemies and increase the number of people fighting them you usually will have an easier time of it.

We went around the table adding cards to our individual pools of magic spells in order to quickly get an upper hand against Draco Malfoy, Crabbe & Goyle and eventually Professor Quirrell.

I’m notorious for misreading rules the first few times I go over them so to save time I asked my wife to give them a quick read and we were able to jump right into the game within only a couple minutes. The rule book is full color and well written and you’d have to be a fool to misunderstand them. Somehow I did and she straightened it out quickly.

The first stage of the game took about forty five minutes total, including multiple readings of the rules and even a check of them again later on. In our house the toughest critics are the kids and after completing the first stage Merrick immediately asked if we could do the second stage tomorrow. This game is a definite keeper and I think this image says all you need to know about whether or not you should get this for the Harry Potter fan in your life.

WELCOME TO THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF A NEW SERIES WHERE WE WILL BE FOCUSING ON ONE OF THE EXCLUSIVE CHAOS WARBANDS FROM WARCRY. TO START THINGS OFF WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THE IRON GOLEM.

The Iron Golem  is one of the warbands in the core box for Warcry and hail from Ferrium Mountains in Chamon. For those that aren’t aware Chamon is the Realm of Metal in the Warhammer world. It is home to the Yellow Wind of Magic, specifically transmutation. Being from the realm of Metal it is not a surprise to see the members of Iron Golem to be covered in armor.

The units within Iron Golem are slow, deal decent damage but can really take a beating. This warband is best used as a training faction. Most units only have short ranged attacks, moderate melee attacks and a high defense.

Out of the box, either the core set or faction only box, a couple of the models offer some customization options. Specifically the Signifier can be modified to be a Prefector. By name these don’t mean much but the Signifier is essentially the Banner Bearer for the group. Changing him to a Prefector offers you a higher critical hit damage but in exchange you lose the Buffs provided by the Signifier. Personally I went for visual aesthetic of the Signifier. I typically go for the higher damage units and minimal buffs but the look of the Signifier was so awesome I couldn’t not use him.

The reason I say this is best for learning the game is because of the high defense. The more of a beating you can take the longer you are in the game. For trying to win with this faction you are best off using your lower cost Legionnaires to soak up damage while you move your heavy hitters into position.

PLEASE ENJOY PAINT JOBS PROVIDED BY THE AZ WARCRY AND AGE OF SIGMAR PUBLIC FACEBOOK GROUP:

WARCRY IS A GAME THAT FOCUSES ON SMALLER SKIRMISH BATTLES AND NOW YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE EXPLOITS OF YOUR FAVORITE WARBANDS!

Each story follows a specific warband at their core, focusing on what really makes them tick. One of my favorite warbands by appearance was the Unmade and David Annandale’s tale about them, The Harrower, made them actually make sense. They are addicted to pain, sometimes cutting off their own limbs and attaching weapons to them. Seems rather extreme to me but seeing it through the eyes of the warband you could see why they relished losing their limbs. Each drop of blood, each ounce of pain they feel is joy for them, a blessing from their gods. At least that’s what they tell themselves and each other. This is just one example of the great stories within.

Each story is full of action and more than that just sucks you in as a reader. Most books take me months to read as I typically read about two or three pages a day due to my schedule. This book only took me two weeks to read!

If, like me, are a fan of the chaos gods, the game of warcry or stories about anti-heroes cutting down their foes you will absolutely love this book!

Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):

The Harrower by David Annandale
The Method of Madness by Peter McLean
The Devourer’s Demand by Ben Counter
Proving Ground by Sarah Cawkwell
Eight-Tailed Naga by David Guymer
The Iron Promise by Josh Reynolds

Invocations is a Warhammer Horror Anthology from the Black Library and features such names as C L Werner and David Annandale!

Invocations is a collection of horror stories, most of which are exclusive to this collection, while four were previously released as ebook short stories. Perhaps my favorite story from the list was From The Halls, The Silence which took us back to Solus as a followup to The House of Night and Chain. The original tale had a solid ending that still left me with questions and this tale resolved some of them.

The worlds of Warhammer 40k have always had a tendency to fall along the lines of horrific between the machinations of Chaos or the terrifying swarms of the Tyranid. This means that these stories must be absolutely dreadful to be labeled as Horror. Many of these stories however are about on par from what we’ve come to expect from the Black Library but a few definitely pushed the envelope a bit further. This is the second Horror anthology and also the second contains both Warhammer Fantasy AND Warhammer 40k stories. Overall this book is a great read when you are looking for easier to digest stories. These stories still kick some major ass despite their length.

Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):

The Hunt by David Annandale

The Confession of Convict Kline by Justin D Hill

He Feasts Forever by Lora Grayv

Stitches by Nick Kyme

The Healer by Steven Shiel

Blood Sacrifice by Peter McLean

The Growing Seasons by Richard Strachan

Supplication by Jake Ozga

From the Halls, the Silence by David Annandale

A Sending from the Grave by C L Werner

Flesh and Blood by Ray Cluley

The Summons of Shadows by David Annandale