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Welcome to the another installment of a our series where we will be focusing on one of the Chaos Warbands from Warcry. This time we will be discussing the Spire Tyrants!

The Spire Tyrants hail from the Varanspire, specifically the fighting pits. Those that excel in the pits are awarded a spot among the warbands. Comprising of more variations than nearly any other warband, the Tyrants is ideal for the player that doesn’t want every model to look the same, just as every successful pit fighter is varied.

The variation is both a blessing and a curse for this warband. Specifically the more options you have the more you can customize to your play style. The reason I say this is a curse is because if you are like me you are very indecisive when it comes to building your team. To find the right fit for you, don’t be surprised if you need to modify your roster multiple times before landing on the one that works for you. I still haven’t figured out my best line up and I’ve had my box since they were released!

When it comes to abilities they don’t have nearly as many attack options as I would have expected. They surprisingly have an excellent team buff option with a triple roll- Champion of the Warpits. This ability gives a bonus to attack rolls to nearby units if the attacker had downed an opponent on this turn.

This warband hits hard and has a decent range of movement, making them an improvement over the Iron Golems in my opinion. This increased range allows them to reach their enemies faster and get to the objectives in a more timely manner. When you reach your target, whichever type it may be, you will be able to take a beating and dish one out while you’re there.

To purchase your own box of this models head over to the Games Workshop store here! I personally would pick up two so you have can more options when assembling your warband.

Welcome to the another installment of a our series where we will be focusing on one of the exclusive Chaos Warbands from Warcry. This time we will be discussing the Unmade!

Originating from the island of Tzlid, near the Shyish Nadir, The Unmade enter Eightpoints from a land of death and decay. The realm was once ruled by the dread lord of the undead himself, Nagash. It’s no surprise that these guys look like nightmares made flesh. Their aesthetic alone is meant to be fearsome. Looking carefully at the models you will notice that they are mutilated in some way. This makes for a great opportunity for anyone that likes to kitbash. The art of kitbashing, for those that are unaware, is taking parts from more than one model it build a one of a kind model of your own.

In their lore The Unmade are essentially a pain cult that rejoices in their own agony and that of their enemies. Sent by dream from the Flayed King, the Blissful One leads this warband to eat and terrorize anyone they meet. These guys sound like fun to invite for a party.

The Blissfull One is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to this faction. To start he has an overwhelming 5 attacks that do critical damage on 6! He has a high movement as well. This means that he can travel around the table quickly murdering everyone. With him being so important to the faction he will also be the primary target of your opponent, so keeping him alive will be a priority. I would recommend using him to focus on anyone separated from the rest of their group before moving on, treating him like a melee sniper. The Joyous One can be quite deadly as well but it is too reliant on good rolls. With me behind the dice he will rarely be used to his potential. The Vessel of Torment ability should be well timed because it will only be truly beneficial if the Blissful One took down an enemy because it will give him an additional move and attack in the same activation.

Your priority should be centering your playing around the Blissful One. Trap opponents within range of the Blissful One so he can swoop in for the kill and line himself up for his next attack. This faction is meant for the more experienced players because to make them effective you must stay out of range of your enemy’s attacks and plan your attacks well. This team does not soak up damage well and will fall if they are being hit consistently.

Welcome to the another installment of a our series where we will be focusing on one of the exclusive Chaos Warbands from Warcry. This time we will be discussing the Splintered Fang!

The Splintered Fang come from the Realm of Life (Ghyran) in the jungles of Indvidia. They worship at the feet (they likely don’t really have feet) of the Coiling Ones.  Their goal is find remnants of their slain deity, Nagendra and primarily use poisons and serpents in battle.

Like the Untamed Beasts, the Splintered Fang is one of the more versatile factions. Some of their units have a decent defense. They generally move quickly and can even perform some strong attacks. Even better they THROW SNAKES!

Their most defining feature has to be their poisons. Their ability Paralyzing Venom can add up to 6 damage bonus to an attack and on occasion immobilize their enemies. One of the most surprising things they offer is that even their shields can stab and can be used to finish opponents. The biggest downside to this team is the fact that the box only comes with a single snake swarm and to be more dynamic you will need two or three.

On aesthetics alone this is my favorite of the Warcry factions. Here is a link to the Warhammer Community article about them as well!

Welcome to the another installment of our series where we will be focusing on one of the exclusive Chaos Warbands from Warcry. This time we will be discussing Cypher Lords!

Coming from Nochseed in the Realm of Light, the Cypher Lords practice their Chaos arts in secret. Being from Hysh they have a natural agility that they have paired with their dark gifts. Other than speed their primary focus is on their abilities and hitting harder than most. Surprisingly when you think of a faction with better movement they typically won’t have the hits to follow it up but these guys do. Their biggest weakness is the fact that they have a much lower threshold for wounds than almost any other warband.

For players that prefer more complex maneuvers the Cypher Lords will be a great faction to play with. Having to plan for better efficiency they become the closest to playing chess than the other bands. What really makes them stand out from the other factions is the fact that their lore has them stemming from the Realm of Light. A faction of darkness from one of the brightest realms.

The Luminate stands out as a unit because she can essentially act as a second leader for the warband and spread leadership abilities around the field of battler easier. With the ability to essentially teleport units all over the table between the Luminate and Thrallmaster you can keep the moving more to keep them out of harms way and allowing you to dish out a ton more damage.

Welcome to the another installment of our series where we will be focusing on one of the exclusive Chaos Warbands from Warcry. This time we will be discussing Corvus Cabal.

These followers of the Great Gatherer stem from the Realm of Shadow and believe the legendary Chaos General Archaon is the embodiment of their god. This faction is the masters of movement and stealth. Some units have the ability to ignore height when moving around the board. This is huge as some models can be trapped by the terrain pieces themselves. The Shrike Talon has an ability that will exploit this fact- Swooping Attack. Essentially he gets to drop on his enemy from above and use it to get a free move and attack option. From some heights he can receive bonuses to improve on the deadliness of the attack.

When playing against foes that have a higher defense (and depending on your objectives) winning the game will require you win the first initiative. Having the first turn is hugely important because Corvus Cabal will win the day on speed alone if they secure objectives first. Otherwise you will be trying to steal the objectives from forces that will typically outlast your fighters. This is what I call the Smash and Grab.

Visually this is an amazing faction. Easily second favorite. I love the Native American aesthetic they have and will likely be one of the first I build for myself but due to their play style will get less usage as a force. My play style is more of a Hit ’em hard and hit ’em fast method that lacks the finesse Corvus Cabal requires.

Corvus Belli returns with the fourth edition of their hit skirmish tabletop game Infinity, aptly named Infinity N4.

This is the first time I’ve ever been able to play Infinity, and I can’t believe I haven’t sooner as the I also learned that the rules and model stats are available on their website for FREE! This means you can try the game out and various models to figure out if the game is for you AND if you have the right army. Now, assuming you’ve played and are ready to purchase your first army, where do you start? Simple. You purchase a faction pack and a rulebook, unless of course you prefer a digital copy and then the free one will more than do the job but without all the lore.

Having never played the game itself before, I did play the spinoff Aristeia game a couple years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. The models have always been fantastic, both fun to paint and looking great on the table but no idea how the game played. I’m told this edition is very much streamlined compared to N3 but I couldn’t confirm this was the case during my playing of the game. I did find it fast paced and much more dynamic than most games. It was quite a bit of fun too but I just wish that the models had assembly guides to make their assembly much easier without having to track down multiple angles of pictures to ensure proper assembly.

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):

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:

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