Tag warhammer

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.

The fine folks at Games Workshop have brought one of my favorite IP’s to the pitch with the Second Season Edition of Blood Bowl!

Those that know me, even just a little, will know that I am not a fan of sports, watching or playing. For some reason though I’ve always had a soft spot for Blood Bowl. I have played every iteration of the video games on the Xbox and both of the previous releases of the tabletop game. I even read some of the older books. So how is that I love a sports themed game when I detest sports? It’s all about the conflict. A game where you can have an ork kill or maim a player outright is one I am more than willing to give a solid try. Each time I’ve played I’ve lost on the tabletop and still found it quite enjoyable. The Season 2 Edition seemed like the perfect chance to finally beat my son.

Not much has changed in terms of general gameplay, but at the same time EVERYTHING has changed. That’s a bit of an exaggeration but we are seriously talking about some big changes. First off is in value- the core box comes with enough models to play a full team! This is huge! Every iteration previously required you to purchase additional boxes to have enough on the pitch. I hope this is the trend going forward. Previous editions made an effort of using star players but they always felt like they were missing something. With Season 2 we get to see them offer a bit more panache on the field, no longer just cool looking models. The rulebook includes rules for a plethora of star players, each with their own special stats to make playing them more worth it. It even adds another layer to setting your roster. Additionally previous editions required you purchase your heavy hitters separately but you get one for each team.

As always when it comes to causing carnage on the field I’m no slouch but when it comes to planning through openings to score points there is still some sort of disconnect. Playing multiple games with my son he managed to win each time but not before losing several players along the way. We had a total blast with the game and hope to try out a few of the other teams as they release using the new ruleset. The rules are much easier to understand than in previous editions, leaving fewer questions regarding how to interpret them. If you enjoy sports, fantasy tabletop games or beating the crap out of your opponent you will enjoy this game.

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):