Powergaming: You, Tau, and Everything In-Between

Hey all!

After a long-ish break, I'd figure I'd come back to the blog swingin' with an article Hazon and I discussed awhile back regarding the different mentalities people bring in when they play these sorts of games.

This idea started when I went into our local GW one day where quite the frustrating mismatch had occurred. One player (the Tau Player) was clobbering the other guy, who was running Blood Angels. I know, I know, Tau are seen by many as the unstoppable-blue-bomber-juggernauts of this current edition that crush your spirits and ruin your hobbies! Don't get me wrong, Tau naturally are very good, and they can be pure cheese when the rubber meets the road, but they are by no means unbeatable. In this instance, it wasn't even a particularly nasty Tau list; one Riptide, one unit of XV8s, Longstrike, a few Firewarriors, Pathfinders, a Bomber, and an assortment of XV88s with both loadouts. Yeah, its shooty, but its also Tau: what'd you expect?

An Open Letter to Games Workshop: 10 reasons Specialist Games need to come back.

Been thinking about this for quite some time. Ever since GW decided to give them the axe really. I think GW has already made some great strides in trying to have more open interaction with their community, especially on the digital release front. But i also know there is a large part of the community - those who were very dedicated to the specialist systems - who have been completely shut out in the dark regarding a big part of their hobby. Now obviously specialist games were smaller than the majority in the gaming community, but that is not to say they were unpopular. Take a look around the net and you will see that a lot of people do still play the systems. Not so much the Warmaster line for fantasy, but definitely Mordheim, 40k Epic, Blood Bowl, and the largest, Battlefleet Gothic. For GW - Here is 10 reasons why you have to bring these back. Letter follows below.

40k Expansions confirmed for December

Some pictures of the December White Dwarf are finally hitting the net. Images have confirmed the two new expansions - Escalation and Stronghold Assault - for release next month, but, at least for now, it doesn't look like we will see any new superheavies being added as plastics. For links to the image, follow this to Natfka's blog for more info - http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/11/pictures-from-december-white-dwarf-are.html#more.

Escalation and Stronghold Assault Teased?

Hey guys, sorry i havent posted much since last week. not much news to report as of late other than a bit of mixed opinions on whether or not Tyranids would actually be coming in December as had previously been mentioned by multiple sources. Well, today we get some nice news from GW in the release of a somewhat cryptic teaser video which can be seen here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=12000002. The video shows a lot of fortifications and a few super heavies, which has most of the community assuming that this is likely finally the release of the recently mentioned Escalation and/or Stronghold Assault 40k expansions.

Eternal Crusade Gameplay Video Teased

Hey guys, if you haven't seen this already or are not signed up for the Eternal Crusade Newsletter, IGN has posted the video for anyone who wants to see the first actual game play of Eternal Crusade. Its clearly based on the Space Marine combat system and, even though this is a very basic look at how the game will be i am very excited for this. A lot of the Development team are active in the 40k hobby also, and seem to care about getting it right a lot more than some other studios would bother to do (looking at you EA).  Here is a link to the video - http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/11/18/warhammer-40k-the-eternal-crusade-meet-the-team-dev-diary The first few minutes are mostly dev diary type stuff, but at 3:17 the game play tease is shown between a chaos squad and a Dark Angels squad.

New Citadel Paints Released

Hey guys, I hope everyone had a great weekend. Not too much to report over the weekend, but Games Workshop did release some great new holiday bundles and the new effect paints also, which i might add, flew off the shelves of my local store, and left my with only Nihilakh Oxide and Agrellan Earth in my pocket by the end of the day, but ah well. The bundles are a great deal for savings for anyone looking to start a new army or add more theme to their existing one. For a link to the new paints check this out; http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod2290012a

Army Personality Projects

Hey guys, i was perusing the pages of BoLS the other day and came across a great article regarding personalization within your army and adding some more character to individual models, etc. Aside from the really nice paint job on the models on the article, i really liked the points that were brought out. Here is the original article for any of those interested - it showcases a beautiful Astral Claws army. ( http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/11/40k-showcase-bringing-little-character.html )