So much stuff going on in (and outside) the hobby world... Warhammer Quest, Blood Bowl, Death From The Skies, Games Workshop FAQs & Errata, whispers of a new-ish edition for 40k... Let's jump right in!
This post is going to be all over the place but that happens to be an accurate representation of where my head is at right now (and actually most of the time, damn ADD!). It's hard to focus on my projects on a good day given the way my mind works and just finding time among real life obligations... gamer-dads know what I'm talking about, haha. But increasingly over the past year or two I'm finding GW themselves have become quite the disruptive force with their break neck pace of releases. Yes, I still remember the glacial pace that came before this new era and complaining about how slow it was between updates (it took GW over a decade to update Dark Eldar from their 3rd edition codex...) but my wallet was happier back then! Truthfully, the faster pace has been a good thing it's just harder to plan purchases when you're working on multiple armies or involved in several game systems, then come to find out Warhammer Quest and Blood Bowl are getting reboots this year... I still haven't picked up Imperial Knights: Renegade yet! The human body only requires one kidney, right???
As a kid, I spent countless hours playing HeroQuest with my friends and enjoyed the crap out of it! It ended up being one of the main gateway drugs for us getting into the world of tabletop wargaming. Some of the first models I ever painted came from this board game. With all the nostalgia wrapped around this one, it's inevitable that I pick up the new Warhammer Quest in hopes that it becomes that game for my kids what HeroQuest was for me :)
Then there's Blood Bowl. To complete this trip down memory lane, it was Blood Bowl that cemented my interest in the hobby. My neighbor had a variety of miniatures from this game sitting on a shelf -- he called them his "thinking toys" and I was intrigued to say the least. I don't even think they were painted but there was just something about them, perhaps the weight of the old metal figurines in my hand. I remember feeling like there was this whole other world out there and I wanted to know more about it! Thus, Pandora's box was opened and here we are nearly 20 years later. I still like to refer to my collection of minis as "thinking toys" too ;)
After observing a few games of Blood Bowl at last year's NOVA and learning some of the mechanics from a friend, I really wanted to start a team of my own. I dug deep into my random bits boxes and thought I would try to build a Lizardmen roster since I had a handful of these guys leftover from an old Warhammer Fantasy Battle starter set. I didn't get very far on this project and now I've let enough time pass that it actually looks like GW is finally going to re-release this splendid game. See, procrastination can pay off sometimes haha. I'm really excited to dive into this game whenever it comes out.
Death From The Skies seems like it came out of nowhere, and while I haven't read the whole thing my initial impression is very meh to lukewarm. Mostly from the standpoint that 40k is already a behemoth of a game that takes far too long to play... did we really need another phase added to the game? It also drastically alters how flyers interact in the game and I guess that's where most of my beef lies; I would have preferred most of this be optional like in the form of special unique missions or an aerial combat style variation of 40k rather than altering the core game of 40k. Truth be told, I feel the same way about super heavies in standard games of 40k -- I like playing with them in Apocalypse and I liked having that separation from standard 40k, but that's just my opinion :)
Putting these two things together (FAQs & new Flyer rules) it's not a stretch to imagine GW releasing a semi-updated rules set with both incorporated in the BRB. I like what I've seen with most of the FAQs and I admit that Flyers had their issues that needed to be addressed but I worry the game will feel even more bloated than before. I am encouraged by the rumors that say the game will see some simplification. This really needs to happen in some capacity, not saying I want to Sigmar the 41st millennium but something needs to happen to cut down on the sheer amount of cross-referencing and book keeping that the game currently requires.
Anyways, I'll stop myself here for now. The more exciting update is up next... cheers!
As a kid, I spent countless hours playing HeroQuest with my friends and enjoyed the crap out of it! It ended up being one of the main gateway drugs for us getting into the world of tabletop wargaming. Some of the first models I ever painted came from this board game. With all the nostalgia wrapped around this one, it's inevitable that I pick up the new Warhammer Quest in hopes that it becomes that game for my kids what HeroQuest was for me :)
Then there's Blood Bowl. To complete this trip down memory lane, it was Blood Bowl that cemented my interest in the hobby. My neighbor had a variety of miniatures from this game sitting on a shelf -- he called them his "thinking toys" and I was intrigued to say the least. I don't even think they were painted but there was just something about them, perhaps the weight of the old metal figurines in my hand. I remember feeling like there was this whole other world out there and I wanted to know more about it! Thus, Pandora's box was opened and here we are nearly 20 years later. I still like to refer to my collection of minis as "thinking toys" too ;)
After observing a few games of Blood Bowl at last year's NOVA and learning some of the mechanics from a friend, I really wanted to start a team of my own. I dug deep into my random bits boxes and thought I would try to build a Lizardmen roster since I had a handful of these guys leftover from an old Warhammer Fantasy Battle starter set. I didn't get very far on this project and now I've let enough time pass that it actually looks like GW is finally going to re-release this splendid game. See, procrastination can pay off sometimes haha. I'm really excited to dive into this game whenever it comes out.
40k - FAQs, flyers, the future
Let me first start out by commending GW for reaching out to the community to hear from us where the confusion is within their ever-expanding ruleset. This is something I think everyone has been wanting for a long time and I hope they keep up the community engagement for direct feedback on their games!
Death From The Skies seems like it came out of nowhere, and while I haven't read the whole thing my initial impression is very meh to lukewarm. Mostly from the standpoint that 40k is already a behemoth of a game that takes far too long to play... did we really need another phase added to the game? It also drastically alters how flyers interact in the game and I guess that's where most of my beef lies; I would have preferred most of this be optional like in the form of special unique missions or an aerial combat style variation of 40k rather than altering the core game of 40k. Truth be told, I feel the same way about super heavies in standard games of 40k -- I like playing with them in Apocalypse and I liked having that separation from standard 40k, but that's just my opinion :)
Putting these two things together (FAQs & new Flyer rules) it's not a stretch to imagine GW releasing a semi-updated rules set with both incorporated in the BRB. I like what I've seen with most of the FAQs and I admit that Flyers had their issues that needed to be addressed but I worry the game will feel even more bloated than before. I am encouraged by the rumors that say the game will see some simplification. This really needs to happen in some capacity, not saying I want to Sigmar the 41st millennium but something needs to happen to cut down on the sheer amount of cross-referencing and book keeping that the game currently requires.
Anyways, I'll stop myself here for now. The more exciting update is up next... cheers!