I know, I know, everyone's put in their 2 cents about 6th edition all over the interwebz already but I have a few words to say as well.
I want to start with my first impressions with the caveat that I only know as much as I've read so far on different blogs and forums out there. I don't have any new rumors to spread unfortunately.
So it appears to me that 6th edition is going to be a boon for garage and/or basement players. The people who get together with their friends every week or so and play a game or two. People like me mainly.
Why do I say a boon? Well this new edition appears to have added in various elements of all the expansions the GW has come out with during 5th including flyers, planet strike, scenarios, special terrain, etc. This is cool because it provides a framework for games for the more casual and 'narrative' players to play games with. I could call up my buddy and say, "Hey I wanna play a 2,500 pt game themed around a ruined city with my own terrain pieces using my guard and Iron Warrior armies using this and this specific rules."
The ability to combine armies I already own into one force with predefined rules to allow that makes 6th easier for casual gamers to do something cool. It also lets you play with those bastions and defense lines you bought without having them just be terrain or playing a planetstrike game.
The biggest problem with 6th edition I feel will be its use in tournaments. The allies and fortifications rules will become a headache and possible nightmare for organizers. They have more things to review to make sure the armies are legal and also that the terrain people bring is legal. The fortifications are ripe for abuse AKA modeling for advantage.
Tournaments can solve this issue by disallowing allies and fortifications and of course coming up with their own scenarios (which they do now anyways). I feel that this edition more than any other since 2nd will be open to abuse if played to the letter of the rules and tournament organizers should understand this and not just allow any old shenanigans. Comp was created because of the stupidity of some of the combinations that 2nd edition allowed.
So onto what I like about 6th:
- Allies in casual play
- Fortifications in casual play
- Blast Templates where the circle in the middle means nothing.
- Hull Points
- New Scenarios
- New Objectives
- New scoring units
What I dislike about 6th:
- Mystical forests or whatever the crap it is they are calling them
- Random Charge distances
- Fleet of foot units not being able to charge after they fleet
- Jump pack units hitting with I10 when they assault.
- Character challenges (Just plain stupid!)
- Power Axes? how are they going to address the difference between and axe and a sword? The Space marines codex gives units power weapons, are they axes or swords?
What I think the game will be like:
- Shooting will become more powerful.
- Hand to hand will be avoided by most of the best players and most armies with a couple of exceptions.
- Flamers will make a comeback because of overwatch and shooting at the unit that is assaulting.
- Tanks will be more powerful in the early game and get less powerful as the game goes on (but will survive most of the game).
- Flyers will have a huge impact and most people will want them in their army one way or another.
Predictions:
- Forgeworld will become more relevant and become legal at tournaments
- GW will release more digital codexes and rules
- More terrain will be released.
- GW will bring back veteran gamers who may have left the game during 5th.
- I will enjoy 6th edition.
Wow that was longer than I thought it would be. I can't wait to look back at this post in 6 months and see where I was right or wrong.
On to what my plans are for 6th:
- Bust out the Iron Warriors again and give them new Guard allies.
- Expand my Apostles of Contagion army by making it a mix of Chaos Marine and Guard codexes.
- Make a brand new Space Marine Army with Inquisitorial Allies.
- Hold my breath for the new Chaos Codex.
I still plan on putting up the rest of the Into The Dark Scenario's battle report, hopefully later today. I also will soon be coming out with army lists for the above allies ideas.
So until next time may your bolters never tire......
Monday, June 25, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Into The Dark Battle Report Part 1
Over on my friend's blog: Excursions Beyond The Call of Duty He has posted pictures of our last Book of the Arbitrator game. It was a scenario I came up with using the tunnel terrain I made a little while ago.
The main idea of this game was that there is an underground 'abandoned' mine complex under an old town.
This town has a fell reputation with the locals because of strange sounds that are heard at night and weird lights that are seen coming from the town.
The artifact that had been found in previous missions had pointed the gangs to this town. Sargent Hulka and crew were absent from this mission to be replaced with a gang that has just arrived. They were featured in a previous battle report on this blog. They have their own ship and are kind of based on a popular tv show.
The other gang was featured in the previous bat rep and has remnants of the old Eldar gang but with the addition of several Slaaneshi cultists.
I played the Arbitrator in this scenario controlling the bad guys and making the players do rolls in certain situations to accomplish certain things.
The mission is to enter this spooky town and find the entrances to the underground mines. They then had to enter the mines and find the main bad guy, kill him, and exit with his archeo-tech. The scene is set and here are some pics of the board:
Here is a closer image of the underground mine:
Here is the abandoned spooky town:
The two gangs start on the town side of the board. They then had to find the entrances to the underground side of the table. They had 2 elevator entrances and 3 hatches that had ladders that led to the other board. During the game they cold move back and forth from one side of the board to the other using the ladders and elevators.
The explorers begin searching the town.
As they explore the town, mutants begin to roam the town.
Yog'Sothoth and his crew of misfits find a hatch and have to fight through a mutant to gain access.
Meanwhile the explorers send two of their crew down an elevator shaft.
One of the Eldar pops the hatch and descends a ladder.
A Slaaneshi cultist descends another ladder.
The explorers begin exploring the mines.
Yog'Sothoth and a cultist have the ladder break as they descend and they land on their backs at the bottom of the shaft.
The explorers begin searching for enemies and loot.
Hiro sneaks along the corridors.
Coming up in the next blog post, the explorers and the Eldar clash and our quarry is revealed.....
The main idea of this game was that there is an underground 'abandoned' mine complex under an old town.
This town has a fell reputation with the locals because of strange sounds that are heard at night and weird lights that are seen coming from the town.
The artifact that had been found in previous missions had pointed the gangs to this town. Sargent Hulka and crew were absent from this mission to be replaced with a gang that has just arrived. They were featured in a previous battle report on this blog. They have their own ship and are kind of based on a popular tv show.
The other gang was featured in the previous bat rep and has remnants of the old Eldar gang but with the addition of several Slaaneshi cultists.
I played the Arbitrator in this scenario controlling the bad guys and making the players do rolls in certain situations to accomplish certain things.
The mission is to enter this spooky town and find the entrances to the underground mines. They then had to enter the mines and find the main bad guy, kill him, and exit with his archeo-tech. The scene is set and here are some pics of the board:
Here is a closer image of the underground mine:
Here is the abandoned spooky town:
The two gangs start on the town side of the board. They then had to find the entrances to the underground side of the table. They had 2 elevator entrances and 3 hatches that had ladders that led to the other board. During the game they cold move back and forth from one side of the board to the other using the ladders and elevators.
The explorers begin searching the town.
As they explore the town, mutants begin to roam the town.
Yog'Sothoth and his crew of misfits find a hatch and have to fight through a mutant to gain access.
Meanwhile the explorers send two of their crew down an elevator shaft.
One of the Eldar pops the hatch and descends a ladder.
A Slaaneshi cultist descends another ladder.
The explorers begin exploring the mines.
Yog'Sothoth and a cultist have the ladder break as they descend and they land on their backs at the bottom of the shaft.
The explorers begin searching for enemies and loot.
Hiro sneaks along the corridors.
Coming up in the next blog post, the explorers and the Eldar clash and our quarry is revealed.....
Friday, June 1, 2012
Central Services Part 2
As I said in my previous post things start getting ugly in this game right about now.
We like to play Book of the Arbitrator games on 6 x 4 tables because there is more moving before the games really get started. It extends our game and they truly become a story, which is the whole point of our playing Book of the Arbitrator.
The second half of games is usually where all the action happens and this game was no exception.
Rocky climbed up a ladder and is now perched on top of a tall building and he and Daemon, the Eldar sharpshooter are ready to engage in a long range fire fight which Rocky will not win.
The cultists have been moving steadily forward and have found large pile of crates to hide behind for cover. Hulka's crew has tried to move up too while trying to stay in cover so as to engage the enemy. Archy Bunter gets a bit carried away and hurdles the pipe only to get shot and get knocked to the ground.
Shooting back at the cultists Alisa knocks down the enemy Heavy.
Hulka climbed up onto the disposal unit's platform but as soon as he got there an insidious cult preacher transfixed him with his gaze and he was trapped in place until LOS was broken many turns later.
Yog moved up and flamed Tor, knocking him down.
Yog then hurdles the pipe and assaults Ug Splag the Orgyn and kocks him down and out of the fight! Powerfists are scary in these rules!
Not to be outdone, Archy flies at the cultists and knocks one of em out for the game in brutal hand to hand fighting.
Hulka stands back up and Tor joins him on the platform. Meanwhile Yog continues his slaughter moving in to take down Fyord.
Fyord goes down to Yog's Powerfist.
Tor has seen enough of Yog Soth'oth's destruction and jumps into the fray, only to get knocked down himself.
Archy Bunter is determined to take out as many cultists as possible and he charges into another one.
Fiery gets up onto the platform and drops off a barrel.
Archy bunter continues his rampage taking out the cultist with the heavy stubber once again in hand to hand combat.
Yog gets up and promptly takes Tor Alcorn out of the fight.
At the end of the game I had 3 men standing and four points, and the other crew also had four points and only about 4 men standing. We both bottled on the same turn and it ended as a draw.
In the aftermath we both had taken some bad casualties. Several of my men now only show up some of the time and several of my crew will not be participating in the next few games. However I did get some nifty upgrades and as good as Archy was this game in HTH, he will be even better in the future.
Coming up next time will be more Book of the Arbitrator action, stay tuned and thanks for reading....
We like to play Book of the Arbitrator games on 6 x 4 tables because there is more moving before the games really get started. It extends our game and they truly become a story, which is the whole point of our playing Book of the Arbitrator.
The second half of games is usually where all the action happens and this game was no exception.
Rocky climbed up a ladder and is now perched on top of a tall building and he and Daemon, the Eldar sharpshooter are ready to engage in a long range fire fight which Rocky will not win.
The cultists have been moving steadily forward and have found large pile of crates to hide behind for cover. Hulka's crew has tried to move up too while trying to stay in cover so as to engage the enemy. Archy Bunter gets a bit carried away and hurdles the pipe only to get shot and get knocked to the ground.
Shooting back at the cultists Alisa knocks down the enemy Heavy.
Hulka climbed up onto the disposal unit's platform but as soon as he got there an insidious cult preacher transfixed him with his gaze and he was trapped in place until LOS was broken many turns later.
Yog moved up and flamed Tor, knocking him down.
Yog then hurdles the pipe and assaults Ug Splag the Orgyn and kocks him down and out of the fight! Powerfists are scary in these rules!
Not to be outdone, Archy flies at the cultists and knocks one of em out for the game in brutal hand to hand fighting.
Hulka stands back up and Tor joins him on the platform. Meanwhile Yog continues his slaughter moving in to take down Fyord.
Fyord goes down to Yog's Powerfist.
Tor has seen enough of Yog Soth'oth's destruction and jumps into the fray, only to get knocked down himself.
Archy Bunter is determined to take out as many cultists as possible and he charges into another one.
Fiery gets up onto the platform and drops off a barrel.
Archy bunter continues his rampage taking out the cultist with the heavy stubber once again in hand to hand combat.
Yog gets up and promptly takes Tor Alcorn out of the fight.
At the end of the game I had 3 men standing and four points, and the other crew also had four points and only about 4 men standing. We both bottled on the same turn and it ended as a draw.
In the aftermath we both had taken some bad casualties. Several of my men now only show up some of the time and several of my crew will not be participating in the next few games. However I did get some nifty upgrades and as good as Archy was this game in HTH, he will be even better in the future.
Coming up next time will be more Book of the Arbitrator action, stay tuned and thanks for reading....
Central Services AKA The Crate and Barrel Game Part 1
Welcome to June! My last post yesterday was kind of a downer but I'm in a much better mood today and looking forward to tonight and tomorrow where I will be playing a couple more Book of the Arbitrator games.
In anticipation of those game I have decided to post up a battle report from the last Book of the Arbitrator game I played several weeks ago.
On this blog: http://excursionsbeyondthecall.blogspot.com/ my opponent in this game has already posted a battle report and has a bit more info on the scenario for those of you reading this who want to find out more and see more pics as well.
The Central Services Disposal Unit Mission
The object of this mission is to collect crates and barrels and drop them off at the central disposal unit. Each barrel of crate is worth 1 point. At the end of the game the crew with the most points wins. A unit may carry more than one crate or barrel but the point value decreases for each barrel or crate they are carrying. If they drop off a crate or barrel in the central disposal unit then that counts as a point and they can go pick up more.
We set up the battlefield as shown in the following four pictures:
I split up into two groups, Hulka, Fiery, Fyord Fairlain and UgSplage the Ogryn move up on the left.
While Archie, Rocky, Alsia and Candor hoof it on the right.
The 3 remaining Eldar had gotten disillusioned and joined forces with a Slaaneshi cult. They start opposite of my crew and begin moving towards the center.
Yog Soth'oth leads the groups of cultists into the fray.
Yog moves into position:
Tor Alcorn the sneaky assassin moves into position with a barrel on top the tall building.
The cultists continue their advance:
Two of the cultists try to be sneaky.
Daemon the sharp shooter moves up getting ready to use his grappling hook.
Tor Alcorn, the assassin, uses his grav chute to float down to the ground with a barrel. He and the rest of Hulka's crew continue to move into the center of the board.
Coming up in Part II: Things get ugly.....
In anticipation of those game I have decided to post up a battle report from the last Book of the Arbitrator game I played several weeks ago.
On this blog: http://excursionsbeyondthecall.blogspot.com/ my opponent in this game has already posted a battle report and has a bit more info on the scenario for those of you reading this who want to find out more and see more pics as well.
The Central Services Disposal Unit Mission
The object of this mission is to collect crates and barrels and drop them off at the central disposal unit. Each barrel of crate is worth 1 point. At the end of the game the crew with the most points wins. A unit may carry more than one crate or barrel but the point value decreases for each barrel or crate they are carrying. If they drop off a crate or barrel in the central disposal unit then that counts as a point and they can go pick up more.
We set up the battlefield as shown in the following four pictures:
While Archie, Rocky, Alsia and Candor hoof it on the right.
The 3 remaining Eldar had gotten disillusioned and joined forces with a Slaaneshi cult. They start opposite of my crew and begin moving towards the center.
Yog Soth'oth leads the groups of cultists into the fray.
Yog moves into position:
Tor Alcorn the sneaky assassin moves into position with a barrel on top the tall building.
The cultists continue their advance:
Two of the cultists try to be sneaky.
Daemon the sharp shooter moves up getting ready to use his grappling hook.
Tor Alcorn, the assassin, uses his grav chute to float down to the ground with a barrel. He and the rest of Hulka's crew continue to move into the center of the board.
Coming up in Part II: Things get ugly.....
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