Talkin' GW, Talkin' 6th Edition, Part One- Now and Then.

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

So...6th Edition 40k, huh? Like next week, apparently, or sumpthin.'
Or if not next week, soon, cuz the rumors were that they were pulling 5th Edition off the shelves, and they have. I'm unsure of the exact scheduling, but I'm sure I'll hear rumors soon.

So...rumors, huh?
Rumors, speculation, hopes and wishes. The 500 pound gorilla of the mini gaming scene is returning, but what shape will the beloved, venerable beast be in when it arrives?
Yes, I said beloved, because I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the Grimdark.

*The one pointing is like, 'I hope that's not a Grey Knight!'*

I figure it's good time to discuss Games Workshop, and share some of my thoughts regarding 40k, and the impending Edition change. The mini gaming scene has had a lil' shift since GW released 5th Edition, that's for sure, and 6th Edition will get dropped into a pretty crowded marketplace. It will also be scrutinized, and compared against not only the prior Edition, but against it's competitors.
5th Edition 40k hit shelves in 2008, and had a pretty successful run, without a doubt.

Privateer Press released the MkII version of their flagship games in 2010, and Warmachine and Hordes have grown to the point where it's safe to say 40k is no longer the only game in town. In fact, at this point there are so many mini games out there to choose from, it's bewildering.

Another new game hit town recently, in fact, and this particular game came out swinging.

It's called Dust Warfare.

*The new hotness?*

What makes this game a seemingly instant competitor is it's pedigree. First off, it's produced by Fantasy Flight, a respected name in the hobby biz. Secondly, as it says right on the cover of the core rulebook, Dust Warfare is 'a miniatures game by Andy Chambers.'
Prominently featuring the name of a well-known former member of the Games Workshop staff on your new product, which happens to be in direct competition with theirs, is what I would define as 'coming out swinging.'
The models are lovely, come pre-primed, and they're inexpensive to boot. The Medium Panzer Walker kit, which makes three variants and is larger than a 40k Dreadnaught costs about 25 US dollars, for example.

*It's also pretty sexy*

When you price your kits like this, and launch your product just prior to Games Workshop's (not so beloved) yearly price increase, I would also consider that 'coming out swinging.'
Fantasy Flight dropped a very large, impressive hat into the ring with Dust Warfare, I think.

Games Workshop faced no credible threats when 40k 5th Edition released, but clearly that's not the case now. 
Besides Dust Warfare and the Privateer Press games, there's Malifaux, Flames of War, Infinity, Heavy Gear, Battletech, Dystopian Wars and Firestorm Armada from Spartan Games, newcomers like Freebooter's Fate and Bushido, and even possible 'future contenders' to consider, like Sedition Wars from Studio McVey, and Maelstrom's Banelegions.

I'll add Mantic to that list of names, because with the release of the new Veer-myn for Warpath, it seems like Alessio and company are ready to stop making just GW proxy models, and they might get serious about this whole thing.

*Ok, so maybe they're Space Skaven, but hey, it's sorta different...for Mantic*

So, yeah- the current mini-gaming scene is slightly more crowded than in 2008. Back then, Rackham games was...well, you know what happened with Rackham around that time. Games Workshop stood head and shoulders above the rest.

I don't think GW has to worry about 40k ever going away, even if this particular Edition is disliked. Popular game franchises, especially ones as long-lived as GW's, may fade away for a bit, but the names themselves carry value, and can be marketed in a variety of ways.

*Like video games, for instance*

As far as their actual mini games are concerned, it's hard not to take GW's recent track record into consideration, quite honestly. This goes beyond the usual gripes regarding Finecast, the (not so beloved) yearly price increases, and whatnot.
No, I'm referring to their last two actual game releases- Dread Fleet, and Fantasy 8th Edition. I don't believe that we need to discuss Dread Fleet at all, but Fantasy is another matter altogether.

I've talked with many long time Fantasy players, and the most positive thing I've heard is that 8th Edition 'fixed the Daemon problem,' and that the new Army books are going about the process of 'restoring balance,' one army at a time.
Oh, except Beastmen. They're unfixable, apparently.
It's clear to anyone with eyes that 8th is an unpopular Edition of the game, however. Whether or not this bodes ill for 6th Edition 40k depends on whether or not GW learned anything from the semi-debacle that happened with Fantasy, I suppose.

I thought it would be important for this series to reflect upon where GW has been, before we discuss where they may or may not be going, and whatever crazy conspiracy theory nonsense that may or may not involve.
;)
I also thought I should maybe get someone who A) knows what they're talking about (that excludes me. Sigh), and B) has an longstanding history with Warhammer Fantasy and GW in general (you can check his street creds here).


So without further ado, here's Frontline Gamer, who fills us in on GW's history, including all of the Edition changes.

 

GW founded in 1975 - Initially made regular boards for games like chess, backgammon etc.
GW got rights to distribute D&D in 1976 - This became their strategy for the business, acquire exclusive distribution rights for other people's products. They were a mail order company.
GW first published White Dwarf in 1977 - This was a name change from the Owl and Weasel newsletter they used to distribute.
GW opened first retail store in 1978 - The store was based in Hammersmith, London.
GW provided the capital to found Citadel Miniatures 1979 - Bryan Ansell was to produce Ral Partha miniatures under license, as well as their own product. They weren't (at this point) tied to GW only stuff.
GW published 1st Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle in 1983 - The game came in a box set and contained 3 books for playing battles with fantasy miniatures. The mechanics borrowed heavily from certain RPGs of the time and had little to no background. It was, however, very successful and received a lot of critical acclaim.
GW published the 2nd Edition of WFB only a year later in 1984 - These rules were primarily an update to the original rules and tidied some things up a bit. It is however where the Warhammer world made it's first appearance. It was even more popular than the first edition.
GW ceased distribution of product in USA through Hobby Games Distributors in 1984 - They opened Games Workshop USA.
GW released the first edition of Blood Bowl in 1986 - It has been through many iterations but is arguably their most successful specialist game.
GW released 3rd edition WFB in 1987 - Perhaps the most complex and in-depth version of WFB ever. It included far more detailed movement rules, amongst many other things.
GW release Rogue Trader (40k 1st Edition) in 1987 - It was more of a RPG than a strict wargame. It did prove highly popular, although many thought it was the setting rather than the jumbled mess of a game itself. The rulebook wasn't easy to navigate, making games very difficult to play.
GW purchased by management buyout in 1991 - The rise of Tom Kirby. Although many bemoan the man, most wouldn't be in 'the hobby' now if it wasn't for the change in direction he brought to the company, focusing more on teenagers and kids.
GW released 4th Edition WFB 1992 - Although it shared it's name with 3rd Edition, it was a much more streamlined product and was a far simpler game. Games Workshops also began their trend for 'starter kits' for all their wargames. It also saw the introduction of Army Books.
GW brought out Marauder Miniatures in 1993 - Only one company now left to produce official Games Workshop products.
GW released 2nd Edition 40k, dropping the Rogue Trader monicker, in 1993 - Following on from 4th Edition WFB's lead, 2nd Ed 40k came with a boxed set. The game is often fondly remembered, but like Rogue Trader before it, the game was too complex in many respects and took too long to play. Games often ended with no real conclusion. The system wasn't designed to handle massed combat, although it was a significant step up on Rogue Trader. This is the edition that introduced Codices.
GW were floated on London Stock Exchange in 1994 - Unsurprisingly this raised a substantial amount of capital at the time, but also started what many see as a slippery slope towards looking after shareholders interests at the expense of producing products customers wanted.
GW release 5th Edition WFB in 1996 - Contining the trend set by 4th Edition for simplification of the rules. Is often referred to as 'Herohammer,' and is the first edition to feature what we now know as 'Codex Creep.'
GW moved their headquarters to Lenton Lane in 1997, cementing their place as the biggest wargames company in the world.
GW released 3rd Edition 40k shortly after their move to Lenton Lane - 3rd Edition was the first version of 40k significantly streamlined to allow a larger scale game to be completed in a reasonable time frame. The Dark Eldar, Tau and Necrons were introduced, and it was this edition that is commonly attributed with breaking the game in the USA.
GW launched the LotR game in 2000 to coincide with the theatrical releases - Could be seen as a golden time for GW, or a potential future problem. The sales boost from LotR was artificial and unsustainable. It also led to them sidelining WFB for a number of years, the damage is still yet to be repaired today.
GW released 6th Edition WFB in 2000 - Given the mess that had been created by Herohammer, early 6th Edition set about trying to redress the balance with Ravening Hordes effectively zeroing all the armies. It's one of the most fondly remembered versions of WFB for this reason, although there was some Codex Creep.
GW release 4th Edition 40k in 2004 - 4th Edition 40k actually featured hardly any notable changes over 3rd edition. Like the transition from 4th to 5th edition fantasy this was the beginning of the iterative type of development in GW's core games.
GW release 7th edition WFB in 2006 - It's actually the second most popular version of the game, right behind 4th Edition, in terms of sales. Mechanically, as a core set of rules, it is arguably the best version of the game they've created... sadly, Codex Creep reared it's ugly head again, in the form of Chaos Daemons and Dark Elves.
GW release 5th Edition 40k in 2008 - Still GW's most popular release. 5th edition 40k further streamlined some areas of the rules such as tanks, but also brought back some of the more tactical and in-depth rules that were lost in the transition from 2nd to 3rd edition.
GW release 8th Edition WFB 2010 - Angels cry, wargamers get angry and morons buy buckets for their dice. The bastard thalidomide child of Fantasy is born.


So there ya go, folks. That's where GW has been. We know what the mini gaming scene looks like now, but where do we think 6th Edition 40k is going?
Stay tuned, that's what we'll be discussing in part two, which will feature the House of Paincakes very own Loquacious.


Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

-SinSynn

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Gaming on a Budget: Let's Get L33T

Want to start a new army, but don't have a lot of money to spend?  Well you don't have to go running for one of those fringe skirmish games that only the weird kid who smells like cheese at your FLGS plays.  It's time to put your bloated, mainstream army on a diet. 

Today's mantra is a simple one:  Less is More.

Keep reading for some practical tips for saving money by shrinking your model count.



 Now don't get me wrong, I'm probably the first person to go running towards the newest army around that plays like a horde, but lately I've been doing some thinking about expanding into a new army, but with my recent career change, am not left too flush in the cash department.  The answer for me was a simple one- find the most badass, elite army out there and rock them like a hurricane. 

Why elite?  Well, be it better training, better equipment, or both; elite armies in any gaming system that makes even a modicum of sense will probably cost more points.  More points equals less models which, in general, means spending less money.  As an added personal bonus, since I've never played a huge beatstick elite army in all of my 17 or so years of gaming, this is going to be a challenge for me.  The armies I typically gravitate towards have high model counts like Skaven, Menoth, Imperial Guard, Tyranids, etc.  It'll be like Neal Peart re-learning different drumming technique mid-career, though I'm probably not as good a gamer as Peart is a drummer.  Screw it, the judges are going to let the simile stand anyway.

I know math is hard, but you can figure it out

It's no secret that I've been working diligently on an Ogre Kingdoms army.  They're a pretty classic example of a good solid army with a low model count.  The size of the models makes them a little bit of an aberration, but I still submit that they $/point ratio for them will, on the whole, be among the best in WFB.  Random snippets of that endeavor can be found here and here.  Click those links for details, but the Cliff's Notes version of that army is that it's constructed not only with a low model count, but also basically from 3 battalion box sets (scored for $60 a pop when the market was low on OK) and like 4 more kits.  That's cheap by WFB standards. 

If WFB is on your radar, there are plenty of good army choices to be had.  High Elves are always  classic standby as are Warriors of Chaos.  With both of those armies you're getting some of the best stat lines in the game and for that you will pay a price- in points, not monies.  This translates to a low final model count and will likely save you money.  In past editions, I'd also say that adding a big monster centerpiece to your force is a good way to add high points, low cost eliteness, but those bastards are basically just canon bait nowadays. 

40k more your style?  Well, play any marine army and you're pretty much good to go on the elite tip.  Certainly that's an oversimplification, but if you're looking for a relatively low model count and an army with a good learning curve, you can't go wrong with the boys in power armor.  There are many flavors to choose from and some of those will yield better playability.  Many have had great success with mostly Terminator Space Wolves armies.  Just about anything Grey Knights will be ridiculous and have super low model counts.  Value wise, though buying a bunch of Ravenwing boxes to make a biker army may be one of the cheapest ways to go elite.

Beyond Marines in all of their flavors, things get a little dicier for 40k players.  Eldar are probably a more classic example of an elite army, but let's face it- it's hard to pull off and not necessarily cheap.  Unless you are a staunch believer in the power of footdar, you're going to spend a ton on transports for your fragile units.  Yeah, some of the aspect warriors are pretty great on their own, but only get better when they have a magic bus to ride around in.  Unless you feel like walking those fire dragons across the table hunting tanks that can easily outmaneuver them.

Shifting gears, you may be stepping outside the GW playground a bit like I am right now.  I've got a pretty decent German army going and cold represent many different forces in the late war from Panzerkompanien to Panzergrenadiere.  Now, they're fairly elite, certainly more so than any Russian human wave, but he models counts aren't as low as they can be. 

Honestly, Germans may provide for one of the lowest model count forces in the history of gaming- like less models in a 1500-2000 point army than in a skirmish game.  Und zwar- Die Schwere Panzerkompanie... errr, sorry, the German heavy tank company.  Backed by the Tiger or the even more expensive Porsche Tiger, you can seriously run working lists that feature just over 5 models. 

This is where the new army itch catches me.  I'd like a new FoW army.  In the past, I've focused on tanks a lot, though, and decided to eschew the ridiculousness of the Tiger tank.  Instead of the boss equipment route, I'm going for the extreme training route.  I'll starting a a late war 2. Fallschirmjaeger (paratroopers for those of you not in the know).  I've been impressed with Infantry's survivability in FoW, so I figured why not take an army that will be hard to move out of defended position and is also damn near impossible to make run away. 

Here's a tentative list for what my 2. FJ Kompanie might look like:

 

So in all, we have about 30 infantry models with a few mortars and a pair of PaK 40 antitank guns added on.  Not too shabby model wise.  Just need to test it to make sure it works on the table...

I've only really mentioned 3 gaming systems, but there are plenty of other popular ones out there where you can apply the less is more strategy for saving money.  I've long since been over the game, but if you're into Warmahordes, you can't go wrong by picking one of the red armies (not commies, that's in FoW).  I'm sure there are even places to apply the method in Infinity or Malifaux or whatever other game you're playing. 

I'm out for now.  Happy gaming and go save some money1

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User Content Wednesday - How to pimp your board games!

I was actually going to post this last week during our infotaining run at a unified theme.  Then I went and asked Lo to write a post, which she did,and thought that maybe I would be lazy.  Which I was.  So, running behind and lazy, there was no User Content Wednesday.  It wasn't until just now that I realized that finding an appropriate post would have been as easy as heading over to Fire Broadside!  and grabbing practically anything out of his back catalog.  And not just because of the subject matter, but also because Martin is a Swede who knows his way around the English language.

Recently I've started "pimping" my board games a lot more than in the past. I think it started with painting the playing pieces and then kind of grew from there. But there are many ways to enhance your board gaming experience, and many more that I'm probably not even aware of yet!

So, to get down to business. Here are the things I usually do to pimp my games:

 1. Clean up the pieces.

This might seem like a given, but it's still an important step. This mostly has to do with cardboard chits or tokens that you punch out yourself. There will always be little paper tufts left here and there, and while I don't cut them off entirely (I've found this often does more harm than good), I go over them with nail clippers or something similar to trim them down. They'll still be there, but they'll be small, have a uniform size and generally not noticeable.

When it comes to plastic miniatures the problem is often that they're bent and generally mis-shaped. The easiest method to remedy this is the hot water trick. Boil a pot of water and then keep a bowl of ice water nearby. Using tongs carefully put the mis-shaped figure in the boiling water for a minute or so. A lot of time you'll actually see the plastic work itself back to its original shape when it gets soft, but if not take it out and gently bend it to the correct position. Then quickly put in the ice water and let it cool off. This will set the plastic in the desired shape and you'll have nice straight minis again!

 

2. Colour the edges of your chits.

This is something I rarely see done, and although it doesn't seem like it'd make much of a difference it really does! Normally all your cardboard chits and tokens have some nice print on them, but the edges (that you've trimmed now!) are still that dull greyish colour of raw paper. This has to be fixed! What you need is some felt tipped markers in different colours (depending on the colour of the chits). Black is probably what you'll use the most, but now and then you need something else. Then simply use the markers to colour the edges! Simple as that, although time consuming, depending on the game.

It's not something you normally think about, but when you've done it once there's no going back. It's that big a difference

 

3. Sleeve the cards.

I remember back when Magic the Gathering was first released and how soon after card sleeves started showing up in game stores. At that time I recell them being rather flimsy and, to my eyes, basically useless. So since that time I've more or less stayed away from sleeves in the belief that they're crap. Of course, times change and the sleeves of today are much better! As I discovered when playing Race for the Galaxy during 2008. It's even gone so far that I actually prefer sleeved cards to non-sleeved ones. It's simply a better feeling.

Now there are many different brands and opinions, but I think generally thicker is better. I first bought Dragon Shields from Arcane Tinmen and at 100 microns they're really excellent. Recently I've also tried their boardgame sleeves and, while thinner (75 microns) they still do a perfectly good job. I imagine the ones from FFG are probably better, but they're also twice the price.

When it comes to sleeving board game cards you have to make the decision if you want to sleeve all of the cards or simply the ones that get used/shuffled the most. I tend to sleeve all of them, but that's more because I'm a bit OCD about the matter. Hehe!

 

4. Bag/box the chits.

I remember as a kid, having all the cards, chits and playing pieces just rattling around loose in the box. The horror! Now, I'm very much a bag man myself, but I'd like to try the box approach some day as well to compare.
Hmm... I just noticed that up until now all the pictures have been of Ad Astra, and now it turns into Twilight Imperium. Oh well, never mind. :)

I use zip-loc bags of various sizes, the smaller the better as it takes less room in the box. Using a box (plano or otherwise) does look very neat and conveniant, but it does limit you to that box. When we play we like to put tokens in small glass bowls that are easy to pass around and also make it easier to grab an actual chit. Now, the downside with bags is that it takes time to get everything out and, especially, pack it back in.

 

5. Make reference sheets.

This is something I started doing when I discovered the superb work by Universal Head. The reference sheets he makes are not only often much better than the ones that are provided by the manufacturer (if provided at all that is) they also look terrific! Check out the Headless Hollow for the complete collection.

Of course there are a lot of other fan-made reference sheets out there, and I think a well made one can really help smoothing out your gaming experience by allowing you to concentrate on the actual game rather than flipping through the rulebook. I have easy access to a small laminator so usually laminate mine.

 

 6. Paint the pieces.

I suppose this is in the same category as colouring your chits, this is just more extensive. Unlike the rest of the things on this list painting miniatures is not something you can do in an hour, but rather it's a long term project. As I see it there's two ways to go about it; the traditional way of painting minis with basing, blending, highlighting, drybrushing etc or the dipping method. If you have the skill, the time and the patience traditional painting will render better results. But if you're kind of unsure of how well you can paint, if you've never actually tried it or if you simply don't have the time you might want to try dipping them.

I have no actual experience with dipping so will simply point you to this guide. But from what I can tell it works very well, and if all you're looking for is slightly nicer playing pieces, not Golden Daemon candidatesm it's the way to go. Also if you feel that you're not that skilled a painter I actually think you might achieve better results from dipping than from traditional painting.

Some games lend themselves better to painted figures than others, and it usually comes down to the miniatures themselves. For example, Twilight Imperium has loads of starships and stuff, but to me at least, they don't paint very well. Looking through BGG and seeing people's creations they simply don't look very good to me. And that's certainly not because of unskilled painters but rather because the miniatures themselves are kind of bland and boring. Although I love TI to death, I will not paint the playing pieces (although, ask me again when 4th ed is released). On the other hand, games like Descent and Doom you just have to paint! Since they are so big and well sculpted and the games are all about theme, having painted miniatures really adds a lot to them! Then there are the games that fall in between, like Age of Conan, Battlestar Galactica, Runewars, Last Night on Earth etc. In these cases I think it comes down to how much time you have on your hands, how much you like the game and how much painted minis will add to the experience.

For example, let's take Battlestar Galactica:

1. With only 32 pieces it's not an overwhelming task. 
2. Of these 32, most are cylon ships that are dead easy to paint. 
3. Unpainted the cylon and human ships are the same colour, painting them makes them much easier to tell apart. 

This makes for an excellent example of a game that screams "paint me!". You get a lot for minimal effort! If your painting skills are up for it I'd also put Fury of Dracula in this category. You only have five figures in total, and it would really put a stop to players moving Van Helsing by mistake when they're really playing Lord Godalming (or the other way around). The same thing goes for a lot of adventure games where you just have a few hero minis, like Middle-Earth Quest, Talisman etc.

As for painting games with more miniatures... I'd say there's a line somewhere around 50. More than that and you really have to focus to get it done. I mean, still have 3/4 left to do for Age of Conan! But if it's a game you really like and you enjoy painting then go for it, it'll be worth it in the end.

And that brings us to the end of this post. I'm sure there are a lot of other ways to enhance your board games that I've forgotten or never even thought of! So please feel free to enlighten me, although in this post I try to not get too far into advanced customization. That is to say, building awesome alternative boards, sculpting alternative playing pieces etc, while very coolw is not something I see as possible for every game, but more as a one-off project. Anyway, I'd love to hear suggestions!

In other news, Ad Astra is a great game that deserves much more attention and Babylon 5 is masterly!

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