I've received the last corrections to the lists and here they are in all their glory SouthCon 2014 WHFB army lists We have 14 registered players this year with another two turning up on the day for 16
To the left and right of the new Gorkanaut (or is that Morkanaut?) Now that we have solid confirmation of Mega Nobz, what other rumours will come true?
Right on the back of the new edition of 40k Games Workshop have released a complete set of FAQ's for the game. Details can be found over in Black Library
Several large updates to some of the older books but only minor changes with the latest ones. No sign yet of any of the much needed WHFB ones. With more than a year past and six army books released Games Workshop have really dropped the ball here. If they stuck with the same timeline they used for 40k, we wont see another until 9th edition, which wont be so bad if it was just around the corner. September release anyone?
Horned Rat VII was run over the weekend and attracted 26 players from throughout New Zealand.
It was run under ETC comp and played on ETC terrain. Many thanks go to Pete for not only putting up with about 20 gamers taking over his home, but for organising and supplying all the terrain for the event.
My much vaunted Dark Elves managed 3rd overall and 60 something battlepoints. McCrae managed to establish Dwarven stubbornness as a weapon and succeeded in placing his throng on the second step. And finally Dan set a tall order to follow taking out his second tournament this year with WoC
So with the ETC comp we managed to get 7 different races in the top 10, with Dwarfs, Empire and Tomb Kings taking a double stake. Even Beastmen made a showing in 8th! Well done Stewart.
Disappointment of the weekend goes to Jeff Kent proving that no amount of drill can prepare you for the trepidations of a weekend of war dollies.
Over on 40k Daemons someone has got their hands on a set of the new psychic powers a few days early.
Enter the new 40k Magic phase. It appears that Games Workshop have taken 8 editions of knowledge and experience and adapted the solid Fantasy Magic phase for 40k. With each power having a casting value (1, 2, or 3) required to cast, and dice generated by rolling a D6 and adding the number of mastery levels in your army to the total.
From what is known, you are required to roll a number of 4+'s equal to or greater than the casting value of each power. This is a small deviation from WHFB and may just be a strong indication of what we will see when 7tth edition lands (rumoured to be September this year).
Dispelling is done similarly to casting but require 6+ to be rolled on each dice, and the number of 6+'s must be equal to or greater than the 4+'s rolled to cast it. There are rumoured modifiers to these rolls like psychic hoods etc that give +1 for the rolls.
It appears the similarities between the two systems are ever increasing. Can't complain, the mechanics of WHFB have always been superior, and moving 40k closer to them can only improve the game.
What do we have here. Is it just a picture of the Ork fluff section in the new 40k rulebook? or is this the new codex for Orks? We have many rumours of Orks being just around the corner...
So with New Zealands first real ETC comped tournament just around the corner, I thought I would do a breakdown of who I think will be top contenders on the weekend. My assessment is based purely on the lists, and of course excludes my entry as not to be biased. ETC is a funny child. It changes the meta a lot compared with what people would normally take in New Zealand. Add to that most players in the field have little experience using ETC comp and more importantly the rule changes, and I think things will be mixed up a little more than normal. Full set of lists can be found here Ryan Lister - Warriors of Chaos Can't ignore it. Skull crushers and large Troll unit. Providing he can keep his characters safe and the Trolls under control Ryan will be up in the running Hamish Gordon -Empire Double Demi unit, cannons and a barrage of Light/Banishment what's not to like. Typically Empire has not performed as well as the lists suggest but looking at the field I think Hamish has a good chance. The only thing holding him back is the lack of chaff... Jeff Kent - Orcs and Goblins Yes I'm picking OnG to be a contender. This is ETC comp, they get 100 extra points and no restrictions. Jeff's take on green Dwarfs has more chaff than normal so he will need to keep control of how much he bleeds, but he is also well placed to take on high armour and avoidance lists. One to watch Glen Burfield -Daemons Heh. Its Daemons. If played well they will be top third. Providing Glen misses some of the harder matches the Daemons will have a field day with others. He is the only Daemon list in the tournament so he better be waving the flag hard Pete Dunn -Skaven The wylee old rat himself. Knows the list. fine tuned. ETC captain. only a fool counts out the grey seer. Skaven are still a contender despite what all the rat players will tell you. With comp none to different than what is normally run, Pete lines up vs a slightly weaker field than normal Dan Butler -Warriors of Chaos Another ETC player, Dan has been practicing with this fine tuned Warriors list for a while. Dan will be a hot contender for the podium. All depends on how many times Lightning Bolt bounces eh. Peter Williamson -Wood Elves Some may think this is an unusual choice, but with Wood Elves so new, don't count them out. With what can be considered a large deviation from what the internet is telling you atm, I think many will be surprised to see the list finishing top third of the field. Another to watch. So a few things you may notice, no Dark Elves and no Dwarfs. Dwarfs make up over 20% of the field, however most a fairly similar in design and I dear say that they will (hopefully) be playing each other all weekend getting 10 points a round... As for Dark Elves there are only two. Charlies list and mine. Charlie has bought a combination of Black Dragon and dual Manticore. A very interesting/unusual combination going against current Meta trends. Looks nasty but if he comes up against Dwarfs or Empire it will be a setback for him. Hes also not running RBT for counter battery... There is also several people that have been tempted by the extra points up for grabs. The forests of the old world have been emptied of Beastmen, and even Khemri has marched up from the deserts. whilst extra points is always welcomed, its needed to get over the age of the books. Will it be enough to get them across the line? Sams Tomb Kings maybe, but I don't think we will see a Beast player on the podium. So there you have it. All thats left to say now is: bring it on!
These look rather good and are set at a very nice price. Ive taken a punt for a set and at $60 NZD including tracked shipping there a fair bit cheaper than your old GW hack brush.
Once they arrive I will try do a small comparison to my Rafael and W&N brushes.
With less than a day to go you better be in quick if you want some high quality brushes for a dime...
As sure as anything, 40k rules are slowly being pushed closer to WHFB rules. Its hard to argue really, when you have a far superior rule set and game (WHFB) and a substandard set of rules (40K). 6th edition seen some large sweeping changes bringing the ugly duckling that is 40k towards WHFB such as random charge moves, and USR's. And now 40k gets a magic phase complete with random power dice generation, irresistible force, dispelling attempts and miscasts...
I cant wait for the anguish over new rules such as "always wound on a 6" (conjecture on my part)
Creature caster came to a close on Sunday Night. Jeremy posted a video thanking all the backers for what was a very successful campaign
The campaign close at 1081% of his goal, with 1487 people backing him.
I personally have pledged 2x silver and 1x gold. I intend to get the Vulture Daemon (Lord of Change), Pincer Daemon (Keeper of Secrets), and Possessed Dragon
The campaign was unusual as far as Kickstarters normally go as there was no mid campaign "lull"
New backers where attracted each day
Daily pledge amounts where consistent throughout
Community feedback and engagement was high for the campaign. Games Workshop take note, engaging directly with your market is a positive business driver!
Jeremy's success laid bare
Jeremy has promised delivery by the end of the year. I know many kKckstarters miss their goals and hope the success for Creature Caster dosn't add delays to delivery.
I think all supporters are interested to see second wave and the Canadian Chimera...
Interesting how Warhammer Forge is on the backburner due to low sales (for similarly priced models) yet projects like this are successful. I guess the void left has created an opening in the market for Creature Caster. Now that they have the foot in the door there will be a lot of loyal customers anticipating future releases.
So apparently when the community asks (cries) for more BALANCE in the game, Games Workshop decides to ignore this and make the game more unbalanced. Call me cynical, but all this sounds like to me is a way for them to sell as much as they can of the latest flavour of the month. Lazy rules righting? Too early to call? I hope I am pleasantly surprised...
Its now been a month since Games Workshop launched their new website and at the same time closed down all final remains of social media... With its flash interactive sales cart and rather functional (if not sometimes frustrating) filter it is a marked step up from the previous guise. What do you think? I can't say I am entirely surprised about the complete lack of customer interaction. Those "Brits" may be good at "grimdark" and making sexy wardollies, but they need to take a page out of the "Mericans" book when it comes to engaging with their captured market.
In what many businesses would call "Capital Suicide" GW continues the past trend of sticking their heads in the sand. No new hobby article, no new FAQ's, reduction of Games Days, closed marketing, pulling out of tournaments, glacial rules development.... its almost like they do not want to be in business. Yet despite all this, the company keeps soldiering on. Nobody knows how. Its amazing how they can get one thing so right, and everything else so wrong!
