The Sin City Dispatch #4

Hey everyone and welcome to Issue #4 of the Dispatch!

In this issue, we will start out taking a closer look at the upcoming releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000 including a little bit of information about the "big announcement" that Rackham had for us. Next we will continue our look into the squiggly bits of the gamer mind as we kick it back up a notch. Last but definitely not least we will head to the Workbench again to see how the green glory of Waaagh Dakagrub shaping up. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming Releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000

Rackham finally had what I am assuming is their "Big Announcement" this week as they have become Rackham Entertainment. While this is a new company, they say that they will "continue to count on the unique expertise of the RACKHAM SA Design Studio". The announcement goes on to say that the Design Studio has already "conceived the products" for the next twelve months and that Rackham Entertainment will be able to "market these new products within a very short period of time". Part of this plan involves new releases coming out at the same time worldwide and on a monthly basis, starting with Wave 8 at the end of November and Wave 9 at the end of December.

They go on to say that they will be work to "ensure the North American stores will receive on a regular basis these new releases as well as marketing and promotion tools...including the establishment of organized play" and that "Very soon we will be able to tell you more about...all the surprises we have ready for you."

So what does it all mean? From the sound of things, Rackham has been purchased lock, stock, and barrel by a new company that will be picking up where Rackham had left off. This is good news for veteran players since it sounds like they will not be doing anything too radical to the game system other than making sure that releases actually come out on a regular basis. What other "surprises" they have in store we will have to wait and see but for now the future is looking better for AT-43.

Speaking of AT-43, there were more pictures of the Cogs released and it looks like someone in charge agreed that the whole orange thing was totally ridiculous. This is what the new Cogs look like.

This is a definite improvement over the old paint scheme. After all, who doesn't like red body armor? No news at to a release date for the Cogs yet but from the announcement also said that a new release plan should be coming soon.

Another thing of note is the new format for the attachment boxes that will be coming out in Wave 9 but more on that in the next issue. (Don't you just love teasers?)

On the 40k side of things, there are only two major releases coming out at the end of the month; the Realm of Battle Game Board (which you can see pictured below) and the Scenery Painting Pack.

Both of these are...interesting products. The board looks cool and the Scenery Pack seems to have a lot of useful items in it for terrain building but the price...youch! The Game Board comes in a $200 while the scenery pack is another $40. Sure this is not a bad idea but I mean really, why would anyone spend that kind of money on this stuff when you can get it elsewhere for much, much less? Great concept guys, but I just can't see this as being worth it. I'd much rather buy a ton of miniatures instead.

What A Tangled Web We Weave...
A Look Inside the Gamer Mind

Bringing Your Game Up A Notch

In the last Dispatch I talked about bringing your game down a notch for friendly games. This time we are going to take it back up again for the serious stuff.

Leagues and tournaments are great ways to get in some more competitive games. What you are playing for varies (anything from pure fame and glory all the way up to cold hard cash) but the idea remains the same; you are there to win. Period. Well, almost anyway but more on that later.

When you are preparing for a tournament, it is important to remember that you need to have an army list that is flexible and can handle a variety of situations. It is all well and good to have a rock hard force to crush your enemies but if you can't take control of objectives then you might be heading straight for disaster. Controlling objectives in the game is a key aspect in both AT-43 and 40k, but in both cases this can only be done by certain units. You need to make sure that you include enough of these unit to be able to take the objectives and also weather the storm of enemy fire as they try to take those objectives away from you. Skimp on these core units and you will wind up with an army that can't do the basic things you need to win.

Once you get to actually playing the game, it is vital to remember just what your objective is. While it can be a ton of fun to just blast your enemies apart, it may be all for naught if you ignore your victory conditions and lose the game. Staying focused should be simple enough to do but getting distracted during the game can be even easier. I know that I can think of a few times that I became so focused on destroying a unit that before I knew it the game was over and getting sidetracked by my bloodthirsty little rampage had cost me the game. Stay focused, secure your objectives, then kick butt in the time you have left.

The final and most important thing is make sure that both you and your opponent are having fun. When the game start to go your way it is easy to get carried away and before you know it you start saying things that could rub your opponent the wrong way. Nobody likes a sore winner so try to keep this in mind before the trash talk really starts to fly.

The opposite of this can happen as well. You can get angry and frustrated by how poorly your army is preforming and all of a sudden the whole gaming experience has gone to hell in a hand basket. I have been on the receiving end of this frustration before and let me tell you it is no fun! I actually had such a bad experience that after winning that particular game I was literally ready to pack up and put the lot on Ebay as soon as I got home. My opponent told me later that he was just frustrated how poorly his army kept performing but even so the incident left a bitter taste in my mouth that has kept me from playing the game again. Sore winners can be bad but a sore loser can be a thousand times worse.

This wraps up our dive into the gamers mind on bringing your "A" game but remember that the most important thing is to always make sure that everybody has a good time. After all, it is just a game.

From The Workbench
the Next Big WAAAGH!!!

Since the last Dispatch, I have managed to add some more details to my Kommandos to really make them stand out from the rest of the Boyz. The first of these modifications were face masks quickly followed by some backpacks.

The metal Kommando minis made by GW are wearing a cloth over their faces so by using a little bit of ProCreate epoxy I was able to make the same thing on mine. The backpacks are made by Pig Iron Productions and come on a metal sprue with seven backpacks and twelve pouches. The main downside to these is that they are a little small of Orks (gettin' inna doz pouches wud be fiddly) but I still like the effect that they add to the miniatures. I have also been able to get ahold of some burna bits for my Kommando heavy weapon troops along with more Boyz so I will be able to field the full mob of fifteen Kommandos if I want to. Bigger is always better with the Orks so it is good to have that option.

I also made some changes my Kommando Nob Skumgrot Nazshak to give him that extra "punch" in close combat.

First I cut off his big choppa just above the wrist. This is a breeze to do because the plastics are soft enough that I could actually do it with just an x-acto knife. Next, I took an old Space Marine power fist that I had lying around and I cut it off at the wrist as well. Then I pinned the fist onto his arm and used some more ProCreate to sculpt a bandage around the join. Voila! Instant Nob with power klaw. I also like the position of the power fist because it looks like he is waving his troops forward as they sneak up on their enemy.

Some changes were also made to Mad Doc Gutsnaga. In addition to a surgical mask and apron, he finally has the needle on his syringe! Yay!

I actually did this after I accidentally broke off the old syringe but I really like how the new one turned out so it was all for the best. The only downside right now is that I still have to get my hands on some Grots for the Mad Doc and my Nobz. I had wanted to wait until the new plastics were released but I think that I might be better off getting the Warhammer Fantasy Goblins and converting them just so that I can get them onto the table.

For the core of my horde of Orky goodness, I have been able to pick up a bunch of Ork Boyz minis putting me well on the way to having a pretty good sized army. My primary focus for my troops is going to be boyz with sluggas and choppas but I want to field a unit or two of shoota boyz as well to give my horde a little bit of range. To give them a little bit of maneuverability on the battlefield I am going to mount them in a trukk but there is a twist. Instead of using a regular Ork trukk I am converting a Tau Devilfish.

As you can tell this is still a work in progress but so far I am pretty happy with how it is turning out. I especially like what I have been able to do for the new engines on this thing but more on that in a future Dispatch...

And The Parting Shot

Well, that just about wraps it up for this issue of the Dispatch but before I go there is some good news; more battle reports will be coming soon! A new LGS just opened up much closer to my house and the owner is really interested in getting some in store 40k happening so once I get a little more work done on my Orks the battle reports will be back!

Well, that's all for now but until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

The Sin City Dispatch #3

Hey everyone, welcome to the new home of the Sin City Dispatch!!!

In this episode of the Dispatch, we will be looking at the latest releases for both AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000. Next I have a new segment where we delve deep into the mind of the gamer... and try not to touch all those bizarre squishy bits. You never no where they have been. Last but not least we will be taking another look at the Workbench to see how my Waaagh!!! is coming along in all of its green glory. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming Releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000

The big news for AT-43 right now is that Fantasy Flight Games will no longer be distributing either this game or Confrontation. There seems to be no official word from Rackham about what is going on except some remarks about a big announcement later this month. After my time with Mongoose Publishing and all of their wonderful "big announcements", this really doesn't seem to boad well for the game but only time will tell exactly what will happen.

In sharp contrast, the Games Workshop front has a number of new releases for the Space Marines that have already hit the shelves. I am not going to touch on all of them but there are a few that really piqued my interest.

The Sternguard are one of the new elite choices that are available for the Marines.

Proving some serious ranged support, the Sternguard have a number of ammo options that they can choose from which really gives them the ability to handle almost any situation on the battlefield. I have even heard that they can all be equipped with their own combi weapons which is a nasty little trick. Kit a bunch of them out with combi flamers and then say goodbye to those cover saves! As for the models themselves, they are certainly not bad but they are kind of pricey especially if you are going to be fielding a full unit of ten. Personally I think that I am going to use the regular Tactical Marines with various bits to make my own Sternguard.

The Vanguard squad is another one of the new elite choices that the Marines can field.

Equipped with power weapons, these guys pack a nasties punch than the regular Assault Marines and they are able to Deep Strike in using their jump packs. The downside is again the miniatures. They look cool and all but with true line of sight would you really want a bunch of guys that are that high off of their bases? Then there is the cost which is pretty high for these ones as well, making this another unit that I would rather just convert some of the plastic Marines so that I could field them.

On the vehicle front there is the new Land Raider Redeemer

Equipped with a twin-linked assault cannon and two massive flamers, this beast will let you charge right through your enemies lines before openning up to unleash its payload of Marines. The kit can also be used to make the Crusader variant but personally I don't know how you could pass up on those flamers.

The last one that I am going to cover is the one that I have loved the concept of ever since I first saw them in the old Rogue Trader. The Space Marine drop pod.

While drop pods have been made by Forge World before, this is the first time that they have been available for a reasonable price. Now you can finally field the Marines the way that they were intended, as the Angels of Death falling from the sky to smite the heretic! Yep, I love these things. And as an added plus you can equip them with a Deathwind launcher so that you can start dropping templates on you enemies while your Marines charge into combat. What's there not to love about this?

One other thing which is not out just yet but should be coming soon (at least that's what I'm hoping anyway...) is plastic Grots. Yes, that's right. Soon it will be possible to field a reasonably priced Grot shield for your Ork horde. What is there not to love about that? Appearing to be almost the same as the current metal minis, the new plastic Grots are supposed to be a one piece figure. And the great part is that now I don't have to convert a bunch of Warhammer Fantasy Goblins to make my Grots. The Orks just keep getting better and better.

What A Tangled Web We Weave...
A Look Inside the Gamer Mind

Bringing the Your Game Down A Notch

Your first thought might be "What a minute. Doesn't he mean up? Why would I possibly want to take it down a notch?" Normally I would agree but read on and you will see what I am talking about.

As gamers we get together with others to have a good time pushing around some miniatures and maybe win a couple of games. In some cases you want to bring your A game; tournaments, leagues, when you are playing that really annoying guy that no one can beat. In these cases, there is nothing wrong with making you list a hard one and bringing the hammer down on your opponent. Friendly games are a beast of another color though as these are usually just played to have a good time. This can make them the perfect opportunity to just go a little crazy and try some things that you normally wouldn't.

A good example of this would be try an very vehicle heavy list in AT-43. Since most vehicles can't control objectives you are really putting yourself at a disadvantage but visually it would look pretty cool to just see a ton of walkers out on the board.

Conversely, you could try the opposite end of the spectrum and go infantry heavy. This option would be especially hard against an opponent that can throw out a lot of indirect fire templates but it would be one heck of a challenge. Heck, you might even stumble on a new tactic to try out in the next "serious" game that you play. The great thing about doing this kind of thing is these games are just you and your friends having a good time and maybe a laugh or two as well, even if it is just because of how crazy that list was.

So remember; bring your "A" game to the tourneys but if you are just playing with friends then don't sweat it. Just get out there and have some fun!

From The Workbench
the Next Big WAAAGH!!!

As I mentioned before, I have had family in town so unfortunately I have not had as much time to work on my army as I would like. Even so, there has been some progress made so let's take a look, shall we?

First up is my Warboss, Wazgul Dakagrub.

Nothing special here really, I just like the miniature so I wanted to put up his picture. I might add a little something to it to personalize it but on the whole I think that GW did a great job with it.

Next up is the leader of my Nobz unit, Mornob Ursog.

Mornob is a really basic conversion as all I did was build my own Waaagh pole for him. The pole itself and the cross piece are just a piece of sprue cut to size while I cut the glyph out of some spare styrene sheet that I had lying around. As a finishing touch, I added a skull with a top knot that I had chopped off one of the other Nob minis.

Next up is Mad Doc Gutsnaga, the painboy for my Nobz.

Instead of using a Nob mini for him, I decided to just convert a regular Ork boy. His back pole and glyph were made out of more of the spare styrene though the pole itself it actually a small I girder. To make his bone saw, I just cut off the end of his choppa and carved some saw teeth into it.

The 'urty syringe was a little more involved though I am having a heck of a time finishing it. I cut off the barrel of his slugga and then attached the clip to the top of this piece to make the back half of the syringe. The tube that forms the main body of the syringe is actually just part of a stirring straw that I cut down. I added a few bits of styrene to this just to add some detail but the real problem is the needle. I had cut a piece of styrene and glued it on but it broke off pretty easily so I am not quite sure what I am going to do to fix it. Maybe some brass rod or part of a paper clip so that it is stronger. I also still need to do some putty work on the Doc so that I can add a surgical mask and an apron. More pics of that once it is finished.

Rounding out my HQ choices (at least for now) is my Warphead Gorbog.

I have heard that weird boyz aren't very useful in the game but I really liked the idea of making my own just for the fun of it. Just like the Gutsnaga mini, I went with the regular boy for his figure. It seemed really fitting in this case since I see the weird boyz as some kind of runt compared to the rest of the Orks. For his staff I just cut the head off of his choppa and then added a top knot to the bottom of the handle. To top it all off, I drilled out a spare Marine head that I had lying around and stuck it on the top.

Just like Gutsnaga, Gorbog is not done either. I want to try to make some Waaagh lightning out off some thin wire and the have it shooting out of his eyes, hand, and the Marine helmet. I have never tried anything like this before (painting lightning yes, making lightning no) so I am not sure how it will work out but I am excited to see what I can come up with.

Last of my conversions from the Black Reach set is Wortslag Gorgut, the Nob leading the Boyz.

This one is another pretty easy conversion as I just added a back pole with a glyph but this time I also added a Marine shoulder pad for a bit of flavor.

As you can see, all of these are for the most part pretty minor changes and additions to the basic miniature but I really like the way that they have added to the whole flavor of the force. Now I just need to get them painted but more on that later.

And The Parting Shot...

Well that about wraps it up for this issue but I wanted to share this picture before I went.

This is a scratch built Chaos Warhound Titan. This is done in scale for 40k which means that it probably stands about 12 inches tall. The really sick thing is it is made out of paper. Isn't it amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it? Wonder how many paper cuts he got while he was making it...

Well, that is all for now but until next time may all of you dice come up paper Dragons. :)

Sin City Dispatch #2

Hey everyone and welcome to the second issue of the Sin City Dispatch

In this issue we will start by taking a quick look at the latest pictures Rackham has released of the Cogs. Most of it we have seen before but there is a little something extra as well. The rest of the issue will be all about the box of plastic goodness that is the Assault on Black Reach. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000

Since the last issue of the Dispatch Rackham has actually released two issues of Cry Havoc Online, both of which have some pictures of the Cogs that we have never seen before. One of the most startling ones (for me at least) is the picture of what they look like without a helmet on.

I hate to say it but this is nothing like I expected them too look. From the concept pictures I think a lot of people were under the impression that the Cogs were somewhat Cthulhuian (does that word actually exist?) in appearance but this looks more like a typical Grey from Hollywood. I hate to say it again but this is another disappointment in my book. I am sure that just like the Karmans some people will like the look of these minis but I am really finding that I am falling into the camp of those who don't.

There is also another preview picture of the Cogs but this time it is what looks like their type III infantry.

The pros of these minis are the sculpts look kind of cool with an Anime flair to them. The problems is the paint job. Again with the orange! At first glance they look like some kind of an alien construction crew or chain gang instead of a powerful faction that was able to put the hurt on the Therians until the Karmans were thrown into the war. Something that looks worrying from a play point of view is the variety of weapons these guys have. It might be that these are from various type III units (such as the various types of the TacArms for example) but if they are just one unit then having that jumble of weapons could have an impact on how effective they are in combat. Of course only time will tell how good or bad any of the Cogs are but so far I am really not sure about the direction they are taking with them.

On the 40k front, this month is all about the Space Marines baby! Of all the releases, the new Codex is without a doubt the most important one.

Coming in at 144 pages, it will include all of the rules for fielding a Space Marine Chapter so if you are looking to build that Marine chapter that you have always dreamed of or you just want to see what new nasties they will be fielding, then this is a must buy. The bad news is that this is the first Codex that will fall under the new pricing, coming in a $30. On the plus side, this book is bigger than most of the current Codexes by at least 40 pages so it should have a bunch of new goodies and information in there.

A majority of the remaining releases are new minis for the Marines (including a plastic Drop Pod kit!) though there is one other product that really jumps to my attention and it is something that I will definitely be picking up; the Dice Cube.

For a mere $6 you get 27 20mm dice inside of a giant die. How could any gamer pass one that one? "I think I'll use the giant die for this roll." Plus the price actually isn't half bad so I would definitely recommend grabbing at least one of these right away.

To find out more about these items and the other new releases, head on over to their site and check out the Advanced Orders for 40k.

Taking a Closer Look at...
Assault on Black Reach

Cracking Open the Box

Everyone knows that there is nothing worse than opening a game only to realize that you just paid for a box full of air. The good news is that this is not something you need to worry about with Black Reach. From top to bottom, this box is packed full of stuff. In addition to the four sprues of minis, there is also a small version of the rulebook and a starter book. As far as I can tell the rulebook contains all of the information that the hardcover has (minus the fluff and color painting sections) while the starter book is more of a basic overview of how the game plays with a bunch of full color pictures thrown in as well. All of the templates that you need are also right in the box as well as some dice. Definitely not enough dice in the long run but it is a start in the right direction. A scatter die is also included so overall you are ready to go right out of the box once you have assembled the minis.

Taking a Closer Look

Looking at the miniatures, the first thing that struck me was the level of detail. From purity seals to scroll work, they managed to get it all in there. The symbol for the Tactical squad is even sculpted into the shoulder pads! And it is not just the Marines that received the love either as the Orks are very detailed miniatures as well. From my own experience, I think that this is great. While it might seem that having the extra detail just means that the figs would be harder to paint, I think that the opposite is true. With the higher level of detail, everything is so well defined it really seems to make the figure much easier to paint so I am really looking forward to getting to the painting. First I just need to cut them all off the sprue, assemble, and prime them. Definitely different than the AT-43 "open the box and go" feel but I am still really excited about these which really says something to me.

And The Verdict Is...

So is Assault on Black Reach worth the $60 price tag? In a word, definitely. The hardcover version of the rulebook alone costs $50, while you get all of the information that you need in a smaller size in Black Reach plus a ton of miniatures for an extra $10. In fact I have heard about a number of people getting two, three or even more sets of Black Reach just because of the value in the miniatures. Heck, I know that's what I am going to do.

From the Workbench
the Next Big WAAAAGH!!!

After some slow progress to start with, I have finally assembled most of my Orks from the Black Reach set though I am doing it slightly different from the what the box lists the contents as being. Rather than fielding a twenty strong Boyz mob I have decided to split the group and I have assembled them as a twelve strong Boyz mob and an eight strong Kommando mob, both of which are lead by a Nob. This is actually pretty easy to do and make them somewhat different as I simply used the helmeted Ork heads for my Kommandos while the rest of my Orks running around with a bare head. Here is a picture of the Kommandos...

And the regular Boyz...

To take it a step further, I am looking for some seperate backpacks that I can mount on the Kommandos to give them the appropriate "military-wannabe" look. This will really make them stand apart from the "regular" Orks (if there is such a thing...) by giving them a very unique look. Combined with just the other miniatures from Black Reach (the Deffkoptas, the small Nobz mob, the Warboss, and the other conversions that I will be doing with just this set) this should go together to make a pretty good starter force for my Ork horde. It is by no means finished of course but it is definitely a solid start to getting my Waaaaagh!!! underway.

And that is all for the issue of the Dispatch! Be sure to come back for soon for more Sin City goodness and until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

Sin City Dispatch #1

Hello everyone and welcome to the new Sin City Dispatch!

In this issue of the Dispatch, we will be looking at the new preview pictures that Rackham has released for AT-43 plus we will take a look at the new Assault on Black Reach boxed set for Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition. Next, we will be taking another look at my new Space Marine Chapter, the Reclaimers, to see how they are progressing. Last but not least, I stumbled across something at my local grocery store that has inspired me to start work on a new terrain piece. Just what could it be? Well, you'll just have to read on to find out!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000

In the latest Cry Havoc Online, Rackham released previews of several different miniatures that they having coming down the pipe in the next few months for AT-43. The first is the UNA Fire Crawler, the second of the support striders to hit the shelves.

Mounting two Grasers, this support strider packs a considerable punch and can easily cripple lighter striders with one salvo. It also mounts enough armor to make it a hard nut to crack though it does have the lightest armor of the support striders, the common hallmark of the UNA vehicles.

Now what about the miniature? Personally, I don't really like it. The forward sections of the hull swoops down so low that they really negate any ground clearance that the walker would have and the articulation of the legs where they meet the hull just doesn't look like it would be able to move well enough for it to be very maneuverable. There is also a large hatch on the back of the hull which seems odd. I would assume that this is meant for the crew to enter the vehicle but with the overall height of the hull it makes it look like the Crawler also has some kind of APC capability which it doesn't. While this is a nice addition to the game because it finally finishes off the units from the UNA army book, I am really not that thrilled with the sculpt. To each their own though, right?

Next are the Cog Warmongers.

While there are not many details out there about the Cogs, it seems like the Warmongers are going to be their basic infantry unit based on the previews that Rackham has been showing us. The main difference between this picture and the previous ones is they finally got some paint on them so we can see what they will look like. One question though; why are they wearing hunting vests?

These are still nice miniatures but I am really not that thrilled with the paint scheme. It reminds me too much of deer hunting season in Maine. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against hunting but it looks like the Warmongers are wearing safety gear so that they don't accidentally shoot each other. Makes me a little nervous about how the rest of the army will look like, but maybe there is a reason.

Last but not least is the ONI TacArm which for some reason I can not post a current picture of so I will have to put up the old one in its place.

These two pictures are identical in all respects but one; the new picture has the "helmet" of the TacArm open so that you can see the pilot. As I noted before, the arms and torso seem very odd because they look like some kind of body suit rather then armor and the new picture seems to support this look. The face of the pilot within seems to be heavily scared (of course they are mercenaries which could explain this) but he also doesn't look like he has a neck (which the mercenaries thing doesn't really touch on). In fact the musculature of his shoulders looks absolutely massive, giving him an almost Frankstein look. While this seems really odd, he is ONI and they have already aluded to the fact that ONI has access to technologies from all of the other factions. It might be that the TacArms are enhanced and modified Humans but only time will tell and until that time I am going to hold back my opinion of this one.

On the Warhammer 40k front, the big release is the new Assault on Black Reach starter set. Coming in at $60, this is an amazing value for all of the stuff that it comes crammed into the box. Don't believe me? Well, here is a look at what you get in there.

As you can see, that is a ton of minis, plus three templates, dice and a digest sized version of the full rulebook containing all of the rules for the game. Definitely a great value for anyone that is new to 40k or even anyone that it already a fan. Since I have mainly focused on AT-43 in the past, I do want to point out that Games Workshop minis are not pre-painted so you will need to break out the brushes for these but I really do think that it is worth it. From what I have seen and heard, the new edition is pretty good set of rules and Assault On Black Reach is a solid step toward collecting either a Space Marine or and Ork army (or both if you are crazy like me).

As a side note, I am also going to do a review comparing 40k and AT-43 in the future but I want to get a bit more experience with Warhammer first. I can already think of a few pros and cons for each system but I want to get a little more play in to see if there is anything else that I might be missing.

From the Workbench
Raising the Reclaimers

As I showed you a couple of weeks ago, I recently unearthed some of my old Space Marines and started painting them up. I had the base coats on the full squad and force leader and I have made some more progress on them. Here they are in all their glory.

Not the clearest picture I'll admit but I think that you can get the idea. Beyond the base coat, I added a few details to them; the trim on the shoulder pads, the Imperial Eagles on the chest, the white stripe on the right pad indicating the squad type. These are all small additions to the models and it was very quick and easy to do them but they really do add a lot to the model. The bases are also very important as well. I didn't add any details to the bases beyond some flock and painting the edges black but even this helps to give the whole group a more uniform and finished look. I am still in the process of working on the Eddy the Dread but once I get some more work done on him I will be posting his picture as well.

Is this all that I will be doing with the Reclaimers? Not hardly! This is just the beginning of my new Space Marine Chapter and the minis from Black Reach will be helping to swell their ranks. I also have some other ideas floating about things that I can do to really give the Chapter my own feel instead of just being another cookie cutter Marine Chapter. Unfortunately more on that will have to wait until the new Codex comes out in a so that I can see exactly how far I can go with it all. So have no fear; the Reclaimers are coming for you!

Lay of the Land
The Storage Tank Project

While I was picking up some groceries the other day I noticed these items on the shelf.

I almost walked right past them but something told me to pick a couple up so into the cart they went. When I got home, I took another look at them and instantly saw the potential for a terrain piece, namely a large storage tank. With only a few additions I plan on taking this simple jug from the grocery store to the battlefields of the far future, and the beautiful thing is that it cost me less than a dollar. That's right only $0.75 for one of these bad boys so we will have to see just how cheap I can make this project by the time I am finished. I even picked up a couple of extra ones so that I could put several of them onto the table to create a small industrial complex but more on that later.

And that is it for this issue of the Dispatch! It was a long time in coming but it took me a little while to figure out just what direction I wanted to go in. Thanks to everybody for putting up with the wait! Now that I think I have things figured out, the updates should be more regular in the future. This is the Snowman signing off and until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

Returning to the Beginning, aka Another Minion for the Evil Empire

While I plan on taking a break from AT-43, I definitely don’t plan on giving up gaming. Far from it in fact! Among the things that I will be touching on over the next few months are several miniatures games as well as some board and card games. So, without further ado let's get to it!

The first of these games has a place in many miniature gamers hearts, be it for good or ill. What could it be you wonder? Let me give you a few hints that will make it obvious. Over the years, I have collected several armies for it and it is still in the sci-fi genre. Hmmm… What could it be? Sci-fi, been around for years, collected several armies for it… Sound familiar? That’s right I’m talking about Warhammer 40,000.

Over the years, I had amassed a motley assortment of Chaos Marines, Space Marines, Tau and Tyranids. Notice that I said had amassed. I sold my Chaos Marines, my Tau, and a good sized chunk of my Space Marines a couple of years ago leaving me with a handful of Marines and my Tyranid horde, neither of which were really painted. Well, they were painted as in paint had been applied at some point but there was very little theme to it and nothing was ever really completed.

With the release of the 5th edition rules our local gaming community has become all the buzz about 40k again and a friend of mine has started running very small games to help people become familiar with the new rules. In fact this past Saturday he ran several 500 point games at our FLGS so I decided to break out my minis to see what I could actually field.

Digging through the small plastic box of Marine bits and minis that I have, I actually managed to find about fifteen Marine minis that I could scrounge up for a game, along with a Land Speeder, an old version of the Land Speeder Tornado, and an even older version of a Dreadnought. I had planned on taking a picture of this bunch of misfits before I started painting them but it slipped my mind until I had the base coats on all of the Marines. D’oh!!! To give you an idea of how mish mashed my minis are here is a picture of good old Eddy the Dread (this is a Rogue Trader era mini for those of you that might remember it).

Originally painted up as to be part of a Chaos army, I kept it when I sold the rest of my Chaos miniatures. As one of the original dreadnoughts introduced to the game back in the 80’s in White Dwarf #100, they are quite hard to find. In fact my friend told me that I have one of three that he knows of in Vegas.

As for the rest of my fledgling army, here is a picture of how they look right now.

With a mix of some of the original “beaky” Marines from the 80’s along with a couple from the newest version of the Marine plastic set, I actually had the makings of a couple of squads right off the bat. By just adding a force commander and land speeder with a multi-melta to my other minis, I was able to field a nice little 500 point “army”.

The question now is how did it go? Well, I arrived while they were still wrapping up a four player battle (Witch Hunters and Space Marines on one side with Orks on the other) and I was immediately struck by how negative everyone was being. I have listened to various podcasts about the new edition and a majority of them have only good things to say about it. After watching them wrap up the game and launch into more complaints about the game, I asked them if it was so horrible why did they play it? I mean really, what is the point of playing a game that you can’t stand? No one was really able to give me a good argument against this and they all started say that it wasn’t really that bad so apparently it was another case of “let’s bash the Evil Empire” that prevails in the hobby.

The other players needed to get going and Jason and I set up our forces so that I could see how things worked. On my side, I had a total of twelve Marines (including the commander), one Dreadnought, and one Land Speeder. On the Ork side, there was a War Boss commanding the army, a unit of at least half a dozen Nobs, an Orky Dreadnought, and a mob of thirty Ork Shoota Boyz. Nothing like being hopelessly outnumbered, right?

So how did it go? Well, I did have to pack up early (family emergency which thankfully proved to be not too serious) so we only managed to get into the second turn but from what I saw it didn’t seem too bad. Movement seemed relatively straight forward as well, at least from what I saw of it. Coming from AT-43 I was at a loss at first as to how far I could move. As for shooting, there were lots of dice on the Ork side (in one volley Jason rolled 38 dice compared to the paltry four dice that I had rolled the turn before, and that wasn’t even the whole unit shooting!) but after playing against the Karmans that really didn’t phase me too much. The true line of sight and cover saves also really made sense to me from what I saw.

Was it enough to get me back into 40k? Possibly though there are other games that people would be familiar with that I am considering as well, the first of which is Warmachine. Unfortunately the Warmachine community in town is very erratic to say the least but it seems like it might be making a comeback so I have sent out some emails to see what is happening with it. Either way, I am still going to add some more Space Marines to my collection so that I have a small army that I can field. After all, it is 40k and like it or leave it that is one game that is not going to be disappearing anytime soon.

Another thing that people should consider is the new starter set coming out later this week, Assault on Black Reach. Loaded with a ton of miniatures, this set contains enough to give you the start of both a Marine and an Ork army right out of the box. You need more to be able to field “legal” armies in the game but this is a great way for new gamers to get into the game for a very reasonable price. As for the quality of the minis, they are not on the same level as the regular unit boxes but still, you are getting 46 miniatures of various types including three small vehicles and one walker for $60, not to mention a small version of the rulebook and the three weapon templates. Personally, I don’t see how you can go wrong with this. After all, even if you buy and decide that 40k is really not for you, there is always Ebay.

Well, that is all for now but there will be more in the future as I track my work on my Marine Chapter, the Reclaimers, and my Warmachine armies as well. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!