AT-43 Dispatch: Monkeys and Robots Doing the Zombie Dance!

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest issue of the Dispatch!

In this issue of the Dispatch, we are going to start out staying close to home again with another look at the Sin City Daily. Then we are going to have a bit of a surprise in an Intelligence Report featuring a look at the new ONI army box! So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Sin City Daily
More Monkey Business In Sin City

This weekend saw another game as Dyllon and I played another game of AT-43! As my latest additions to my Karman army have not arrived, we decided to throw in a Wraith Golgoth for each of us so that Dyllon could get a taste of the vehicle rules. In the end, it was a good game but the monkeys were put in their place by their Therian Masters! That'll teach them to complain about their banana rations...

More people have expressed an interest in checking out the game and Dyllon is still eagerly awaiting the release of the ONI army box, so things are still looking good for the future of AT-43 locally. Once I have the rest of my Karmans, I am thinking that I will run some demos of the game at BattleZone so that I can really get the game moving.

Intelligence Report
Taking a Closer Look at the ONI

We also have a little bit of a surprise here at the Dispatch. Thanks to our friends in France, we have some more detailed information on the ONI including some of their special rules. So without further ado, let's take a closer look at the Zombie Horror that is... the ONI.

The mercenary forces of ONI belong to the human species, the newcomer in the universal war. Its zombies know no fear, on the contrary; it is the other species of the galaxy which are afraid of them! Its powerful combat vehicles are armed with the best technology ONI purchased, stole or looted from the battlefields all over the universe.

Super Zombie Reanimators

The Super Zombie Reanimators are the largest unit in the army box, weighing in with a total of twelve Reanimators. Among their special abilities are Nerves of Steel (not surprising for zombies) and they suffer from Zombie Syndrome, which requires that they spend 1 LP to activate (not sure on the translation there...). ***Edit: It's looking like the Zombie Syndrome special rule actually means that a unit that shoots at the zombies has to pay 1 LP. I am guessing that this is to represent the leader yelling "The head! Shoot at the head!"*** Then there is the zombie gun. Esh...

Okay, this is an indirect fire weapon with Accuracy 3, an Attack Rate/Re-Roll of 1/1, AoE of 4, and a Pen/Damage of 4/1. Doesn't sound too bad, but there's more! It also has the Contamination ability. Sounds fun, don't it? Any enemies killed by this weapons are replaced with zombie detonators, forming a new unit whose card is added to the activation sequence in the next turn. Guess this explains the Reanimator part of the name...

The unit also includes a Zombie Master which gives the weapons of the unit the contamination ability. Yeah, that's right. As long as the master is alive, the whole unit can potentially create massive numbers of zombies. Thankfully, this is offset by a fairly low Armor of 5 but I can still see these guys being very difficult to deal with.

This is a ** unit that costs 500 points and includes two zombie gunners, one medic, one zombie master, and is lead by a Shomyo.

Zombie TacArms Alpha

This unit of three armored zombies, though their armor is not as heavy as the TacArms of other armies. Only an Armor 9 for these guys, which seems low but considering the figure is mostly bare flesh in kind of makes sense.

Equipped with a Zombie Gun (same lovely stats as above...) and basically a UNA laser gun, these beasties look like they are going to be some pretty solid all round fighters. They also have Nerves of Steel and Zombie Syndrome abilities, just like the Reanimators. They are a *** unit that costs 300 points and is lead by a Samurai.

Zombie Detonators

Well, we had to get to these guys eventually, especially since more than half of the army can create more of them! They have a very low Armor 4 and no ranged weapons. Instead, they have two sets of claws and fangs so they really do just want to run up and give you a kiss. In addition to the unsurprising Nerves of Steel and Zombie Syndrome, they also have Bioexplosive. This lets you sacrifice each of the Detonators when you activate the unit, resulting in an explosion with an AoE of 2 and a Pen/Damage of 12/1.

Not surprisingly, Detonators are only a * unit and only cost 175 points for eight of them. Of course with all these Zombie Guns you are going to need a lot more then eight, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Medium Destroyer

This is the "smaller" of the two vehicles that come in the army box. With a Movement of 30 and an Armor of 14, this is pretty fast for a type ** AFV with respectable armor to boot. On top of the Destroyer is a Medium Graser with an Accuracy of 7, Attack/Re-Roll of 2/0, and Pen/Damage of 15/2. A very respectable punch as it is, but there's more! Yep, the Destroyer also has the Mechanic ability so that it can repair itself or other vehicles within 2.5cm at either the beginning or end of its activation.

Weighing in at 325 points, it is also pretty inexpensive compared to most AFVs of its type. The one disadvantage is there is only one weapon but the frame has one extra damage box compared to most. Combine that with the Mechanic ability, and you are looking at one tough little package.

Heavy Battletank Vlad and Shogun Bokor

This is the personal vehicle of Shogun Bokov, the hero included in this army box. With a Movement of 25 and Armor of 16, this vehicle is another nimble "little" tank. Plus is mounts a heavy maser cannon with an Accuracy of 7, Attack/Re-Roll of 2/1, and a Pen/Damage of 17/3. That's six points of damage from one shot, assuming that you are firing in the direct fire mode. It can also be fired as an indirect fire weapon in which case it gains an AoE of 3 but keeps the other characteristics.

The Battletank also has the Mechanic ability (just like the Destroyer) and Bokor has the Interference ability which lets you choose one of your opponents card in their activation sequence and move it. Nothing like having your carefully laid out plans changed at the last minute.

As an added bonus, Shogun Bokor is also no slouch outside of Vlad. Equipped with a Sniper Rifle with an Accuracy of 10, she also has Triple Lens Optics which give her the Detection ability and also lets her ignore Camouflage. Always nice to be able to lead from the back, especially when you are leading a horde of zombies. And all this can be yours for only 690 points. Pricey, but definitely worth it from the looks of things.

The Parting Shot...

And there you have it! Still no official release date on the ONI army box but considering there are now pictures of the contents floating around, I am thinking that it will be very soon! That's all for now but be sure to come soon for more AT-43 goodness. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch: Introducing the Sin City Daily

Hey everyone and welcome to another issue of the Dispatch!

This week, we are going staying closer to home with the Sin City Daily as we take a look to see what is happening locally with AT-43. So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Sin City Daily
Spotlight on Local AT-43 News

This weekend, I was able to break out my Therians (along with some new Karmans) and hit the BattleZone to run a demo. I had originally scheduled a demo with the store owner so I could show him the game and get his opinion but that plan didn't quite work out. Something about first being late, and then being smashed. I'm sure you can all figure it out. :)

Instead, I ran the demo for Dyllon, one of the other employees at BattleZone Comics. The fluff seemed to interest him, the miniatures really caught his eye, and once he heard about the ONI (the word "zombies" can be a major selling point), he was pretty much hooked. Still, he wanted to try out the mechanics of the game so we set up a couple of small games just so that he could get the idea how it all worked. Two battles and a bunch of dead Therians later, he told me that he was interested in the game and that he would be picking up the ONI when army the box comes out.

Matt, another player at the store, took one look at the Karmans and said he would love to give the game a try. Just the concept of space monkeys had him excited, but when he saw that they had wrist mounted guns and smoking cigars... well, let's just say it sounds like another player will be seeking his own karma now.

Now I just have to get the owner to try the game and we'll see what happens. Hmmmm... maybe I should bring some liquor with me next time...

The Parting Shot...

Well, that's it for this week. A short issue I know, but with the interest that I saw this weekend, I am thinking the things will be picking up quickly. Until then, I'll leave you all with the best conversion I have ever seen of Omega Tiamat. This was done by Supercollider on the AT-43 forums and makes me want to pick her up just so I can copy his conversion.

What else is there to say? It just looks right. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch: Rise of the ONI

Hello everyone, and welcome to the return of the AT-43 Dispatch!

This issue, we are going to take a look at the latest of the new army boxes that will be coming out from Rackham. So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Incoming!!!
Taking a Look Inside the Upcoming ONI Army Box

Slated to come out in November, the ONI army box will continue Rackham's new trend of selling complete armies for a very reasonable price. The ONI will also expand the AT-43 universe so that it will include six different factions for players to choose from, providing lots of options for new and existing players alike.

Enough of the sales pitch though, what exactly is this box supposed to contain? As it just so happens, we have a picture that shows just what there is.

A whopping 26 miniatures for $70. Definitely not a bad deal, especially considering two of those miniatures are actually vehicles plus all of the other stuff that comes in the box. There is even some information floating around about just what these units are, so lets dig a little deeper to see what we can find.

First up are the zombie Detonators.

In a universe where no one can escape war, these happy go lucky fellows just want to give everyone a hug. Sure, they explode while they do it, but isn't it the thought that counts? As if that wasn't bad enough, the charges these guys carry are supposed to be strong enough to even damage an AFV, meaning this one unit that you really can't leave sitting around for too long. With no weapons, it should be possible to just run them every turn and before you know it... BLAM!

Next up are the what I have only seen called "super zombies". Fitting perhaps, but for some reason I don't think that's the official name.

Equipped with autoshotguns and buzzsaws, I expect these critters will be a terror in close quarter fights. Imagine fighting a zombie with a circular saw and a shotgun in a building. Eeesh... My advise? Run away and shoot them at range.

Next up are the zombie TacArms Alpha.

With some of the first images put into circulation more than a year ago, it now makes sense why they look the way that they do. They're zombies! It's all so clear now...

Equipped with a laser cannon and a zombie gun, it will be interesting to see just what these guys can do. The laser cannon will give them some serious armor piercing punch but the zombie gun... Not sure of the specifics but there was mention on the AT-43 forums that it creates more zombies. Take it from a Therian player, being able to create more troops during a game is always a good thing.

The last of the infantry units in the box is actually a hero, Shogun N. Bokov. Described as being "as beautiful as she is dangerous", she looks like she will add an interesting twist to the army. A commander with a sniper rifle? That's one way to keep your leader out of the thick of it. And unlike the rest of the army, she is actually not a zombie.

The last two miniatures are the Vlad heavy battle tank and the medium Destroyer.

The vehicle on the left is the Vlad and looking at that cannon I would say that range is not going to be a problem for it. The thing that I do wonder about is if it will be an area effect weapon or a direct fire. I am going to guess that it will be direct fire since it does not look like it can elevate high enough for indirect fire. Other than that, the only other real question is "What happens if you fire the cannon with the turret turned to the side?" But enough about recoil and real life physics...

It's counterpart, the Destroyer, looks like it might actually be some kind of a transport vehicle which would make the ONI the first of the factions to have the real transport model! As for the gun on the top, it is described as being a medium graser cannon. The UNA Fire Crawler mounts the heavy version of this weapon and based on the stats for that one, the medium graser should pack a pretty good punch as well.

In addition to all of this ONI goodness, there is also a container, six low walls, an area effect template, a tape measure, dice... Everything you need in one box so you can just open it up and dive in right away. As with all of the new army boxes, the ONI army box is an incredible value for a mere $70.

Well, that's it for this issue but be sure to come back for the next issue when we will take a look inside the Cog army box and all their wacky orange figures. So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!