Eldritch Horror by Fantasy Flight Games

Ok, so a new store opened by my house the other day and I went in to take a look and found this gem on the shelf. I didn't really plan on buying this game and it was more of an impulse buy. I opened it up when I got home and we played a game. It was a lot of fun and it has some mechanics similar to Mage Knight if you are familiar with that game. One thing that is different though is the game length. For those of you who have played Mage Knight or a similar game it can take quite a long time to finish it up, this game came in at about two hours. There are plenty of reviews on the game on different sites but I will post a quick review soon enough. Check it out if you haven't and it is a great cooperative board game.

Rob

Romans: Work in Progress

Once again Nick sent over some pictures of his Romans that he bought from Warlord Games Hail Caesar Range. He picked them up at Gencon last year when bought the Conquest of Gaul Starter Set. Well he is making a lot of progress and our rules are moving along for an Ancient Warfare table top game. So here are the pictures and hopefully you can see more units soon.

Battlefront Releases the New DUST Tactics Rules

Well we have been waiting to see how this new rule book would turn out. http://www.gf9-dnd.com/Docs/Dust/Dustrules_starter.pdf Having skimmed through it I can say that I think some of the new changes will be a lot of fun and really add to the game play.


A few things caught our eyes right away and here are some of them:

1. New activation option: You can now "pass" if you have less units than your opponent.
2. Reaction test uses two dice: Roll two dice and if you get two hits you can move and shoot or other combinations of move and shoot. One hit still allows you to shoot.
3. Infantry Saves: All infantry units get a save if they are not in cover. Soft and Hard cover saves are gone, just hard cover saves from now on.
4. Vehicle Facing: The way your vehicle faces it important now for reaction tests and for arc of fire.


So if you are a DUST player get over there and get your free rules and if you are interested in the game check out some free rules you can always proxy some models.

News From Empress Miniatures

I sent a message to Empress Miniatures the other day and I received a quick response about some of their vehicle package deals. I was asking if there would be some more package deals since the new release of their U.S. Marines, Australians and Chines PLA. I asked specifically about an AAV kit so the Marines could have a ride. I was informed that there will be more package deals coming out in March. This is really good news considering the quality of their product and their vehicles look really good at this scale. When the new package deals come out we will get a few and review them. Keep posted on the blog because we are going to do a some pictures and short gallery of some of the models that we have started painting from Empress Miniatures. If you have not checked them out I would give them a glance. They have some great looking stuff and it is very accurately based. Here are some more pictures of some of their vehicles.
Rob

DUST Starter Set for the Allies

 

     So last week we previewed the SSU faction's new starter set and this week we will take a look at the new Allied starter set.

 

     The Allied set will feature the new unit card design that the other two sets have and from my understanding they are smaller cards. The new dice will also not feature blank sides instead they have been replaced with new symbols to add some more options for your gaming experience.

 

 

 

The new cards do look great, and now they are two sided. I think the added benefit of having some card protectors can really help keep them safe.

 

The biggest thing I saw when looking at these cards was the change from "Jump" on the Pounder card to "Fast". This will truly add some more game options and I think it is a better rule. The Pounder walker rarely used the "Jump" rule in our games. I cannot speak for everyone else but I for one am very happy about this rule change.

 

The new starter set has the infamous Grim Reapers that have pulled out many victories for my allied army. I know their ability to lay down some awesome anit-air fire has been a nice asset. The box set comes with dice, mats and some terrain tiles as well.

 

 We also see some new objective cards and a new rule book available in the set. Although we have all three factions represented at Black Heart Gaming, it looks like a few of us might have to start some new armies so we can get our hands on these new sets. Next week we will take a look at the new German Starter set and we can see what is inside.

 

Rob

 

Marines, PLA and Aussies From Empress

     So I got my Empress Miniatures in the mail today from my Kickstarter backing and I am really impressed. If you were not aware I backed the project last year and it was really my first foray into modern miniatures. I also purchased some additional models from Empress and I was very happy with their product and detail. Today I received my U.S. Marines with boonie caps. The pictures above are with helmets but I will have some painted figures soon to show on the site.

     I will do a more detailed review on the models later but I just wanted to highlight some of Empress models that are looking really good and begging for a mainstream rules set. I think Empress has some of the best looking modern models on the market and they would be on par with Infinity's sci fi line, in terms of detail.

    I am just dying for a skirmish level rules set or a squad based game to really make these models come out into their own. Especially with the amount of veterans that are gaming I think there is a lot of potential for a modern rules set.

    The PLA is also part of the new release and they have some great looking stuff.

    The Australians received some great looking models and the accuracy on the weapons and uniforms is just superb.

Another thing that Empress has and it has done well is their range of modern vehicles. They also sell army deals with about a squad of troops and an APC or a technical vehicle. As we have witnessed the emergence of more diverse lightly armored vehicles on the battlefield, Empress has included these in its latest range.

   The M-ATV even has two different weapon options in the form of  an M2 .50 cal or a MK-19 Grenade Machine Gun. So check them out if you haven't yet and I will definitely review the new models I received and take some pictures of the final product.


Rob

Roman Command

Here are some more of Nick's Roman models from the Warlord range. This is the command unit that you get with every box set. The three models represented are a musician, standard bearer and unit champion. Nick has created a Centurion that was previously featured unit on the blog. We will keep posting pictures of our Warlord models. We are getting them ready to start play testing our upcoming ancient warfare rules.