Gaming Unplugged
Games Workshop, An Appreciation Thread
By Lorfarius,
November 30, 2007 in Gaming Unplugged
Had my first game of Necromunda last night. An intro game with a guy at the club and and another guy I've been talkignt o on gaming forums for....six years? Jesus. Seems odd we only just met in person.
Anyhoo, really enjoyable. Mechanics quite easy to grasp, and I can see how the campaign system would really add a whole new layer to the game. The scenario seemed a bit off on victory conditions, but I appreciate I' looking at it through competitive eyes, which the game isn't about. What the scenario did do however was add a whole lot of chaos and fun, which seemed to be a theme. From falling masonry knocking out gang members, to brutal ammo checks, to having my guys who usually only move 4" sprint 11" in a random direction because someone thought it would be funny to set them on fire (*long hard stare*).
Either way, lots of fun. Look forward to more games.
And Orlocks done.
Super fast pass, trhe evenings' worth of washes, just getting them table ready.
Weird thing is I got these from Troll Trader, and however put them together primed them with some kind of sating primer which was a bugger to paint over and allowed th paint to rub off really easily. Still, two coats of varnish down, so they should be ok.
Davros sock drawer
"No new minis until I've finished my backlog"
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/09/01/heresy-thursday-assassinate-enemy-infiltrators-with-their-own-weapons/
Ffffuuuuuu.....
Pelekophoros
It's a lovely model also bewbs.
This expansion contains no miniatures, so you can acquire each of the three vampires in turn as you head out on your quest to hunt them down one by one. You'll need a set of Fell Bats and Radukar the Beast to start immediately. If you've already got a Soulblight Gravelords collection, this expansion unlocks a heap of new narrative opportunities.
err.. Boo...?...
I guess I'm okay with this if the price is right. But given the Fell Bats are currently £30 alone, I'm not sure how I really feel.
edit: current cost of all the models for that - over £100! Ouchie.
I kinda get where they're coming from here from a business standpoint. Cursed City's bumpy early life means those required models probably wouldn't have seen life for some time outside of the game otherwise. But its early demise and resurrection means they wouldn't want to do a set with them all in now and undercut the individual sales out there.
Typically if things hasn't worked out this way I would have expected something like expansion 1 with Kritza, expansion 2 Lady Annika etc.
I wonder if the next one is going to be "get yourself some Direwolves and Belladama Volga to start, then track down the Crimson Court warband".
Nathan Wind
This approach has pissed me right off. I appreciate that a lot of their audience might cross over to the war game side and already have the minis/suitable proxies, but they should at least offer up an alternative fully complete version for board gamers. Underwhelming game gets an underwhelming expansion.
Captain Kelsten
Allo. Darktide is coming out soon and I'm trying to hype myself up for it which is difficult given a) I am not a Warhammer fan, but love Vermintide and Total War Warhammer (actually, does that make me a Warhammer fan? I dunno), b) I prefer Warhammer fantasy to 40k and c) I know fuck all about 40k other than it's about massive roided dudes with chainsaw swords, starship troopers bugs, them purple things from that game from the 90s (gene splicers?) and edgy emo grimdark stuff.
I read Horus Heresy years ago and it was...alright, I guess?
Anyway I guess I'm looking for book recommendations? Dan Abnett is writing the story for Darktide and I don't know who he is other than that he has written a lot of books about 40k and I'd like to read some to get me in the world and so on, but if you guys know him and rate him, could you recommend anything? I read somewhere that Gaunt's Ghosts is a bit like sci-fi Sharpe and that sounds pretty cool. I am less interested in anything to do with those massive fucking hulk in armour dudes.
6 hours ago, Captain Kelsten said:
Abnett is by far and away the best writer for BL. His Eisenhorn and Ravenor books are worth reading. Brotherhood of the Snakenis abgreat standalone book. And if you want something of his that isn't 40k, Triumf is about as close to Pratchett as we're likely to get from now on.
1 hour ago, Mikes said:
Triumf is about as close to Pratchett as we're likely to get from now on.
Finished Awlrach the Drowner. Probably the most fun I've had painting Nighthaunt!
11 hours ago, Captain Kelsten said:
Dan Abnett has been pretty open - despite writing some of the best entries in the Horus Heresy series - about Space Marines not really having a particularly exciting story to tell. Ultimately, they're genetically engineered murder machines that should be unleashed on a planet as a second to last resort (the actual last resort being virus bombs that eradicate all organic matter from the surface entirely). They follow orders, shoot things, and feel pretty much no emotion while doing so.
His Horus Heresy books were good/great because alongside telling the brutal reality of an order that knows only loyalty fragmenting and cracking because of daddy issues, they explored the human cost - both through the eyes of normal human primary characters and the Space Marine main players themselves. A key moment being Space Marines rushing injured comrades through crowded halls playing out as you would expect - a group of walking tanks crushing a mass of humans who are blocking them by accident/through frustration.
So Abnett is focused on the human tales. Darktide is that; it's a Chaos incursion (Nurgle) in the depths of a hive city, and you're one of a number of human characters suffering existence during this time (oh, and a genetically engineered Ogre), and have for reasons been roped into Murdering Things whilst trying to Achieve Things. I think it looks great, and is going to be fantastic.
In terms of books, you've got some stories recommended to you already. In a nutshell, you need to avoid the anything that focuses on Space Marines Fighting TM. Those tend to contain lots of bullets, lots of exclamations of 'BROTHER!' and things being punched.
I'd really recommend the Warhammer Adventures books. They are firmly aimed at kids, but they are also well written and still pretty hard scifi. They're also focused on human characters in the midst of all this madness.
Aside from that; go with stories of general infantry, or non-SM factions. There are some good ones there and, when a SM appears, they tend to be as a god like, all powerful character (as they should be), rather than an attempt to humanise the fundamentally inhuman. Space Marines are creatures with multiple hearts, lungs and the ability to spit acid, after all. They're not really that much different to the Tyranids.
feltmonkey
Team Blue
I've not read Gaunt's Ghosts, but I'm sure I'll get around to it sooner or later. Abnett's Eisenhorn books are pretty good though. That series is about an Inquisitor, kind of a James Bond in space figure, with added nastiness and demons and stuff. The series gets pretty grim and dark. Incidentally, "grimdark" isn't supposed to be edgy or emo - it's always been intended as black humour and satire. It's only really since Warhammer took off in America, and the American audience took it seriously, that it has edged more towards seriousness, presumably because everybody is too embarassed to point out that that part of the audience is getting it wrong. This is a bit unfair on America, actually. There are plenty of 40K fans in the UK and worldwide who are completely missing the satire.
I agree with you that the Horus Heresy series is no better than "alright." It's funny - the biggest storytelling event Games Workshop have is hamstrung by two factors - everyone who is invested in the lore already knows the ending, and GW's own (understandable considering it's "importance") insistence on stretching it out over so many books. A 60 (so far) book series is kind of an unprecedented undertaking in literature. The Discworld series is 41 books, and that took Terry Pratchett a lifetime. Plus he was an unusually fast and prolific writer. Individual books in the series are great, some good self-contained stories, some interesting points being made about the universe, some insight into the defining event of the 40K story, but it sags. Some of the books which exist as connective tissue to fill out what the various Primarchs were up to and their various crippling daddy issues are the weakest in the series. Then as it goes on there's a load of stuff about some kind of cabal made up of magical immortals and guys who can see the future which just gets annoying. But some of the books about individual characters and their small stories are great. Flight of the Eisenstein is great fun. The First Heretic and Betrayer are brilliant. Fulgrim is batshit and hilarious.
I assume you read the first three books? You can't have read the whole series as you would have needed a time machine and an extraordinary amount of stubborn determination to read so much dense lore of a universe you're ambivalent about. They're fine. I like Loken as a character, but it really tails off at the point where it should ramp up, and the third book is a disappointment.
I'm reading (well listening to the audiobooks of) the Ciaphas Cain books at the moment, and they're really enjoyable. They're pretty light, but they're focused on taking the piss out of the 40K universe. They tell the story of Commisar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium, who isn't actually a hero because he tends to succeed by accident while trying to save his own skin. At the same time there's the suggestion running that perhaps this is the truth of all heroes. There aren't any Space Marines.
8 hours ago, Mikes said:
I like Abnett's books, but I don't know if he is "far and away" the best. I'm a big fan of Aaron Dembski-Bowden. His Nighlords trilogy are the best 40K books I've read.
3 hours ago, Pelekophoros said:
Most of the best 40K books focus on the humanity on the fringes of the Space Marines or whoever's actions. This isn't exclusive to Dan Abnett by any means. In fact, the scene where the Lunar Wolves trample the civilians is in False Gods, which was written by Graham McNeill. The most bolter-porn action movie style 40K book I've read, Rynn's World, contains some very powerful scenes involving the civilians of the world, under siege from the Orks. That's a great book, by the way.
The reason I really like the Night Lords books is that not only does ADB show the effects of living on the flagship of a chaos legion on the human characters, but he manages to humanise the chaos marines as well. They're still ultraviolent walking tanks, but you get why they are how they are, their motivation, doubts, and psychosis. You understand how they become "heroes" to the humans simply by fighting on when no-one else would be able to, despite the fact that they couldn't give less of a shit about the humans. The portrayal of the kind of Stockholm syndrome the human characters experience, grateful for any moment when the marines are not just mindlessly cruel, is very well-realised. Plus, the battle between Xarl and the hero of the Imperium is stunning.
Sorry, yes. Didn't mean to imply only Annette did human stories, or that that moment was his. Poor writing on my part.
horus rising, false gods, galaxy in flames and flight of the eisenstien are all great, just make sure you read them in the right order. fulgrim up after that then even descent of angels are a good starting point. I personally like the 30k stories more than the 40k ones.
This doesnt steer you too far wrong https://www.wargamer.com/horus-heresy/book-order
Fathers Day present from my wonderful kids. I guess I play Fangorn now.
That Bumbart is freakin sweet
I'm keeping the box purely that reason.
ScouserInExile
On 03/09/2022 at 21:37, Captain Kelsten said:
Anyway I guess I'm looking for book recommendations?
I almost exclusively read Black Library books these days. So can make a couple of recommendations:
Gaunts Ghosts is a great series. It's pretty much Sharpe in space, but is full of great characters and loads of action and stuff. Theres been a recent big even designed to drive the story on that I didn't like and I feel it's slightly running out of steam as a series. But you're a good dozen books in before that happens.
The Eisenhorn series. This is a lot of reading. There are three Eisenhorn books, three Ravenor books, then two, soon to be three, Bequin books. And The Magos, which also fills in a few gaps in the story. It's a huge tale of bands of Inquisitors in an intergalactic murder mystery conspiracy kinda thing. Really compelling reading. The Magos actually has a few chapters / short stories then says "now read Xenos" then a few more chapters "now read Malleus" and so on. A lot of reading, but really worth it.
I like Chaos stuff, so the Night Lords trilogy, Talon of Horus and Black Legion, Storm of Iron, the Word Bearers trilogy and Lords of Silence are all worth a read. Though the Night Lords trilogy has a slightly annoying thing where significant things happen to the characters in a different series (the Ultramarines books). Lords of Silence all happens during The Gathering Storm series, though it's not essential to read any of the other books, as long as you have an idea about what's happening with that.
Titanicus and Double Eagle,both by Dan Abnett, are really good as well. I seem to remember they're technically part of the Gaunts Ghosts universe
Bloodlines is an non-40K book set in the 40K universe. It's kinda interesting to see what life is like for ordinary people in the Imperium.
Away from 40K the Gotrek and Felix books are a great swords and sorcery series. Though, I will say, the first novel isn't great because it's just a series of short stories then it heats really good throughout the ones William King wrote, stays good when Nathan Long takes over writing then takes a series nosedive in quality when Josh Reynolds writes the last few books.
To be honest, I find anything by Dan Abnett, Aaron Dembski-Bowden or Chris Wraight worth reading, but that's obviously all personal taste.
I really didn't get on with the Horus Heresy novels. Tried a few times to read them, got a few books in and gave up.
martingee
The independent gaming shop I play and buy at is closing down . It's a one man shop and he's going back into education which is where he came from before setting the shop up.
I'm not entirely sure on all the reasons but last Wednesday when I was down he did mention the hike in his energy bill would probably be enough to close him if nothing was done about it. He's been steadily growing it over the last nine years and, although I don't know him well enough to fully discuss his business plans, I wonder if Covid and the cost of living crisis has bitten hard with the energy cost been the last straw to break the camels back. His sales have obviously sustained him this long but I think other factors are at play other than wanting to get back into education, it's hard to sustain your passion for something if you feel like things are stacked against you.
I genuinely feel sad for the guy, he's a warm, friendly person which is the main reason I play there; it can't have been an easy decision even if you have the hard facts are in front of you.
He sells other gaming systems but GW is a big part of his sales and he does 10% discount and 25% on pre-orders. And whilst there are similar independent retailers nationally and locally, I'm gutted he's closing as it's the only place I play.
It's not closing right away but he'll be winding it down over the coming weeks so I'll have to look at somewhere else to play which, if I'm been honest, seems like a massive ballache. It took all of my efforts to get over that initial hump of meeting new people which I do poorly at, at the best of times, I'm not sure I've quite got it in me atm.
Bit of a ramble there, I know it's not strictly GW focussed so have a pic of my kitbashed, Death Guard Daemon Prince:
Edited September 5, 2022 by martingee
Girth Certificate
https://www.waylandgames.co.uk/30-off/90943-the-horus-heresy-age-of-darkness-english
30% off, bargainz
edit : guess not so much
Fortunately that's an easy pass for me - I really don't like the Beaky Marines.
It's also fortunate because I laid out my entire pile of shame at the weekend, and it covered an entire kitchen table. It was helpful, as I sifted through it and selected the models I most fancied painting next. It's still pretty bad though. The sub-pile I'm most ashamed of is all the Age of Sigmar scenery I accumulated through buying Mortal Realms magazine. I don't play the games FFS! I think I'm going to just sell it half-painted. If anyone is after anything, let me know - I'd let it go quite cheaply. I'm never going to paint it.
1 hour ago, Girth Certificate said:
I'm not surprised, when it launched they had crates of the boxes in the main shop area, god know how many they must have had in the warehouse.
3 minutes ago, Oracle said:
Pile of shame wise, I have 2 knights to build & paint, 4 war dogs to finish painting & a truckk to finish painting.
That seems quite modest. Here's mine:
Random old style Stormcast make up the biggest pile, then a random collection of Nighthaunt, small group of Necrons, half finished Space Marines, half assembled Orks, then Cursed City, Dominion, and then the ridiculous pile of scenery. Oh, and three Malifaux figures!
The sprues are Death Korps of Krieg, some Skitarii Rangers, a big Necron Spider thing, and odds and sods like half sprues of Primaris Marines and Ork Boyz .
The ones I really want to finish are the Cursed City and Dominion sets, as I really like the models. But then I keep getting distracted painting (yet more) lenses on Necron stuff:
I'm not going near Pile Of Shame photos...
My son's gotten back into painting after years out, so we've committed to spending an hour a day working through our stuff. He has Orks, I have everything else. He's coming along to the game club I play at in October and super hyped to try a simple 500 point game.
2 hours ago, Davros sock drawer said:
oh shit I forgot about cursed city. Need to build that. And finish painting the silent king.
6 hours ago, Girth Certificate said:
No, it is a good price!
My own reaction was more "Oh no, another box of sheer temptation."
That box is amazing value at full price, never mind reduced. I have friends that want to play the game, although what tends to happen is that by the time I get an army built and painted, everyone has moved on/died of old age.
I could claim the VAT back, probably. It's work-related...
12 hours ago, Girth Certificate said:
Exchange rates put that at $215au. From an Aus online store it's $380, down from GW Aus' price of $475. Seriously have no idea how GW are still in business down here.
Anyhoo, speaking off - Isengard army (plus a TReebeard) ready for priming.
It's partly due to GW's prices down here and their general approach to never having anything ins tock that every game of MESBG I've seen down here had at least some 3d printed models on each side, if not the whole army.
Here's an army I painted popping up on youtube. I repainted the Hive Fleet Titan Tyranid force for SN Battle Reports. The army had been assembled piecemeal over the years by SNBR with some painted by us, some painted by other artists or studios, and they didn't look like a coherant army anymore. It was a tricky job because I had to match the paints used as accurately as possible, and we had no documented recipes for any of it. It was supposed to be a "touch up" job, but in the end I think I put fresh paint on every part of every model. The blood is probably my most favorite part of the finished army. Blood For The Blood God looks too bright red, and too uniform for my liking, so I mixed in some darker paint to vary it a bit and make it less cartoony.