Silva Towaa and Moar

Some motivation for you my fellows!  Happy Wednesday (or whatever day you guys are reading this, except Tuesdays, they can go rot in Hell).  Hope all of you are doing well!  Today I have lots of talk about Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower - nothing crazy like a review or anything, just some quick thoughts on it.  I'll also be discussing the future of my Skaven and my Bloodbound, as well as some of the plans for my other armies - INCLUDING A FLASH SALE!

Let's go ahead and get started on this amigos, and see if we can keep moving forward!

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Silver Tower.

This is a game that, quite frankly, has been one of the best purchases I have made in a long time.  For $150, you get 51 models, plus an entire board game!  $2.94 a GW model?  Uh, yes please.  Plus a board game, that's actually quite an exciting time!

Quest for the Amulet of Chamon in #warhammerquest #silvertower featuring a big win for the players! Great way to spend the evening!

A photo posted by Patrick O'Leary 🇺🇸 (@patrick_r_oleary) on May 28, 2016 at 9:45pm PDT

 I mean, our group has REALLY, REALLY enjoyed this game, probably more than any other board game that we have played lately.  AND as an added bonus, a couple of people from our gaming group have bought AoS models to use in the game, which means they are one step away from buying into AoS itself!  Truly, a win win for the community here in Atlanta.

As of this writing, we are 5 pieces into the campaign.  All we have left are the shards of Life, Fire, and Light to collect.  (Yes, the piece of light is the tutorial game.  Yes, we died.  Horribly).  I have been playing as the Fyreslayer Doomseeker.  Our group has evolved with their characters into a mostly chaotic group from there.  We have a Dark Elf Assassin, an Exalted Deathbringer with Impaling Spear, and a Slaughterpriest with the sword and hammer.  Tonight we will have a replacement for the guy with the Slaughterpriest, so there will be a new hero.

The game plays great, and each of the trials is unique - which makes its awesome for replayability.  My personal favorite trial has been the quest for the piece of Azyr and the piece of Ghur.  Not to get into the story too much, but both of those quests feel very much like they should, and if you are a fluff-nut like I am, then the story coming to a head in both of those is very satisfying.

After 5/6 hours of work from about 4 people, managed to get base coats down on all of the Silver Tower models and get first round of highlights on to about 80% of them. Another couple days work from myself and these will be fit for table top! Managed to snag a game in of course! Great game! #ageofsigmar #silvertower #warmongers #warhammerquest

A photo posted by Patrick O'Leary 🇺🇸 (@patrick_r_oleary) on May 30, 2016 at 10:09pm PDT

We all gathered together to try and get a good bit of it painted, and - as the caption states - we managed to get basecoats and highlights on just about everything from the box!  Which was awesome, because now everything looks pretty good on the table already.  These models just eat up the paint, they are a breeze.  Some of the best models in a long time (so since the last AoS release basically).

Disaster finally strikes! After 2-3 games going easy on us, my group stumbles into the realm of Death and gets ambushed by the Guant Summoner. nEedless to say, we didn't last very long. #ageofsigmar #warhammerquest #silvertower

A photo posted by Patrick O'Leary 🇺🇸 (@patrick_r_oleary) on Jun 4, 2016 at 9:03pm PDT

I highly recommend picking up the game.  The only complaint I have, and that our group has had, is that the beginning of all of the trials feel very similar, and not a lot happens until you get into the thick of the various trials.  From that point on you feel like you are completing the quests in unique ways, facing the myriad challenges with wild abandon.

11/10, would buy again.

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So, on to the second point!  What am I working on currently, and how will we continue to move forward?  Well, dear reader, that is an excellent question!  

I am finding myself more and more at a hobby cross roads.  I have always believed that one should have a couple of main games that they play and enjoy with people all around them.  However, that has - over the course of many moons - turned into a plethora of games that I no longer play or have the desire to even look at in some cases (Uncharted Seas you sad, wonderful game - RIP).  So I have many, many models.  

It is time to cut them down, dust out the cupboards, cull the herd, etc.  I have the following that is all going to be looking for a new home soon:

• Firestorm Armada - Terrans (Stripped)
• Firestorm Armada - RSN (Stripped/unbuilt)
• Firestorm Armada - Relthoza (Unpainted)
• Firestorm Armada - Dendrenzi (Unpainted)
• Firestorm Armada - Misc. (various)
• Guildball - Alchemists (everything but Compound from the line, all but 2 painted)
• X-Wing (I don't even know, I really just want to put all in a box and get rid of it)
• Malifaux - Lucius (unopened)
• Malifaux - Lady J (built, unpainted)
• Malifaux - Ten Thunders
• Misaki Box (unopened)
• Metal 10T Brothers (unopened)
• Samurai (2 assembled, 1 on sprue, unpainted)
• Malifaux - Misc (Again, just want to box and get rid of it)
• Age of Sigmar/9th Age/Kow 
• I have a box of misc. Dark Elves, nothing spectacular, mostly Corsairs that are not assembled and some other bits and bobs.  I would just want to pretty much give this away.
• Warhammer 40k
• This is an oddball for me.  I have a lot of Chaos Stuff, but none of it is very exciting.  I am just looking to get rid of this so that I can justify - in my mind atleast - starting fresh into a game that I have abandoned for so long.  
• I also have vanilla Space Marines that have some Black Templars painted up among their number.  I could be convinced to get rid of these too.

For all of these, just ask me what I have through email (olearypr@gmail.com) and I can send pictures and hash out prices.  I am looking to get rid of a lot of this, so I can't imagine asking more than around 50% Retail for any of it.  

I'd be willing to look for some trades as well, including the following:

• Imperial Guard - Catachans a plus
• AoS (ordered by level of desire)
• Skaven
• Khorne Bloodbound
• Tzeentch Daemons
• Savage Orcs
• Uncharted Seas (ordered by level of desire)
• Ralgard
• NEW SCULPTS Empire/Humans
• Elves
• Sky Pirates
• Dragon Lords
• Anything else would be a case by case basis.

As for things that I am actually working on, besides flash sales, I am just working on painting up more rats for the Rise of Empires in the Age of Beasts Campaign.  I have been slacking lately, and then with Silver Tower popping up all of my painting time has been sunk into that.  For this month, I would like to actually finish my half done Plague Censer Bearers and all of my Warlock Engineers and Arch Warlocks.  IF I get that done, then I would be happy to finish up my Stormfiends and get my Verminlord built.  

On the NEW 40k front, I would love to start building a Catachan force.  Something totally unique from all other armies I have collected.  Plus, I should probably play a good guy at some point in my tabletop escapades.   

Looking forward to writing to all of you again in the near future, hopefully with some painted models and empty shelf space!  Until then, happy gaming!

Age of Sigmar? I need a Keg

Hello all, Sinscaptain here to talk about the elephant in the room – Age of Sigmar – as well as some general hobby updates and all the regular jazz.

Hold on to your butts, it’s going to be a long ride.

I’d like to open by saying that this article has been difficult to write.  I am, for the most part, a very opinionated person when it comes to my selection of gaming ventures.  I have toned myself down considerably from the flaming rhetoric that this blog used to be, but every once in a while, that still peaks out from behind the cage it is locked away in.

Today may turn into one of those days.

For those of you that live without regular access to the outside world, Warhammer Fantasy has been replaced rather explosively by Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.  Contrary to what rumors were making the rounds for the past 6+ months, there is no 9th edition coming.  We have our Games Workshop fantasy game, and it is Sigmar.

A little background before we delve fully into the new world that is Age of Sigmar.  I have been a fantasy player for about 5 years total.  Now, I realize that this is not as long as some of you old beards, but I have played through all that was 8th edition - highs and lows, triumph and defeat, etc etc.  It was a damn good time.  I managed to sway about 6-7 people to play WHF during that time, and we all had a blast.  Some of my fondest wargaming memories are of my Skaven going ballistic or turning tail and running for the hills.  My preferences have always been for regimental combat, magic, and my ratmen.  

The End Times were an exciting proposition for me, as I might be able to sway even more people into the Fantasy fold.  However, that didn't come to fruition, but I still got the ride of a lifetime reading those books, or listening to Garagehammer talk through them. Sure there were odd rules that started to pop up in the later books, but people were still enjoying the fluff and reading about the war to end all wars in Fantasy.  What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, right.

They could blow up the entire world.  Which they did.

So, what comes next?  Age of Sigmar!  Sigmar, god-king of the Empire holds onto a shard of reality, baddabing he gets rescued by a giant dragon in spaaaaace!!! And then makes a new set of worlds yo.  Then, Chaos starts to sneak back in, and so Sigmar throws up some deuces and locks himself in the Realm of Azyr and parties hard with his bros for a couple centuries.

Fast forward to the Realm of Fire, where cannibal Khorne bros are enslaving ALL of the people making a huge pyramid when WHAMO!  

Yes, weep mere mortals!  The Stormcast Eternals of Sigmar are here with hammers and thunder, deepstriking in on bolts of magical lightning!

So, these bros are pretty cool, honestly.  They have hammers, swords, shields, BIGGER hammers, dual wielding hammers, BIG swords, crossbolters, pixie elfie bows, and giant cat dragon lizard things.  Overall, every badass thing in the book, with a dash of 40k and entirely too few hammers thrown in.

It's hammertime baby.

Oh, and there's some Khorne guys too yo.

Again, these are some cool models.  All of these, models come in the new Age of Sigmar starter box which features the Khorne Goretide against the Stormcast Eternals of Sigmar in the first installment of the Realmgate wars.  $125 grabs you a nice selection of models to get the game going.

"Game you say?  Tell me about it sinscaptain!"

I will dear friend!

Age of Sigmar has 4 pages of rules, which is nice considering Warhammer Fantasy 8th had something more like a gazzillion pages.  Scientifically proven.

So, 4 pages of FREEEEEEEEEEE rules, heres the skinny:

• No more points or army selection rules - there are some unofficial army comp rules making the rounds, but most people either go by model count or wound count to organize battles.
• Initiative rolls at the start of every turn.
• Models can move, shoot, and charge all in the same turn.  They can shoot into and out of combats without consequences.
• Everyone takes battleshock tests at the end of the turn, which are similar to the old rules for undead moral tests.  However many you fail by is how many models you pull out.  So, D6 + Dead models for the turn - Bravery = # extra models that die.  
• Every game, at the moment, is all about killing all of your enemies models.
• Magic is dumbed down to every wizard knowing 2 spells plus 1 unique spell for flavor, and all tests are done on 2D6 trying to beat a number.  Enemy wizards within 18" may attempt to dispell.
• If you choose to play with 1/3 less models then your opponent, you can pick a sudden death objective to try and beat by 6 turns in order to win.

Thats pretty much all of the main points.  Every army has received "War scrolls" for each unit - for FREEEEEEEEEE - to use until they update "all" of the armies to Age of Sigmar.  They have all the info you need, including the static to hit and to wound rolls that you need - that's right: static TH and TW rolls.  A goblin hits Nagash just as well as he hits a skaven slave.  Kinda weird, but speeds up the game nicely.

I've linked the page to all of the rules and war scrolls everytime you see FREEEEEEE.

WHAT DO I THINK?

So, now to the *brief* editorial on what I think this all means.

I am split.  Part of me, the huge fan of Warhammer 8th Edition and regiments, movement trays, ridiculous magic phases, etc etc?  That part of me hates this game.  It is NOT Warhammer Fantasy.  It is some cruel joke by Games Workshop.  It's a dumbed down version of Warhammer 40k take what you want, unbalanced, polarizing, "spread a single line of guys in a line and march em across the table" BS, where everyone wants to be Tau with a bigger gun.  The rumors swirling about Slaanesh being abducted or forced off of his throne makes me livid.  Grrrrr.

The other, more rational and understanding part of me thinks that this game is great.  It does everything that we wanted for Warhammer Fantasy - reduces time constraints, barrier for entry money wise, reduces complexity, moves the story forward, lets everyone get what they want from the game, and overall makes for an enjoyable gaming experience.  This will be absolutely fantastic for getting new players into the game and having a blast with beer n' pretzels.  

We've already gained 3 new fantasy players because of Age of Sigmar, including Matte himself.  Life is good, man.  

Overall, I would give Age of Sigmar a solid 6.5 out of 10 on the wargaming scale.  It's better than your average game, but it doesn't quite feel like a solid replacement for Warhammer 8th.  Of course, I reserve the right to change my opinion as we get more games in and more books/models are released.  But overall, make an informed decision for yourself.  Don't be that asshole who burnt his entire collection.  People like that make us ALL look like Neanderthals.  We don't need to be nerd ragers.  We need to be united in the hobby, even though we have differing views of how the game should have come out.

Basically, it boils down to this:  be adults, make a decision, and don't be an ass about your choice on the internet.  Otherwise, Papa Nurgle will come to get you!

"Neeeeeeeerd rage feeds meeeeeee, hur hur hur"

 So, the title reads that I need a Keg....

I'VE GOT ONE!

Meet my converted Soju Golem for Malifaux.  The regular model didn't much catch my fancy, but I didn't want to shell out for the Nightmare Whiskey Golem, so I gave him a staff and a little bit of character to the face with some eyebrows, and boom.  Done.  Just need to throw some paint on him and Brewie will have an angry robot kegger to throw.

In addition to the Soju Golem, I built Yin for 10T Brewmaster, and for my incoming Yan Lo crew.  Toshiro will be painted up to go with the Yan Lo crew as well.  I also built a Tuco from the male TTB kit, just because I figured that he would be fun to have.  

Well folks, hope that this little article will hold you over until I can get some pictures of my Brewmaster crew up - painted by Matte for me.  They look absolutely fantastic, so I cannot wait to show them off.  I will attempt to get some pictures of the swamp board in progress, as well as any games of Age of Sigmar or Malifaux that are played this week.

So, my minions, go forth and game!  Until next time, this is Sinscaptain signing off.