The View from the Turret

AT-43 – The First Expansions

Posted on 16Feb07 Updated on 01Feb08

The first three expansions for AT-43, the Steel Troopers Unit Box, the Storm Golems Unit Box, and the Accessory Expansion Set 2, are now available. The latest Cry Havoc!, issue 12, is also out.

The Steel Troopers come six to a box along with the appropriate unit cards. With the ST set you get four troopers, a sergeant, a missile launcher, and six option heads with triple-lens helmet. The painting quality is higher than that of the Operation Damocles set and does indeed match the comparison pictures provided on the AT-43 site except that most of the figures suffer from an overly heavy, white dry brushing (and a white over spray) that obscures a lot of the underling color. This is not horrible and could be easily touched up. The paint quality does vary from box to box and figure to figure so if you buy them in a store be sure to look through all the boxes and choose which ones you like best.

The Storm Golems come six to a box along with the appropriate unit cards. The Storm Golem set has four Golems, a leader, and a Sonic Gun. The painting quality is higher than that of the Operation Damocles set and does indeed match the comparison pictures provided on the AT-43 site. Compared to the Golems in the OD set these have less of an orange wash and more of an overall gray dry brushing. There is also less silver on the various blades. The overall look is good but some may prefer the OD scheme. The paint quality does vary from box to box and figure to figure so if you buy them in a store be sure to look through all the boxes and choose which ones you like best.

Accessory Expansion Set 2 contains two shipping containers, two Therian generators, six concrete wall sections, and one map poster. The set actually comes in two flavors, one has a dark blue and orange container and the other has a light blue and dark gray container. Except for color the components are identical to those of the OD set.

While I prefer some aspects of the OD paint jobs, overall I like the new paint jobs more. I do not think the new painting will change many opinions from the OD set. If you are proud of your paint jobs then think of the AT-43 stuff as pre-assembled and pre-primed figures. If you do not like painting, are unhappy with your painting, or are more concerned with playing the game I think you will generally find the AT-43 stuff good enough or easily tweaked.

Issue 12 of Cray Havoc! is also available. CH is an A4 sized, full-color magazine dedicated to Rackham games. The paper and printing quality is excellent. Issue 12 contains eleven pages of fluff for AT-43 including some that is available on the Website. More importantly it also has the full rules from the OD set in a slightly expanded format. If you can not wait another month for the full rules or just want a more complete set of OD rules be sure to pick this issue up. Issue 12 also includes a preview of the White Star and Therian army lists. It turns out those Steel Trooper ‘option heads with triple-lens helmet’ are not just for looks. They are actually ‘infrared goggles’ that you have to pay APs (Army Points) to get and that then give your unit the ‘Detection’ ability (which is defined in the full rules). Full weapon profiles and points are given for White Stars and Therians but these are the same as what has been available on the AT-43 forums for awhile now. Overall the AT-43 stuff continues to look very good.