News and Updates
Ultramarines the Movie — Comments
Well I won’t bother with a review of Ultramarines: The Movie considering how many are already out there — John Regal’s of DakkaDakka is a useful one. One thing I have not seen are many comments on the DVD extras. The set includes a second DVD full of extra stuff. Some of it is rather simple weapon database type stuff but it also includes some 40K background, information on the actors, as well as a 25min making-of piece that is very good. Overall there is probably another 40mins of material on the second DVD. You will need to go to the Thunderhawk and some of the other sections to unlock access to many of the other extras. Also included is a 36-page full-color comic that is only mildly interesting and probably more useful for those new to 40K in general. All components are of high quality.
I have now seen the new Warhammer 40,000 movie a couple of times. I rate it a 6 out of 10 if you are a WH40K fan. If you are just a sci-fi fan in general it is probably a 5 out of 10. That may not sound very good but I think the movie is in fact worth buying and worth watching. Considering this was the first WH40K movie ever done and the limits of the budget I think they did a respectable job. Considering Dan Abnett wrote the screenplay I was a bit disappointed in the story. But if 40K fans want to see bigger and better movies done in the future they need to support this release or that will surely be the end of that.
- Animation Quality: Ranges from good to very good. It is nowhere near the level of a Pixar film but is sufficient for the job. In many of the scenes the characters seem to be walking on smoke. In addition, the figure animations are somewhat off and there is a general lack of mass and gravity. Having said that, the Land Speeder animation is very good and it makes you wonder why they did not do a vehicle heavy story instead that would have helped mitigate a lot of the issues they seemed to have had.
- Model Design: Ranges from good to excellent. They had to modify the look of the Space Marines a tad to actually make them work. The ironic thing is I think one major fault is that they tried to stay too true to WH40K. For example, the weapons are ridiculously huge and in some shots just seem silly. The main complaint really is that there simply are not enough models in the movie (no Rhinos, Terminators, Dreadnoughts, frigates, fighters, etc). But of course this goes back to the limited budget.
- Set Design: Generally good. Here I think personal preference will rule. They stayed very true to the fluff of 40K and even used the designs of existing 40K building models in the sets. Sometimes the sets look like game boards more than actual environments. Like many video games, many of the sets were very vacant, which just seems odd. Inside the Strike Cruiser are these vast open areas of nothing. I think the movie would have been better off being in a Space Hulk instead of where they did it for both visual and budget reasons. I also think making the environments a bit less literal Gothic would have helped. Sometimes you would think they were making a vampire movie or something.
- Sound: Generally very good. I would have preferred different sounds for many things but that is just personal taste.
- Story: Good. More like a 50-100 page short story than a true feature length film (it is, after all, only 70mins long). The story is a bit slow, predictable and somewhat disappointing overall. But even though the movie was certainly made for the hardcore fan I think they were trying to open it up a bit to a more general audience as well. This duality may have thrown things off a bit. The story will probably annoy the hardcore fan more than the casual fan.
- Voice Acting: Outstanding. Without a doubt the highlight of the film is the voice acting. The actors did a fantastic job and were well cast.
Overall the sum is probably greater than the parts and it was fun to see 40K come to life, even if imperfectly. With luck we will see a bigger, better film next time around.
[Updated: 20DEC10]
Ultramarines the Movie — Now Shipping
Well after a two week delay the first Warhammer 40,000 movie is shipping to customers at last. Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 movie is a 3D animated film set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The screenplay was written by Dan Abnett, of Gaunt’s Ghosts and Horus Heresy fame. The movie was previewed to a number of folks all of whom have given it good marks. The movie is a DVD-only release and will not appear in theaters. 40K Radio has a nice interview with the primary producer of the film from Codex Pictures and discuss their private screening of the movie. Bell of Lost Souls also has an interview with Bob Thompson of Codex Pictures and a preview of the movie. Episode #12 of 40K Radio also has a very good interview with Producer Bob Thompson (forward to 1:23:30 to get right to it).
Read our comments on the film.
[Updated: 19DEC10]
New Firestorm Armada Ships Available
Spartan Games has released a number of new ships for Firestorm Armada. Each race gets a new specialty ship and a new faction, the Marauder Fleet, is available now (but no rules/stats yet). There are 
stats for the other new ships.
The new ships are the first to come from Spartan’s new tooling where they have reduced the parts count for each ship. Most are now single piece castings or only two or three pieces at most. The large Marauder ship, the Buccaneer, is resin with a metal ring and the small Corvettes are all metal. The other ships are all single piece resin. They are all extremely well cast, very detailed and are basically the best sci-fi ship miniatures currently available.
Also see Firestorm Armada Kurak Alliance.
[Updated: 8NOV10]
IJN — Available Soon
Compass Games has a new expansion for their great solitaire WW2 naval wargame, Silent War. IJN adds a ton of Imperial Japanese Navy ships to the game. IJN is in pre-order now but should ship before the end of the year.
Bring added realism to your submarine campaign with IJN, Imperial Japanese Navy, the first expansion pack for Compass Games’ award winning SILENT WAR. Every Japanese warship down through the large destroyer escorts and the major auxiliary cargo ships and tankers are provided in two full countersheets with 336 new playing pieces for the game and rules to integrate them seamlessly into the game. IJN, Imperial Japanese Navy also brings new rules to SILENT WAR such as loners, crash dive, and targeting escorts, rules introduced in the follow on game, STEEL WOLVES. A must have expansion pack for any dedicated SILENT WAR player. Requires SILENT WAR to play.
Combat Mission Afghanistan — Now Available
Battlefront released the latest title in its excellent Combat Mission series, Combat Mission Afghanistan. CM:A covers the original Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at a squad level. There is a demo available (353MB). The Armchair General has an interview with the designer.
Combat Mission Afghanistan covers two periods of the Russian-Afghan wars – the initial phase 1980-1982, and the later years of highest activity 1985-1987 – in two campaigns and additionally ten standalone missions. The fully featured editor will of course allow players to create all new custom maps and missions.
Players are able to take command of Soviet or DRA (Democratic Republic of Afghanistan) Army units as well as mujahedeen guerrilla forces.
But it doesn’t end there. CM Afghanistan introduces completely new features to the series, such as:
- Drozd Active Defense system (on T-55AD and T-62D; shoots down incoming RPGs)
- Multi-barreled rapid-fire cannon (e.g. ZSU-23 Shilka, Kamaz ZU-23)
- New terrain such as Snow (on the ground) and Water
- Exit Zones (a new type of objective)
Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg — Now Available
Matrix Games has released a new WW2 operational-level computer wargame, Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris. Decisive Campaigns simulates Germany’s invasion of Poland and France in 1939 and 1940 (and also includes a hypothetical “Sea Lion” invasion of Great Britain). The game looks very good and covers battles that are not often seen in wargames. If you like operational level games give it a look.
The Wargamer has an after action review of Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris and also some designer’s notes.
There is a small (15.8MB) version 1.04d patch available. The designer, Victor Reijkersz, has made high resolution versions of the maps available for use in planning, etc.
[Updated: 18JAN11]
Normandy ’44 — Now Available
GMT Games’ new regimental level boardgame of the combat in Normandy in 1944 is now available. Normandy ’44 covers the D-Day invasion itself and the following three weeks of combat. It makes a great alternative to the five-map monster game The Battle for Normandy, but it does not cover the southern battles and Operation Cobra like that game either. Normandy ’44 has GMT’s typically great components with an attractive map and nice looking counters. You can get the rules in PDF. There is now a VASSAL module and Cyberboard module available.
Each turn represents 1 day. Each hex represents 3.8 kilometers (or 2.3 miles). Most units are regiments or brigades though most of the armor units are represented as battalions.The game uses a simplified Ardennes ’44 system: Move, Fight and Reserve Movement. All non-tank battalion units are rated for Troop Quality, while all armor units have a Tank Rating. In each battle these ratings are used to provide shifts for either the attacker or defender. Other important shifts are provided by air power, naval support, artillery and/or Tiger tanks.The game includes a 22 turn Campaign game, a 7-turn Tournament Scenario that focuses on the Allies linking up the beaches, and a scenario covering the battle in the peninsula and the capture of Cherbourg. In addition, there are rules for allowing 3 or even 4 players to play the game.
[Updated: 15OCT10]
40K Radio is Back!
Following the sudden demise of the 40K Radio podcast all of the rights were purchased by Romeo Filip, owner of Battlefoam. They did an intro show #1 a few weeks ago but we were less than impressed. But they have now done shows #2 and #3 and both have been very good. Without Spencer the show lacks a bit of energy but is, so far at least, more on topic. The hosts and Romeo are doing a good job covering the various aspects of Warhammer 40K. There is no more drinking on the show now and it is more family friendly in general. Some may call this a negative but it allows younger listeners to enjoy the show as well as us old timers.
Update: We still like the show but it made a substantial turn to the non-younger audience friendly side. The guys will often slip into less than child sensitive language as well as sophomoric rants in general. Sometimes humorous but certainly not for younger audiences.
[Updated: 12DEC10]
15mm Buildings and Terrain — News
Battlefront announced it is delaying the release of its new Italian terrain pieces. The Ruined Monastery, Vineyards, and Rural Roads will not be released for 6-12 months due to “overseas issues.”
More curious is the lack of mention of the European buildings announced last year and shown in Wargames Illustrated issue #268 in February of 2010. We hope these will still be released.
The Miniature Building Authority released a new addition to its Townhouse line. Townhouse Row E is now available and includes a corner building. All of the Townhouse buildings are fully painted and well done overall.
Also see, 15mm Pre-Painted Buildings — A Few Choices.
Battles of Westeros — Review
The D6 Generation does it again! They have an excellent review of Fantasy Flight Games’ new Battles of Westeros board game. If you are not familiar with the title, it is a medieval fantasy, tactical wargame using a modification of the BattleLore system. It takes place in the world of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire). Forward to 2hr 32mins into the podcast to get right to the review.
It is a testament to the strength of this game that it is literally the first fantasy game we have ever purchased. Of course Game of Thrones is much more medieval fiction than it is fantasy and this emphasis comes across very well in the game. The D6G gang do a great job covering the game in their review.
FFG have the Battles of Westeros rulebook available for download as a PDF. They also have a FAQ and a scenario.
But a great review was not enough for the D6G. No, they also interviewed the game’s designer, Robert Kouba. It is an interesting and informative interview overall and if you like, you know, designer input, you’ll really, like, you know, enjoy it (listen and you’ll see what we mean!). Forward to 58min into the show to get to the interview with Rob.
[Updated: 25JAN11]
The View from the Turret 
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