Sci-Fi
Babylon 5: A Call to Arms — 2nd Edition
Mongoose Publishing just announced a new second edition of their tactical space combat game Babylon 5 A Call to Arms. It sounds like the game will be available any day now. B5:ACTA is our favorite space combat game and anyone interested in that genre, especially BattleFleet Gothic players, should check it out. See Signs and Portents Wargamer Issue 47 for more details including a battle report with the new rules. Read the rest of this entry »
AT-43 Therian Army Book — Review
The AT-43 Therian Army Book is now available. The quality and layout is the same as the U.N.A. Army Book. The book is 64 pages long and printed on high gloss paper in full color.
The book includes 14 pages of information on history and the factory-worlds but the majority of the book is dedicated to the Therians and begins with information on a number of Therian factions; Cyphers, Warriors, and Web Striders. Each faction has their own benefits and disadvantages. For example, the Warriors excel at close combat and can get an alpha level overseer for free but must engage in close combat if possible. A few pages detail the heroes including Atis-Astarte, Sigma Urash, and Omega Tiamet. Details on the various Therian weapons are also included. Read the rest of this entry »
Warhammer 40K — Apocalypse
Well we are more than six months into the year and Games Workshop has finally announced something we care about. Of course we will not see any of it until October of 2007. GW is releasing Apocalypse for Warhammer 40K. Much of the information around the product is still rumor, but various bits of information have leaked that show it is a $50, 200+ page book. The book contains rules for large scale games (5,000+ points) of 40K as well as background, conversions, and lots of color. Apocalypse will be a big release and will also contain large (10″) blast, barrage, and flamer templates. It looks like GW has learned something from the large-format, Imperial Armor books from ForgeWorld.
There are a number of supporting releases planned including terrain and even a plastic Imperial Guard Baneblade [more pics on Warseer]. Most of the races will receive something new and there are a number of large package deals planned to make it easy to buy large quantities of units. Following it all up is a $22 Apocalypse Wargear book in December 2007. Perhaps most exciting are the new Ork units — Although, we will not see them until January 2008.
Coming out in the next few months is the new Chaos Space Marines Codex and a number of newly sculpted, and plastic, Chaos units including new Chaos Terminators that will finally bring the Chaos units up to the standards of the newer Space Marine miniatures. Chaos will also get some Apocalypse scale units, including the Brass Scorpion, in 2008. [updated: 31JUL07]
Also see our Apocalypse update.
Aeronautica Imperialis — New Releases
ForgeWorld announced a few new releases for AI. First is a new, large, Orc Bomber. The Orks also receive the new Ork Flak Gunz and Ork Flak Wagon. Secondly is the AA Sabre Platforms (autocannon version) for the Imperial Guard. Lastly, although not officially announced, there have been preview pictures of some AI terrain including an Imperial Control Tower, Phaeton Landing Pad, and Imperial Landing Pad modeled after the 40K scale Phaeton complex structures. The Sabre Platforms and Ork Gunz are available for pre-order now but not the other items. [updated: 20JUL07]
DakkaDakka Up for Auction
And you are charged to pass the lamp of knowledge onto those who follow after…
Ten years. It’s been ten years since I first launched http://www.DakkaDakka.com as a site initially dedicated to simply tracking the league activities of a small group of 40k players in New England. Over that time, it has grown into something much bigger. It is now a worldwide, online community of miniature gamers that share their ideas and opinions, and a place where small businesses involved in the hobby can share their new business ventures with the gaming community.
I’m very proud to have been involved with Dakka and am thrilled with the opportunities it has provided. Through the Dakka fan community I’ve been able to see elements of the miniature gaming hobby and industry from a wide variety of angles that I’d otherwise never have experienced. Dakka Dakka has always been a labor of love, and it is nice to see that effort appreciated by fans and miniature gaming industry leaders alike. Read the rest of this entry »
AT-43 — The First Heroes
Rackham has released the first hero figures for AT-43. The Therians get Atis-Astarte and the U.N.A. gets Sergeant A. Borz. Each figure ships singly in a small box. Atis-Astarte has one unit card and Sgt Borz gets two (one mounted in the Bad Dog Firetoad and one dismounted).
Atis-Astarte is well painted in typical Therian style and looks quite good, but her tippy-toe mounting is not very durable and she will certainly require pinning sooner rather than later. Sergeant A. Borz is well detailed but the casting, or perhaps the paint job, has lost a bit of the detail. He is painted with gray pants and a light bluish-gray shirt. Most disappointing is the poor painting of his face. I was hoping the hero figures would at least have a higher painting standard but unfortunately this not the case.
AT-43 — Grim Golems
The Therians now have new close assault troops with the arrival of the new Grim Golem set. The Grim Golems ship six to a set with one leader figure, four troopers, and one Flamer figure. Three cards are included (two trooper, one Flamer). The figures are armed with two sets of Reaper Blades and are painted similar to the other Therian Golem figures. The faces are white but include a bit more wash and thus look better than some of the other white faced Therians. The Reaper Blades are soft and you will probably need to straighten many of them out but they still look good and should hold up to play just fine.
AT-43 — Wing Troopers
The new AT-43 U.N.A. fast attack troops, the Wing Troopers, are now available along with the Attachment Box: Wing Troopers. The Wing Troopers are a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand Rackham should be applauded for trying something new with the rocket exhaust stands each figure sits on. On the other hand it does not quite work from a practical standpoint. Of the 18 figures I got four were broken off of their exhaust plume. It is fairly easy to fix with the simple pinning technique common in miniature building but is annoying and also does not change the fact that they are fairly delicate and prone to snapping off their plume in the future. Perhaps more annoying is that the figures do not fit in the standard figure case. Worse is that Rackham did not make unique figures for the Wing Troopers. The torso and legs are the same as regular Steel/Star Troopers. The only difference is the G-Pack (jump pack) and the Multilaser. In a few cases the standard figure pose does not look too bad in the ‘jump pose’ but with others it just looks odd.
Above issues aside, the Wing Troopers are similar to the other U.N.A. releases. The basic set ships six figures to a pack with one leader figure (head) and one figure armed with a Laser gun. Option heads are included along with three unit cards (Sgt, trooper, and Laser gun). The Attachment Box also has six figures but is composed of a Sgt/officer with a combat knife, Laser Gun, Rocket Launcher, a medic with a grenade (now that’s a medic!), and two figures with Sniper Guns. Option heads are also included along with eight unit cards (Laser Gun, Sniper Gun, Rocket Launcher, and five leader). The figures are painted the same as the Steel/Star Troopers. The mold lines are noticeable and the face painting ranges from good to poor. The exhaust plumes are well done with colors ranging from blackish gray to white and yellow.
Overall the Wing Troopers are basically the same as the other U.N.A. figures. The exhaust plume stands are interesting and look good but are impractical. I think Rackham missed a chance to make some unique figures here.
Aeronautica Imperialis — Chaos Harbinger
ForgeWorld just announced a new model for Aeronautica Imperialis, the Chaos Harbinger. It is a huge heavy bomber designed to level cities and engulf them in a sea of incendiary fire. The model is very large at 17cm long and just over 11cm wide, which makes it comparable in scale to a Tau Manta.
ForgeWorld has released experimental rules for using the Harbinger in your games of AI. [Update: Tactica Aeronautica includes the official rules.]
The Harbinger is available to pre-order now for release the week of July 2nd.
AT-43 — Assault Medusas
The Therians get more reinforcements with the new Unit Box: Assault Medusas. The box contains four Medusas, three with Nucleus Rifle and Electrolash and one with a Nucleus Gun and Electrolash, plus three unit cards. The unit cards contradict the AT-43 Rulebook and the website that say the Medusas are armed with Sonic Guns. They are roughly the size of a Golem and are painted black with an orange wash, a dark gray drybrush, and orange details. They look good, fairly menacing, and have little to no flash.
The Assault Medusa is considerably slower than a standard Golem with a speed of just ten but has a bit more armor. The Nucleus Gun is a good weapon but the Electrolash is inferior in damage to the Reaper Blades but has higher accuracy and two attack dice. The army list in the AT-43 Rulebook does not specify what type of weapon the Electrolash is but one can assume it is for close combat. This was confirmed on the AT-43 Forum by Rackham.
The View from the Turret 
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