Sci-Fi
Firestorm Armada — Directorate Fleet Now Available
Spartan Games has released the fifth fleet for their sci-fi spaceship combat game Firestorm Armada. The Directorate is in the main rulebook but did not have any miniatures until now. Like the previous four main fleets the release includes the BB, CV, and CAs, FGs and escorts FGs. Additionally, the Directorate get a heavy cruiser along with the new HCAs for the other main fleets.
Also shown are design shots of an upcoming Terran Alliance battle station that looks very nice.
We got a look at the Directorate ships in person. Whether you like the design or not they are very well cast minis.
[Updated: 11JUN10]
New Critical Mass Minis and Buildings
Critical Mass Games is starting to pump out all kinds of great 15mm sci-fi stuff. First we got a look at their new Kaamados vehicles (our favorite is the Dragamaa tank) and then they released the Arc Fleet Building Series, an entire line of 15mm buildings. All great looking stuff. The buildings are available for order now.
Incursion MI-13 Commandos– Review
We got the pre-release pack of the new Incursion MI-13 Commando miniatures. The MI-13 are the new British special forces unit for Incursion. As with all Grindhouse Games’ minis they arrived quickly and were crisply cast with almost no flash. The unit consists of 7 complete models: 2x Gut-Gunner, 1x Grenadier, 1x Paddy Mayne, 2x Commando, and 1x Corporal. Except for Paddy all the units have separate heads so you can mix and match as you wish or use heads from other ranges. The weapons are separate but mostly consist of just the forward half of the weapon along with a molded on hand so you can’t swap weapons between figures. Read the rest of this entry »
New Firestorm Armada Heavy Cruisers
Spartan Games has announced new heavy cruiser models for their tactical space combat miniatures game Firestorm Armada. Each of the four current races will get a new ship. No beta rules yet nor mention of a release date.
We got our hands on these. They are some of the best cast FA ships to date. Very little flash and nice crisp lines.
[Updated: 11JUN10]
Horus Heresy — Available Soon
Fantasy Flight Games‘ new boardgame set in the universe of Warhammer 40K, Horus Heresy, will be released on April 13th. They now have the full rules available for download. The game is sort of a strategic/operational game of the classic assault on Terra in the Warhammer 40K universe. Six scenarios are included.
New Forge World Site
Forge World has a newly redesigned site. It looks very nice and seems a bit faster than their older site. Navigation is certainly easier and it obviously takes some design cues from the new Games Workshop site.
Also of note are some new Ork vehicles and the Imperial Guard Valkyrie Sky Talon.
Incursion – MI-13 Coming Soon
Looks like the Brits are on tap next for Incursion. At least four new figures for the MI-13 Commandos are close to being ready for production. They feature separate heads so you can swap them with others from West Wind for greater variety. Beta rules and the Paddy Mayne card are available for playtesting.
See our review.
The final rules and cards are now available. A nice surprise was the inclusion of Gracie, a new MI-13 unit. Gracie is a new ‘light mech’ unit. No art for it yet but it should be interesting when it arrives.
[Updated: 23APR10]
Space Infantry – Now On P500
Space Infantry started as a free downloadable print-and-play game by Gottardo Zancani. Space Infantry is a solitaire sci-fi board wargame. It covers squad-level combat in the far future with players commanding a unit of 4-8 troops against various alien foes across a variety of landscapes. The free version of the game was not only fun to play but also had very high graphic art standards.
Well we were not the only ones to notice how good the game was and now Lock’n Load Games has announced that they will be producing a professionally printed and boxed version of Space Infantry. If you have any interest in sci-fi games or solitaire games check this out. The game is currently on their P500 list.
Pig Iron System Trooper Special Weapon Troops
Pig Iron Productions has released a couple new figures for their System Trooper range of 28mm sci-fi figures. The new figures are equipped with special weapons and come with two different weapon options. They are all metal castings with separate heads and look as good as the initial System Troopers.
New Firestorm Armada Ships Soon
Spartan Games announced they will be releasing some new Firestorm Armada ships soon. First up are escorts for the four main fleets as well as some civilian ships.
Our first upgrade releases for Firestorm Armada will be announced shortly. The first Wave will see Escorts arrive for each of the first four races, along with three generic Civilian Vessels: Gas Mining Vessel, Cargo Freighter and Liner. The Escorts will be sold in a blister with 6 Models and 6 Flight Stands. Following these models will be Heavy Cruisers and then the Directorate will enter the war! More images and launch information to follow.
Final stats are available for all the new ships.
These ships are all now generally available. They are all metal castings and the escorts are quite small; most are only about 1.5 inches long. We were rather underwhelmed with the civilian ships.
[Updated: 29MAR10]
The View from the Turret 
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