Sci-Fi
The Best Games Not Yet Published, 2010
Another new year, another new set of games and miniatures to lust after! It is time for our annual look at the games and miniatures we are most anxiously awaiting in 2010. Our 2009 prognostications did pretty well so here we go again. As always, there is no guarantee any of these titles will be published in 2010, nor that they will be any good if they are, but we are optimistic.
Read the rest of this entry »
Forge World Elysian Tauros Venator
Forge World has a new Warhammer 40,000 Elysian vehicle on pre-order (will release on January 25th), the Tauros Venator. It is a very cool looking ten-wheeled off-road buggy similar to the present-day DPV’s used by SEALS and Delta Force that operated in Iraq. Rules for it will appear in Imperial Armour Volume Eight. Guard players will need to warm up their wallets.
Firestorm Armada — Review
Well the fellows over at the D6 Generation wasted no time and have done an outstanding review of the new Firestorm Armada sci-fi ship combat miniatures game by Spartan Games. Forward to 2hr 24min into the podcast to get right to the review.
We agree with the D6G overall that Firestorm Armada has the potential to be an outstanding game. The only real negative we have seen so far in the game is that there seems to be no allowance for disparate fleets. To keep a solid balance the six fleets currently in the game all have a similar balance of support ships, capital ships, and carriers. None of the fleets focus heavily in one area such as smaller ships, wings, or large capital ships. We have not tried playing a disparate scenario yet so it is possible the system can handle it, but we suspect such a game would be considerably unbalanced. A race would probably need to be designed from the ground up to make such a unique composition balanced with the existing fleets.
If you have even the slightest interest in sci-fi ship combat give Firestorm Armada a look.
Also see Firestorm Armada — First Impressions and Spartan Games Interview.
[Updated: 7DEC13]
Firestorm Armada — First Impressions
We got a copy of the Firestorm Armada rulebook along with some of the miniatures and the cards. We hope to have more details up soon but our initial impressions, after a first look through the rules, are very positive. It is a mix of previous games and the influence of Battlefleet Gothic and Babylon 5: ACTA is very evident, but it is still a new and unique system of its own. It places emphasis on ship-to-ship combat but also integrates fighters and attack aircraft in a seamless and logical way. The cards are an optional component, and must be purchased separately, but we highly recommended them. They add a lot of flavor to the game.
The miniatures are very well done. They are crisply cast resin (some of the smaller ships and bits are metal) and are a bit larger than the BFG minis but are also beefier overall and in some cases, especially the battleships, much larger. There are four races available now: the Aquan Prime, Terran Alliance, Sorylian Collective, Dindrenzi Federation and the rules detail two more that will be released in the future. Our favorites are the Sorylian Collective and the Dindrenzi Federation. The Fleet Boxes also include a sheet of fighter counters and generic play counters that are printed in full color on glossy card stock and have to be cut out.
The Firestorm Armada site has lots of goodies for download including assembly guides, tactics tips, fleet rosters, and wallpaper. There are even full color fleets you can print out to get playing right away without need for the miniatures. Spartan now has both errata and clarification sheets for the game.
We look forward to getting in a game, painting up some ships, and seeing how the system progresses. If you have any interest in sci-fi ship combat games Firestorm Armada deserves a serious look.
Russ Wakelin, of DakkaDakka fame and the D6 Generation podcast, has started a wiki page on DakkaDakka on Firestorm Armada with useful comments. Also see their Firestorm Armada review.
[Updated: 17DEC09]
New Tyranid Images — WH40K
Bell of Lost Souls has some, blurry, images of some of the upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Tyranid releases. The Toxatrope is sort of a wild looking version of a Malanthrope. The new Ravenors and Gargoyles are now in plastic but look rather similar to current designs. The new Hive Guard is a unique sculpt that is sort of Carnifex-esque.
New clear pics are now available and the models are available for pre-order from GW.
[Updated: 17DEC09]
Pig Iron System Troopers
We have always been fans of Pig Iron Productions. We especially like their vehicles. But they recently released a new line of 28mm sci-fi troops that we really like, the System Troopers. They currently only have five troop figures available but they are a nice looking group with a heavy, non-powered armor and unique helmet design that makes them look like they mean business. PI describes them very well, “Seriously tooled-up, armoured infantry, ideal for cleansing pockets of fierce resistance.”
Pig Iron figures are all metal and, as always, they have separate heads. Pig Iron’s other figures fill out various techs from colonial militia to police forces. Their vehicles are detailed resin castings with metal bits.
If you want stand-ins for Imperial Guard Storm Troopers or just generic troops for another ruleset check them out. We look forward to upcoming releases in the range.
Wither AT-43?
Rackham came out from under serious financial problems in 2009 and began releasing AT-43 material again this year after a long dry spell. First out was the Red Blok Army Box that finally provided the long awaited Dotch Yaga (also available separately). The Therians finally got the Storm Arachn box. Then AT-43 fans got an all new race with the release of the Cogs Army Box along with the Cogs Army Book. Most recently another new faction was introduced with the release of the ONI Army Box and ONI Army Book.
So with two new armies released what’s the problem? Well the huge break between the last run of core releases and the Red Blok Army Box was a serious blow to the system as a whole. The Red Blok Army Box was a bargain but the only new unit in it was the Dotch Yaga. It was not until the release of the Cogs that the AT-43 system finally got something really new. For us we were initially excited about the Cogs but the final designs of their Striders left us uninterested and the troop ‘swords’ are better left without comment. The same goes for the ONI; while the ONI designs are very good overall the vehicles are quite tiny and seem more like toys than scale miniatures. Read the rest of this entry »
Klingon Armada — Now Available
Klingon Armada, the Star Trek expansion to Starmada, is now available. You can get it from ADB or MJ12. Klingon Armada uses the license from ADB and their Federation Commander/Star Fleet Battles universe for quick play Star Trek rules using the Starmada rules system. FC/SFB fans can finally fight larger fleet actions. The game is also ideal for use with the Starline 2400 miniatures. A printed version of the Starmada: Admiralty Edition rules is also available.
Space Hulk Now Available!
Well it turns out the Games Workshop ‘Mystery Box’ and ‘Space Hulk 2009′ rumors were one in the same. This is great news for Space Hulk fans. Unfortunately it is only a limited release so we will probably not see much support for it.
The game is shipping with a 23-page Rulebook, a 47-page Mission book and 35 plastic Citadel miniatures, including: 11 Space Marine Terminators, one Space Marine Terminator Librarian, 22 Genestealers, and one Broodlord. Also included of course are the cardboard corridor sections and misc counters. Read the rest of this entry »
Planetstrike — Review
The blokes over at World’s End Radio have done a very nice review of GW’s latest Warhammer 40,000 expansion Planetstrike. It is in Episode #23 – Planet Killers starting at 39:20min into the show.
Like many of the recent reviews on the Web, they cover the basics of the Planetstrike book, but they also go into detail about army options and strategies as well as terrain effects, terrain building and use of strategems. Overall a great show for those thinking about Planetstrike as well as for those who already have it.
The View from the Turret 
You must be logged in to post a comment.