Project Necron...again

I have decided to start yet another Necron army for 40k. This will be my third army. I really like the Necrons, the way they look and the way they play.

My last army was a 3000 point infantry based army, backed up by two monoliths. Charging Pariahs into battle backed up by a Lord was great fun, but not as much as marching 4 20 man squads across the battlefield.

This army will be put together over time, I have enough left over bits to field some sort of kill team or small army.

The line up so far is this:

1 Lord
10 Necron Warriors
6 Destroyers
6 Scarab bases

I am probably going to add a squad of Deathmarks, a Monolith, 10 more troops, and bring the scarabs up to 10 bases.

Work in progress!

I have gone for a different colour scheme this time. Both my last two armies were the classic silver variety, this time I have decided to try something different. Here is a work in progress of some scarabs:

I think they look cool anyway. I will be painting these in my spare time, and am not to bothered about them winning any awards or anything, just to get them to a good table top standard that I am happy with.

Their first march will be at Thursday Night Gaming this week, against Chaos and Imperial Guard.

Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance: First Look

Well it has been finally released, after months of speculation amongst pretty much every one who talks about these things, and Games Workshop have pulled off maybe their greatest masterpiece yet.

Lets get to the nitty gritty. The models in this box are amazing. Each one is packed with so much detail, you begin to forget that this is a starter set. Each model is of the snap fit variety, which means no glue, and that’s great for the people that just want to get stuck in and play with some new armies.

Dark Angels and Chaos is a great line up for a starter set, and even without knowing anything about the lore if the WH40k universe, you can see that these are sworn enemies. It looks as thought the Dark Angels are slightly over powered at the moment, but this is sure to be fixed by the upcoming new Chaos codex that is being rumoured, bringing fairness to the fight.

The rule book seems solid and sturdy, much better than the 5^th edition book that came in the starter set, and feels it will last longer. There are also reference sheets, a handy tool in the heat of battle when you just can't quite find the right book mark. Also included are dice, and range rulers (also known as whip sticks of doom..)

Along with a skew of accessories, such as the munitorium templates and dice, comes a book detailing the Dark Vengeance itself, and a audio book also released, both of which can be obtained in store or from the Black Library.

A solid set for beginners and veterans alike, this really is a great value box. 49 miniatures which can not be brought anywhere else, and the much better handy sized rule book make this a well spent £65. Games Workshop have set the bar high with this release, and if they can keep up the momentum and keep the quality coming (and fix Fine cast) then maybe, maybe they will end up top dog again. Only time will tell, but at the moment there has never been a better time to get into the world of Warhammer 40,000.

Warhammer 40000 players...

Don't forget to go and check out the updated errata and FAQ's for your armies now 6th edition is out! Here's the link to the official GW page:

GW errata and FAQ page

Be sure to read carefully, there are a quite a few things that have changed with the new rules, like double toughness value models ONLY using the value in brackets, ignoring the (usually) lower value. Well worth the read, and check out your opponents armies aswell so you don't get caught by a nasty surprise!

Descent 2nd Edition

Here is a game off the beaten track of all the Warhammer 40000 posts that have been going up here recently. Descent 2^nd edition is the follow up to the hugely popular Fantasy Flight Games, Descent: Journeys into the Dark.

A lot of people loved the first edition, and a lot of people hated the it as well. The main complaints were about the length of the game, and the sheer amount of space that it took up on the table. 2^nd edition is very similar, but also very different.

Miniatures wise, like all other FFG games, they are fantastic. Not as many as in 1^st Ed, but still a good amount. Cards are standard FFG size, and board pieces and counters again the quality that you would expect from FFG.

It has been hugely streamlined. Many of the annoyances that were in Descent, like the Town, popping to the shops mid quest, all the re-spawn points, and the fact that the Overlord character has so many monsters, and then variations of the monsters that you never quite knew what you were fighting until you were dead.

This leaves a system that begs to be played, and with not as much to remember for a new player, should be completed in 2 hours or less, maybe a little longer, but not by much.

At heart its still a dungeon crawl minus RPG elements, but you can still level up characters, and indeed the overlord player can upgrade as well. If you want more of a RPG series, then D&D or other equivalent system is for you. This is a tactical miniature game. One player takes the role of the overlord, and runs the dungeon and monsters with the help of a deck of cards. Other players take the role of heroes, ones that must defeat the many dangers lurking in these dungeons.

I believe that all of these adventures could be played right from the box, pick one and off you go. This would be great to show new people how to play, but the real heart of this is the campaign system, linking all the adventures together, and powering up your characters. Indeed, the game comes with a campaign all set up and ready to go, and I can almost guarantee that there will be expansions just like 1^st edition.

If you own first edition, then there is a little bonus for you. There is a upgrade kit. It requires that the core 2^nd edition is bought, but upgrades all of the 1^st edition monsters into the 2^nd edition rules, so right from the word go you will have many more options!

Game wise, this plays well from 2 to 5 players, all within 2 hours, without the grind of 1^st edition. I played 1^st Ed, liked it enough, but never played again as it was draining in the long run. This is a lot smoother and a lot better.

If you have never played Descent: Journeys into the Darkness, and like dungeon games, then without hesitation go out and buy this game. It is fantastic and will be supported for a while to come, so many more adventures are to come. If you have played 1^st Ed, I would recommend this game a lot, but would also suggest playing before you buy. The changes are for the better, but may be changes enough to make you not like these rules.

All in all, Descent 2^nd edition is a rip roaring romp through a dungeon, with enough re-playability to keep it on the table for months to come.