Warhammer 40000, solo?

I think that all of us must have tried it at somepoint. You can't find someone to play a game with, and you think it cannot be that hard to play against yourself. You set everything up, and play the first turn. Suddenly, it dawns upon you that this is a huge undertaking, and you get so confused you give up. Well, that was my findings from trying to play just 1000 points aside. There is just too much that you have to think about, and I always favoured one side over the other.

With the new release of Dark Vengeance, Games Workshop seem to have addressed this fact, even just a small amount. Two of the missions, (the first two infact) are solo missions. The first one pits the Chaos cultists against a out of control Hellbrute, and they must deactivate it before it gets them all. The second puts the Dark Angels Ravenwing squad against three waves of cultists, the aim to get the bikes off the table edge three times.

These missions have been designed to ease the new player into the game, to help them learn the rules on their own before they introduce someone else. There are instructions that control the "enemy" in each game, namely that they will move towards and attack the closest models.

This has got me thinking, that you could introduce these ideas for when you have no one to play with. Using the enemy will move and attack the closest unit, and always following them, some intereting games could be played, and will also teach you more about the game as you play.

Just some food for thought, and I expect solo missions to be popping up over the net over the next couple of weeks, maybe even some will be featured in future White Dwarfs or on the GW website if it is popular enough. I am even going to get my thinking cap on, and may post some of my own devising up here.

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.