Only War free beta

So I announced to a group of friends about how I wanted to run a RPG session, and it came to the decision that we would try Fantasy Flight Games newest offering, Only War.

It is a true RPG game along the lines of their other games such as Deathwatch and Rogue Trader. At the moment, it is only in beta stage, and the beta rule book can be downloaded over from the guys at RPG Drive Through until August for the nice sum of $20. Alternatively, take a trip over to the FFG website and download the free starter game. Here you will find a cut down version of the rules, and a campaign/ story for you to play through.

I decided I was going to use the free download, as I did not fancy paying for a PDF that potentially would only be played once. However, I will now be getting that PDF, but more on that later.

The game is based on the Warhammer 40000 universe, and deals with the Imperial Guard. Players can choose a range of characters that are pre generated, and there are no options for making any more in the free version, but these will get the players off to a nice start. The bundled story is nice, long enough to run 3 sessions out of it (sessions being around 2-3 hours), with enough detail to be really immersive.

The problem I usually find with RPG's are the combat systems, most usually seem really clunky to me. The combat system in this however, is fantastic, and makes sense in my head. Initiative can change with a bad roll, so not every combat is going to see the characters going in the same order, which as we found out can have a big impact.

The story bundled is nice, based on the remnants of a Imperial Guard squad trying to get off a deathworld before their commanders “glass” the area with a orbital bombardment. It has a interesting mechanism, as the characters only have 11 hours to get to a firebase many kilometres away from their current position, and most of their decisions will result in the clock ticking away.

Is it worth getting? If you are a fan or tabletop RPG's, then I suggest that you give it a try, either by getting the free version, or downloading the paid beta PDF. All in all all my players enjoyed it, and talk about it quite regular, and I will be running it again in the near future.

Paint Planning

As I sit here waiting for my copy of the new Warhammer 40000, I decided to have a little chat about planning when painting.

Why is it important to have a plan and stick to it?

Most of the miniatures that we paint all have some sort of regimental cohesion, such as Ultramarines being blue and gold, Blood Angels being red, yellow and orange, and Imperial Guard mostly being greys and greens. I am guilty myself of starting a army project, finishing it, and all the models look different, down to the actual main colour being different. This has come from a lack of planning, using different colours, and results in a disjointed look to the army.

How have I got around this?

Basically now I make a list at the beginning of each project. I write a rough idea of each stage of the paint job, what colours go where, even down to the time taken for each stage. I then take a look at what paints I have. If I have less than half a pot/bottle left, I go out and get a new pot/bottle. I do this as there is a variation between each pot of paint, some being stronger colour, some being weaker, even within the colour range. I hate starting, running out, and getting a new pot that is darker or lighter. Here we go to a earlier point, it breaks the cohesion of the army.

I then paint a test model, just to see if the list I have written works, and I make amendments to it as I go. It becomes the final list, what I work to on every model.

I usually paint in batches of 10, keeping the models moving like a conveyor belt. Base coat all of them, and by the time I have completed model 10, model 1 is dry enough to be worked on again. I have found this also helps cohesion within the squad, and keeps them looking even.

So we get all the models in each squad looking the same colour wise, and all the models in the army are the same colour wise. In my eyes, it makes a much better impression when people see it, and looks better on the table.

Give it a try, make a list of the stages that need to be done, and stick to it. You might be surprised!

Thursday Night Gaming

Yes the time is rapidly approaching.

Thursday 5^th July at the Thimblemill pub Smethwick shall be the first Thursday Night Gaming. But what is Thursday Night Gaming?

Well I came up with the idea to create a gaming group to play all the games that we play, such as Warhammer, Talisman, Formula D, Dominion and so on. But then I decided to throw it open to absolutely anyone who wanted to come and play a game.

So what games can you play here? ANYTHING! Bring Monopoly, Scrabble, Ludo and game you want, we don't mind! We are encouraging people to dust off their old board games and bring them down, and play with other like minded people. Get away from the computer and TV, and come and talk and game face to face with real people.

Hopefully, if the first night goes well, it shall become a bi-weekly event, and I hope to be able to bring in raffles and competitions, leagues for games that suit it and a whole lot more.

So come on down if your local and lets make this the best night ever!

Series 7? Why not!

I have been on a quest for a long time to find a superior paintbrush for my miniature painting. I have used Italeri, Citadel and Vallejo brushes prior to getting the Winsor and Newtons.

Out of them three, Citadel brushes were the best of the lot, but still something was lacking. I don't know if I had bad luck, but I could never keep a point on a Citadel brush. I look after my equipment, but after about 6 hours, the point was gone, usually split, which made almost anything really difficult to achieve.

I had wanted some series 7's for a long time, but could not justify the money to buy them, as they are really quite expensive for a paintbrush. But when I decided to try and take my painting full time, I thought it about time to get some. And boy was I glad I did.

Forget the cost. That is irrelevant. These brushes will not make you paint better, but they will allow you to paint better.

Note the italics there. With a brush of this standard, you never battle the brush. It always does what you want, and will always come back to a point, even after splaying the bristles on a down stroke, it always comes to a point. This means you can now concentrate harder on getting the paint exactly where you want it to be every time. Which is what will make you paint better.

I think the confidence boost of holding a £10+ paintbrush also has something to do with it, and they also look awesome. Buy some brush soap, look after them, and they will look after you for a long time to come.

These have been the biggest leap in my painting since I learnt how to thin my paints properly.

Remember, these brushes will not make you paint better, but they will allow you to paint better.

Buy some. You will not regret it.

Talisman 4th Edition Review

I first played this game many years ago as a child, when it was in its third edition. Back then it was a great game, that I could play with both my family and friends, and it will always have a dear place in my heart. So how does the Fantasy Flight Games 4^th reprint stack up?

This game oozes presentation. From when you first pick up and feel the weight of the box, you know you have a great game in your hands. This carries on when you open up the box for the first time, and see all the cards and the miniatures, and that board.

The board is huge, with beautiful artwork all across it. You can play this game many, many times and still see new things on the board, things that you missed the last time. All the other componants are wonderful aswell, with nice finishes on all the cards, and all the plastic pieces just feel right.

The rulebook is the usual fare, and I feel way to long for this game. It makes the game feel complicated when you first read it, but play the first game, and you will see how it all fits together seamlessly.

The game plays really smoothly, and even with brand new players, once you have played the first turn, every one will know what to do. Gameplay is simple: Roll a dice, move your character that amount of spaces left or right around the board, and do what the space you land on instructs you to do. Usually, it will be draw a amount of cards, which you then follow the instructions. These can range from fights with monsters, to items that you can pick up or special events that affect everyone on the board. Then its the next players turn to do the same.

The whole idea is to build your character into a strong warrior and work your way into the center of the board, where the Crown of Command exists. At this point, the character with the Crown of Command kills everyone and wins. It sounds easy, but as you work your way into the center of the board, spaces get harder, as do the monsters that you encounter. Couple that with the fact that when you make a dive for the center, you become a target for everyone to get.

I have found that this game takes about one hour for each player playing. So a four player game can last four hours, but don't let this put you off, that time will fly by. It really is a fun night in game, so grab your friends, get some drinks and snacks and see where this game takes you. The tales that can be told from playing this game are wide a varied, and peoples misfortunes will make you all fall around in laughter. Take for example from a game I played. We had a hapless druid, who on his turn drew the mighty dragon to fight. Having not a chance, he still fought it, and lost. Play went around, and he swiftly moved on, only to draw a demon, the most powerful enemy in the deck! Needless to say, his character did not last long, and proceeded to get drunk in the tavern (it had been a rough day).

So, do I like this game? Yes I do, and so does everyone I have introduced to it. This definatly goes in my top 5 games of all time. So get this, you will not regret it one bit.

Rating: 9.5/10

Formula D review

This is a great game. I am just going to come out straight and say it. But what makes this such a great game?

The components are good. The board is BIG, and comes in two sections and, the artwork really captures the theme nicely.

The only problem I have with the board is that it won't lay completely flat on the table, this is to do with how its folded. But it is double sided, so two maps on one set of boards is a good thing.

The cars are nice and functional. There’s not a lot of detail on them, but with different colours and designs its not difficult to see which ones are which.

Another nice feature is the gearbox controls for all the cars, which I think are a nice touch, and also complements the theme perfectly.

These show which gear you are in and how much wear (which is damage) your car has taken. These cards are also double sided, with the basic layout on one side, and the advanced layout on the other side.

What makes this game is the way it works. You movement is determined by the roll of a dice, and each gear has its own dice and, number range attached to it. In first gear you can only move only 1 or 2 spaces, all the way up to sixth gear, which is a 30 sided dice marked 21 to 30 (!), where you can cover some serious ground. 

 

Corners are rated 1 to 3, which determine how many times you need to stop in each corner to prevent damage or even destroying your car. You can blast straight through corners rated 1, but take damage equal to however many spaces you overshoot the corner by. On a 2 or 3 stop, you will wreck your car unless you have stopped one or twice (respectively).

And that’s really all there is. There are some simple rules that control how the cars move around, which are all pretty intuitive. In the basic game, all your wear points are together, and once you hit 0 you wreck the car. In the advanced mode, your wear points are split up, into axle, wheel, engine and other parts of the car. This means you will have to start really thinking about those corners, as you have less points until you become a fast moving fireball.

The flip side of the map depicts a street race, where a whole new set of rules can be used. You can drift around corners, get shot at, and take damage from rubble on the road. The track is much tighter, and feels a lot different from the Monaco F1 track. Here you can also use drivers, each with different damage stat's and special abilities. Overall, this makes for a different style of play.

I feel that this whole game can be easily taught to anyone. If they understand car races (i.e. reach the finish line first) then the gear mechanic will be easily understood, and strategies are easily learnt. The first lap with someone who has never played before can last around an hour, speeding up at the end. I played games of this with people who had never played, and we were doing three lap races in about a hour and a half after the initial lap.

The rule books are laid out in a nice and neat way. The rules are explained in a nice and simple way. There are two rule books that come with this, a beginners book and a advanced racers book, and are A4 sized. 

The advanced book builds upon the beginner book in a nice way, adding rules that you choose.

This also lends itself to a league table. Be it with the family or game group, an lot of friendly competition could be achieved if played one or twice a week with a leader board being updated.

I like this game a lot as I have already mentioned. Its easy to play, doesn't take to long and has moments of intense excitement involved. It has been well expanded with tracks available, and has a good online following, with fan made maps and variants easily available.

Rating 7.5/10

Reviews to come

Reviews been worked at the moment:

Arkham Horror
Formula D
Talisman 4th edition

Stay tuned!