This weekend sees the release of two Battletomes (Orruk Warclans & Stormcast Eternals) along with a selection of miniatures for both ranges.
The battletomes will come in both a limited edition format and the usual hardback format. You’ll also be able to pick up the warscroll cards for both factions.
The miniatures being released by Games Workshop are, as always second to none in their quality and looks with very few companies being able to match their standard.
Games Workshop Minis Released this Weekend
The below releases are all listed as September release with no exact dates.
All of the miniatures below are for use in Warlord Games‘ Warlords of Erehwon: Mythic Americas ruleset. After Games Workshop it can be argued that Warlord Games are the second largest company in the wargaming industry with rulesets for Sci-fi, Fantasy and Historical wargames.
Wargames Atlantic provide alternatives for miniatures which can be used in other games systems. This weekend sees the release of three different boxed sets:
The first is French Infantry which can be used for World War 1 enthusiasts, and at £25 for a box of 35 models is a great bargain. If you buy more than one set you also have a bulk purchase discount.
The next is Cannon Fodder, which can be used for a variety of Sci-Fi Games. These would make a great alternative for either Cadians and at £25 for a box of 30, they make a far cheaper alternative giving you three squads of troops!
The final offering from Wargames Atlantic is the Goblin Warband, again with 30 miniatures for £25.
Just the one offering from Mantic Games this week in the form of their Halfling Engineer for Kings of War. £10 direct from their website.
Note – this was written for AOS3 – we are now in AOS4, so some of the comments below may no longer be valid
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I am at heart a Destruction player, having played them at most of the tournaments I’ve been to since AOS was launched. My main army is definitely the Gloomspite Gitz, but they have been in a bad place for some time and so I switched to Orruk Warclans at the end of AOS2. This wasn’t my first time with them as I did play with a lot of Ardboyz in AOS1 under ‘MoComp’ before points were released by GW.
So, as I’ve got a little experience with them I’ve decided to do a bit of wishlisting for the new release of the Orruk Warclan book which goes on pre-order this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I don’t have any insider knowledge, so all this is bound to be wrong, but it’ll be interesting (to me at least!) to see how wrong.
Overall Book
We already know that the book includes the new forces of the Kruleboyz and that it still includes the Ironjawz and Bonesplitters. There have also been releases about the Kruleboyz with the Dominion box and over on Warhammer Community in the last few months. So I’ll try to incorporate what we’ve learnt below.
Allegiances
I hope we keep the allegiances with Ironjaws, Bonesplitters and Kruleboyz and that we retain a Big Waaagh! version.
I’d like to mostly retain the Waaagh points, especially the extra ‘+’ to cast. It would be good if it were a true allegiance with their own artefacts, magic etc… but I don’t see that happening as it could get too confusing.
Hopefully we’ll also keep some of the sub-allegiances although now would be a great time to remove the Realmgate requirement for the Bloodtoofs!
Ironjawz
The Ironjawz are good, and doing reasonably well in AOS3 with the Maw Krushas doing a lot of the heavy lifting, so I don’t think much needs to be changed. However if I’m wish listing the following could do with attention:
Gordrakk to be on a level with some of the other God characters, and at least as good as the Megaboss on MawKrusha. Ability to take mount trait for BigTeef (his MawKrusha); or a significant point reduction
Megaboss on MawKrusha looks like they may lose their 3+ armour save which if there isn’t a way to get back to 3+ will need a points reduction. Command Ability needs to be replaced as it another +1 to hit. Charge mortal wounds back to 4+
Orruk Ardboyz – they currently have same function as the Brutes. Turn them into Brutes light, with worse attacks and lower bravery. To be used for objective holding whilst Brutes go forward.
Gore-Gruntas – 2″ reach
Bonesplitters
Bonesplitters did well at Nashcon with two army lists, but haven’t shown up in many other tournaments. Perhaps the old list of ‘Kunning Rukk’ which shot people off left a bad taste in the mouth, but with LRL now on the board and lots of Sons of Behemat there may be play with the Bonesplitters now.
Wurrgog Prophet – A good scroll
Savage Big Boss – Command Ability to work with shooting as well
Maniak Weirdnob – Spell replicates above command ability. Would be good to have a difference
Wardokk – A scroll prayer
Savage Orruks / Savage Orruk Moarboyz – combine these warscrolls
Savage Boarboyz / Savage Boarboy Maniaks – combine these warscrolls
Savage Big Stabbas – help with survivability (maybe -1 to hit with shooting if near Savage Orruks, not closest to enemy)
Savage Orruk Arrowboyz – Swap the Loadsa Arrows ability for something that doesn’t add dice (more low quality shots!!)
Kruleboyz
We only know what we’ve been told about these so I’m bound to miss some units. They rely on poison to do their damage, and unlike the other Orruks have ranged attacks.
Allegiance abilities to help with the poison (ie double down!)
Hobgrots Battleline if and get Orruk benefits for a build or Allegiance
Monsters to be playable to fairly pointed
Shooting to be able to affect the meta, by outdistancing LRL, and being able to hurt monsters
Some of the fun traps which were written about in the Dominion novel.
Kragnos
The elephant in the room. Hopefully he’ll be good enough to see play in some competitive builds, and will be given a mortal wound after save. Whilst he is a 2+ save there is so much that can avoid this at times he feels like he’s wearing paper… which to be fair, he’s not wearing a lot.
I would also like to see GW giving a different point value for Kragnos with the other Destruction forces (particularly Gloomspite Gitz)
Summary
Orruk Warclans are a Destruction book that definitely has options and can compete for 4-1 in the hands of an experienced player, so my primary hope is that the book doesn’t become bad with the new release. All the parts are there, and hopefully the Kruleboyz won’t be a third wheel and break the book.
And I suppose another one – hopefully the Kruleboyz are playable on their own without the other Warclans Orruks being necessary.
What do you think? What are you hoping for? How wrong am I?
Orange Ben and @rightangle79 (Declan) are both off to the Facehammer Grand Tournament this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I thought it would be a great time to interview them about their tournament lists and their past glories…..
Ok. So you’ve both been to tournaments before, what do you enjoy the most about them?
Ben: For me it’s mainly seeing friends and looking at cool armies. But mainly this:
Declan: Seeing friends, having a beer and chatting about Warhammer. It also means I have a deadline for painting toys… which I almost always need. For most tournaments I include something new to paint.
So which armies are you taking to Facehammer this year? Care to share your lists?
Ben’s Kharadron Overlords (Ghostlords)
Declan’s List
Loonboss – Clammy Hand
Fungoid Cave Shaman – Hand of Gork
Madcap Shaman – Hand of Gork & Moonface Mommet
Webspinner on Arachnarok Spider – Curse of da Spider God & Amulet of Destiny
60 Shootas
20 Shootas
40 Stabbas
2 x 20 Stabbas
2 x Sneaky Snufflers
Rippa’s Snarlfangs
Scuttletide
Scrapskuttle’s Arachacauldron
Emerald Lifeswarm
2120 points; 214 wounds; Warlord; Hunters of the Heartlands; Vanguard
This is my favourite at the moment. Other option is full squigs.
Do you have battle plans or tactics in mind for when you make it to the tournaments?
Ben: To a certain extent, you know you need to claim objectives so you need units that can do that.
Declan: Gloomspite outside Troggs can struggle to kill things so I need to play like Gargants – get on objectives early and start scoring. Hand of Gork (movement spell) is critical in the list as it means people can’t leave objectives unguarded. I have the Spider to get Monstrous Takeover early and get the option of broken ranks with him. Although I need to protect him or lose him on my turn to prevent him giving 1 point away. 2nd turn is normally Ferocious Advance with Loonboss and both Fungoids (who spend most of their time hiding behind the Loonshrine). Finally I don’t mind losing units because I want as many opportunities as possible to get them back – hence Clammy Hand (Roll twice for reinforcements from Loonshrine).
Ben’s Ghostrek
Ben, I notice you have the dreaded Gotrek! Facehammer have slightly adjusted rules for him now, how do you think he’ll do?
Ben: He is still super smashy, he is there to kill gargants!
Declan, Sounds like a thorough plan. I love the Arachnarok unit, I’ve seen people include more than one, you weren’t tempted to do this?
Declan: I want to try a horde army because its my normal playstyle and is against the meta with reinforcement points and no horde discount. Unfortunately points are too high normally, but with an extra 150 it’s worth a go. I also want GW to see that people will take armies which are rubbish if they get small boosts. GG effectively have c8% reaction in points at facehammer which is what they need before the book. Unfortunately 60 Grots went from 360 to 450 which is criminal for a low power level book.
Have you ever crossed swords with each other in a tournament, if so how did that go?
Declan: I think we played Ogor v GG didn’t we? On the way in people were complaining about your list being too good and I said it was fine… then gummed you up with Grots?
Ben: Yeah it was the cows Throwing snowball list, I told everybody it was rubbish but no one believed me and then I got grotted!
Declan: Ah yes… you forgot the Stonehorns!! I did have 180 Grots in your defense.
Ben: 2+ I do six mortal wounds, cool, there are 54 left.
Declan: Yeah… no where near enough damage.
Whats your most memorable moment at a tournament?
Ben: Played a chap called Laurie who Declan will know, with a shooty stormcast list, and turn one took off his archaon off turn one, was crazy good.
Declan: I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!
Ben’s Ghostlords Army
For someone looking to go to their first tournament, what advice would you give?
Declan: Definitely take the plunge. Let the TO and your opponents know it’s your first tournament. Take an army you know (don’t go for LRL net-list). Limit your warscrolls where possible. If you can bring 6 or fewer it gives you a chance of remembering the rules. Play the objectives!
Ben: Agreed
Looking at each others list, how would you try and defeat them?
Ben: You can’t ask us that we might play each other! But the short answer is throw Gotrek at him and shoot him a lot.
Declan: I think I probably have the advantage due to numbers here. If I can get on the objectives early it’s difficult to get me off them. Especially as Ben’s units flying in the boats don’t count as on the objective. I also just played Will with his KO and the grots can actually damage the units with shooting, and in combat. That said no doubt we’ll play now and Ben will rightly beat me!
With Warhammer+ launched a few weeks ago and with our review of Week 1 and Week 2, we return again. As with the previous reviews this is a spoiler free zone for the current episodes. However as Angels of Death is episodic, I may give away some things from previous episodes. If you haven’t seen them, go away now and watch them.
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Before I delve into the new content – there’s only 2 things this week – there is still nothing for Age of Sigmar. It is very difficult to see how this is value for money at the moment if you have no interest in 40k, and I understand that AoS is the smaller sibling, but it still needs some content. Fingers crossed for next week.
Loremaster – Abaddon the Despoiler
Anyone with any knowledge of Warhammer 40k has probably heard of Abaddon the Despoiler… but if you’re new to the setting or haven’t been interested in Chaos Space Marines of the past then this is for you.
Presented by Wade Pryce (and I assume written by a Black Library Author), this is a great start to the Loremaster series charting Abaddon’s first appearance in Warhammer 40k, through to the end of the Horus Heresy and his Black Crusades against the Imperium of Man.
Wade does a great job of being front man for this and the extensive use of the GW back catalogue of images was great to see as well. I found myself trying to identify where I first saw them all… and some are old as you might expect!
This bodes well for the series if they are all up that standard – hopefully we’ll have a new one soon!
Angels of Death– Episode 3 Blood and Duty
The Blood Angels and their fleet continue to investigate the populace of the planet they find themselves trapped on as the flagship – commanded by a very well written & drawn Ship-Mistress – is trapped by docking claws and being boarded and attacked from space. Meanwhile the Blood Angels on the planet must discover where the Genestealer hybrids are coming from.
A good series, getting better. Once again great use of red as a spot colour to the black & white included not using it for some effects I thought they would – and much better for breaking that expectation. This is their ‘flagship’ programme on WarhammerTV / Warhammer+ and it is definitely good.
Conclusion
Another good week, but with only 2 releases and still nothing for AoS I’m concerned they may be slowing down and getting through their pre-made / pre-recorded things a little too quickly. Sure there’s the 40k app, but still no sign of the AOS app, or any WarCom article about it.
I’m still happy to have the subscription, but my liking what’s on offer has a lot to do with the Blood Angels appearing each week.
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I am fortunate to have met many friends through wargaming and boardgaming, and sometimes these two groups even collide in a gloriously fun way! Kill Team is one of the rulesets that I can play with those more interested in boardgaming, or not interested in buying & painting a 2,000 point army.
So when one of these friends asked if I was playing Kill Team at a holiday we have soon, I immediately said yes… and started thinking about what I could take. I didn’t want to buy new toys… pile of shame is far too large anyway… so I was limited to Imperial Guard, Blood Angels, Orks and Tyranids. Looking at what others were planning on bringing (Tau, Guard or Orks; Sisters of Battle; Iron Warriors; Necrons) I decided to bring something very different – so Tyranids it was.
The Kill Team
Tyranids have a number of options for their Kill Teams consisting of 2 fire teams from: Tyranid Warriors, Genestealers, Tyranid Swarms (Hormagaunt / Termagaunt). I had loads of all these available, but Genestealers looked to be very different from the other armies being taken, so I picked two Genestealer Fire Teams with Rending Claws & Scything Talons.
The first Fire Team, with the Feeder Tendrils being the Genestealer Leader
I grabbed a few models, some new (see above), and some old (see below) to make the individual Fire Teams clearly different. To add a little variety I found a ‘Stealer with Feeder Tendrils… he was different enough to be my Leader.
Needless to say none of the extras that are on the models are included in Kill Team, so it didn’t matter that some of them have mutations on them. Perfect for adding a bit of variety.
2nd Fire Team is more old school!
The second unit was the gorgeous monopose sculpts from the Space Hulk era. I grew up with these guys, so it was great to get them painted.
Painting
I wanted a scheme I could do quickly, and I’d just picked up Talassar Blue (GW Contrast Paint), so I decided to start with this. The ‘Stealer models have lots of detail on them, and the contrast worked wonderfully, giving great coverage over a simple zenithal highlight (Chaos Black & Grey Seer spray paint). It’s such a vibrant colour and may become my favourite contrast paint!
After a quick Teclis Blue drybrush to show some highlights, I checked my colour wheel, and it suggested orange as a contrast colour… perfect! I picked out the teeth, talons and nails and I had the units finished in a little over a day.
Fortunately, I have a bunch of Sector Imperialis bases already painted, so a quick snip of the bases and reglue and the unit was finished.
Hope you like them, and I’ll let you know how I get on later this month!
The Kill Team core book is available from SCN Hobbies in Corby; or – most likely – from your FLGS!
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Jervis Johnson officially retired from Games Workshop in July. As such I thought it was a great time to cover his career as a games designer, from his first game to his last and the impact he’s had on the hobby.
If you don’t know who Jervis Johnson is then this will introduce you to a man who has created many of the great games you know and love today.
Jervis joined Games Workshop as a trade sales assistant in 1982. During this time he started writing rules for Games Workshops’ own games in his spare time (them being the seller for dungeons and dragons in Europe.and not producing their own game of Warhammer Fantasy until 1983). What would become the first edition of Blood Bowl was produced in 1986, followed closely by Rogue Trader (the 1st edition of Warhammer 40k) in 1988.
During his time Jervis has designed or has been involved in the design of over 93 games and add-ons. Both for Games Workshop and other companies.
Many other companies have taken inspiration from some of Jervis Johnson’s games. Whether you know it or not, your favourite game has probably been worked on or has used inspiration from one of Johnson’s game.
Some of the games Mr Johnson has worked on
His retirement is well deserved, but the wargaming community is losing a true giant of the industry. Goodbye Jervis, and enjoy your retirement.
Why don’t you let us know in the comments below which of Jervis’ games was your favourite?
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The Solar War is the beginning of the end in the epic Horus Heresy series from Black Library.
With the Horus Heresy reaching 54 books, countless short stories and novellas I admit to finding it difficult to keep up-to-date with the storyline – and I read a lot, and have known the story since I was 11! As such, it was a great decision to ‘restart’ the series numbering to allow readers to get back on track with the ‘Siege of Terra’ series.
Horus’ fleet has arrived at Sol and must get to the Emperor’s palace on Terra – fortified by Dorn – but first he must fight through the remaining loyal fleet of the Emperor.
The book returns to some of the characters from the start of the series – Mersadie & Logan – and is was fun to read their story of the start of the invasion.
The book includes mass space battles, many (many) deaths as the loyalists attempt to slow down Horus’ treachery.
I did struggle at times with the number and names of the ships many introduced to be destroyed and I did sometimes have to re-read a passage to work out if a destroyed ship was loyalist or traitor. Although they have restarted the numbering, it is difficult to see how anyone who is new to the lore could understand what is happening in the story. Definitely a book for those already invested in the Heresy – although fine if you’ve not read all the previous books.
The pace feels significantly quicker than the rest of the series, so don’t expect another 50 books for the Siege of Terra, but I’m looking forward to the next in the series.
A promising start to the Siege…
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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Following on from last week’s article, A Budding Warmaster, I received today my order from excellentminiatures.com. These are Forest Dragon dwarfs printed by excellent miniatures.com, you can get these from other printers in the UK and around Europe.
The minis came very well packaged with plenty of padding around them.
The parcelA close up of the troop bag.
Before even opening the bad you can tell that these miniatures are very detailed for their scale. Excellent miniatures has printed these off at an extremely high standard, you’re unable to see any of the usual print lines you can get from 3D prints.
The prints
The models come with the supports from printing still attached, but it’s simple work to remove these before washing and undercoating.
I’m very pleased with the order and I will be going back again once these are painted.
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I really wanted to love this book. In theory it has everything that appeals to me. Fantasy, set in the new Age of Sigmar world, staring the Goblins (Grots) who were my first army and still grace the wargaming table for me. Unfortunately, it fell down and I think it’s to do with the marketing and editor and not the author – which is even more of a shame.
The book follows a group of mercenaries – Swords of Sigmar – who warn the militia of Draconium about an impending disaster. Unfortunately they don’t know what the disaster is, except it will come from below.
The Swords and the characters in Draconium and well written, interesting characters – with an equal mix of women & men (the characters genders are not relevant to the story, but after so many male fantasy books, this is welcome relief – well done Andy Clark) – and a fun story. 4* for the author.
However, the book’s title in ‘Gloomspite’ and this was released at the same time as the army book. All other races get a book from Black Library with their army as the heroes (or anti-heroes); the Gloomspite (Grots) get a story where humans are the heroes and they are the peril. I know that they are ‘destruction’ but that is no reason to not get a story expanding the reader’s knowledge of the Gitz. I realise it is difficult to write from the point of view of destruction armies, but with the vast world available in Age of Sigmar, it must surely be easier than other fantasy settings. 2* for marketing & editing.
Okay, but not really about Gitz!
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Straight off, I want to say this – if you’re just after a story from the Warhammer Age of Sigmar this is a fine book, well written with an interesting underlying story.
However, I picked it up because it was the companion book to the recent release of Age of Sigmar 3, which is the first edition to have Destruction (one of the Age of Sigmar factions) as well as the Stormcast. As such, I’m looking forward to more expansion of the history and background of the Destruction races – especially the new Kruleboyz released in the boxed set…
… Unfortunately this book didn’t achieve this. There was the (now reasonably common) Black Library usage of a human as the main character to make them more relatable – in this case a brother and sister whose father had been killed by Orruks (Orcs) before they escaped to Excelsis (a very large city in Ghur – the Realm of Beasts). If you’re not into Warhammer I’ve made this sound a bit confusing, but you can honestly read this book with no knowledge of the background.
The Realm of Ghur becomes one of the things that the siblings must overcome and they encounter monsters not released by Games Workshop (Kraken), and some that have (Kraken Eater Gargant), on their Crusade. If this is familiar to those who have read the Age of Sigmar rule book, it’s because Crusades are a new way to play the game… all good so far.
But… the story revolves around the brother (Niksar), with his sister being relegated to a supporting role. This is unfortunate given the need for Warhammer to appeal to more women readers and gamers, and missed a perfect opportunity in a big release book.
And then my biggest complaint – there is a little background on the Stormcast from the box, but the Kruleboyz (Orruks) only make an appearance late and are hidden behind their mist, only appearing to attack and then be attacked by the Stormcast. There was little development for them and – as they are a new race – I expected a lot more. It’s about time Black Library released some books from the perspective of the ‘bad guys’ which we know they can do, but which is sadly lacking for the new army – and indeed all the Destruction forces.
Disappointing
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
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