I hear the cry of male hobbyists the world over – ‘I’m disappointed in the size of my tower’, well, if your erections just aren’t quite piercing the clouds, fear not as I have a product review for you.
I recently picked up the Fortified Tower from Croatia based Tabletop World and tried it out, so you can see if it meets your needs.
This is a five piece resin kit (three of the pieces being the flag, pole and base). The main tower consists of just two pieces, with a little bit of internal detail which might be nice for D&D etc but not enough to do too much with as you only have that level plus the roof.
This kit can also be incorporated into Tabletop Worlds Town Walls kits, these look pretty interesting but for my purposes I only wanted the singular tower.
Tabletop World states that the resin comes pre-cleaned but I didn’t want to risk it and gave the beast a good wash and brush up with some washing up liquid. I was pleased and surprised to find no bubbles or problems with the product to repair, given the material (!), I don’t know if this is their usual quality but I was very pleased. The irregular stone effect of the sculpt looks great and I think you could really put as much or as little effort as you wanted into painting this and it will reward you.
I #slapchopped up the tower very simply and it took the paint very well. I then added some spots of Dirty Down moss on the odd ledge here and there.
The kit is a bit pricey at €65, or £54.90 from Element Games. This beast is absolutely rock solid though and feels like it will last as long as if it really were made of stone. Terrain always is a bit of an investment and I can use this for the Warhammer Fantasy Watchtower scenario objective, in Age of Sigmar or even in 40k for a feudal world.
I’ve added a few pics, with a little green friend, so you can see the scale and how mine turned out
All in all, I’m a fan and might pick some more up…. I’ll let you know!
The Armada Two Player Starter Set is the perfect place to start your journey onto the seas of Pannithor in the Kings Of War universe.
Everything you need for two-players to start their own fleet of courageous Basileans or marauding orcs, along with a rulebook, tokens, ship cards and a paper gaming mat.
Players control 6 to 9 ships in 10 different scenarios. Rules cover speed, fire, boarding action, weather, wind, terrain…
The Mantic Games YouTube channel has a great set of introduction videos on how to play Armada.
Part 1 – Introduction
Part 2 – Wind & Initiative
Part 3 – Movement
Part 4 – Shooting
Part 5 – Boarding Action
Part 6 – Evading & Ramming
Miniatures
For official Miniatures, Mantic Games have the a fantastic range of products. This range is also constantly being added to with new models.
They have a number of fleet sets all listed at £37.50. Or alternatively you could purchase the two player Armada Starter Set for £87.50. This contains two fleets, rules, tokens and gaming mat.
Kings of War is the miniatures wargame from Mantic Games. Designed to go along with the accompanying 28mm Fantasy Ranges the game features players maneuvering large blocks of miniature soldiers around the battlefield in search of victory.
Kings of War is a new concept for mass battle miniature wargaming — a game that is both easy to learn and fast to play! With few and simple rules, there is little to get in the way of the fun and slaughter. Kings of War is a challenging game of strategy, where you can pit your wits against your opponent without devoting half of your brain power to remember a plethora of convoluted rules.
And that’s not all, the innovative turn structure allows you to play Kings of War using a time-keeping tool (like a stopwatch or a chess clock) to time your moves. As the seconds tick away, the pressure and excitement this adds makes ‘Kings of War’ unlike any other large-scale wargame you’ve ever played before.
Death by Dragons on YouTube has a number of videos explaining how to play Kings of War.
Part 1 – What you need to play
Part 2 – The Movement Phase
Part 3 – The Shooting Phase
Part 4 – The Combat Phase
Miniatures
You can pretty much use any fantasy miniatures for this game as most on the market make good proxies in the game. You can even use your old Warhammer fantasy armies. However for official Miniatures Mantic Games have the a fantastic range of products.
They have a number of armies sets all listed at £110. Or alternatively you could purchase the two player A Storm in the Shires set for £80. This is currently on pre-order only but contains 87 miniatures of Orcs and Halflings as well as a copy of the rules.
This weekend Games Workshop releases their latest Warhammer Underworlds boxed set Harrow Deep.
This week’s GW releases
Warlord are releasing a massive amount of kits for Blood Red Skies, Hail Caesar and Black Powder.
Mordiphius have a number of new releases for their fall out miniatures game.
Reaper Miniatures have a massive amount of sets being released this month.
Solo Wargaming for your Favourite Games
I’m in the process of creating a series of Wargaming Aids which allow players to play their favourite games in a single player format against an AI controlled enemy army. To find out more on this click here.
For as little as £1 a month (the price of a chocolate bar) you can help support me in this endeavour and receive cool perks as a thank you, such as access to our Discord Server as well as downloadable copies of the gaming aids which you can print out and use at home.
Why not pop over to Patreon and sign up and help me in this project? Money raised will go towards making these as physical products.
This weekend sees the Black Templar army set go up for pre-order. Games Workshop are also releasing two old Blood Bowl teams from the 90’s as made to order for a limited time period.
This week’s GW releases
Warlord are releasing a supplement for Bolt Action – Italy: Soft Underbelly. To go with this they are also releasing a shed load of miniature sets for World War 2 Italian armies.
Warlord are also releasing Project Z this month, which is their Zombie Apocalypse survival game.
A number of new releases this month for Mantic for Deadzone, Kings of War and Armada.
The Woeful Brush Painting Competition Sponsored by SCN Hobby World
Closing date for entries 30th November. £1 entry, win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box set!
The only major miniatures company releasing miniatures for pre-order this weekend is Games Workshop. However, I will keep an eye on the other companies in the upcoming weeks.
The Orks take centre stage this week with some very nice kits being released for the beast snaggas.
This week’s GW releases
Warlord Games have released limited edition miniature, which is available only for this weekend. Make sure to grab it while you can!
Lucky Jack
Para-Bellum miniatures, have a number of pre-orders up which I have failed to cover previously. All of these are for their title game Conquest.
Another company I have previously missed is Reaper Miniatures. There are a couple of upcoming September releases here for their Bones Black range.
The Woeful Brush Painting Competition Sponsored by SCN Hobby World
Closing date for entries 30th November. £1 entry, win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box set!
This weekends releases are all about Age of Sigmar again with the Kruleboyz taking centre stage with some amazing models. As well as the new releases for the Kruleboyz, there’s also and Age of Sigmar scenery kit and some models from Forgeworld for Necromunda.
This week’s GW releases
Warlord Games Have many items up for pre-order right now, with the majority being for their World War 2 air game Blood Red Skies and Warlords of Erehwon: Mythic America’s
Wargames Atlantic pre-orders are pretty slim at the moment but there are many, many kits in the pipeline.
Two releases for the fallout game this week:
Last week we covered just one offering from Mantic Games. But they have a tonne of items on their pre-order list for many of their games such as Kings of War Halflings, Armada Elves and many factions for their new edition of Deadzone which is being released soon.
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.
A lot of us started wargaming with Games Workshop and have stuck with them ever since.
Therefore I’m hoping that this article may introduce you to other wargames you may not have heard of, while giving you a brief synopsis of the game itself.
All of the following games are from companies which both produce the rules, and sell the miniatures for that game.
Kings of War (Mantic Games)
Kings of War is thought by many to be the successor to Warhammer Fantasy, and features many of the same armies (with slightly different names. E.g. Ratkin instead of Skaven).
“Kings of War is a table-top war game that allows you to play epic fantasy battles in the world of Pannithor. You and your opponent will pit your wits and armies against each other in a battle of tactics, a contest of skill and an explosion of magic and steel.“
Manticgames.com
Kings of War Dwarf Army
However, be aware the price point for these models are pretty much the same as Games Workshop with a pack of twenty models costing £32.50 in the UK.
Northern Alliance Pack Hunters (pack of 20 for £32.50)
The models are well crafted and look stunning. Some of the range is still in metal.
Skyrim – Call to Arms (Mordiphius)
For fans of Skyrim there’s Call to Arms by Mophidius.
Skyrim: Call to Arms
“The Elder Scrolls: A Call to Arms is an adventure wargame set in the world of Tamriel. Gather your heroes and venture into Draugr haunted tombs and ruins, searching for treasure and glory. Or, fight the Civil War as the Stormcloaks and Imperials battle for the future of Skyrim.“
Mophidius
The advantage of Skyrim: Call to Arms is that it also has a solo play method for gaming.
While not a massive battle game like Warhammer AoS or Kings of War, the game focuses more on small skirmish games and dungeon delving.
The models will set you back roughly £40 for a pack of 12. But the quality is on par with both Mantic and GW.
Imperial Vanguard for Call to Arms
A Song of Fire & Ice (Cmon)
This is the official Game of Thrones miniatures game which has been licensed to Cmon.
Stark v Lannister Starter Set
“A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game is a competitive miniatures game for two or more players. Each player controls one of the Great Houses of Westeros, commanding battlefield units, recruiting legendary Heroes, and manipulating the political stage, in the attempt to claim the greatest prize of all: The Iron Throne.“
Cmon
The miniatures are excellently detailed, however they are mono-pose. The starter set which includes 50 Lannister miniatures and 43 Stark Miniatures can be found on various websites including Amazon for about £100.
Starter set contents
The game also incorporates deck building and list building into its five different game modes.
A Unit of Stark Outriders
Warmachine/Hordes (Privateer Press)
“WARMACHINE is a fast-paced and aggressive 30 mm tabletop miniatures battle game set in the steam-powered fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. Take control of an elite soldier-sorcerer called a warcaster and his mighty warjacks–massive steam-powered combat automatons–as you battle to destroy the enemy warcaster.“
Privateer Press
30 models inside the two player starter set
Warmachine and Hordes are relatively similar and involve smaller armies. It’s a great system for those looking for lower model counts. The models are really nice and would make great painting projects on their own. Just look at the below Warjack model….
Galleon Mercenary for Warmachine
However a model like the above will set you back around £70 with the rest of the range costing between £30-£70 for a box.
Frostgrave (Warlord Games)
Warlord Games are quintessentially Games Workshop ex-employees. With Rick Preistley being among their number. They have a large (and excellent) historical range of figures, but also some fantasy with offers in both Warlords of Erehwon and Frostgrave.
“Warlords of Erehwon is a fantasy based game designed for 28mm tabletop warfare. The gameplay is built around the D10 system developed for the science-fiction game Beyond the Gates of Antares and also using the praised order dice mechanic first used in the Bolt Action WW2 rules.“
Warlord Games
Rulebook for Warlords of Erehwon
Warlord Games miniatures are not as finely detailed as other manufacturers out there, but what they lack in detail they make up for in value. A box of 20 plastic models from Warlord will set you back around £20 (half of what GW charge nowadays).
A Starter Army for Warlords of Erehwon
Next week, I’ll go through five non-GW science fiction games as an alternative to Warhammer 40,000.
