The Exiled Dead

 It's been a little way since I got paint on any miniatures but as luck would have it I had a box of miniatures that I have stats for in 3 different games (and they also feel like they'll fit great in RPGs as well).  Say hello to The Exiled Dead!

These figures are a Warhammer Underworlds release, but I had forgotten that I had gotten a White Dwarf awhile back that also had their stat cards for Warcry, and like most (all?) Underworlds releases their rules for Age Of Sigmar are available for free online.  In addition to their intended Games Workshop uses I feel like these would be a great as constructs in the Ravenloft domain of Lamordia.

I got The Exiled Dead from my friendly local game store, please remember to support your FLGS as well.

Thanks for checking in.

-Jay

Review - D&D Starter Set (2022) Dragons Of Stormwreck Isle

 Today I'm taking an overdue look at the new/current (at time of writing) starter set for Dungeons & Dragons; Dragons Of Stormwreck Isle.

Truthfully I kept going back and forth on my opinion about this set because every time I began to formulate an opinion I found myself challenging if that opinion existed in the appropriate context.  Having said that this might be the first time I've reviewed something that I've landed on three completely different but in my opinion completely valid final takes on the overall product.  Let's go! 

Over the now 10 year history of D&D Fifth edition there have been five box sets released that are either intended as "starters" or simply as stand-alone adventures with rules.  Those boxes in order are; D&D Starter Set, D&D Stranger Things, D&D Essentials, D&D Rick & Morty, and now Dragons Of Stromwreck Isle.  The reason I wanted to lay that out is that even though the Essentials and Rick & Morty set weren't marketed as 'starters' this new set feels like a big step backwards from those two products.

Let's begin by talking about what great (and what's great really is great) about Dragons Of Stormwreck Isle.  The production value, in particular the quality of the writing and the artwork are outstanding and exactly what someone would expect from a leader in the industry.  The included adventure is extremely well structured for new or first time players in that although the narrative is very linear the game play experience feels a lot more like a sandbox that confers a lot of agency to the players.  This has the dual effect of allowing the players to feel like they have complete autonomy while preventing them from going too far off the rails (the sandbox itself is relatively small).  I also really like that the design team has done a great job of planting a stake in the ground for what they want 21st century D&D to 'feel' like in that some historically evil humanoids are recast as benign, while also painting D&D dragons as being separate and extremely distinct from dragons in traditional fantasy fiction.  The adventure itself in spite of being relatively short has scenes that will satisfy a variety of different player styles.  It's also worth noting that although Essentials came close this is the first box set that really leans into online support with D&D Beyond which has seen a huge upsurge in popularity in our post-pandemic world.

I'd also like to address what are in my opinion a couple of near misses.  These aren't things that I think are bad, but they are things that could have been better.  First up it bothers me to no end that in all the art the player characters are represented by the characters  from the 80s animated series, but those are then not the pre-generated characters that come in the adventure.  Either the characters represented in the art should have been the pre-gens, or the art should have reflected the existing pre-gens.  This might seem minor but keep in mind creating new art of these characters to appeal to certain gamer's nostalgia was a conscious choice and then not following through feels like a bit a bait and switch.  My other near miss has to do with the timing of the release.  Normally a starter set has a fairly open ended and lengthy lifetime, this one does not.  With the new iteration of D&D scheduled in the next 12-18 months it's not unreasonable to assume that this box has an expected life cycle of 12-18 months, that being the case it doesn't need to be evergreen and it doesn't need to tie to the larger world of D&D (The Forgotten Realms).  So my question is this; if you're only going to sell this box for 12-18 months, and 2 of your significant features and going to be draconic humanoids and dragon mythology, and your next major release is the Dragonlance campaign setting...why isn't this starter set set on the continent of Krynn in the Dragonlance campaign setting?

And now, my actual issues with the product overall.  At the start I referenced how this box feels like a step backwards from Essentials and Rick & Morty, that opinion is almost entirely based on the contents (or lack thereof) in the box.  Both of the aforementioned sets included two things that I felt made them feel far more complete than this box.  The first is they included 11 piece dice sets instead of 6 piece dice sets.  Although it can certainly be argued that a product that doesn't include rules for character creation doesn't necessarily need the extra D6s the absence of a second D20 is pretty poor.  For any opposed roles having the DM and player roll simultaneously is more fun, as well as being more immediate for advantage/disadvantage rolls.  The other missing piece (and I'm honestly concerned this represents an intentional shift in philosophy rather than an oversight) is the lack of a DM screen.  As a positive I mentioned that this product is really linked to and supports online play, but some of us still want to sit around a table with our friends, and for new DMs in particular the DM screen is an outstanding reference.  If I go all the way back 10 years to the first starter box the contents match up pretty well, and had this box followed on from that one rather than having three other box sets fall between them it's shortcomings would probably be less obvious.

So overall what do I think?  If you're completely new to RPGs and D&D Dragons Of Stormwreck Isle will get you started and its contents and value for money fall largely inline with what most other companies offer as quick-start sets.  If you and your group have some prior experience with RPGs you will probably find you'll get a much deeper more satisfying experience out of the Essentials box set.  And if you're an existing D&D 5e player you're paying for a 48 page saddle-stitched adventure for levels 1-3.

If Dragons Of Stromwreck Isle is right for you please pick it up from your friendly local game store.  I got mine from my FLGS and they also have all the other bits and pieces I need for all my games.

Thanks for checking in

-Jay

Review - CQB aka Close Quarter Battle

 Today I couldn't be more excited to be reviewing a new game currently up on Kickstarter by a Canadian company; Close Quarter Battle by Strategies Games Lab.

First up before I get into the review proper two bits of disclosure.  Darren at Strategies was good enough to send me a reference and review copy and I have been one of the play-testers on the game throughout most of it's development.  That out of the way, let's get into it.

What is CQB?

Close Quarter Battle is a near modern (a bit more late 80s than current day) miniature skirmish game that is designed for light fun narrative games coupled with a competitive system rooted in the RPG tournament modules of the past.  If you like 80's action movies, ripped from the headlines scenarios, fluid fast game mechanics, and a scoring system that works without sacrificing narrative game style this is the game for you.  In a typical battle one player takes on the role of 2 elite operatives attempting to achieve their objective against a second player controlling the opposing forces of a cartel, or paramilitary group, or unfriendly foreign power.  For competitive play once the scenario is complete the two players switch sides and victory is determine by which player scores a higher victory point total while playing as the operatives.  What I find great about this system for competitive play is that it effectively eliminates the needs for two forces to be balanced against each other in a given scenario as whether the scenario is beneficial to either the operatives or their opponents each player has an equal chance of success.

Why should I play CQB?

In addition to it's fresh take on competitive miniature play it's in game action is very different than any other modern miniatures game I've played.  Each miniature has a basic skill level, when performing a skilled action characters of a higher skills level have a greater chance to generate successes, in addition when a model is the target of an attack the likelihood of the attack being successful factor in both the attacker's skill level (number of dice) and defender's skill (determining the base number to hit).  This mechanic is incredibly simple but on the tabletop really gives the 'feeling' of an action hero effortlessly cutting a swath through a pile of green troops, while walking through a hail of bullets just hoping there isn't one lucky one out there with your operative's name on it.  It also has the net impact of having two completely different playstyles in the same game.  In my experience the operative player is always trying to manage probability, while the opposing player is trying to manage resources.  The game moves very quickly and for a game using dice in the dozens of games I have played I only found the swing of die rolls to be a deciding factor on their own merit when one player had either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad die rolls.  I think anyone can pick up the basics of this game in about 10-15 minutes and be playing an engaging game right away.

Why should I buy CQB?

Miniature games being a visual medium means the overall look is important, and CQB hits it out of the park.  Starting with the rulebook the art is amazingly well done, evocative of the setting and translated perfectly to the game's miniatures.  Gameplay is illustrated both through diagrams as will as high quality miniature photography that makes rules clear and easy to understand, as well as making scenario set up easy and intuitive.  But the heart and soul of any miniatures game is (in my opinion) the miniatures, not the game.  CQBs launch sees the release of 25 new and unique miniatures that not only make excellent playing pieces for CQB but will also fit into an untold number of other modern and near future miniature games.  These are the kinds of miniatures that I will be re-using for a ton of different games that I'm currently playing.

My overall thoughts

It's not bias but obviously when you playtest a game and give feedback which is taken on board that means there are bound to be a lot of elements a play-tester is going to approve of.  Having said that the core mechanics Darren started with were a really strong bold choice that made the game flow extremely well right from the start.  One of the key principles of good game design is that a game should be easy to learn but difficult to master, CQB can be learned in minutes, but every game I play win or lose I come up with new tactical options.  I find that I'm actually making my decisions based on the action on the table itself rather than the meta of the rules.  For anyone considering a modern miniatures game there's no question in my mind that CQB and it's fantastic model range are both must buys.

But don't just take my word for it

Check out Guerrilla Miniature Games review of CQB at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_tW2TOlJU&t=361s

Where to get it

Back the Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/closequarterbattle/close-quarter-battle-the-miniature-wargame

One last thing

I just want to say that I truly believe there are not enough unique brave new launches in the world of hobby gaming as many of us tread the familiar and the comfortable.  I think it would be great if more of us would jump in and reward a creator who's trying to give us something new and different of an unbelievably high level of quality.

Thanks as always for reading

-Jay

Kill Team: Imperial Navy Breachers (Part Two)

 Back with the rest of my Imperial Navy Breacher Kill Team.

The Grenadier is exactly what it says on the tin.

This model is really interesting and well detailed and does a great job of showing how much Games Workshop has learned about model design.  This isn't the first GW figure I've gotten that has a replacement chest piece, but (previously) they always looked like a proper figure with an extra piece just glued over top, in this case they designed the extra chest armour to have its buckles and straps where the armour flares out.  So basically they conceal one of the shortcomings of this type of figure design by sculpting an extra bit of detail to make the whole thing feel more 'real'.

The Endurant is one of the figures that really got noticed during the teasers.

In the game the Endurant is really slow but holy cow is he awesome when paired up with other figures!  The Endurant has a 2+ save and can be used to lead other figures through the Gallowdark who then benefit from his crazy high defense.

The Surveyor is a techie character.

The Surveyor operates The C.A.T. an exploration robot that has it's origins in Space Hulk, which is a nice wink and a nod to the original GW game of Imperial Troops fighting xenos in claustrophobic environment.

Last but not least we have the Void Jammer.

The Void Jammer is similar to The Surveyor in that he comes with a little attendant robot friend.  The Gheistskull has various abilities to disrupt enemy troops but if I'm being honest I haven't really figured out how to get best use out of this combo.

So that's it for my Imperial Navy Breachers.

I really like both the look and the rules for these figures.  They were a ton of fun to paint and although I'm still figuring out how best to use them I'm enjoying exploring their rules.

Six more days until these figures land in your Friendly Local Game Store!

-Jay

 

Kill Team: Imperial Navy Breachers (Part One)

 Kill Team has been seemingly one of Games Workshop's most successful iterations of their grimdark sci-fi universe over the past few years.  Honestly up until a few years ago I didn't really find Kill Team appealing as it felt (to me anyway) like a cut-down version of 40K without any real appeal of its own.  More recently Kill Team has become a game in it's own right that's ties to 40K are narrative and visual rather than mechanical.  I have really enjoyed engaging with the Warhammer 40,000 IP in a way that is disconnected from it's main game.

Going up for pre-order today is Kill Team Into The Dark which is thematically AWESOME!  It's basic setting is a space hulk (a giant derelict abandoned space ship) being explored for lost technology and secrets.  It's meant to be a claustrophobic gaming experience that captures a feel extremely similar to the first two Alien/s movies.  Having played my first two games I can say it does a great job of 'feeling' like the setting it's meant to portray.  The box game set comes with some fantastic looking space hulk scenery as well as two opposing forces; The Kroot, and the Imperial Navy Breachers.

I painted up the Imperial Navy Breachers.  Troopers who specialize in boarding actions and naval warfare.  For those familiar with traditional 40K armies Navy Troopers are normal humans like Imperial Guardsmen but are drastically better equipped bordering on the level equipment possessed by the genetically super-human Space Marines.  These figures are absolutely fantastic!  I used to work for Games Workshop years ago and in the 13 years since I left I've got to say the quality of their models has gone through the roof.  Here we go...

My Kill Team is led by a Sergeant-At-Arms.

This Sergeant is armed with a Bolt Pistol and although there are enough extra heads to have any of your troopers helmetless I only chose that option for my Sergeant to make her stand out from her troops.

Two basic Arnswomen.

The basic Naval Trooper is armed with a shotgun which works well up close and given the environment the game is set in has few disadvantages in most scenarios.

Axe-Jack!

The Axe-Jack looks cool and I should have spent less time during my first game looking at how cool I thought it was and should have read how cool it actually was.  When the Axe-Jack can get into a dense group of enemies he can do catastrophic amounts of damage.

Gunner.

The Gunner is the heavy weapon wielder of the Navy.  This model posses a real choice for the player.  The box offers a melta-gun and plasma-gun as options which have certain limitations (primarily range) in conventional 40K games but that is far less of an issue in Into The Dark games.  The laser weapon I took has tons of shots at longer range but that's of little practical benefit in the setting I'm playing in, it functions as more of an area denial weapon than an active offensive weapon.

Chainfist armed Hatchcutter.

The unquestioned MVP of my first two games was the Hatchcutter.  The Hatchcutter can breach walls and create openings that his fellow Naval Troopers can move through.  It allows the Breacher player to control the board significantly more than their opponent.  I really enjoyed how the Hatchcutter played but if I'm being 100% honest I'm pretty sure the way the rule for breaching is worded will get a slight change in an FAQ at some point at which time the Hatchcutter will still be highly effective but less so than it is now.

These models are absolutely fantastic and unfortunately my photography really doesn't do them justice.  I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the team and if you're reading this post the day of posting your friendly local game store just started taking pre-orders for Kill Team Into The Dark today!

Support your FLGS and I hope to see you back tomorrow!

-Jay

Lt Tavington's newest recruits for The Silver Bayonet

 Although Archibald Tavington III's men have been tremendously successful through the first seven scenarios of our ten scenario campaign tragedy finally struck in scenario eight.

A couple of the chosen men of the 95th Rifles have given their lives bravely for the cause but it somehow hit harder when Doctor Theopolis was taken from this world in the prime of his life.  Rest in power Doctor, your legacy lives on through your liberal application of questionable period medications and bloodletting.

In the run up to our final two scenarios Lt Tavington has brought in two men from other units to round out his Silver Bayonet force.

First up joining us from the Royal Marines is Trooper Gibbs.

Gibbs adds a character who is steady on his feet but doesn't break the bank budget-wise.

Next is our new Artillerist Sir Simon.

I don't think I'll have a ton of use for an Artillerist in the final two scenarios but I wish I had had one earlier in the campaign as there are a number of swivel guns just laying about on the battlefields of Europe.

I'm actually thinking about doing some slight restructuring, which could lead to dropping another Rifleman and replacing them with another new character type.  Not 100% committed to that yet but between now and Tuesday we'll see what happens.

Thanks for checking in!

-Jay

And now it's time for some Kurita on Kurita violence!

 Our slow march through the 1st Sommerset Strikers campaign continues!

In preparation for the scenario based on Episode 11, Chaos In The Jungle, I needed to paint up 9 new mechs for Draconis Combine forces.  This scenario is a bit of an odd one as it involves 3 players and the forces of Clan Jade Falcon are completely absent.

Force 1 is the 1st Sommerset Strikers.  Which include Franklin Sakamoto in his Hatamoto-Chi.

Force 2 are the Kurita ISF forces commanded by Toshiro Okura.  This is an entire lance made up of Centurions.

Force 3 are the rebels attempting to install a new puppet government on the throne of the Draconis Combine and is an entire lance of Wolfhounds.

The one thing I will say I learned from playing with my Wotan Tamar March Militia force is that if I'm going to play entire lances made up of the same mechs not only do I need to number the fronts (which my opponent can see) but I need corresponding numbers on the backs so I don't have to constantly pick them up during play to figure out which model is which.

All of these models were 3D printed as the Hatamoto-Chi (at time of writing) is not yet available, and once again I need a larger quantity of single models (Centurions and Wolfhounds) than I can readily get through lance packs.

Thanks for checking in!

-Jay