DE: Black Heart Might Be The Best Kabal

At first, I was afraid, I was petrified.

That's right folks, you heard it here first.  While I was balls deep in Flayed Skull in the beginning of all the rumors and previews, but now I think I might be some kind of Black Heart convert.  OK, hear me out, I can justify it I think.

Here is my reasoning:

• The 6+++ bonus literally affects everything, from flesh to metal, right from the get-go to the rest of the game.  You always have it.
• You don't need additional Archon tax to access the best Strategems, Warlord traits and artifacts in the book.  Instead of paying Archon tax, you're one step closer to buying a Warrior unit in a Venom.
• With the improvement to our weapons, our damage certainly went up for the points. However, one thing remains unchanged and that's our durability.  Spirit Stones on everything will help keep our important pieces alive longer so we don't attrition as hard.
• The Living Muse artifact makes that one Archon the single biggest damage amplifier in the codex (gives all Black Heart units within 6" of the Warlord re-roll 1s to Wound).  It affects every weapon type and is super good, but you have to walk around like a baller.

Just one little note about Writ of the Living Muse:  It's a huge damage amplifier but keeping everything that I can within 6" of the damn Archon might be a huge challenge.  It also makes that particular HQ a huge pain in everyone's ass and everyone is going to be gunning for him.  However, I'll just have to play him well and use all the long-range firepower that I have to really deliver some results in the opening phases of the game.  Otherwise, I'm kind of screwed!

Now when I look back at Flayed Skull, I think that the 3" extra move is the single best bonus it provides.  The re-roll 1s for Rapid Fire only really kick in with Splinter Rifles and if I'm not taking many Venoms or Warriors double-tapping, I'm not getting the best out of it.  The ignore cover part is also really nice since there's always some crap out there like CW Rangers, but I've been thinking back to all the 8th games where cover was game-changing.  Can't really think of times where it decided the game if I'm to be honest.

With that being said, I could argue that Agents of Vect and Labyrinthine Cunning was enough to win me over, but the sustained durability of all our units really did it for me.  Not paying additional Archon tax means that I can fit in more units and I think my next game will be full Kabal of the Black Heart.

Case in point, I'm going to roll with this in my Weds game this week:

2000 // 7 CP
Black Heart Battalion +3 CP

HQ:
Archon, Agonizer, Blaster = 91
Archon, VB, Blaster = 89

TROOP:
5x Warriors, Blaster = 47
Venom = 65
112

5x Warriors, Blaster = 47
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
132

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

10x Warriors, 2x Blaster, Dark Lance = 114
Raider, Dark Lance = 85
199

HEAVY:
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125
Ravager, 3x Dinsintegrators = 125

+++

Black Heart Air Wing +1 CP

FLYER:
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135
Razorwing, 2x Dinsintegrators = 135

>>>

Firepower:
15 Disintegrators at BS3+
9 Dark Lances at BS3+
10 Blasters at BS3+
2 Blasters at BS2+
1 Splinter Cannon at BS3+
44 Splinter Rifles at BS3+
3 Razorwing Missiles at BS3+

If you look at the firepower arrangement of this list compared to the other ones I've poured out over the last couple of days, I think this is the most optimized and most balanced.  I got my command Raider where my Archons can go chill and I'm able to fit an extra Venom in there due to the points gained from not having a third detachment.  This also allowed me to take 4x full gunboats instead of the previous 3 while still having my 3/3 ratio of Ravagers and Razorwings.

I think tomorrow, I'll talk about shoving Wyches into someone's face at the start of the game because why not.  It only costs 160 points for 20 of them and Succubi are much cheaper now!

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - Clan Introduction: Ventrue Trailer - IGN Video

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - Clan Introduction: Ventrue Trailer

Even With PS5, Sony Still Planning PS4's Big Exclusives For Current-Gen - IGN Games

Even With PS5, Sony Still Planning PS4's Big Exclusives for Current-Gen

28Mm Dog Tag Miniatures Italian WW2 Motorcycle Review

Sometimes it's worth waiting for a miniature to come along and anyone with a 28mm Italian WW2 Desert Force will have been waiting for some motorcycle borne troops to come along, we can thank Dog Tag Miniatures for answering our prayers.

A new company these were initially avaliable on Kickstarter but are now on general release, I ordered some before Xmas and thought it would be a good idea to put a review out there, having first built and painted one of the models. Link to their website below,

https://www.dogtagminiatures.co.uk/shop/italians/

Above is a short video, looking at the content of one of the packs of models, whilst below is a discussion and still photos of the same topic.

Contents of the 5 man squad code.

Above is a photo of the 5 man squad which includes, 1 Moto Guzzi Motorcycle and 1 Sidecar Combo and 5 figures (both bikes two up and 1 in the sidecar).

The models are resin cast with very good detail, the figures come with a selection of seperate heads, some of the other packs have excess heads and there seems to be plenty of variation in the ones I recieved.

Detail on the models is excellent and they are well proportioned, they do however contain quite a bit of flash (as you can see from the photo), they are easy to clean up but I advise taking great care as the resin is quite soft and I can see it would be easy to accidentally chop off the wrong bit if you got a bit excited with the craft knife.

Contents of a Despatch Rider Code showing spare head

I have made up a couple and had no major problems other than the clean up, the handlebars are cast in metal and I recall reading somewhere that the part was too difficult to cast in resin so they went for a metal option.

Trike model, built awaiting paint

Above is an example of a complete model from the range. I wanted a 10 man squad so I bought, the 5 man unit and the Trike along with an additional Sidecar Combo and 2 Despatch Riders for just short of 60 pounds, there is a 10 man unit for £35 (10 men on 5 bikes all two up) but I wanted the different models even though they were more expensive.

Above is a short video of a completed model, I did one of the Sidecar Combos as an example, I will do a full post when the unit is complete however I have to say they painted up great. The faces are particularly nice and really suit my style of painting. There is a bit of a flash mark on the front of the Sidecar which I missed on my initial clean up but otherwise I am very happy with the result.

Above are some stills of the finished model to look at. All in all a great addition to any Italian Army of the period, just be careful when you clean the casts up. Recommended 👍

In Space, Everyone Can Hear You...

I like a good deck building game, but they do tend to get a bit repetitive after a while, with different themes grafted on to what is essentially the same game. Most games of this type use the familiar "buy cards, use those cards to buy better cards" formula, and attempts to innovate usually involve adding additional currencies, such as with the Legendary series or Star Realms, where players need to balance the ability to buy better cards with the ability to combat villains (or other players).

Clank! In! Space! goes in a different direction entirely. The deck building mechanics are the same as with any deck building game, but this game adds a board and an additional currency in the form of  movement, with players moving their pawns around the board in a press-your-luck style treasure hunt similar to games like DungeonQuest, where players can go for safer, lower-value treasure or risk it all for the big score.

On top of that, there's one more thing to keep track of: noise. The premise of the game is that players are essentially burglars sneaking around a giant space ship, and certain card plays will produce noise in the form of clank tokens. At various points during the game the clank tokens are drawn randomly from a bag, and if yours are drawn they are added to a damage track. Ten or more damage knocks you out of the game, so in addition to everything else you need to take opportunities to heal damage so you can stay in the game.

A few simple additions to the standard deck building game formula makes for a more interesting game overall, but also provides a wider variety of game effects for the cards. Buying cards isn't just a matter of "does it generate money to buy more cards, or combat to defeat monsters," they can also generate movement effects and add or remove clank tokens.

The artwork and graphic design are top notch. The theme is a light science fiction parody, with cards referencing pop culture mainstays such as Star Wars and Star Trek, which is fun but also stops it from being really compelling. It doesn't generate a unique world of its own, but not every game needs to.

Rating: 4 (out of 5) An entertaining game that brings some much-needed innovation to a game genre that may be getting a little tired.

• Clank! In! Space! official website
• Clank! In! Space! on Boardgamegeek

The Smoke Of War, But Which?

A few days ago, I was gathering up the various bits of fluff that I use to indicate  units that have fired, and thinking about Huzzah.  I decided that it was time to upgrade, but how?

What looks better, the "toy" version with just paint or the fluff version?

 My first idea was just to get some sort of base to make the fluff (aka fibrefill) easier to deploy, control and collect during games. Since I had some spare foamcore on hand, I decided to use  that as a base and glue the fluff to it.

The fluffy prototype. 

However, while assembling them, it occurred to me that a painted version would be suggestive of the old painted toy soldier explosions  that were sometimes sold with sets of toy soldiers, especially painted flat and semiflat toy soldiers. They would also be easier to store and transport. Hmmmm...

One of the Toy Soldier version prototypes.

With "real" toy soldiers.

I'm used to fluff as smoke and have myself brainwashed to see it as "smoke" BUT to my surprise I kinda like the toy soldier look and feel of the painted one.

So....whaddiya think? Fuzzy or painted?
(yes I'm soliciting opinions)

The Oceanhorn Team Whishes You Happy Holidays

On behalf of the whole Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm team, we wish you Happy Holidays and a great New Year!

Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm will see the welcome return of a familiar face. 

The cleverest among you will notice that Hero in the postcard is wearing something peculiar in his head, what could it be?


Yes! That is a diving helmet!


Oceanhorn 2 will feature underwater areas and with Diving Helmet item you'll be able to go for a treasure hunt in the depths, or just enjoy and explore the subnautical scenery!


We can't wait to tell you more about diving and other features, but it is soon time to say goodbye to a brilliant and beautiful 2018 and welcome the new year with open arms.


So without further ado, see you in 2019!