Dispatch Update: "Troopers! We Are Leaving!"

Hey everyone

Just a quick heads up to let you all know that the blog will be moving! I know I have said it before but this time I am actually serious. The new address will be...

http://sincitydispatch.blogspot.com/

So when will this big change happen you ask? Within the week! I had planned on posting about this about a week ago but I have had relatives in town for the past three weeks and we all know what that does to the schedule... I love them to pieces but man am I ready to get back to gaming! I will be posting a link from this blog to the new one so even if you don't change the address you will still be able to get there from here so no worries.

See you at the new blog and until then may all of your dice come up Dragons!

The Sin City Dispatch #2

Hey everyone and welcome to the second issue of the Sin City Dispatch

In this issue we will start by taking a quick look at the latest pictures Rackham has released of the Cogs. Most of it we have seen before but there is a little something extra as well. The rest of the issue will be all about the box of plastic goodness that is the Assault on Black Reach. So sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the ground running!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000

Since the last issue of the Dispatch Rackham has actually released two issues of Cry Havoc Online, both of which have some pictures of the Cogs that we have never seen before. One of the most startling ones (for me at least) is the picture of what they look like without a helmet on.

I hate to say it but this is nothing like I expected them too look. From the concept pictures I think a lot of people were under the impression that the Cogs were somewhat Cthulhuian (does that word actually exist?) in appearance but this looks more like a typical Grey from Hollywood. I hate to say it again but this is another disappointment in my book. I am sure that just like the Karmans some people will like the look of these minis but I am really finding that I am falling into the camp of those who don't.

There is also another preview picture of the Cogs but this time it is what looks like their type III infantry.

The pros of these minis are the sculpts look kind of cool with an Anime flair to them. The problems is the paint job. Again with the orange! At first glance they look like some kind of an alien construction crew or chain gang instead of a powerful faction that was able to put the hurt on the Therians until the Karmans were thrown into the war. Something that looks worrying from a play point of view is the variety of weapons these guys have. It might be that these are from various type III units (such as the various types of the TacArms for example) but if they are just one unit then having that jumble of weapons could have an impact on how effective they are in combat. Of course only time will tell how good or bad any of the Cogs are but so far I am really not sure about the direction they are taking with them.

On the 40k front, this month is all about the Space Marines baby! Of all the releases, the new Codex is without a doubt the most important one.

Coming in at 144 pages, it will include all of the rules for fielding a Space Marine Chapter so if you are looking to build that Marine chapter that you have always dreamed of or you just want to see what new nasties they will be fielding, then this is a must buy. The bad news is that this is the first Codex that will fall under the new pricing, coming in a $30. On the plus side, this book is bigger than most of the current Codexes by at least 40 pages so it should have a bunch of new goodies and information in there.

A majority of the remaining releases are new minis for the Marines (including a plastic Drop Pod kit!) though there is one other product that really jumps to my attention and it is something that I will definitely be picking up; the Dice Cube.

For a mere $6 you get 27 20mm dice inside of a giant die. How could any gamer pass one that one? "I think I'll use the giant die for this roll." Plus the price actually isn't half bad so I would definitely recommend grabbing at least one of these right away.

To find out more about these items and the other new releases, head on over to their site and check out the Advanced Orders for 40k.

Taking a Closer Look at...
Assault on Black Reach

Cracking Open the Box

Everyone knows that there is nothing worse than opening a game only to realize that you just paid for a box full of air. The good news is that this is not something you need to worry about with Black Reach. From top to bottom, this box is packed full of stuff. In addition to the four sprues of minis, there is also a small version of the rulebook and a starter book. As far as I can tell the rulebook contains all of the information that the hardcover has (minus the fluff and color painting sections) while the starter book is more of a basic overview of how the game plays with a bunch of full color pictures thrown in as well. All of the templates that you need are also right in the box as well as some dice. Definitely not enough dice in the long run but it is a start in the right direction. A scatter die is also included so overall you are ready to go right out of the box once you have assembled the minis.

Taking a Closer Look

Looking at the miniatures, the first thing that struck me was the level of detail. From purity seals to scroll work, they managed to get it all in there. The symbol for the Tactical squad is even sculpted into the shoulder pads! And it is not just the Marines that received the love either as the Orks are very detailed miniatures as well. From my own experience, I think that this is great. While it might seem that having the extra detail just means that the figs would be harder to paint, I think that the opposite is true. With the higher level of detail, everything is so well defined it really seems to make the figure much easier to paint so I am really looking forward to getting to the painting. First I just need to cut them all off the sprue, assemble, and prime them. Definitely different than the AT-43 "open the box and go" feel but I am still really excited about these which really says something to me.

And The Verdict Is...

So is Assault on Black Reach worth the $60 price tag? In a word, definitely. The hardcover version of the rulebook alone costs $50, while you get all of the information that you need in a smaller size in Black Reach plus a ton of miniatures for an extra $10. In fact I have heard about a number of people getting two, three or even more sets of Black Reach just because of the value in the miniatures. Heck, I know that's what I am going to do.

From the Workbench
the Next Big WAAAAGH!!!

After some slow progress to start with, I have finally assembled most of my Orks from the Black Reach set though I am doing it slightly different from the what the box lists the contents as being. Rather than fielding a twenty strong Boyz mob I have decided to split the group and I have assembled them as a twelve strong Boyz mob and an eight strong Kommando mob, both of which are lead by a Nob. This is actually pretty easy to do and make them somewhat different as I simply used the helmeted Ork heads for my Kommandos while the rest of my Orks running around with a bare head. Here is a picture of the Kommandos...

And the regular Boyz...

To take it a step further, I am looking for some seperate backpacks that I can mount on the Kommandos to give them the appropriate "military-wannabe" look. This will really make them stand apart from the "regular" Orks (if there is such a thing...) by giving them a very unique look. Combined with just the other miniatures from Black Reach (the Deffkoptas, the small Nobz mob, the Warboss, and the other conversions that I will be doing with just this set) this should go together to make a pretty good starter force for my Ork horde. It is by no means finished of course but it is definitely a solid start to getting my Waaaaagh!!! underway.

And that is all for the issue of the Dispatch! Be sure to come back for soon for more Sin City goodness and until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

The Assault Has Begun!

Hey everyone

Just a quick note this time; I picked up my copy of Assault on Black Reach for 40k a couple of days ago and let me tell you it is cool. The level of detail on the plastic minis is incredible and I will be taking a closer look at them in the next issue of the Dispatch. Rackham has also released some more pictures of the Cogs, including one showing what they look like without a helmet! (Crazy fool, not wearing his huntin' safety gear! Gunna get himself shot up good I reckon.) See you soon and until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

The Sin City Dispatch #1

Hello everyone and welcome to the new Sin City Dispatch!

In this issue of the Dispatch, we will be looking at the new preview pictures that Rackham has released for AT-43 plus we will take a look at the new Assault on Black Reach boxed set for Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition. Next, we will be taking another look at my new Space Marine Chapter, the Reclaimers, to see how they are progressing. Last but not least, I stumbled across something at my local grocery store that has inspired me to start work on a new terrain piece. Just what could it be? Well, you'll just have to read on to find out!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming releases for AT-43 and Warhammer 40,000

In the latest Cry Havoc Online, Rackham released previews of several different miniatures that they having coming down the pipe in the next few months for AT-43. The first is the UNA Fire Crawler, the second of the support striders to hit the shelves.

Mounting two Grasers, this support strider packs a considerable punch and can easily cripple lighter striders with one salvo. It also mounts enough armor to make it a hard nut to crack though it does have the lightest armor of the support striders, the common hallmark of the UNA vehicles.

Now what about the miniature? Personally, I don't really like it. The forward sections of the hull swoops down so low that they really negate any ground clearance that the walker would have and the articulation of the legs where they meet the hull just doesn't look like it would be able to move well enough for it to be very maneuverable. There is also a large hatch on the back of the hull which seems odd. I would assume that this is meant for the crew to enter the vehicle but with the overall height of the hull it makes it look like the Crawler also has some kind of APC capability which it doesn't. While this is a nice addition to the game because it finally finishes off the units from the UNA army book, I am really not that thrilled with the sculpt. To each their own though, right?

Next are the Cog Warmongers.

While there are not many details out there about the Cogs, it seems like the Warmongers are going to be their basic infantry unit based on the previews that Rackham has been showing us. The main difference between this picture and the previous ones is they finally got some paint on them so we can see what they will look like. One question though; why are they wearing hunting vests?

These are still nice miniatures but I am really not that thrilled with the paint scheme. It reminds me too much of deer hunting season in Maine. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against hunting but it looks like the Warmongers are wearing safety gear so that they don't accidentally shoot each other. Makes me a little nervous about how the rest of the army will look like, but maybe there is a reason.

Last but not least is the ONI TacArm which for some reason I can not post a current picture of so I will have to put up the old one in its place.

These two pictures are identical in all respects but one; the new picture has the "helmet" of the TacArm open so that you can see the pilot. As I noted before, the arms and torso seem very odd because they look like some kind of body suit rather then armor and the new picture seems to support this look. The face of the pilot within seems to be heavily scared (of course they are mercenaries which could explain this) but he also doesn't look like he has a neck (which the mercenaries thing doesn't really touch on). In fact the musculature of his shoulders looks absolutely massive, giving him an almost Frankstein look. While this seems really odd, he is ONI and they have already aluded to the fact that ONI has access to technologies from all of the other factions. It might be that the TacArms are enhanced and modified Humans but only time will tell and until that time I am going to hold back my opinion of this one.

On the Warhammer 40k front, the big release is the new Assault on Black Reach starter set. Coming in at $60, this is an amazing value for all of the stuff that it comes crammed into the box. Don't believe me? Well, here is a look at what you get in there.

As you can see, that is a ton of minis, plus three templates, dice and a digest sized version of the full rulebook containing all of the rules for the game. Definitely a great value for anyone that is new to 40k or even anyone that it already a fan. Since I have mainly focused on AT-43 in the past, I do want to point out that Games Workshop minis are not pre-painted so you will need to break out the brushes for these but I really do think that it is worth it. From what I have seen and heard, the new edition is pretty good set of rules and Assault On Black Reach is a solid step toward collecting either a Space Marine or and Ork army (or both if you are crazy like me).

As a side note, I am also going to do a review comparing 40k and AT-43 in the future but I want to get a bit more experience with Warhammer first. I can already think of a few pros and cons for each system but I want to get a little more play in to see if there is anything else that I might be missing.

From the Workbench
Raising the Reclaimers

As I showed you a couple of weeks ago, I recently unearthed some of my old Space Marines and started painting them up. I had the base coats on the full squad and force leader and I have made some more progress on them. Here they are in all their glory.

Not the clearest picture I'll admit but I think that you can get the idea. Beyond the base coat, I added a few details to them; the trim on the shoulder pads, the Imperial Eagles on the chest, the white stripe on the right pad indicating the squad type. These are all small additions to the models and it was very quick and easy to do them but they really do add a lot to the model. The bases are also very important as well. I didn't add any details to the bases beyond some flock and painting the edges black but even this helps to give the whole group a more uniform and finished look. I am still in the process of working on the Eddy the Dread but once I get some more work done on him I will be posting his picture as well.

Is this all that I will be doing with the Reclaimers? Not hardly! This is just the beginning of my new Space Marine Chapter and the minis from Black Reach will be helping to swell their ranks. I also have some other ideas floating about things that I can do to really give the Chapter my own feel instead of just being another cookie cutter Marine Chapter. Unfortunately more on that will have to wait until the new Codex comes out in a so that I can see exactly how far I can go with it all. So have no fear; the Reclaimers are coming for you!

Lay of the Land
The Storage Tank Project

While I was picking up some groceries the other day I noticed these items on the shelf.

I almost walked right past them but something told me to pick a couple up so into the cart they went. When I got home, I took another look at them and instantly saw the potential for a terrain piece, namely a large storage tank. With only a few additions I plan on taking this simple jug from the grocery store to the battlefields of the far future, and the beautiful thing is that it cost me less than a dollar. That's right only $0.75 for one of these bad boys so we will have to see just how cheap I can make this project by the time I am finished. I even picked up a couple of extra ones so that I could put several of them onto the table to create a small industrial complex but more on that later.

And that is it for this issue of the Dispatch! It was a long time in coming but it took me a little while to figure out just what direction I wanted to go in. Thanks to everybody for putting up with the wait! Now that I think I have things figured out, the updates should be more regular in the future. This is the Snowman signing off and until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

Update coming soon!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that a new update will be coming soon! In it, I will take a look at the latest pics that Rackham has posted in Cry Havoc Online for AT-43, I will update my progress with my new Space Marine Chapter for Warhammer 40,000, and I will be taking a look at a new terrain project that I will be working on. Let me tell you, it is amazing the things that you can find on sale at a grocery store...

That's all for now so until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

Returning to the Beginning, aka Another Minion for the Evil Empire

While I plan on taking a break from AT-43, I definitely don’t plan on giving up gaming. Far from it in fact! Among the things that I will be touching on over the next few months are several miniatures games as well as some board and card games. So, without furter ado let's get to it!

The first of these games has a place in many miniature gamers hearts, be it for good or ill. What could it be you wonder? Let me give you a few hints that will make it obvious. Over the years, I have collected several armies for it and it is still in the sci-fi genre. Hmmm… What could it be? Sci-fi, been around for years, collected several armies for it… Sound familiar? That’s right I’m talking about Warhammer 40,000.

Over the years, I had amassed a motley assortment of Chaos Marines, Space Marines, Tau and Tyranids. Notice that I said had amassed. I sold my Chaos Marines, my Tau, and a good sized chunk of my Space Marines a couple of years ago leaving me with a handful of Marines and my Tyranid horde, neither of which were really painted. Well, they were painted as in paint had been applied at some point but there was very little theme to it and nothing was ever really completed.

With the release of the 5th edition rules our local gaming community has become all the buzz about 40k again and a friend of mine has started running very small games to help people become familiar with the new rules. In fact this past Saturday he ran several 500 point games at our FLGS so I decided to break out my minis to see what I could actually field.

Digging through the small plastic box of Marine bits and minis that I have, I actually managed to find about fifteen Marine minis that I could scrounge up for a game, along with a Land Speeder, an old version of the Land Speeder Tornado, and an even older version of a Dreadnought. I had planned on taking a picture of this bunch of misfits before I started painting them but it slipped my mind until I had the base coats on all of the Marines. D’oh!!! To give you an idea of how mish mashed my minis are here is a picture of good old Eddy the Dread (this is a Rogue Trader era mini for those of you that might remember it).

Originally painted up as to be part of a Chaos army, I kept it when I sold the rest of my Chaos miniatures. As one of the original dreadnoughts introduced to the game back in the 80’s in White Dwarf #100, they are quite hard to find. In fact my friend told me that I have one of three that he knows of in Vegas.

As for the rest of my fledgling army, here is a picture of how they look right now.

With a mix of some of the original “beaky” Marines from the 80’s along with a couple from the newest version of the Marine plastic set, I actually had the makings of a couple of squads right off the bat. By just adding a force commander and land speeder with a multi-melta to my other minis, I was able to field a nice little 500 point “army”.

The question now is how did it go? Well, I arrived while they were still wrapping up a four player battle (Witch Hunters and Space Marines on one side with Orks on the other) and I was immediately struck by how negative everyone was being. I have listened to various podcasts about the new edition and a majority of them have only good things to say about it. After watching them wrap up the game and launch into more complaints about the game, I asked them if it was so horrible why did they play it? I mean really, what is the point of playing a game that you can’t stand? No one was really able to give me a good argument against this and they all started say that it wasn’t really that bad so apparently it was another case of “let’s bash the Evil Empire” that prevails in the hobby.

The other players needed to get going and Jason and I set up our forces so that I could see how things worked. On my side, I had a total of twelve Marines (including the commander), one Dreadnought, and one Land Speeder. On the Ork side, there was a War Boss commanding the army, a unit of at least half a dozen Nobs, an Orky Dreadnought, and a mob of thirty Ork Shoota Boyz. Nothing like being hopelessly outnumbered, right?

So how did it go? Well, I did have to pack up early (family emergency which thankfully proved to be not too serious) so we only managed to get into the second turn but from what I saw it didn’t seem too bad. Movement seemed relatively straight forward as well, at least from what I saw of it. Coming from AT-43 I was at a loss at first as to how far I could move. As for shooting, there were lots of dice on the Ork side (in one volley Jason rolled 38 dice compared to the paltry four dice that I had rolled the turn before, and that wasn’t even the whole unit shooting!) but after playing against the Karmans that really didn’t phase me too much. The true line of sight and cover saves also really made sense to me from what I saw.

Was it enough to get me back into 40k? Possibly though there are other games that people would be familiar with that I am considering as well, the first of which is Warmachine. Unfortunately the Warmachine community in town is very erratic to say the least but it seems like it might be making a comeback so I have sent out some emails to see what is happening with it. Either way, I am still going to add some more Space Marines to my collection so that I have a small army that I can field. After all, it is 40k and like it or leave it that is one game that is not going to be disappearing anytime soon.

Another thing that people should consider is the new starter set coming out later this week, Assault on Black Reach. Loaded with a ton of miniatures, this set contains enough to give you the start of both a Marine and an Ork army right out of the box. You need more to be able to field “legal” armies in the game but this is a great way for new gamers to get into the game for a very reasonalbe price. As for the quality of the minis, they are not on the same level as the regular unit boxes but still, you are getting 46 miniatures of various types including three small vehicles and one walker for $60, not to mention a small version of the rulebook and the three weapon templates. Personally, I don’t see how you can go wrong with this. After all, even if you buy and decide that 40k is really not for you, there is always Ebay.

Well, that is all for now but there will be more in the future as I track my work on my Marine Chapter, the Reclaimers, and my Warmachine armies as well. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

Endings and Beginnings...

Hey everyone,

I know that another issue of The Dispatch is long overdue but unfortunately it just does not seem like it is meant to be. I have decided to hang up my reaper blades for a little while but instead of just shutting down the blog I have decided to change it.

Rather than just focusing on AT-43, I am going to start covering the various miniature gaming projects that I am working on and also anything else that I have been playing at home and around town. Things are definitely going to be a little bit different around here but hopefully you can still find a little something you enjoy.

Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!