AT-43 Dispatch: Please Leave a Message and We Will Return Your Call...

Hey everyone and welcome to another issue of the Dispatch!  Well, not really but let me explain.

We just started our local Warmachine/Hordes league so I am going to be on hiatus from AT-43 for a time.  Basically everyone at the shop is geared up for the League so I threw my hat in the ring as well except I have also decided that I will paint my entire army by the time the League is done.  Needless to say, I have very little free time at the moment but have no fear!  Once the League is over, I should be able to get in some more games of AT-43 plus the ONI should be out by then and I also picked up a Baal for my Therians.  Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!  Yes, evil plans are in the works but until then I am going to be blogging about my Trollblood army for Hordes so if you are interested head on over to The Kegslayer's Kriel.  I'll be posting my progress in the League and also how the painting is going.

Well, I got painting to do so that's all for now.  Until next time, may all your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch: No One Escapes Vacation...

Hey everyone and welcome to a brief interlude in the Dispatch!

An interlude? What could it mean, man. WHAT COULD IT MEAN?!?!?

It means that I am currently on vacation in California so there won't be any update this week. I will be back next week though so I'll see what I can get thrown together for then, plus I am hoping to have my first battle report versus the ONI for the following week! Lots of exciting stuff coming up so be sure to check back! Until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch: Monkeys and Robots Doing the Zombie Dance!

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest issue of the Dispatch!

In this issue of the Dispatch, we are going to start out staying close to home again with another look at the Sin City Daily. Then we are going to have a bit of a surprise in an Intelligence Report featuring a look at the new ONI army box! So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Sin City Daily
More Monkey Business In Sin City

This weekend saw another game as Dyllon and I played another game of AT-43! As my latest additions to my Karman army have not arrived, we decided to throw in a Wraith Golgoth for each of us so that Dyllon could get a taste of the vehicle rules. In the end, it was a good game but the monkeys were put in their place by their Therian Masters! That'll teach them to complain about their banana rations...

More people have expressed an interest in checking out the game and Dyllon is still eagerly awaiting the release of the ONI army box, so things are still looking good for the future of AT-43 locally. Once I have the rest of my Karmans, I am thinking that I will run some demos of the game at BattleZone so that I can really get the game moving.

Intelligence Report
Taking a Closer Look at the ONI

We also have a little bit of a surprise here at the Dispatch. Thanks to our friends in France, we have some more detailed information on the ONI including some of their special rules. So without further ado, let's take a closer look at the Zombie Horror that is... the ONI.

The mercenary forces of ONI belong to the human species, the newcomer in the universal war. Its zombies know no fear, on the contrary; it is the other species of the galaxy which are afraid of them! Its powerful combat vehicles are armed with the best technology ONI purchased, stole or looted from the battlefields all over the universe.

Super Zombie Reanimators

The Super Zombie Reanimators are the largest unit in the army box, weighing in with a total of twelve Reanimators. Among their special abilities are Nerves of Steel (not surprising for zombies) and they suffer from Zombie Syndrome, which requires that they spend 1 LP to activate (not sure on the translation there...). ***Edit: It's looking like the Zombie Syndrome special rule actually means that a unit that shoots at the zombies has to pay 1 LP. I am guessing that this is to represent the leader yelling "The head! Shoot at the head!"*** Then there is the zombie gun. Esh...

Okay, this is an indirect fire weapon with Accuracy 3, an Attack Rate/Re-Roll of 1/1, AoE of 4, and a Pen/Damage of 4/1. Doesn't sound too bad, but there's more! It also has the Contamination ability. Sounds fun, don't it? Any enemies killed by this weapons are replaced with zombie detonators, forming a new unit whose card is added to the activation sequence in the next turn. Guess this explains the Reanimator part of the name...

The unit also includes a Zombie Master which gives the weapons of the unit the contamination ability. Yeah, that's right. As long as the master is alive, the whole unit can potentially create massive numbers of zombies. Thankfully, this is offset by a fairly low Armor of 5 but I can still see these guys being very difficult to deal with.

This is a ** unit that costs 500 points and includes two zombie gunners, one medic, one zombie master, and is lead by a Shomyo.

Zombie TacArms Alpha

This unit of three armored zombies, though their armor is not as heavy as the TacArms of other armies. Only an Armor 9 for these guys, which seems low but considering the figure is mostly bare flesh in kind of makes sense.

Equipped with a Zombie Gun (same lovely stats as above...) and basically a UNA laser gun, these beasties look like they are going to be some pretty solid all round fighters. They also have Nerves of Steel and Zombie Syndrome abilities, just like the Reanimators. They are a *** unit that costs 300 points and is lead by a Samurai.

Zombie Detonators

Well, we had to get to these guys eventually, especially since more than half of the army can create more of them! They have a very low Armor 4 and no ranged weapons. Instead, they have two sets of claws and fangs so they really do just want to run up and give you a kiss. In addition to the unsurprising Nerves of Steel and Zombie Syndrome, they also have Bioexplosive. This lets you sacrifice each of the Detonators when you activate the unit, resulting in an explosion with an AoE of 2 and a Pen/Damage of 12/1.

Not surprisingly, Detonators are only a * unit and only cost 175 points for eight of them. Of course with all these Zombie Guns you are going to need a lot more then eight, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Medium Destroyer

This is the "smaller" of the two vehicles that come in the army box. With a Movement of 30 and an Armor of 14, this is pretty fast for a type ** AFV with respectable armor to boot. On top of the Destroyer is a Medium Graser with an Accuracy of 7, Attack/Re-Roll of 2/0, and Pen/Damage of 15/2. A very respectable punch as it is, but there's more! Yep, the Destroyer also has the Mechanic ability so that it can repair itself or other vehicles within 2.5cm at either the beginning or end of its activation.

Weighing in at 325 points, it is also pretty inexpensive compared to most AFVs of its type. The one disadvantage is there is only one weapon but the frame has one extra damage box compared to most. Combine that with the Mechanic ability, and you are looking at one tough little package.

Heavy Battletank Vlad and Shogun Bokor

This is the personal vehicle of Shogun Bokov, the hero included in this army box. With a Movement of 25 and Armor of 16, this vehicle is another nimble "little" tank. Plus is mounts a heavy maser cannon with an Accuracy of 7, Attack/Re-Roll of 2/1, and a Pen/Damage of 17/3. That's six points of damage from one shot, assuming that you are firing in the direct fire mode. It can also be fired as an indirect fire weapon in which case it gains an AoE of 3 but keeps the other characteristics.

The Battletank also has the Mechanic ability (just like the Destroyer) and Bokor has the Interference ability which lets you choose one of your opponents card in their activation sequence and move it. Nothing like having your carefully laid out plans changed at the last minute.

As an added bonus, Shogun Bokor is also no slouch outside of Vlad. Equipped with a Sniper Rifle with an Accuracy of 10, she also has Triple Lens Optics which give her the Detection ability and also lets her ignore Camouflage. Always nice to be able to lead from the back, especially when you are leading a horde of zombies. And all this can be yours for only 690 points. Pricey, but definitely worth it from the looks of things.

The Parting Shot...

And there you have it! Still no official release date on the ONI army box but considering there are now pictures of the contents floating around, I am thinking that it will be very soon! That's all for now but be sure to come soon for more AT-43 goodness. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch: Introducing the Sin City Daily

Hey everyone and welcome to another issue of the Dispatch!

This week, we are going staying closer to home with the Sin City Daily as we take a look to see what is happening locally with AT-43. So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Sin City Daily
Spotlight on Local AT-43 News

This weekend, I was able to break out my Therians (along with some new Karmans) and hit the BattleZone to run a demo. I had originally scheduled a demo with the store owner so I could show him the game and get his opinion but that plan didn't quite work out. Something about first being late, and then being smashed. I'm sure you can all figure it out. :)

Instead, I ran the demo for Dyllon, one of the other employees at BattleZone Comics. The fluff seemed to interest him, the miniatures really caught his eye, and once he heard about the ONI (the word "zombies" can be a major selling point), he was pretty much hooked. Still, he wanted to try out the mechanics of the game so we set up a couple of small games just so that he could get the idea how it all worked. Two battles and a bunch of dead Therians later, he told me that he was interested in the game and that he would be picking up the ONI when army the box comes out.

Matt, another player at the store, took one look at the Karmans and said he would love to give the game a try. Just the concept of space monkeys had him excited, but when he saw that they had wrist mounted guns and smoking cigars... well, let's just say it sounds like another player will be seeking his own karma now.

Now I just have to get the owner to try the game and we'll see what happens. Hmmmm... maybe I should bring some liquor with me next time...

The Parting Shot...

Well, that's it for this week. A short issue I know, but with the interest that I saw this weekend, I am thinking the things will be picking up quickly. Until then, I'll leave you all with the best conversion I have ever seen of Omega Tiamat. This was done by Supercollider on the AT-43 forums and makes me want to pick her up just so I can copy his conversion.

What else is there to say? It just looks right. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch: Rise of the ONI

Hello everyone, and welcome to the return of the AT-43 Dispatch!

This issue, we are going to take a look at the latest of the new army boxes that will be coming out from Rackham. So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Incoming!!!
Taking a Look Inside the Upcoming ONI Army Box

Slated to come out in November, the ONI army box will continue Rackham's new trend of selling complete armies for a very reasonable price. The ONI will also expand the AT-43 universe so that it will include six different factions for players to choose from, providing lots of options for new and existing players alike.

Enough of the sales pitch though, what exactly is this box supposed to contain? As it just so happens, we have a picture that shows just what there is.

A whopping 26 miniatures for $70. Definitely not a bad deal, especially considering two of those miniatures are actually vehicles plus all of the other stuff that comes in the box. There is even some information floating around about just what these units are, so lets dig a little deeper to see what we can find.

First up are the zombie Detonators.

In a universe where no one can escape war, these happy go lucky fellows just want to give everyone a hug. Sure, they explode while they do it, but isn't it the thought that counts? As if that wasn't bad enough, the charges these guys carry are supposed to be strong enough to even damage an AFV, meaning this one unit that you really can't leave sitting around for too long. With no weapons, it should be possible to just run them every turn and before you know it... BLAM!

Next up are the what I have only seen called "super zombies". Fitting perhaps, but for some reason I don't think that's the official name.

Equipped with autoshotguns and buzzsaws, I expect these critters will be a terror in close quarter fights. Imagine fighting a zombie with a circular saw and a shotgun in a building. Eeesh... My advise? Run away and shoot them at range.

Next up are the zombie TacArms Alpha.

With some of the first images put into circulation more than a year ago, it now makes sense why they look the way that they do. They're zombies! It's all so clear now...

Equipped with a laser cannon and a zombie gun, it will be interesting to see just what these guys can do. The laser cannon will give them some serious armor piercing punch but the zombie gun... Not sure of the specifics but there was mention on the AT-43 forums that it creates more zombies. Take it from a Therian player, being able to create more troops during a game is always a good thing.

The last of the infantry units in the box is actually a hero, Shogun N. Bokov. Described as being "as beautiful as she is dangerous", she looks like she will add an interesting twist to the army. A commander with a sniper rifle? That's one way to keep your leader out of the thick of it. And unlike the rest of the army, she is actually not a zombie.

The last two miniatures are the Vlad heavy battle tank and the medium Destroyer.

The vehicle on the left is the Vlad and looking at that cannon I would say that range is not going to be a problem for it. The thing that I do wonder about is if it will be an area effect weapon or a direct fire. I am going to guess that it will be direct fire since it does not look like it can elevate high enough for indirect fire. Other than that, the only other real question is "What happens if you fire the cannon with the turret turned to the side?" But enough about recoil and real life physics...

It's counterpart, the Destroyer, looks like it might actually be some kind of a transport vehicle which would make the ONI the first of the factions to have the real transport model! As for the gun on the top, it is described as being a medium graser cannon. The UNA Fire Crawler mounts the heavy version of this weapon and based on the stats for that one, the medium graser should pack a pretty good punch as well.

In addition to all of this ONI goodness, there is also a container, six low walls, an area effect template, a tape measure, dice... Everything you need in one box so you can just open it up and dive in right away. As with all of the new army boxes, the ONI army box is an incredible value for a mere $70.

Well, that's it for this issue but be sure to come back for the next issue when we will take a look inside the Cog army box and all their wacky orange figures. So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

The Return of the Dispatch...

A deep hum fills the air of the underground chamber. Ancient displays that have lain dormant for centuries suddenly spring to life, information scrolling across their surfaces in mad flurry of incomprehensible characters. The hum becomes even deeper, and orange glow begins to illuminate the devices within.

More lights appear in the darkness, revealing humanoid shapes resting inside of alcoves along several of the chamber walls. As points of light appear on the shapes themselves, one of the tallest figures begins to stir and steps away from the wall. Surveying the chamber with its dead eyes, a cold mechanical voice states "It is time."

Yes that's right folks.

The AT-43 Dispatch is back.

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!

AT-43 Dispatch #4 delayed but coming soon!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to give you all a quick heads up that the next issue of the Dispatch will be delayed until next week but have no fear; the cryptic meaning of that picture with the single '6' will be revealed soon! Until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch #3:featuring Incoming!!!, the Battle Report, and Reviewing the Troops

Hey everyone and welcome to issue #3 of the AT-43 Dispatch!

In this issue, there is a small Incoming!!! update, we will take a look at the first scenario in the new league as seen in our first of two Battle Reports, and we will take a closer look at the Karman Yetis in Review the Troops, a new segment that looks at both the miniature and how the unit plays in the game. So without further ado, let's head right for the front lines!

Incoming!!!: A Quick Update on the New Releases for August

While I was an the Shop this weekend, John told me that he expects to receive the new releases this Wednesday, as in today! Operation: Frostbite, the Baal, the K-shooters, all of it! So if you haven't ordered your copy yet, click on the link for the Little Shop of Magic located to the right, place your order now, and don't forget to tell him that the Snowman sent you!

Battle Report 11082007: League Play featuring the Therians vs. the Karmans

Sunday was a special day for gaming here in Sin City. Not only was I able to get out and play the first scenario in the new AT-43 League, I was able to play it twice! This week we'll be looking at the first of these two battles with the second one coming out in the next issue of the Dispatch.

For those of you who might have missed it, the first scenario in the intro league is called "Break On Through" and takes place on a board remarkably similar to this...

The background for the scenario is the attacker has managed to secure a vital piece of information and needs to escape off the far side of the board, while the defender is simply trying to stop this from happening. This sounds all well and good but there are a few things that don't really fit with this scenario.

For some reason, all of the defender's troops start the game on the board while the attacker is forced to keep a quarter of his force as reinforcements. This seems especially odd since when those reinforcements are deployed it is right behind line of low walls in the center of the board. Still, this was the mission and no one ever said that every mission had to make sense so John and I rolled off to decide who would be the attacker and the defender. Winning this roll, I decided to try being the defender (the idea of running past a bunker full of troops plus everything else to try to escape the board didn't really appeal to me...).

On my side of the board, I was fielding Babylon Zero, a second Incubus, a unit of Assault golems with a flamer (who were located inside the bunker), a unit of Bane Goliaths and a unit of Assault Goliaths. On John's side there was a King Buggy (proxied in this game for Jindo Un since he forgot to grab his King...), a unit of three Easy Trikes, a full unit of Wendigos with grenade launchers, and a unit of Anakongas that were kept as reinforcements. We deployed our troops on the board and got ready for turn one.

Since I was once again facing Nova (you kind of expect it when you field the Therians...) I was able to decide who would activate first and naturally choose myself. My first order of business was to get those Assault Golems out of that bunker!

There were other units with much better range that I wanted to be in that little stronghold.

John activated his Wendigos next, moving them forward and having them take cover and go onto overwatch as they started the mad dash across the table.

My Banes went next, moving forward into the now empty bunker so that I could get some serious firepower in there!

Unfortunately only one of them was able to make it all the way in but I still put the unit onto overwatch just in case.

The Easy Trikes went next, moving forward to fire on Babylon Zero.

My lone Bane managed to get off his overwatch shot and inflict a point of damage to the frame of one of the Trikes before they returned fire, inflicting one point on Babylon's frame and damaging a cannon in the process.

Babylon Zero went next as I moved her up behind the walls next to the bunker to get some cover. A logical thought until you realize that those walls are a quarter of her size and won't do anything to protect her. D'oh! I tried to repair but John quickly and thankfully canceled the routine. Why thankfully? When my Banes had gone onto overwatch, we had played the famous "Nova LP Game", draining off a few of my points before I was able to activate my combat drill. This had also tapped a chunk of John's LPs and once he cancelled my repair I was able to run Creation unopposed. I love making Hekats...

After doing this, I opened fire on the center Trike (which was the unit leader)and managed to do two points to the frame along with destroying one of the jammers and damaging the engines as well Definitely not a bad round of firing!

The King Buggy went next, moving up behind the Trikes and opening fire on Babylon Zero.

The shots ripped into the Golgoth and blew in apart, leaving Nina suddenly out in the open.

My Incubus activated next, moving behind the other troops before opening fire on the Trikes.

Spreading the shots across the unit, I was able to take out the engines of the undamaged Trike on the left, while the leader lost his other jammer in the barrage leaving him weaponless!

With the Karmans done I activated my last two units, moving the Assault Goliaths forward to try to get into a better position to shot while the Assault Golems just moved out of the way. This brought the first turn to a close with neither side scoring any victory points.

Opting to go first again, I had Nina Zero take command of the Banes and moved the whole unit into the safety of the bunker.

From this position, they opened fire on the Easy Trikes, destroying the leader and seriously damaging the frame of both of the remaining Trikes.

John activated his Trikes next, abandoning the immobile one while the other sped behind a container to get into cover.

I attempted to dash my Hekat forward but with the routine canceled I could only run forward instead.

This left it right out in the middle of the fire corridor but there wasn't really any other option for it as I wanted to engage those Wendigos soon.

Activating the King Buggy next, John moved it forward so that he could hit the Hekat with the flamers and the Incubus with the ZZ-cannons.

The Hekat survived the attack unscathed and the Incubus only took one point of damage to the frame. I was lucky this time but I had to get that Buggy before it could do some serious damage.

I activated the Incubus next, moving forward to open fire on the Buggy at point blank and managed to destroy the engines and damage the frame.

To finish out his round, John activated his Wendigos and moved the forward to try to get into cover behind one of the containers as they continued their run for the opposite edge.

My Assault Goliaths went next, moving forward to the wall before opening fire on the King Buggy.

The sonic guns were totally ineffective but the nucleus guns actually managed to do two more points to the frame! One more and it would be out of commission.

My Assault Golems activated last, moving up behind the bunker in case I needed them. With turn two coming to a close, neither of us had managed to score any VPs.

For turn three, I decided to let John go first to see what he would do. I had been hoping that he would move the last Easy Trike forward so that I could be a shot on it but instead he moved the Wendigos deeper into cover behind the container.

The Banes went next, opening fire and destroying the King Buggy in a massive salvo.

The Buggy had been next in the sequence and John decided to miss the activation so my Hekat went next.

Running forward it charged into the Wendigos, failing to trample any of them but then killing two of them in close combat.

The Easy Trike went next and fired on the Hekat before moving on toward the far edge. As the jammers blasted the Hekat, they managed to destroy one of the grim scythes and damage the frame but even damaged it was still very much a threat.

My Incubus was next and moved forward to open fire on the Wendigos.

I managed to kill two of them and somehow actually failed to damage the Hekat.

With the Karmans done activating, I moved my remaining troops closer to the action and the third turn came to a close with the Therians up 2 VPs to 0 VPs.

For the fourth and final turn, my Incubus moved forward and destroyed the Easy Trike. With only the three Wendigos left, we decided to call it a game at this point, giving the Therians the win at 5 VPs to 0 VPs.

Talking about the game afterward, we all came to the conclusion that this scenario really favors the defender. Not only does it give them a strong position on the board, they also start with their full force right from the start while the attacker is forced to wait until at least turn 3 before bringing on his reinforcements and this is assuming that the reinforcements are cheap! Even so, it was an interesting game but we are all curious to see what else FFG and Rackham are going to be throwing out there for the rest of the league.

So what about the other battle? Sorry, you'll just have to come back to find out what happened in that one but I will give you something to think about.

Just what could this mean? Find out next week...

Reviewing the Troops: Taking A Closer Look at... the Yeti

The Yeti miniature is one that inspires a love/hate relationship. Some people love the retro styling of it but others wonder why the monkey is wearing a fish bowl on its head. Indeed, I can see how it would be easy to discount a miniature in the game just based on its appearance. In my own case, I one time swore that I would never ever buy a Hekat because it looks like... well, lets just say something rather unflattering and leave it at that. Then I heard people singing their praises on the forum and decided to bite the bullet and get one, and since then I have never looked back. I still wonder at just why it looks that particular way but considering how effective it is I am more than willing to see beyond the ugly duckling facade. Could the Yeti be the same way? Let's take a closer look and find out...

At first glance, they seem like a slightly weaker Wendigo with a jetpack. Their range and penetration are both one less than the Wendigos but their cost is high even for an already pricey Karman unit. One of the key differences is the re-roll on the Jungle rifles. This means that for a full unit they will be rolling twenty four dice with a re-roll, would should more than make up for the lower accuracy and penetration.

Beyond this there are several other factors that you have to consider as well. Unlike the Wendigos, the Yeti actually does have a close combat weapon and a pretty powerful one at that especially when you combine it with their jetpacks. Their special weapons are not something that should be overlooked either. The flamers give them the ability drop a couple of templates within 25cm and the rocket launchers pack a very nasty punch as they each roll three dice per shot with a respectable penetration and a whopping two points of damage. This means that against an armor 14 strider they could be rolling 5+ to damage on six dice so with a little bit of luck you might even be able to destroy it in one salvo! The downside to this is that you need to get close to be able to make use of them but with the jetpacks it is that much easier to do.

So what is the best way to make use of them in the game? Take advantage of the mobility of the jetpacks to set yourself up in a good position, hit your opponent with the massed fire from the jungle rifles, then jump into close combat to finish off any survivors with those nasty power grips. I know that I make it sound easy but with a little practice I think that the Yetis can more than make up for the odd little fish bowl on their head.

Well, that's all for this week, but be sure to come back next week for the second Battle Report and perhaps we will even start taking a closer look at some of the new goodness that Operation: Frostbite contains. So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Update: MedTec revealed!

Hey everyone,

The latest Cry Havoc Onilne is out! Though most of it is devoted to the Lions for Confrontation, there is one thing for AT-43 that really sticks out; the stats for the MedTec unit! What more? You can check it out here.

This has all the stats for it including the answer to the burning question; just who can use this thing anyway? The answer is EVERYONE! Talk about mercenaries, the ONI Corporation will sell their services to anyone, including the Therians and the Cogs! Counting as three medics plus having the ability to bring back a fighter that was killed earlier in the game, they sound like a nasty addition to any force but they have their limits. Their special abilities are very short ranged and if you are not careful the whole unit can quickly disappear without taking a point of damage! But more on that in the next Dispatch... Until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Dispatch #2: featuring Incoming!!!, Intelligence Report, and the Unit Review: Storm Golems vs Assault Golems

Hey everyone,

Welcome to the second installment of the AT-43 Dispatch! In this issue, we will take a look at the new releases that will be hitting the shelves this month, we'll take another look at the Cog preview picture from earlier in the week complete with a little wild speculation, and I have a new Unit Review, this time focusing on the age old debate of which is better, the Storm Golem or the Assault Golem. As an added bonus, I have a little bit of information about the new AT-43 introductory league which starts on Monday and I look at the question of just what is an introductory league anyway? So without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Incoming!!! A Quick Look at the August Releases

August is going to be a big month for AT-43 with several new releases, including the new Operation: Frostbite boxed set!

Included in this set you will find three civil engineers, two crystal terrain pieces, new map tiles, and of course a rulebook which will cover a bunch of new rules for the game; new units for all of the factions to terrain rules and everything in between. It sounds like a definite a must-buy for anyone who is a fan of the game and you can expect a more detailed look at just what is in it soon!

On the miniatures front there are also several new releases that look really good as well.

The Karmans will be getting two new additions to their army; the last of their infantry units, the K-Shooters, and a new hero complete with a Thunder Buggy, Guru Lucius.

The K-Shooters come equipped with a massive ZZ-gun on their back which normally just a potent anti-vehicle weapon, but in this form is even more dangerous. With the potential to rip infantry units apart quickly as well, this will be a very deadly addition to their arsenal especially since the unit has the “Concentrate fire!” ability which lets the player re-roll all of the failed damaged tests. A re-roll to hit and damage? You gotta be bananas not to want one of these! (And the monkey jokes just keep on coming…)

Guru Lucius is a bit more of a mystery since information on him will be coming out in Frostbite but based on the images of him, he should be pretty nasty as well.

The Thunder Buggy combines the best of both worlds; the drum guns on front mow down the enemy infantry before the Buggy spins around to rip apart enemy vehicles with the twin ZZ-cannons. As for the Guru himself, he looks like he can be attached to an Anakonga unit and comes with not one but two drum guns! Like the Anakongas didn’t already roll enough dice when they shoot…

Next is Lieutenant G. Epstone for the UNA.

The really interesting thing about her is that she appears to be equipped with a Death Dealer TacArm. Originally the Death Dealers could only be used in their own platoon pattern so maybe this means that will be changing with Frostbite. Mounting two volcano machine guns each, the Death Dealers are the bane of infantry units as they let loose their torrent of lead and with hero attached they will become that much more deadly!

And of course I save the best for last (Yes, I play Therians…) That’s right, I am talking about the mightly Baal Golgoth, first of the type 3 striders.

Mounting a heavy flamer and a heavy particle accelerator, this strider can inflict some serious damage but perhaps the best thing about it is the ability to reduce the cost of a routine used by the Overseer on board by 1 LP to a minimum of zero! Combine this with the Web Striders advantage and you are looking at the Baal being able to repair for free. And people thought that Urod was bad...

So when does all this goodness hit the shelves? The word from my FLGS, the Little Shop of Magic (you can find the link to his online store on the right side of the page...), is that they will be arriving within the next two weeks and he is already taking pre-orders as well so if you don't have a FLGS that carries AT-43, just hit the link and John will be happy to hook you up!

But before you hit the link there is something that I need to warn you about. When you try to checkout of the online store, a warning comes up that there is a problem with the security certificate. I have talked to John about this and the site is safe, there was just a spelling error on the certificate that triggers the warning (I believe that he told me it says "littleshopofmagic.com" instead of "shopofmagic.com"). So now that we have that cleared up, be sure to hit the link and get your pre-orders in right now! We now return to your regularly scheduled Dispatch...

Intelligence Report aka Wild Speculation

Earlier this week, Rackham released a picture giving us an idea just how large the Cogs are compared to a UNA Steel Trooper. I had posted this before but in case you forgot lets take another look at it.

Seeing just how big these critters are gives us a pretty good idea why the Karmans were used to fight them, don't you think? Mounted on the larger infantry bases, Cogs look like they will be a little taller than a Karman making them the largest race in the game so far. I also think that their size might give us some clues into just what to expect from them as far as unit sizes. Assuming that they follow the same unit coherency rules, they would only be able to fit so many troops within 10cm of the leader due to the larger bases so I expect that they will probably run up to a maximum of eight troopers in a regular unit.

The type 3 troops will be a different story but I am inclined to think that they might follow the Karman lead and just put two into a unit for the Cogs as well. That said, I can see how they might push it as high as three but more than that just seems like it would be too unbalanced.

Of course only time will tell just how far off base I am, but if you have any thoughts of your own about it be sure to post a comment!

Unit Review Storm Golems vs. Assault Golems

It has been a while since I have done a unit review so I decided that it is time to fix that! I was recently asked by a new player which units he should look at getting first for a Therian army. For most of the units, it was pretty cut a dried but the two that really stumped me are the Storm and Assault Golems. They both have some definite pros and cons so lets take a look at the both, starting with the Storm Golems.

Storm Golems were the first Therian infantry unit introduced in AT-43. Equipped with nanoblasters, sonic guns, and reaper blades, they were supposed to be one of the first lines of defense against the invading Avans and I suspect that they are probably the most common Therian mini out there today. Heck, all you have to do is pick up the Operation: Damocles boxed set and you get eight of them!

Taking a closer look, they are faster and tougher than most of the Avan units. In addition, they are equipped with both a decent short to medium ranged weapon and a powerful close combat weapon. This makes them very versatile on the battlefield, wearing down their opponents with ranged fire before charging in to finish the job. They carry sonic guns or the optional flamers for their special weapons, making their punch against infantry units that much deadlier as long as you can get close enough to be effective. Against armored units it tends to be a different story as they simply don't have the penetration to effectively deal with most of the vehicles that you could run into.

By comparison, the Assault golems are probably slightly less common on the gaming table but they do have some nice advantages. Their standard ranged weapon is the nucleus rifle which has double the accuracy of the Storm Golem nanoblaster and one better penetration as well which is always nice. On the down side the nucleus rifle doesn't have a re-roll on its shooting test so the improved accuracy definitely comes in handy. For special weapons they can field either flamers or nucleus guns. I don't use flamers very often but when I do I am certainly not going to put them in an Assault Golem unit. The Assault Golems already cost a little more that Storm Golems and with the improved range most of the unit has it just doesn't make sense to me to give them a short range special weapon. The nucleus gun is also a great anti-tank weapon with a very good accuracy and a re-roll plus the penetration is extremely good, making it impossible for me to pass on them in favor of the flamers.

So the question still stands; which one is better? Personally I tend to favor the Assault Golems because I like having the extra range but I also tend to face a lot of walkers so having the extra punch of the nucleus guns is almost a must for me. Even so, the Storm Golems do have their own merits and if the conditions favor them (if I were facing a large number of infantry for example...) I would not hesitate to bring them out instead.

Does this answer seem a little vague to you? Well it should because I think that these are both very solid infantry units. Each of them has their own specialty but they are too useful not to at least have one unit of each of them available in case you need it. After all, even if you don't need them both now you might in the future.

Dispatch News: Just What is an Introductory League Anyway?

This Monday marks the beginning of the new league for AT-43. The scenario will be winging its way over the internet to the LGS's that have signed up and people will be throwing down their miniatures fight it out but the real league doesn't start until next month. Huh? Seems kind of odd but I think that I can see why FFG and Rackham are handling it this way.

AT-43 has never really had a solid league going for it. Sure, there was the whole Operation: Damocles campaign but that had a very erratic time table and didn't have much support from Rackham besides saying which side was winning or losing. It seems like the new league will be something more than this since I have heard that there are supposed to be official league kits that will go along with it.

That still leaves the question; why run an introductry league? My own guess is that they want to try test things out first to make sure that they are running right as far as the online portion of the thing, which is a really good idea in my opinion. It makes a lot more sense to work out the bugs first then hit the official league instead of jumping right into the league only to have it fall apart. So all in all, I think that this is a good way for them to start out and I can't wait to get in there and mix it up! But more on that in the next battle report... : )

And with that it is time to bring another Dispatch to a close but be sure to come back next week for a new battle report and I'll also be taking a closer look at all the goodness that is Operation: Frostbite. Until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!