Getting back in the groove!

For almost the entire summer, I just kind of let my miniatures and gaming go on the back burner. It's not that it was out of mind completely, but a nice break really helps me get excited to get back into the fold....And so onward and upward!

My latest thing, miniature speaking wise, has been to start assembling, basing, and priming as many miniatures as I can. I think having them 'RTP' (ready to paint) will give me more of an incentive as I move along: Here's a batch of freshly primed minis:

All kinds of goodies in there...Some Wyrd, some Void, some Cobalt, some resin statues, some bases, and I think a few Spugs....Believe me, this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

In "hey I wanna play a freakin' game" news, Games Workshop cleverly tricked me into buying the latest incarnation of SPACE HULK.

I thought I was done giving the Evil Empire my hard earned scratch, but I was wrong. Every time I get out, they pull me back in!!! Although I was aware of Space Hulk when it first appeared (back in the 'crazy 80's) I was only into 'fantasy' miniatures. I thought it looked interesting, but had neither the time nor the inclination. Now, having both those abstract qualities, I snapped it up. Some of the folks I speak to on the 'forums' have always waxed poetic about this game, and I was determined not to miss it this go 'round.

Plus the marketing geniuses did this (see pic to the right): That's right....they made it a LIMITED EDITION! You can plainly see that I was left without a choice. While Stocks Last. Smartest marketing move since the guy wrote Wash, rinse, REPEAT on the shampoo bottles.

The thought even occurred to me to buy two. What the hell? I swear they put some sort of magical trance on my cognitive abilities!

Anyhow, let me tell you a little bit about the game. I'm sure there is upteen kazillion reviews of it out there, so I'll add another.

The game is set in the 'dark future' of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k universe, but is a stand alone game. Deep in space, and after several thousands of years, derelict space faring vessels have morphed and combined (through the magic of the 'warp' dimension) into massive floating relics. These 'Space Hulks' move about in space, mostly in the 'warp', but occasionally find themselves in the real dimension. Not leaving well enough alone, the evil Genestealers have decided these things make great hangouts, and have set up shop there. They breed and hang until the Hulk is close enough to infiltrate an unsuspecting race. Then, the little bastards really get medieval and 'plant their seed' inside a 'host'. The host then takes care of the offspring, and through progressive generations, the Genestealers Hybrids become part of the society...I'm sure there is a point to them doing this, but it's quite possible they are just after Low-Carb recipes. Either way, it's pretty hideous.

Enter the Space Marines!! The Space Marines are the toughest SOB's in the galaxy. They find out about these Space Hulks, and inexplicitly, decide to board the ships. I suppose if they just blew the ships up from a light year away, the game would be pretty boring....Well, the original Space Marines (the toughest of the tough) get their a$$ handed to them by the Genestealers, so on the next encounter, the Marines send in the toughest of the toughest of the toughest of the tough (these dudes are tough!) The Terminators. Terminators have swanky big armor and powerful weapons, and they have the ability to fight the dreaded Genestealers!

This is where our game comes in. One side controls the Terminators, the other the lightning fast Genestealers. Missions and objectives are laid out, and through the use of interlocking 'jigsaw' pieces a game board is created. In a creative use of game mechanics, the Marines move is 'timed'. This represents the confusion and pressure they are under, since if they don't complete their move before the time runs out, the player loses the rest of the turn! The Genestealers can take all the time they need to plan strategies, think about things, and generally torment the Marines.

The gameplay is very easy to pick up, but really is filled with tension and drama. For instance, the Marine player has no idea how many enemies he is up against until line of sight has been established. Before then, the Genestealers move around the board on cardboard counter BLIPS. It represents a radar motion tracker's signal. The Marines KNOW there is something there, but not how many (it can be 1,2 or 3 of the baddies).

Play progresses from there, with the Marines trying to accomplish a goal, and the Genestealers trying to stop them.

The game is incredibly well balanced, and has very good pacing. I've yet to get into some of the more complicated missions, so I hope it holds up to that.

As good and solid as the gameplay is, the quality of the components are what makes this game a good buy. The fantastically detailed board tiles are made of thick card that should hold up to gamer abuse. The counters are made of the same sturdy material and are very well represented.

The little hourglass timer is a let down. Why not have a digital count-down clock with sound effects and giggly-bobs? I can't imagine having something like that custom made would have been overly pricey. A quick check shows you can customer order a timer for the price of $1.35 (provided you order 5000) But GW could have done that easily. It would have been a great value-added feature!

Lastly, the miniatures. Games Workshop does one thing exceedingly well. Great miniatures. They also do great PLASTIC miniatures, and these are proof. Very well sculpted, very well molded. I love the fact that you can just snap them together (as opposed to their Warhammer models that always need to be glued). The Genestealers went together with no problems, the Space Marines I had to do some fiddling with....but all in all, no big deal. I'll probably even paint them, somewhere down the road.

If you buy this game JUST for the miniatures, I could hardly blame you. Compared to their plastic 'box sets' it's really a justified value. But, if you are buying it just for the minis, you are missing out on a fantastically well crafted game. It's quick, brutal, and loads of fun. All in all, I'd say a 9 out of 10.

Hey! I've clambered on for some time, I think I'll shut up for a bit. See you next time, thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll post more soon!

A quick look at the games I want to play and delve more into in the next few weeks/months.

Last Night On Earth....Halloween? Zombies? They go hand in hand!

Tannhauser.....FFG now owns this property, and is making new rules

AT-43....I'm starting to buy into the 'pre painted' fad...

Star Mogul...Space Salvaging never gets old.

Last Night on Earth Boardgame Review (and me carrying on).

ACK! I return, after a several month hiatus. It has been a while. Miniature wise, I really haven't done much painting. I can't seem to muster up the will to do it, and now that summer is here, there are far too many things to do outdoors (even if it's just sitting outside).

Miniature gaming appeal to me. I like the story they tell, which to me, is always of more importance than the actual winner of the game. I like the visceral look and feel of well painted miniatures moving across a tabletop filled with inspiring terrain. Unfortunately, I don't get alot of time to do any gaming. With the miniature games I have had in the past, I've barely even tried them. I do enjoy reading through the rules, but preparing and painting the miniatures is just something that takes me too long. Plus, creating terrain is extremely time consuming (and takes lots of space). Don't get me wrong, I enjoy that as a hobby in and of itself, but it's not conducive to keeping my interest in a game. I'm just not a fast enough or dedicated enough painter to field a fighting force by the time my interest wanes.

That being said, there is something about an all inclusive boardgame that piques my interest. As soon as you can muddle through the rules, you can begin playing. No cleaning mold lines, priming, and then taking weeks to paint a few characters. No building terrain and hoping you'll get a chance to field it all. Just pop the box open, set down the board and start throwing dice .

And I did just that with Flying Frogs Productions boardgame, Last Night On Earth.

As you can see by the box art, LNOE is a survival horror game, with the particular menace of everyones favorite brain eaters, zombies. The game is designed for 2-6 players, with folks playing as either the shambling zombies, or a combination of small town heroes.

The game has all the flavor of a B movie. Cheesy stereotypes fill the small town of Woodinvale, the game's fictional setting. From the farmer's daughter, to the luckless drifter, all the archtypes you'd expect in a zombie movie are present. The production levels are quite high and that is showcased in all aspects of the game itself.

The game board, which consists of a two-sided 'town square' area and six 'L' shaped add-ons are printed on a very solid cardstock and feature clean and detailed art representing buildings and areas from the town. In fact, all of the game counters, which include everything from a wound marker to the 'old pickup truck' are well done and have a sturdy feel. All should hold up nicely to many gaming sessions. Most of the art uses actual photos of actors playing the roles. This artistic choice adds tremendously to the B movie feel. You can almost hear the bad one liners.


The game packs a bunch(16) of small six sided dice, a music soundtrack CD (more on that later), the playing boards, the cards, and best of all, miniatures! The miniatures are surpisingly well detailed. Let me take that back, they are sculpted by Gael Goumon, a fantastically gifted sculptor that does many of the Wyrd Games minis (among many others), so it's no surprise that they are so intricate. There are eight of the townsfolk/heroes represented, and three seperate zombie sculpts which are duplicated to give you a grand total of fourteen braineaters. The material they use is a soft, rubbery plastic and although I've heard of some people painting the miniatures, I think I'll be satsified leaving them just as is.


Gameplay is relatively straightforward. There is a 'basic' game that allows you to get up to speed with the rules rather quickly. The advanced game throws in more rules, differing scenarios and set-ups that should allow for great replayability and a variety of depth. I admit to only playing through the basic rules set and using the the simplified scenario. The scenario we played is simply to kill 15 zombies before 15 turns end. The turns are ingeniously measured by a 'sun counter' which represents the setting of the sun. Run out of sunlight before you hit your zombie-killing-quota and it's game over for our heroes.


The latest game we played had four of the hapless heroes struggling to stay away from the ever increasing, and slow moving horde. They ran from the high school to the gun shop in an effort to arm themselves, only to have their luck run out as the zombies swarmed. Sally, the high school sweetheart, proved to be a dead aim, killing a zombie almost on every turn in the later stages. Sadly, she was overrun, and eaten when she ran out of ammo and desperately tried to get away. The zombies made quick work of the luckless drifter, Jake Cartright, and put an end to the game with four rounds to go. No word on why the Sheriff and the High School Quarterback were so ineffective, although the horror of seeing poor Sally devoured may have been too much. The zombie death count was a frustrating 13, but our heros couldn't remain composed long enough to finish them off and get the 15 count needed for the win. I am very excited to try out the other scenarios and implementing the advanced rules. That is something I plan on doing in my next gaming sessions.



The game uses a combination of dice rolling and playing special cards. The cards grant things such as health bonuses and guns to the heroes and vicious fighting and movement bonuses for the zombies. Knowing when to play the cards in your hand adds yet another layer of strategy to the wild romp.



A typical game would seem to be from about one to two hours long.

Gamer support can be found from the companies website, as they have several scenarios and rule additions for free download. I'd like to see more of a FAQ on the website, as some of the rules could bear further explaination. A forum, for game fans to discuss ideas, would be a nice addition too, but those really have no bearing on the product at hand.


The soundtrack CD as I mentioned earlier is a clever novelty to throw in. It's well done in the same vein as the rest of the production value, and actually adds a great tension as a backdrop to the game. I highly doubt the music will become a top download on I-TUNES, but that is not what it is designed for. It's background music, to add a creepy ambiance. It has the effect of giving me more 'bang' for my buck, something I truly appreciate.


And it does give me a great bang for my buck. Compare the price of this game, which is roughly 45-50 dollars, to any other form of media entertainment, and I feel I am getting a fantastic deal. As I mentioned earlier, I like games played with miniatures, and realistically it is the boxed boardgame of this sort that is delivering that to me. Tannhauser (see review earlier in this blog) was another recent game to make me realize this. I'm not giving up on traditional tabletop miniatures games, as I'll still most likely paint, but these boardgames are allowing me to game without the guilt of not having my fighting force painted up (or even assembled!)


The game plays out like a movie (albiet a cheesy one), and to be honest, that is what has captured my imagination the most. It is the story, or the simulation of feeling like you are in the story that makes this type of gaming appealling. LNOE has captured the survival horror very nicely, and I am extremely pleased with the product. I highly recommend you try this game.





The company already puts out an expansion set to the original game, called Growing Hunger, which includes four more miniatures representing new heroes and seven more 'red' zombies. The new set also boasts additional rules, game boards, and scenarios and will add great life to the title. As I give LNOE some more playtime, I may give this a go. Also, I noticed a WEB only set of cards and scenario for the original game. I find myself wanting to support companies that put out this quality of a product. Especially when it is a small independant company that obviously shows much passion for what they do. They've managed to put out a solid, entertaining game with high production values and great replayablilty. Plus, you get to eat brains. How can you turn that down?

A review of Tannhauser.

Tannhauser is a French boardgame newly translated to English. It is available at the Fantasy Flight Games, sells for just about 60 bucks.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/tannhauser.htmlm/tannhauser.html

I'm rather a novice gamer, so take that into consideration with my review.

I love it.

Should I make my review more detailed? Ok, will do....

First off, the setting is just right for me. It's an 'alternate' universe where the Great War never ended. The forces of the Reich have continually been at war with the forces of the Union for 30 years. It isn't strictly an Alternate WW2 game, I suppose to simply to keep those nasty Nazi's out of it. That makes sense on a global sales scale. (Germany for instance bans any display of a swastika). But, make no mistake, the Reich is filled with characters right out of an Indiana Jones movie.

The gameboard itself is a thick, folding piece of card pre-printed on both sides with different game maps. One map is the first floor of a Keep, while the reverse is of the Crypts below, where the Reich have been up to no good. They have found some 'should've remained buried' secrets. My board is a bit dark, and unless you have good lighting can pose a challenge to see all the glorious detail.

The key feature of the board, is the Pathfinding system. This feature, which basically consists of multi-colored rings or spaces, allows you to determine line of sight, movement and range quickly and easily. There are a few flaws in the system. A few areas are not so easily discernible, but working these kinks out fairly and quickly has not been a problem for us.

Each side, which consists of 5 characters, is kept track of by a very nice 'character' card, with a neat system to easily track wounds and other stats during the course of a game. Each character is allowed 'slots' to carry equipment, weapons, and special items. We've only done limited experimentation swapping around the characters 'kits' but it seems a small kit change can make for quite a difference in game play.

The 10 minatures come pre-painted, and I wasn't disappointed in the quality. Of course, they are not as nicely painted as one could do with a bit of effort , but if I had to paint them, I doubt I would have even played a single game yet. If I had my druthers, I'd have them all painted up like this:

That is the 'Strossentruppen' (affectionately known as Stabby Stabberson in our games) painted up by Spacemunkie, a good friend of mine from Cool Mini Or Not. Damn that dude can paint, but I digress... You can buy unpainted versions of all 10 minis on the French site Take On You. The quality of the pre-paints is more than adequate for our needs though.

The game can be played several different ways, with a story themed 'objective', capture the flag, or our favorite, straight up deathmatch. The difficulty levels simply equate to Easy= 2 reinforcements, Medium=1 reinforcement, and Hard, where reinforcements are shit out of luck. You cannot call in reinforcements (which are always 'troop' types not heroes)until one of your troops die off, so there is never more than 5 characters per side, regardless of the difficulty.

The story mode, while seemingly interesting, hasn't captured enough of our attention yet, so I will have to pass on reviewing that until we log some more time at it. Same goes for the Capture the Flag element. Deathmatch, well...that's pretty much all we want to play. Play is fast and furious, with a decent game taking about 1 hour. Automatic kills are not uncommon, and while it's a bit discouraging, I like the 'realness' it brings. It also makes you think twice before charging into an area. You may not survive the round if you do. There are items such as grenades, smoke grenades, health packs, etc. that can be strewn around the board in 'crates', giving a very nice computer 'first person shooter' feel.

The weaponry seems nicely balanced, although it does favor the Reich for close in fighting, and the Union for a more ranged approach. So, if you are a 'in your face, close and personal' type of player you may want to lean towards the Reich.

The two game boards actually bear this out as well. The Keep game board has lots of tight corners and closed off quarters...which could be why (at least in our games) the Reich dominates the board. The Union only once looked like it was going to win handily, with 'Ozo' left by his self for the Reich. But, the sneaky little bastard kept hiding behind doors, firing his 'ghost bullets' which can track around corners. He ended up killing four of the remaining Union's characters, snatching victory from the proverbial jaws.

The more open-spaced Crypt board has some seriously long ranges which allow Barry Daniel Brown (the heavy gunner black man in the picture to the right) to use that piece of stellar piece of hardware. Oh and a beauty it is. On his full strength, you roll 6 dice to see if you can hit your opponent. A roll of 9 or 10 is an INSTANT KILL, unless your opponent can roll a at least one 10 on his 'shock' roll. The opponent can counter the big gun, because it has to be at least 4 'circles' away to use it....If you can keep him close, he is no where nearly as effective (ie he can't fire!!). But the Crypt level has long stretches of open line of site. Posting Barry along those paths will ensure the enemy doesn't pass through...at least not unscathed.

So as not to favor any one player, we have been playing randomly, letting the roll of the die determine not only which team you'll use, but also which board we will play on. It seems to have worked out, but I do prefer to play as the Union...even though I regularly lose!!

Although the game says it's designed for 2-10, we have only played with 2. Quite frankly, any more than that would have lots of guys sitting on their hands until it got back to their turn. But, on the converse of that, as quickly as it plays, and as easy most of the rules are to grasp, this makes for a perfect beer and pretzel game. Maybe the camaraderie of sharing a frothy brew will make the wait worth it...

The game box is a bit misleading, indicating that there are only 2 10-sided dice included. Mine had a nice compliment of 6. I assume that is just a misprint on the box. The box itself is a lovely piece of work, with solid cardboard and great cover art.

Most excitedly, for me, is the 'future expansion' this game will see. There already is a 'Russian' expansion pack in the works that will introduce new locales (via another gameboard) but also some more characters. Character packs, such as the 'Wolf' mercenary (he can fight for either side) will add some interest to not only the ongoing story, but to some of the tactical decisions you will need to make. Wolf was made available as a promo freebie to buy Tannhauser, either via pre-order, or at Gencon. There are several more in the works.

Support for the game, via Fantasy Flight Games is lacking at the moment. Although there is a nice discussion group on the FFG site, there is not the incredible range of information that is available on the French language site. It's too bad, because there are some errata that needs to be defined more clearly. But, it is still a very new product, and we will see how they respond.

The price, 60 bucks, seems about right. For all the components, boards, cards, etc. I don't feel I overpaid in the slightest. I compare it to the price of a new X-box game, or any other of the 'toys' I find myself wanting. Hopefully new expansions will be a bit cheaper, and the character packs will fall in the 10-15 dollar range, making them an excellent value (all things considered) in my humble opinion.

Another exciting idea is to come up with some home brewed rules. We've a firm enough grasp of the rules to be able to add some features in without killing the balance. I've already started converting over a few minis, and just need to draw up some stats and a proper back story.

So, to sum up, I heartily recommend this game. It has enough ease of play that allowed us to jump right in, but also enough depth to get us excited about future sessions....if we can get past our love for Deathmatch that is.