Gleeee!!!

I had a day off today, and it was well that I did, because halfway through the morning, the postie delivered this:

So I finished the gardening I was doing (well, "gardening", more weeds-exterminatus, really), made  myself a cuppa and had a sit down with my new toys. :D

What a beast:

Yes, that's near to 3 kilos of Grimdark Goodness!! (I guess if I put the dice and the objectives on there as well, I'd hit the 3 kilo mark perfectly...)

Speaking of the objectives, GW has really made a leap with plastic-tech in those. We already know about the 2 stage molding of the transparent section, but I discovered another surprise:

Yup, that antenna is hollow, courtesy of a sliding mold section! Previously I've only seen this on Gundam kits and high end scale model kits. Way to go GW, I'm impressed! I hope they'll use this tech more often.
I may see myself getting more of this kit, as the bits are just wonderful for detailing Space Hulk/Necromunda/Shadow Wars terrain.

So, having ogled the sprues (the models in the box are impressive, quite unusual part separation on most of them, giving them marvelous detail. Oddly enough, while my attention has been mainly on the Primaris Marines up until now (as they would need integrating into my Howling Griffons), I'm most excited about the Death Guard minis at this moment. They just look so good, despite being a bit busy, and my reservation about molded in "special effects" like smoke and spell effects. They look like a lot of fun to paint.
If I'd have to describe the new 40K box set in one word, it would be "Luxurious".  This time round they have really thought about presentation and the experience of unboxing it, and it really pays off. Spot on, in my opinion. It really reads and feels as a high end product.

So having ogled the miniatures and components (I really like the dice and the ruler by the way), I put it all back in the box and sat down with the new rulebook. A quick thumb through showed that the background is in the front, with the rules starting at page 170. A good call in my opinion.
So the afternoon I had a bit of a read, had a nap (Hey, it's my day off, don't judge me! Plus, I had been sleeping poorly the past week), read some more. Once my son is in bed, I'll read even more. I think I'll enjoy myself this weekend. :D

Truth be told, I haven't been this excited by a new 40K release in ages. Maybe even since 2nd edition...

See you next time!

Making Max Mad...

Recently, we got a little group together to try out Gaslands, the upcoming vehicle wargame to be released by Osprey. What makes this extra cool is that two of our quartet are people returning to the hobby after several years!

Apparently Gaslands has a strong theme of corporate backing and televised spectacle (sort of Death Race meets Running Man), but I prefer my vehicular mayhem to be distinctly post-apocalyptic in flavour. So down Fury Road I went...

Here's my automotive butchery in progress:

As the misses was away for the week, I took advantage of the opportunity to keep my painting gear set out in the living room and spent a little bit each evening daubing pigments on my little cars. These are the results:

Each has a reinforced ramming front. The guns are magnetised, the guns in the middle between the two cares are freely exchangeable between the two. Additionally there is a more advanced missile launcher, as well as an oil slick sprayer and caltrop dropper for the pickup truck.

Last thursday we had a game, each of us with one of their cars. The location visited was the Hasbro-Ginzu Memorial Zen Garden and Racetrack.We quickly got into the flow of the game, and carnage ensued!

At one point we had three a three car pileup, right in the middle of the tightest bit of the entire track!

My driver decided to bypass the choke point entirely, barreling through a bamboo grove, before tearing the right side off his car on the massive stone wall.
Shortly after it was all over. I managed to catch one the other cars in a salvo, just as I came tearing out of the second bamboo grove. It crashed and burned into the sacred stone standing in the bend of the track and exploded into confetti, as it's ammo and molotovs burned off. This flaming shrapnel then destroyed my already damaged car! Of the other two drivers, one was still manoeuvring his way out of the canyon formed by the walls, as the last of us passed the flaming wreckage and limped across the finish line with it's last few hull points intact.

We all had lots of fun, saw some entertaining reversals of fortune and agreed we should play again soon. Next time, we intend to play on a more open table instead of a racetrack, to see if we can get more use out of our manoeuvres and guns.

My thoughts on the game in it's current beta status: It's fun, quick and easy to get in to, but there are some areas that could use some more clarification. But the rules, in essence,  are tight as they are, and I fully expect them to get the necessary polish before release. I'll certainly be buying them!
In fact I'm already scouting out more cars to convert, and thinking about terrain....
But 40K 8th edition is also coming upon us, so I might be balancing two (or more) projects the coming months!

See you next time!