...And it is hard not to notice the familiarity to a certain game we talk about here a whole heck of a lot. Take a look at the great opening cinematic...
Just give the guy a british accent...
I am not really making a criticism. "Space Marines" and Tyranid-ish bad guys like the Zerg are pretty much staples of the Sci-fi genre nowadays. Besides, it's a great game.
It also shows what you can do with graphics, even the "lessexpensivethanAvatar" sort seen here. I love the fact that the game has great storytelling to go along with the equally superior game play. And, it's only the first installment of a "trilogy" that Blizzard has planned.
It's definitely enough to keep me interested...at least until the next installment of Dawn of War comes out.
The new Warhammer has been out barely a few weeks and already Games Workshop is offering an Update for the new book. They've also updated every FAQ for every army. Nice to see them being proactive.
They have also provided a page on the new Warhammer basic set:
The art looks a bit tacty if you ask me and the name for the new set is hardly original, but the box clearly includes a huge amount of material -- and the new small rulebook. The rumored price is upwards of $90, but that's not too bad for as much as you get, IMHO.
Man, these malevolent denizen's of the warp are breeding like infernal rabbits! Coming soon to an invested gaming store near you are Bloodcrushers -- in plastic! -- and the two-headed Fateweaver.
Personally, since I've been threatening to finish my Knorne 40K Demon Army the plastic bloodcrushers are especially tempting -- even if they are still an equally impressive $53.75!
As a new week starts I just wanted to give everyone a preview of what they can expect this week here at 40KOrigins.com:
1) Complete, detailed results for the Origins RTT -- Right now I am going through the data to make sure it is all correct
2) First Impressions of the New Warhammer -- Just got my copy on Friday and have been reading through when I can. Definietely some interesting effects for my Empire army -- spears are better, greatswords are worse. More details to come.
3) The English Civil War Does Empire -- Being a trained historian I've always wanted to do an ECW army and for similar reasons a Fantasy Empire army. Well, it's occurred to me that as either force is based on much the same technology and the same dress style I can do both at the same time! So, this will be the first installment of a new ongoing series as I put together and paint up some Warlord figures to produce both an English Civil War historical force and Warhammer Empire force at the same time.
A few months back, I acquired a can of Quickshade (product link here). The store owner was raving about how good a product it was and how much better it was than poly stain for dipping miniatures. I'd done a dipped army before and was comfortable with it's use, so I dropped 30 bucks on a can and decided to give it a try.
A squad of my marines volunteered. I had painted these guys up in 1999 for the Chicago GT, and they were an all-drybrush job, so they seemed like good candidates to try a varnish wash treatment on. Here they are before the treatment.
Using the medium strength color, I brushed the entire miniature and dabbed off the excess. I let the varnish dry for 36 hours and then sprayed the minis with dullcoat to remove the gloss effect of the varnish. The result was a noticable yet subtle shade-and-ink of the miniatures. It doesn't subtract from the look of the miniatures and darkens the colors only slightly, but it does fill in the joints nicely, giving them the depth they were missing in my haste to get them done for the GT years ago.
The Quickshade product is indeed superior to poly stain varnishes. It is quite brushable (unlike the poly stain), does not bubble, flows like an ink, and is thick enough to stick in all the places it needs to go in a single coat.
Unlike an ink, however, the quickshade requires a dullcoat afterward if any additional work is to be done to the miniature. that breaks up the paint surface and makes blending look funny. the quickshade also sticks to flat surfaces unlike inks, resulting in certain surfaces having a pool of darkness that really needs to be retouched. (only because of the dullcoat requirement, that's kind of difficult) The 30 dollar price tag is a bit of a bummer too.
In summation, Quickshade is a great product to do an entire army quickly and have a force that looks great from 3 feet away. It's up close you'll notice the shortcomings of the shortcut, so you won't be winning any painting awards by relying on this product. For that, stick to regular inks.
Games Workshop just put up some new (mostly plastic) Daemons on Advanced Order. You can see some pictures of them below (clicking on the image takes you to the appropriate GW order page):
Daemon Prince
Pink Horrors
Seekers
The Changling
It's coming -- you can now advanced order the new Warhammer rulebook at a cool $75 (ouch!).
Always cool to see a new edition, but the cost is more than a bit steep. Prices like these do nothing to discourage naysayers who are already accusing GW of taking its players for granted. <sigh>
There are also other editions and some other related material (including some nifty looking new fantasy templates) to be found on the general advanced order page.
Apparently, even the biggest White Dwarf haters will have a reason to buy the up coming WD -- Spearhead! To wit from the latest GW email:
"Also inside June's issue of White Dwarf are the full rules for Spearhead, a brand-new Warhammer 40,000 Expansion. Spearhead allows you to fight huge tank battles using whole squadrons of tanks and thunderous amounts of artillery support. In games of Spearhead you'll be able to field elite tank formations and waves of armoured vehicles. Each Spearhead formation has its own set of special rules making it even more deadly. This, combined with the new missions (also included in White Dwarf), allows for a whole range of new tactical possibilities and challenges for you to master. Spearhead is a completely new Expansion for Warhammer 40,000 and is completely free with June's issue of White Dwarf."