Hemlock Heads to Switzerland

The latest cycle for Arkham Horror is now out in the wild, so it is time to take a look at the Investigator cards from the full set. I'm going to be taking a look at the out-of-class cards that existing Investigators gained access to in the near future, but before then I thought it'd be worth taking a quick look at the new Neutral cards, as well as the four new Basic Weakness cards we now have access to.

Neutral cards sit in an interesting spot, given that every Investigator currently in print has Neutral 0-5 in their Deckbuilding Options, and I'm only aware of two Investigators where their Deckbuilding Restrictions prohibit some Neutral cards from being taken (Rex Murphy with Tempt Fate, and Carolyn Fern with Ornate Bow and Timeworn Brand). I know that Unexpected Courage is almost always one of the first cards I'll put in a deck, and - unfortunately - In the Thick of It seems to be sat in a similar spot for a lot of other people. The design team need to be careful with Neutral card designs to leave them as a valid option for a subset of Investigators, without hitting the point where they're nearly an auto-include.

Basic Weakness cards almost go the other way - unless you're using a house rule, you don't have a say in what your Random Basic Weakness ends up being, but they ideally want to have some impact on how you're going to play your deck. There are quite a few of these that I've seen described as a "double action soak", where the only concern is when you'll have two spare actions to get rid of them, but they're not doing much else. At the other extreme, you have something like the Doomed chain which can kill you outright - and surprisingly quickly, if you're unlucky with what you draw.

Anyway, let's see what new options have cropped up in Hemlock Vale.

Hemlock Vale Spoiler Season - Part 2

Spoiler season for Hemlock Vale has now come to an end, and we're now waiting for stores to confirm when they'll get their stock in of the new expansion. We've seen a whole host of new cards, including all five new Investigators, and I'm sure everyone out there has decks they're going to be looking to build and try out once the release has happened. There will, of course, still be surprises to come, as not every card has been spoiled before the set has arrived - which is a good thing, as who wants there to be nothing to look forward to when you buy the new box?

Before we look at the new cards, a couple of the questions I had regarding cards in part 1 have been resolved. While I haven't been provided with sources, it appears that Hand-Eye Coordination has been confirmed to only pay for a single action's cost if an ability - such as Sledgehammer - would use multiple actions to resolve something. That seems far more reasonable that making its major strike a completely free action. Also, adding Agility to Agility when using False Surrender on a Hatchet has been confirmed to work, which I'm sure is a relief for Rita.

I maintain that adding something to the FAQ to document these would be a good idea, but we'll see what does get covered in the next update.

Now we've gotten the admin out of the way, now to look at the remaining cards from Hemlock Vale's spoiler season and see what we think...

Hemlock Vale Spoiler Season - Part 1

We're halfway through that time of year again - it is the spoiler season for the upcoming Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion. As we're about halfway through the announced spoilers for this expansion, I figured I'd take a look at what's been shown so far through channels outside of Fantasy Flight Games' own site, and offer some thoughts on what we know so far.

So, let's take a look at what's been shown, class by class, and see where it takes us...

Burrows & Badgers - Rulebook

When talking to a gaming group about a new game, it can sometimes be really hard to find the "elevator pitch" - that sound-bite which immediately gives them a mental image of what it will be about, and ideally a little idea of how it'll play. This is not a problem with Burrows & Badgers, published by Osprey Games as a new edition of the rules created by Oathsworn Miniatures. Now in a full-colour hardback, describing the game to people as "Redwall: The Skirmish Game" instantly gets the concept across¹ - and that's before they've even seen the miniatures.

If you've read my posts before² - or watched my stream on Twitch - you'll know that I'm a big fan of the miniature line which accompanies the Burrows & Badgers game, but I hadn't really gotten around to reading the rules or playing it. However, earlier this year I committed to attending a Burrows & Badgers tournament at the end of June - and then I heard that the Osprey version of the rules, which I'd heard rumblings about for a while, would be out in time for Salute.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to get a pre-order in place, and the fruits of that arrived this week - especially impressive given that I imagine Michael and Jo are still recovering from Salute, yet managed to get my order posted out on the Monday following it. So, without further ado, let's take a look at what came through, shall we?

Unboxing: Guild Ball Mystery Box

In early August, and probably in response to how Dark Souls has been received, Steamforged Games had to move to a bigger warehouse. As a way to celebrate - and I guess to clear out some older stock - they offered up a Guild Ball Mystery Box, which would provide a variety of items at a large discount, including two random six player teams.

I'm a fan of Guild Ball, even though it is a game I haven't played often enough - for a start, it is the only game where I can say I have a 100% win record against Jamie Perkins¹. I've currently got two teams, in various stages of WIP, in the form of the Mason's Guild and The Union, and had my eye on the Hunter's Guild and Farmer's Guild² down the line.

As a result, when the Mystery Box came up I was happy to take a punt on it - with eight Guilds on the market I hadn't bought into, I was in with a decent shot at getting ones I didn't own at this stage, which would give my collection some variety. The box turned up recently, so I figured people may be interested in whether it was a good move or not...

Unboxing: Dark Imperium

"Dysartes here, your roving reporter in the field, alongside this unit of Primaris Marines of the *CRACKLE* Chapter for the ongoing conflict with these renegades. I've been reliably informed that the sickness spreading amongst the civilian population is still spreading, and that this may be the doing of the Death-"

[-- =][= TRANSMISSION TERMINATED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITION =][= --]

Whoops...

All joking aside, this weekend is a big one for Warhammer 40,000, for it marks the official¹ release of the 8th edition of the core rules. As I write this, I'm at one of my local game stores, where they've been doing a midnight release event, followed by an 8th edition tournament tomorrow.

Why am I at the release event? To pick up my copy of the Dark Imperium boxed set, and then take a look at it in detail². I'm going to be looking at the box as a product, rather than looking at the rules in too much depth - I've had one demo game, so need to get more games under my belt before I can comment on whether this is the edition that saves the franchise, or dooms it...

With the preamble out of the way, let's take a look at this set:

New box, new art...

In case you've been living in a cave since Dark Imperium was announced, the set contains two monopose plastic starter forces to learn the new game - the Death Guard for Chaos Space Marines, and an expansion to the Space Marine line in the form of the Primaris Marines, a new generation of larger Space Marines.

Once you remove the sleeve from the box, there's even more new art to appreciate.

Once you remove the outer sleeve of the box, you'll find a removable upper box, with more materials below it. A careful shake gives off the rattle of plastic sprues - but we'll come back to that later.

As you can see, there is a place for everything, and everything is in its place.

As a bit of a change in tack from recent sets, this box contains the full hardback rulebook for this edition. In contrast, Death Masque had a small softback rulebook, which cut out most of the art and background material.

To be honest, this is a change I'm not sure about. The rulebook is a £35 purchase on its own, so makes up a significant chunk of a £95 boxed set - and that is a lot of money for the product which is meant to be the hook to get people into your system. While it is nice to get the full book, I think I'd've preferred a smaller paperback.

Wait, there's more!

Hiding under the rulebook is even more reading material, as well as a sheet of Imperial transfers - interestingly, there aren't any transfers for the Death Guard side of the box. The pack to the right of the above picture contains three smaller books - a construction guide for the figures³, and mini-Codex equivalents for the Primaris Space Marines and Death Guard units included in the starter. There's also a reference sheet for the rules, which seems to replicate in full a number of the core rules pages.

Given the rulebook is the standard one for this edition, this gives prospective players all the information they need to understand the forces they're using - and to use similar forces in normal games outside of the starter set.

Life in the bilges

Under the card insert which is holding the books in place, you'll find a variety of little bits that you'll need if you're new to the game - and some things you'll need even if you're not (namely the bases). There is also a floppy plastic ruler⁴, and a set of dice. Sticking them down in the base of the box makes good use of what would otherwise be wasted space.

This box is sealed by order of the Inquisition

A quick note on one design choice regarding the upper box, which I said earlier that we'd be coming back to. While you might want to dive straight in, you need to breach an Inquisitorial seal in order to do so. And those familiar with the lore know what the likely outcome of that choice will be...

All the brand-new plastic crack...

For existing players, the above picture is probably the highlight of the set - eight sprues of new models, four for each faction. All the sprues feature the inventive cutting Games Workshop have been utilising for the last several years, allowing for models in plastic that weren't really possible when 3rd edition launched, for example.

While I haven't yet started to assemble anything⁵, I find that I'm looking forwards to putting them together, once I decide how I'm going to base them. Having looked at the figures my LGS has assembled and painted, I'm not keen on the jump pack Primaris, but the rest of the models are pretty good. For once, I even find that I'm going to enjoy painting Chaos, and I normally loathe that faction.

Conclusion

What do I think of this set? Well, I'm divided on the issue - everything in the set is well executed⁶, and shows excellent design values. On the other hand, £95 is a lot for an introductory product, and will generate a lot of sticker shock on the shelf.

If you're already an active 40k player, then you're going to pick up the box anyway. And if you do, I think you're going to be happy with it. However, I don't see it working to get new blood into the game - but it might bring back some lapsed players.

---

¹ - As opposed to all the unofficial leaking. Seriously, people, can't you lot wait for a release date?
² - And to paint a Lizardmen Blood Bowl team, but I'm guessing you're not bothered about that.
³ - As, despite these being monopose figures, they're not Blood-Bowl-esque snap-fit figures. Ploy cement will be required.
⁴ - Unfortunately, it seems that the day of the red whippy stick has passed. I call upon you for a moment's silence in memory of the red whippy stick...
⁵ - Mainly as I've been trying to write this post since I got the box, and I'm finding it hard to concentrate...< br/> ⁶ - Especially the heretics...

Unboxing: Oathsworn Miniatures: Burrows & Badgers - New Blood

I was aware that Kickstarter campaigns could run for varying lengths of time, but it wasn't until Boxing Day that I realised that a really short campaign could do surprisingly well.

Why Boxing Day? Well, that was when Oathsworn Miniatures ran their New Blood Kickstarter for their Burrows & Badgers line - and ran it for just 24 hours.

The combination of the two things struck me as a bit odd - you'd expect potential customers to be busy on Boxing Day with family affairs, while most Kickstarter campaigns rely on the first and last 2 or 3 days to raise the bulk of their funds. Stripping a campaign down to 24 hours, especially on Boxing Day, felt like it should've been a disaster.

Instead, the micro-campaign was a roaring success, funding in less than 20 minutes and eventually raising nearly nine times the initial funding goal from over 300 backers. I'm still not sure exactly how they did it, but I recently received the fruits of the campaign, so I reckon it is time to take a look...

Tor Gaming - Death from Above

The Relics C'thu range keeps on growing - Gav¹ still has several codes from the initial C'thu line to release, and this month it was the turn of the Vesparther. Given I'm working on a C'thu army, alongside my Britanans, I pre-ordered them, and was fortunate enough that Gav was feeling generous, as I got them a little early.

While this is the third time I've reviewed a C'thu figure, I'll give you a quick recap - Relics is a skirmish game produced by Tor Gaming², a small company based in Sheffield, UK. It is described by its creator as a stitch-punk game, and sees forces from six different factions³ battling it out in the world of Relicia. A second edition of the game is, at time of writing, undergoing a final public review and test before going to print, so this is a good time to think about diving in.

Oathsworn Miniatures: Burrows & Badgers - Figures

It is often surprising the new ranges and companies you find at shows - even if they've been around for a while, they can still be new to you. I'd vaguely heard of Oathsworn Miniatures before I attended UK Games Expo in 2016, due to their Heroines in Sensible Shoes Kickstarter campaign, though it hadn't grabbed my attention enough to back it myself.

While I was at the Expo, though, I came across a cabinet of painted figures on their stand, and realised by the end of the weekend that I needed to own some of them. These weren't the Heroines, but rather the Burrows and Badgers range. For someone who grew up reading the Redwall series, these were a firm kick in the nostalgia.

Burrows and Badgers figures at UK Games Expo 2016

Tor Gaming - Day of the Tentacle

Back in January, I was fortunate enough to get access to the C'thu Prime a little early, as you may have seen. This all happened because Gav¹ was dealing with an order I'd placed at my NSLBFGS².

That was cool, but I wasn't expecting a repeat. However, when I was at the store last week picking up my new Blood Bowl team³, the Chris I was dealing with noticed that I had pre-ordered the two new C'thu units due out this week - the Barbs of Thamos and Thorns of Thamos. Chris had a quick word with Gav, and soon enough I had the blisters in my hands.

Result!

So, given I have these ahead of the general release, let's take a look at what you get for your money this time...

Unboxing: Bad Squiddo Games - Ghosts of Gaia

Sometimes, following people on Facebook can be an expensive proposition.

As it happens, I follow Kev White of Hasslefree Miniatures fame. Back in November, he plugged a Kickstarter that was being run by Bad Squiddo Games. For those of you who aren't aware, Bad Squiddo Games is the miniatures company being run by Annie Norman, who you may know better as the Dice Bag Lady.

Bad Squiddo were running a campaign for female post-apocalyptic gang figures - a bit Mad Max, a bit Necromunda Escher, that sort of feel. I'll be honest, there weren't many of the initial sculpts that grabbed me, and I forgot to close the tab on Chrome.

Fast-forwards a week or two, and I realised I still have a Kickstarter tab open¹. Before I closed it, I thought it'd be interesting to see where the campaign was up to - and that's when I saw the two packs of gun pigs, and the option to order them as the core of your pledge. For those of you who are unaware, the gun pigs are two sets of four figures, featuring guinea pigs armed with some quite serious weaponry.

While I have no specific uses for heavily-armed rodents, the models were cool, and I'm all in favour of cool models. As a result, I found myself backing the campaign, when I didn't initially expect to. Fast forward to the first week of February, and my new pets were collected from the sorting office - and I thought you'd be interested to see how these look.

Tor Gaming - C'thu Prime

Sometimes it's funny how things work out. I went down to my local gaming store's hobby evening on Friday, both to get some painting done, and to pick up some bits I'd ordered over the festive period. As it happened, Gav¹ was the gentleman sorting out my order, and he noticed that I had a pre-order for the new C'thu Prime as one of the bits I was waiting for.

Apparently in a good mood in the new year², he decided to let me have the Prime there and then, despite the fact the model wasn't due to be released until the 14th. Never one to turn down the opportunity to get stuff I'd bought early, I thought I'd take the time before general release to pull a review together.

Unboxing: Macrocosm Miniatures - Dark Dwarves

I first found out about Macrocosm when I was at UK Games Expo 2015, where their stand was tucked away on one corner in a particularly cramped trade room. While I wasn't looking for anything in particular, their Digger Corps and Malignancy ranges caught my eye, and the gent behind the stand was willing to cut me a deal on the Sunday, which is always appreciated.

When I heard they were doing a Kickstarter campaign to make some Dark Dwarves, having picked up the range previously released by Hasslefree Miniatures, I decided to back it to both support a small company and get some quite cool armoured Dwarf models. While I wasn't a major backer, I did spring for two 5 Dwarf units and a character, as a potential starting point for a force for Dragon Rampant.

The campaign went pretty well for Macrocosm, raising £6,713 against their initial goal of £1,000. Delivery was listed as November 2016, so I'd mentally pegged them as arriving in the new year - imagine my surprise, then, when I received a package towards the end of September.

With the package in hand, I thought it might be taking a look at what was inside. And yes, I know it's taken me nearly a month to get to this point...

Unboxing: Infamy Miniatures One Shot - Goblin Chieftain

Despite not yet having assembled or painted anything from them, Infamy Miniatures have impressed me since they started up. Leading off with a small IndieGoGo campaign, then a Kickstarter for the upcoming Infamy: Welcome to the Big Smoke game,

Having backed both of those endeavours, I was interested when James announced the Kickstarter campaign for the first model in his One Shot range, the Goblin Chieftain. While Goblins aren't usually my cup of tea, this sculpt had enough character to it that I was interested - and when a pledge option opened up that allowed me to pick up this figure, along with 54mm versions of a couple of the characters from the Big Smoke, I jumped right in.

Pathfinder: Bestiary 5

Image credit: Paizo.com

If there is one thing you can't accuse Paizo of, it is not providing you with enough material to expand your game with. From the numerous Adventure Path modules, to the various Advanced Guides and Ultimate books, to the assortment of Campaign Setting supplements, they've spent the last several years working to make sure as many options as possible are covered.

One key element of this for me, as a GM who is trying to relearn the ropes, is the series of Bestiary books that have been released. While I'm unlikely to get to a point where I'm writing scenarios where my group are having to fight Dagon or C'thulu¹, there have been a whole host of creatures - and potential character races - introduced in each book that I am likely to make use of.

In November, the latest Bestiary volume was released. I picked a copy up from my local game shop as it was released, and have been reading through it since...