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[Woorloog]

Tabletop BattleTech news:

New box sets coming in 6 to 12 months. (My bet is second or third quarter next year, ie later rather than sooner.)
A beginner box, with 2 plastic miniatures and some stuff (rules, etc.), with preliminary price point about $20 (at least, that was when it was first told CGL was thinking about new box sets last year). Minis are Griffin and Wolverine.
And standard box with 8 plastic miniatures, with a short story, rules, map sheet, stuff like that. Minis are Locust, Commando, Shadow Hawk, Wolverine, Thunderbolt, Catapult, Awesome, BattleMaster. All are new sculpts.

Prototype pics (featuring classics only) on the official forums.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=58071.msg1343911#msg1343911

If someone wonders why no Warhammer and the like when there are some of the unseen in the box despite new art... well, Harmony Gold is at it again (primarily against PGI and HBS video games but naturally CGL is part of the case as well). But non-Macross-based 'Mechs are OK.

(Managed to post this to BattleTech video game thread first... don't keep two new reply tabs open side-by-side.)

EDIT Corrections to (preliminary) prices: $25 for beginner's, $60 for standard.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Those are gorgeous mechs, need more plastics!

 

[BattleMonkey]

Ahhh yiissss

http://www.beastsofwar.com/star-wars-legion/coming-tabletop-ffg/

 

[Leunam]

Precisely what I have been waiting for, it looks good to me so far. Here's hoping for a third faction like Scum and Villainy in X-Wing.

I'm hoping it doesn't expand to having too many heroes on either side in a single match and vehicles no larger than an AT-ST.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Precisely what I have been waiting for, it looks good to me so far. Here's hoping for a third faction like Scum and Villainy in X-Wing.

I'm hoping it doesn't expand to having too many heroes on either side in a single match and vehicles no larger than an AT-ST.

Nah, they need to go all in, AT-AT's and all. Full scale crazy

 

[Draxal]

Ahhh yiissss

http://www.beastsofwar.com/star-wars-legion/coming-tabletop-ffg/

OMG, I am in love.

Kinda wished they went with the new trilogy first, but understand why they haven't.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I do hope they stop being dumb and expand beyond one time line. Game seriously needs some Clone Wars love

 

[Draxal]

Clone wars is honestly a better timeline for this sort of game, even if I'm a original trilogy whore.

 

[BattleMonkey]

With Last Jedi coming, I assume they will try to push new trilogy stuff, X-Wing already has gone in that direction.

But they are scrapping the bottom of the barrel for content for X-Wing now.

The largest source of mass combat materials for a wargame lies with the Clone Wars. So many units and vehicles to choose from.

 

[Woorloog]

Seems X-wing devs are SW Galaxies fans. I mean, so many ships are from that game...
Which is really weird, especially for Scum, considering how many pirate ships are in Star Wars. Like, take X-Wing games, why not use ships from those?

For the Rebels, scraping bottom of the barrel is kinda necessary. They don't have that many ships even canonically.
They could add T-wings, though those aren't that different from A-wings. Maybe YT-2000, if another pancake is OK. Other than that, i can't think of any realistic options.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Could be a matter of lack of detailed approved design work from LFL for ships in the EU. With Galaxies craft, they have full 3D rendered models of all these ships to work with, while alot of the EU stuff is just a few drawings of limited angles. Meaning FFG would have to have artists complete the designs and get LFL approval of new content. Perhaps its just easier to grab stuff from Galaxies

 

[Woorloog]

Ah, good point.
Existing 3D art getting re-used makes the choice of ships certainly quite reasonable. Though also a bit disappointing, due to limited options. Perhaps things will change as more Star Wars games (eg BattleFront II) are released with new ships, or models for old ones.

 

[BattleMonkey]

They are finally giving us the assault gunboat from the PC games, so I think we will eventually get more obscure EU stuff from other sources, but do think part of it is that it's easier to grab from available approved assets already. Scum and villainy has tons of stuff to work with, while both the Empire and Rebellion have been stretched super thin now. Heck the Tie Phantom from Rebel Assault 2 was some seriously vague old school stuff to borrow from.

Last Jedi will of course give them content for another wave or two following this just announced wave.

Still want Clone Wars ships damnit, but they kinda backed themselves into a corner now, and obviously would have to make seriously underpowered ships to make them compatible in the current system.

 

[SillyEskimo]

I'm back on painting Zombicide. I put it aside for summer break and was concentrating on 40k, but the urge hit me to switch back so I did. I knocked out 20 zombies over the weekend working off and on. I can safely say that I see a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to painting the standard black & white zombies. All my runners are now finished. Only 3 fatties and 37 standard zombies to go. Then its 75 skinners and as many more survivors/zombivors as I want to flesh out my teams.

It feels so good to see progress on a big project!

 

[TheVoidDragon]

Ahhh yiissss

http://www.beastsofwar.com/star-wars-legion/coming-tabletop-ffg/

Saw this a few days ago, has anything been said about if the full separate kits (assuming there will be some) will have more customization possible? It seems those are pretty much limited to the pose they come in, or at least the figure of Luke is.

 

[XShagrath]

I finished painting my 7th Continent minis today. Even though it's not a miniatures game, it came with a few minis for the players and a few other components, so I decided to paint them. The models weren't super detailed, and definitely the smallest minis I've ever done, but I think they turned out alright. Now to finally play the game!

http://imgur.com/a/GNfPn (full gallery of all minis)

 

[BattleMonkey]

Saw this a few days ago, has anything been said about if the full separate kits (assuming there will be some) will have more customization possible? It seems those are pretty much limited to the pose they come in, or at least the figure of Luke is.

If it's like their Runewars (or whatever it's called), I think they are going for easy to assemble figs at a cheaper price. Those figures don't have much at all in the form of customization of posing. The scale of the figs and details seems more in line with the stuff they used in IA game.

 

[StaffyManasse]

Bought this mini, love the grimdarkyness

Will practice on her before buying and painting Yvraine ( the Ynnari lady, in 40k)

Quality resin too, not much stuff to clean and only one warped finger nail. And they are thiiiiin.

 

[Leunam]

That's a gorgeous mini.

I've been thinking about picking up a mini in maybe 54mm scale just to paint as well. Either a Samurai or Templar type character, something just for the exercise. I've got plenty of gladiators to paint but I need something in a different style that would be nice for display.

 

[RMI]

finally got my hive tyrant done. was a bit of a pain and sloppy in spots, but he'll look fine on the table.

warriors too. still need to do the eyes

going to go back to death guard for a bit, then do more genestealers, then switch gears and start working on terrain.

 

[Leunam]

That is done damn fine blending. Really nice work.

 

[One Foul Note]

Aww, they are awesome. I've always loved the classic Behemoth Tyranids, very striking colours.

 

[RMI]

That is done damn fine blending. Really nice work.

Thanks, my first time trying it on the horn. Was worth it in the end. I might try it on all the scything talons of bigger monsters going forward.

 

[Ohnonono]

Thanks, my first time trying it on the horn. Was worth it in the end. I might try it on all the scything talons of bigger monsters going forward.

If that is your first blend on that horn then keep it up and practice and they will become amazing. Really really good period, much less for a first shot at it. Love your nids.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Well looks like Spartan games is going under. Can't say I'm surprised, I liked some of their ideas, but really all their releases have been messes, and they seemed to revamp or relaunch their games every year.

And now folks are obviously gonna panic, as they have unfulfilled kickstarters

 

[Leunam]

Well looks like Spartan games is going under. Can't say I'm surprised, I liked some of their ideas, but really all their releases have been messes, and they seemed to revamp or relaunch their games every year.

And now folks are obviously gonna panic, as they have unfulfilled kickstarters

That's a shame. I really liked their crazy steam punk battle game system, Uncharted Seas, and Firestorm Armada. If they used in-house designers then I don't doubt they'll find work easily.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Well looks like Spartan games is going under. Can't say I'm surprised, I liked some of their ideas, but really all their releases have been messes, and they seemed to revamp or relaunch their games every year.

And now folks are obviously gonna panic, as they have unfulfilled kickstarters

Damn, I really liked their Firestorm Armada range but I bailed out around the time they were doing the Halo stuff as everyone here was losing interest due to the long wait between new mini releases.

They tried to have fingers in too many pies I think, should've just focused on a couple of games. Now I'm just awaiting the return of BFG from GW to scratch my spaceship battles itch.

 

[Leunam]

I've still got two FA fleets that I got super cheap. Maybe I can homebrew some rules.

After I finish my super spy boardgame lol. I've got too many ideas but not enough knowledge to make them work the way I want.

 

[RMI]

thanks for the kind words on the nids everyone!

Prototype pics (featuring classics only) on the official forums.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=58071.msg1343911#msg1343911

these are damn nice. glad they made the bases full-sized hexes, not like the alpha strike plastics.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Tor Gaming has closed today too:

Statement date: Friday 25th August 2017.

Tor Gaming was started back in 2010 with the intention to product the tabletop wargame Relics and with it, bring some originality to your gaming table. We tried to create a world that was distinctly different to what was already being presented from several fronts, and I like to think we managed in this task.

Unfortunately, the last few years have been a difficult trading time for Tor Gaming. Running a business in a niche market is never easy but the gaming industry has become very crowded in the last few years for a number of reasons. As such, I have made the difficult decision to close Tor Gaming and sell off the Relics IP and product range.

The reasons for Tor Gaming closing are many faceted but as I mention above the gaming market is a much more crowded than it was when I started out. The arrival of crowdfunding platforms certainly shook up the industry and made it even easier for new companies to appear and vie for the limited funds our customers have to spend in this hobby of ours. I have made use of them a number of times for Relics and whilst they are good for raising funds I have found each time I ran a project I had a nasty taste in my mouth afterwards.

Coupled with the fact that the traditional ‘distribution model’ of selling product to end users through retailers is a difficult task in this industry as retailers have only so much shelf space and as such are less inclined try out every range that comes along makes continuing to trade in this industry as a producer is difficult.

Over the last couple of years we have seen a steady decline in sales and as such Tor Gaming no longer has the resources to spend on the marketing and advertising required to make our voice heard over all the other voices in this industry. This has ramifications on our ability to develop and produce new products to support the Relics line. We could continue by making use of more crowdfunding projects and moving away from the more traditional ‘distribution model’ for selling but I feel that would be the wrong decision as I am not happy putting the financial risk on to the shoulders of our customers.

It’s been a fun journey but as with all journeys, there has to be an end. For Tor Gaming, that end is here. The journey has been fun and exciting, even frustrating at times. But along the way we have met some great people in this hobby and I am proud to call many of them friends now!

Enquiries

If you wish to contact us about this closure, or you are interested in purchasing the Relics product package and Intellectual property, we invite you to contact us on [email protected]

Statement from Spartan Games:

The following statement is issued today, Friday 25th August 2017.

Following a prolonged period of challenging trading and despite the directors’ best efforts to manage through, Rebel Publishing Ltd was unable to continue to trade and the directors have taken the difficult decision to cease. All members of staff were made redundant.

The company, which traded as Spartan Games, is a Somerset, UK based provider of tabletop miniature games which include

Uncharted Seas, a fantasy naval combat game (now retired)
Firestorm Armada, an exciting space combat game featuring highly detailed starship models
Dystopian Legions, a game based in the world of Dystopian Wars using highly detailed 32mm scale figures and vehicles (now retired)
Dystopian Wars– an exciting journey in a Victorian sci-fi world encompassing naval combat, ground warfare and aerial combat.
Spartan Scenics – a range of detailed and easily assembled wargames terrain.
Rebel Publishing Ltd was formed in July 2002 and traded successfully for a number of years. Spartan Games was launched in 2008 and grew rapidly. However, the tabletop games market is challenging and has changed over recent years, and suppliers are predominantly a small number of large well-known names and several small, cottage industry, type businesses.

Initially the business outsourced production but following quality control and production management issues, manufacturing was moved in house between 2009 and 2011. Over this time and since, significant investment was made into machinery and infrastructure. The business also expanded to provide models for a well known video game, moving this into the tabletop games arena. However, significant new development costs, timing issues and the deflection of management time from the core games brands resulted in a significant trading loss for 2015/6. The business was able to continue to trade by raising additional finance and refocusing on core brands, and direct / online trading improved significantly. Results for 2016/17 were significantly improved.

However, despite this it continued to encounter challenging trading conditions and it became clear this month that the company could not continue to service its liabilities, particularly given the burden imposed by the amounts owing to finance companies.

The company was in the process of running a Kickstarter project to raise funds for expansion of one of its successful product lines. This was well supported and positive feedback on the new products was given showing the popularity of the product line and ongoing demand. However, this does not, unfortunately, provide the full range of success and resources needed to sustain the business.

In addition to challenging trading issues, one of the directors has suffered from a long period of poor health which became significantly more serious earlier this year and although now back in the business, requires ongoing treatment. That has inevitably taken a toll on the amount of time available to the business so, along with other challenges, has significantly contributed to this difficult decision.

The directors are extremely saddened by this decision and particularly regret any losses incurred by employees, customers, suppliers or other trading partners. The directors fully committed their time, energy and personal resources to effect a turnaround. Employees will receive redundancy payments through state funds and although efforts have been made to fulfil customer orders, it is hoped that anyone who does not receive their goods will be able to redeem their payments through their credit card or PayPal.

If customers have made a deposit or paid for goods or services by credit or debit card and the goods or services are not going to be received by the due date, they may be able to get their money back by claiming a refund from their card issuer. They should contact their card issuer as soon as possible. Further information including time limits that apply is available from the UK Cards Association: Credit and debit cards: A consumer guide. Similar schemes exist in other countries.

Throughout the years that Spartan Games has traded, it has prided itself on the highest level of product quality and customer satisfaction. This has been delivered consistently and is evidenced though annual customer research that the company has undertaken.

We would encourage anybody who may be interested in acquiring either stock, assets or the business to make contact as soon as possible. Spartan Games and its product lines have a strong reputation in its markets together with an asset base which may be of interest to a number of parties, and a variety of machinery in addition to Intellectual Property.

All enquiries about this matter should be sent to [email protected]

 

[SCHUEY F1]

Pretty disappointed about Spartan.. I was gradually getting into the Halo games.

 

[StaffyManasse]

Don't want to dp on the 40k thread, so posting here instead.

I did something yesterday.

I went to visit a friend for some bitsexchange (Not a word? It should be!).

I got some new bits alright. From those bits I can build an Imperial Knight and a Redemptor dreadnought. And some acolytes. Can't forget those.

In exchange, I gave a way a good chunk of my Ultramarine oldmarines.

 

[Leunam]

Oldmarines.

That name makes me sad.

 

[StaffyManasse]

Oldmarines.

That name makes me sad.

Yeah. But I just couldn't get past how the new minis just look so much superior, scale-wise. Still prefer the fluff and the gear options of good old tacticals, devastators and assault Marines.

 

[Nete]

I've decided to finally paint my Blood Bowl team. It would be the first time I actually try to paint something that's not a ship, and even then it's not like I've painted more than 5-6 of them (from X-wing TMG).

I currently have a Blitzer in progress, just finished the flesh.

Now to figure how the hell I want to fuck highlight the black, fix some fuck ups on the base colors, paint all the missing details (laces, scratches...) and finish the highlights on the rest.

 

[Leunam]

Eshin Grey for black highlights.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

Business is apparently booming at GW:

Blood Bowl, AoS and 40k are doing so well they actually had to increase stock levels in their warehouses across the globe.

Elven Union is coming out Q4. Forgeworld will release additional stuff like cheerleaders and more pits for older teams. Also more weather themed pits are coming!

Blood Bowl did so well, they can now do more multi-part styled kits for it (and Necromunda). Expect to see more options with the Elven Union kit, aswell as female players! The second Troll will f.e. have different head options because of this.

The plan is to release four plastic teams per year now, one for each quarter. They have enough designs and production for an ongoing release schedule, including dice, boards, single miniatures and accessories.

Some additional Shadespire infos regarding dates: Pre-order of the core box should be late September, release is October. The first expansion, the Deathrattle Sepulchral Guard, is due to be released in November 2017. A series of expansions is already ready to be released in 2018.

https://war-of-sigmar.herokuapp.com/bloggings/2363

 

[Nete]

I need to fix a couple small mistakes with the gold on the shoulders and varnish the whole thing, but otherwise is pretty much done.

Time to start working on the rest of the team. The base will wait until I have everybody painted.

 

[RMI]

more Necromunda images

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/08/31/a-closer-look-at-necromundagw-homepage-post-2/

looks like there's going to be a boardgame in there in addition to the tabletop rules. I'd like to see the price. Guessing ~$100.

New miniatures look really nice. I have a fully painted Orlock gang somewhere at my mom's house. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the new gang sculpts, but not sure I'll be getting this new box.

 

[Leunam]

I probably won't either. I want to see how the rules stack up compared to the original and I want to wait for Cawdor and Delaque gangs as well. I don't have much use for anything but the dice and templates and I already have those somewhere I bet.

 

[Hydrargyrus]

more Necromunda images

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/08/31/a-closer-look-at-necromundagw-homepage-post-2/



looks like there's going to be a boardgame in there in addition to the tabletop rules. I'd like to see the price. Guessing ~$100.

New miniatures look really nice. I have a fully painted Orlock gang somewhere at my mom's house. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the new gang sculpts, but not sure I'll be getting this new box.

I'm really happy to see this variety. I was expecting only 2 or 3 miniature models in each gang

 

[SillyEskimo]

My local shop had a painting contest last month that I was going to enter but something came up. I was in there today looking at their display cabinets and saw the top 5 winners on display. Holy shit they were terrible. I would rate the winner 2/5 stars. I was painting better than that at age 12. A guy saw me looking and proudly exclaimed that he painted the entire army in the upper left corner of the cabinet. It was a Blood Angels army primed black with weapons painted silver and shoulder pads painted a dark red...in enamel paint. No basing or decals. It would take a person perhaps an afternoon to do what he did. It must've taken 10x longer to assemble them than to paint them. I was polite, but deep down I was like "what a waste!".

So if anyone here ever thinks for one second you are not a good painter, think again. You are infinitely better than you give yourself credit.

Insult to injury? I was looking for purple primer. The guy behind the counter insists there is no such thing. I told him it was from army painter. He looks it up and says he can get it here by next weekend for $22. He suggested I just go buy and use regular purple spray paint because that's what he does and he knows what he is talking about because he came in third place at last month's painting contest. I immediately ordered it from Amazon on my phone for $16 and it will be at my house by Tuesday.

 

[Brakke]

Your inspirational message of encouragement is telling us that you'll smugly glare in superiority at our stuff if it's bad?

 

[SillyEskimo]

Your inspirational message of encouragement is telling us that you'll smugly glare in superiority at our stuff if it's bad?

Not at all. My own stuff is far from perfect and I have vast room for improvement. We're a community that share our passion for this hobby. We encourage and advise one another. I have never seen anyone post something terrible and claim its the best. That's what rubbed me the wrong way.

 

[ScatheZombie]

Painted model progress update image dump.

I had a couple chunks of foam leftover from another project and carved them into some basic rock formations for scatter terrain.

I also painted up the Stonehedge set of from the Reaper Bones line.

I also made some progress on my set of terrain pieces from the Shadow War box set.

And then added a few new units to my growing Age of Sigmar Destruction Army. I'm up to about 2400 points painted out of 3400 points total.

Ork Objective Marker

Ironjawz Weirdnob Shaman

Moonclan Grots - Night Goblins

Night Goblin Fanatics

The 'new' rules for Savage Orruks made me break out my existing unit from WHFB into individual units and add some more models to make everything hit the required minimums.

Savage Orruk Big Boss

Savage Orruk Big Stabbas

Savage Orruks

And finally, a completely unrelated miniature, the Kraken from Reaper Bones.

 

[Jinaar]

I haven't worked on miniatures for a bit due to no time to do so, but finally finished my Night Lord Pimarus marine. I hand painted the insignia and really am happy with it. No idea which chapter to do next but I can't wait.

 

[Leunam]

Hand painted insignia looks fantastic but no lightning? That's one of their most unique qualities!

 

[Jinaar]

Hand painted insignia looks fantastic but no lightning? That's one of their most unique qualities!

I have lightning on both legs (one you cannot see) and behind the backpack. I know, that is a weird place to put it, but I wasn't confident in the beginning so I tested locations out first. I may come back and do one shoulder pad with some lightning.

EDIT: Here is a better pic.

 

[SillyEskimo]

Left to right: Regular Zombie Fattie, Toxic Fattie, Berserker Fattie, Skinner Fattie

The purple is a test model. I have around 80+ skinners to paint. I like the purple actually. Fun to paint and easy too.

 

[Leunam]

Great work fellas.

The Citadel Paint App is out on the Android store. Actually pretty handy, especially the paint inventory tracker. I'm going to finish filling it out later but this should finally end my habit of buying doubles or colors I didn't need right away but forgetting the one I needed immediately. It's all Citadel colors obviously but there are plenty of color charts out there for comparing Vallejo and others.