***INCOMING MESSAGE..."Xenos detected, send help...they came from nowhere..we had no chance.. they... " * D E A D *

Having a slight jig around currently based upon a determination to actually get a fully painted force, in this instance reduce an over staffed HE listing down somewhat to an elite collection of Chracians whilst at the same time considering options for a foe worthy of the Space Wolves, only another 8-10 months to go before the "rumoured" new codex hits..

So flavour of this month is:
OGRE KINGDOMS -* OUT *
WOC - gain a couple of detachments of Chaos Ogres..
HIGH ELVES = partial reduction

Balance transferred into a future variant if the HE, yes,,the Eldar return this month, already conscription has started and tactics are in progress to capture further objectives to follow. Two words only at this stage..Saim Hann... after this weekend I hope to have news of the Craftworlders ...

In the meantime here are some images from Warhammer World versions of the red blurs themselves..

Warhammer World & Citadel Miniatures Showcase

Last week was a busy one as I was attending a conference for work in York which at times was pretty drawn out both in content and delivery. As an aside the City itself which was on my doorstep of the hotel is a great place to visit with many restaurants, bars and history to the place. making use of technology with an app on the phone tied in with a map for the various locations proved of great use.

On the way back on the Friday, having finished earlier than expected I thought I would call into Warhammer World, having never had the chance to do so with Nottingham probably around best part of 3 hours from where I live.

Having first been greeted by a Ultramarine Rhino nestling in the car park itself, followed by an Uruk hai ( spelling??) from Lord Of the Rings I proceeded to the floor where the Miniatures showcase existed. Having passed the 8 foot high Ultramarine on this floor, ( the Smurfs seem to rule this place) I eagerly entered the room..

Now I would like to think I am a keen painter, even if my eyes are often bigger than my brush ( no inneuendo implied!) but the sheer scale and quality of the miniatures on show is amazing. Glass case after glass case follows in a sizable room of WH40K, WFB and Lord Of the Rings, the centre piece being the scene of the tyranids attacking the Space Wolf haven of the Fang, which itself attended one of the UK Gamesdays in recent years.

I had the room to myself and spent a while digesting and snapping images of applicable minaitures both for reference to my own long queue of "works in progress" and complete admiration. In person the skill levels are unbelievable and the room was full of colour and competing armies...

To the Conspiracy theorists amongst you, the missing minaitures all appeared to be from the WH40K range with Dark Eldar pretty well all disappeared as well as signs indicating that Tyranids and Orks were in use , although bulk seemed in place so I would think a batrep will no doubt appear in the enxt 3-4 months specifically with these models in White Dwarf. Not sure if November ( rumoured for Tyranids) and even Q1 2014 ( rumoured for Orks) would be applicable for codex shots in White Dwarf as no doubt these have been long actioned..

A few shots ( sorry about quality...) below..

If you have never been and like the hobby side re:painting/modelling as  much as the gaming ( table galore onsite in the great hall!!) well worth a visit...however be aware of the store as some snotty nosed school YTS employee will be on you in seconds.. ; )

Games Workshop: NEW Space Marine Releases

Officially as per time of typing there is 20 minutes remaining before the "official" release of notification at least covering the new Space Marine release with the brand spanking new codex and an assortment of miniatures.

For what will undoubtedly be GW biggest release for WH40K since the new edition came out last year, I have to wonder what is left that we don't already seem to know about.

For starters we already know the various content re: armies, and no I am not a Black Templars player ( but I am a Space Wolf player..so the wait goes on for almost another year!), the codex is bigger, new rules, new content , new structure??

Models - new character models, new vehicles, newly revamped units and actual new units such as the marine inside the marine known  as "centurions".

WD also "officially" released tomorrow will no doubt whore its many aspects, tempting players new and perhaps inquisitive returnees...

For myself, I will take a casual glance and perhaps get WD this month, the novelty wears off unless the content is attractive so "meh" lets see but if anything it feels like a real anti-climax , oh.. and another thing that relates to the online only offers, in UK sterling at least, £8,500 for a complete Chapter, really...what the F*%k, someone within the walls of GW clearly has laid out a wager on selling one, by all accounts no discount.

Anyways, 15 mins  now remaining before geeks around the world marvel at the repeatedly seen same images that we have all seen over the last few weeks just that little bit more "official"...

Enjoy, personally I await the return of the Dark Elves, rumoured at least for October prior to November seeing yet another 40K release for the Nids..

Laters..

Wave 3 X-Wing ships ** INCOMING **....

Having digested the news that notably the best player of my football team( at least last season) has now been sold off to the Spanish for £93M + player exchange ( goes by the name of Fabio), I thought perhaps take a moment to catch up where we are in the gaming world as of today.

Incidentally, aren't the Spanish supposed to be bankrupt in Europe, along with the Irish, Italians, totally the Greeks  ( now owned by ze Germans!) and possibly good ol'blighty based upon how much loose change I DON'T have in my pocket each month...

So Warhammer,  nothing new past the torrent of the last week as WH40K strides on with the Space Marines launching in September in a much larger codex than others incorporating the Black Templars, much to the general descent of the gaming world, although  I thought that they were one of the least played forces??.Nids due in "Nidvember" ( see what I did there) with good old cnnon fooder in the form of the Imperial Guard and Orks due to follow in early 2014.. on top of that rumours now persist of 9th edition with Orcs n'Gobbos matching up to the Forces of the Empire in the 9th edition battleset due Summer 2014.

Two points on the latter, i) been there done that combo before.. & ii) still waiting for update to the Brets &Wood Elves as well as Dark Elves ( although rumoured as next launch).

Something more akin to timing this week is the launch of wave 3 of the X-wing minatures. This time around the release wave will consist of the rebel B-Wing, HWK something ..., TIE bomber and certainly what caught my attention the Lambda Class Shuttle. The latter is a larger ship with real foldable wings (lets have an "ooooohhh" please) and gamewise has a zero move as a red manoeuvre!! Hmm...emergency brake procedure introduced...

In the UK seemingly the launch date is 23/8 ( that's 8/23 for anyone on the other side of the Pond - who no doubt already have their models from Gen Con anyway by now) although a local independent is telling me they have been delayed ( again!) until October.  Personally I have heard of allocation, which based upon Wave 2, was to be expected but this does not temper the anticipation although I for one will avoid paying the "sharkes" on ebay for 2-3 times plus full rrp. Even now I see the Y-Wing from Wave 1 going for over £30 ( 45-48USD)!!!

Each wave introduces new "things" and seemingly Wave 3 will be no different with ship systems coming into play and what would also be some very dodgy looking movement dials, full of red manoeuvres and missing the obvious. For example the TIE bomber can move 4 straight yet if it wants to loop straight back at yer it has a 5 ( bendy arrow thing).

A couple (or three)  images below...

Refreshingly FFG own site is happy to preview its own products so further information can be ascertained off the site as well as further images. News following GenCon is that 2014 will see the arrival of the larger ships by which I mean the Rebel Transporter, last seen legging it from Hoth with a couple of X-Wings when the Imperials turned up as well as a model of the doomed craft that we are introduced to at the beginning of Star Wars IV... Based upon GenCon photos they are pretty pricey, albeit nice looking models but 60 & 80 USD seems steep , let alone the amount of space needed as clearly a 3x3ft area barely holds these craft...

Lets see what news follows..