2015: A Year (end) In The Hobby.

The shiny golden face of 2015

So, this year started with everyone cautiously excited about the new edition of Warhammer Fantasy. Then proceeded into rumours of round bases started popping up, which were only stoked by pictures from Warhammer World, with Lizardmen on (gasp) ovals. People thought that it truly was the End Times. Then it hit. The Age of Sigmar.

GW had committed heresy! They made the rules free, and quick to learn! They introduced a new chapter of Space Marines! They also committed the gravest of sins, they advanced the storyline! The sky was truly falling!

(Insert mood lightning here)

Ok, jokes aside. The release of AoS was a big deal this year in the hobby. If only for the quantity of "power gamers" who Rage Quit the game, but - controversial opinion - did the hobby really lose anything with these players quitting? Mantic's Kings of War better be on top form in 2016, because if a significant portion of your player base is people who rage quit another system, they're not going to give you any leniency.

I must admit, I was sceptical at first - as you can probably see from any of my posts about AoS leading up to the release. But I've been converted, I think that the modelling freedom that round bases offer offsets the "loss" of our precious block formation. I've even started two warbands for the game:

Khorne Goretide:

All the other guys a standard out of the box models, except this guy.
 He's a "rescued" Kharn model, who's been re-purposed as a Blood Warrior icon bearer.

 And a New Realms of Chaos inspired Nurgle Warband:

Again, an Icon Bearer. I must have a thing for icons.

Of course, the Age of Sigmar wasn't the only headline this year. The other big news of 2016 was the fulfilment of Kingdom Death: Monster. 

And you thought this day would never come...

I received my copy, and let me tell you, it's a nice kit. I'll look at it a bit more in-depth once I've cleared my current hobby waiting list. 

But that wasn't the only Kickstarter project of 2015. The last year has been a good one for Kickstarter Projects, possibly better than the "golden age" of a couple of years ago. There were so many cool projects, it was actually quit difficult to choose which ones to back. In the end I threw my lot in with:

• Phroggs
• Deadzone: Infestation
• Colony 87
• Space Raiders
• Zombicide: Black Plague
• Wasteland Survivors
• The Others: 7 Sins
• Macrocosm
• Warpath
• Darklands: Savage Hordes
• Die Hard Miniatures

Just from that list I have more than my fill of New and Old School miniatures, as well as boardgames and just whole armies/warbands/gangs that I can sub into various systems/settings. Between the Deadzone and the Warpath Kickstarters I've got a decently sized Veer-Myn force coming my way. Hopefully I can work my way through my leadpile and I can actually paint and show off some of the new stuff that's already arrived (more on that later).

Looking forward, the upcoming Kickstarters is even more exciting. We have the thinly-veiled secret that is the next Mantic Kickstarter (Pssst... it's probably Fallout Warfare), and the upcoming Pantheon of Chaos Kickstarter (from Diego Serrate, the mind behind the Space Raiders), all the way to whatever CoolMiniOrNot have planned (if I was a betting man, I'd have my money on a plastic box release of Dark Age or the much-anticipated Confrontation Phoenix - but then I bet on those two every year).

Ok, I'm running out of space here so I'll cover my New Years Hobby Resolutions in another post. But until then, have a happy New Year!

Because one dog ain't enough, and two is too low.

There's been talk for a while about Mantic Game's "secret project" for a while - and now it seems that Ronnie (Mantic's CEO) is dropping some very heavy hints that they're producing a Fallout miniatures game as their next kickstarter.

I've got mixed feelings about this. On the one hand - great! A Fallout tabletop wargame is great news! On the other - I was kinda hoping that GW would pick up the licence once they drop Lotr/Hobbit. Because, let's face it, as much as I like Mantic, GW would do a nicer job of it.

But, that said, I'm going forward with an open mind and I'm exited what the future will bring.

Is this real life?

Sorry about the badly formatted phone post but this was posted on a couple of Aus and Belgian Games Workshop Facebook pages.

This is either the best hobby Christmas yet, or the meanest prank GW has ever pulled. Either way I'm cautiously excited.

That said, if they give me Mordheim, Necromunda, Gorkamorka and the Great Spined Dragon it will, in my eyes, absolve GW of all their sins.

Kickstarter Roundup - Die Hard Minatures

It's the one we've all been waiting for:

Diehard Miniatures: Oldhammer Fantasy Miniatures

A very promising range of models, the Chaos Warriors and Undead are particular stand outs. Between Oldhammer, Mordheim, AoS, Kings of War and Frostgrave pushing it's way into the limelight, the models won't have a hard time finding a place in anyone's collection.

Diehard Undead, not an average model among them.
Way above standard.

There are some very interesting potential stretch goals coming up, or (I assume) future products if the line is successful, one that caught my eye was the "Lesser Spined Dragon", which sounds like a younger cousin of a certain Best-Dragon-Model-Ever. Time will tell.  

At the time of writing it's at around £6,400 of a £35,000 goal as it enters the "Kickstarter Dead Zone", the middle 20 days of a project. I would of preferred the project to be somewhere around £11,000 at this point, so at the moment, nothing is certain. Back the project HERE.

Kings of War Army Challenge Month 1

The start of a new project #kingsofwar #manticgames #mantic #abyssaldwarfs

A photo posted by Age of Dreddmar (@mattdredd) on Sep 24, 2015 at 10:38pm PDT

Live from my Instagram.

I've blundered my way into starting another project. This is more of a Tale of x Gamers type affair, in so much that I'm going to try and build the army in monthly stages - for the least amount of money possible.

This is what the army currently stands like at Month 1, it's what I've managed to scavenge together from the Mantic Kickstarters I've backed. So my total spend is currently: £0. A good start.

The current army list:

1 Overmaster on Greater Abyssal
10 Abyssal Berserkers
5 Gargoyles
20 Immortal Guard x 2 (currently invisible)
6 Lesser Obsidian Golems (also invisible)

A New Dawn.

Out with the old and in with the new, as they say. Loyal readers to this blog (which is, I'm pretty sure by now is, you, my girlfriend, and about a dozen Russian spam bots) would of noticed that things have been a bit in turmoil around the OC recently. Long story short - I had a job interview and had to reign in my social media accounts. During the downtime, I decided to refresh and revitalise the blog a bit - and trim the fat on some of the older posts. 

Not to waste your time with words when I can be showing you pictures, here's some models! 

A Bob Olley Ogryn - Seriously nice model to paint.

I actually based these guys! 

I also painted up a Chaos Warrior of Slaanesh with mace and fancy tights. He came with a broken weapon, so I had to improvise a bit.

The Age of Saltmar

GW had to blow up the world to make Fantasy profitable
let that sink in a bit...

I know talking about AoS is getting old, but I thought I'd share my two bits...

I don't think I can word my feelings on the Age of Sigmar any clearer than this;

First I was afraid, I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong, and I learned how to get along.

Everyone online (I'm looking at you Reddit.com/r/warhammerfantasy) is predicting doom and darkness for the future. The sky is falling, the rules are broken and stupid, and The Dwellers Below is game-breaking, and... no wait that was 8th.

I hate to say it, but the
double-hammer Sigmarines are cool.

It seems people (online mostly) have forgotten that their "golden child" 8th ed caused most of Australia to ragequit. 8th ed was single-handedly responsible for the surge in popularity of Warmachine/Hordes, Kings of War, and possibly Malifaux. Yet now people are longing for the "almost perfect rule set" of 8th, just like they did for 7th a few years ago. And I'm sure that in a few more years, people will cursing GWs name for updating their perfect rule set, AoS.

I, personally, am excited for a more warband-focused Fantasy. It's a whole new game and a whole new world. I'm picking up a Starter Set and a Batallion Box soon and i'm starting the new game afresh. Exciting times ahead. 

So, in short; 7th, 8th, and Age of Sigmar, they’re all just spokes on a wheel. This one’s on top and that one’s on top and on and on it spins.