Unseen Lerker Issue 1 by Unseen Lerker

TAKI&G TOY SOLDIERS FAR TOO SERIOUSLY EVENT SPOTLIGHT: GIANT FANATIC

BATTLE REPORT: MEETING OF THE MINDS

TACTIC-ATTACK: DEPLOYMENT

Issue #1 Dec 2009 ‐ Jan 2010

ARMY SHOWCASE: RUSS VEAL'S CHAOS HORDE

1001 REVIEWS (well, four anyway)

INTERVIEW WITH AUSTRALIAN #1

WHAT IS U&SEE& LERKER? Unseen Lerker is a brand new magazine which covers not only on Warhammer, the game of fantasy battles, but also on related gaming experiences like computer games, board games and alternative, often ridiculous sports that likeminded readers such as yourselves might be interested in. We hope to not only give you the gaming experience you crave, but also challenge you to go venture outside your comfort zone a little and try out some new things you might not have come across before. The team behind Unseen Lerker is a group of enthusiastic individuals who are all gamers just like you, and every action-packed issue they will be going 100% towards making this the best read possible. Please support us so that we can continue supporting you.

HOW IT ALL BEGA&

...is simple - to play some games, have some fun and ultimately produce articles which are not only interesting for you to read, but also for us to write! Unseen Lerker is currently a labour of love, and though we naturally want to do our best to keep this going for you for as long as possible, we cannot promise anything beyond what circumstances allow. The current production rate is one issue every two months, but depending on how much you enjoy it this may well increase or decrease in the near future. So if you do love it, write to us!

The idea for this magazine took a long time to come to fruition. Originally when the creator (Isaac Alexander) came up with it, he thought it would be a piece of cake to put together a magazine about gaming, a subject he already knew so much about. He soon discovered that making a magazine, however, was a subject he knew nothing about. Thus he turned to the aid of Chris Fitzsimmons, one of the many friends he's met on his travels through Europe and England, who just so happened to be a magazine editor by profession. After much nagging Chris agreed to help out, and little by little some sense managed to trickle through into Isaac's rodent-powered brain. Also enlisted to help out were The Unseen Lerker Team Bryan Carmichael, boasting an impressive technical background and more than a little business sense, and up and coming illustrator Max Karpsten, plus a bunch of other people who were mercilessly roped into contributing. All of those involved in the project have put in countless hours of hard labour in order for this product to exist, for which the editor would like to convey his most heartfelt thanks. One of the core goals for this magazine is that it appeals to an international audience余 a product that any gamer in any country will get something out of reading. In order to further this sense of global unity we will be publishing articles from people across the world in every single issue - so if you think your country's gaming scene has something worth reading about, let us know!

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OUR AIM...

HAVE YOU SEE& LERGY THE LERKER?

This is Lergy, Unseen Lerker's official mascot. He's an insatiable little fellow who gets up to all sorts of mischief and turns up in the strangest of places. Unfortunately we here at the office have a hard time keeping track of his antics all the time, slippery little sucker that he is. If you happen to see Lergy doing something suspicious somewhere in these pages, send us an email at lergy@unseenlerker.com and let us know which page number(s!) he's on. The first person to send in the all correct page numbers recieves two free Unseen Lerker dice.

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CREDITS

The Unseen Lerker Team Editor:

Isaac “Bobo” Alexander Technical Support:

Bryan "Ubertechie" Carmichael Chris “Fitz” Fitzsimmons Tactics:

Loke “Gronx” Andersen Hobby Corner:

James "Domus" Hyde Lead Artiste:

Max “Brakken” Karpsten

Contributors Marcelo Rouco, Russel Veal, Thomas Laurfelt, Ben Curry, Kjartan ickelsen, Asger Sams Granerud, Chris Fitzsimmons, Andrew Chesney, Andy Isherwood, Zach Kin-Wilde.

Special Thanks To "Perambulator"

www.unseenlerker.com editor@unseenlerker.com

EDITORIAL

Welcome to Unseen Lerker, a brand new internet-based magazine talking not only about that game we all know and love, Warhammer, but also about other fun things we think readers will be interested Isaac "Bobo" Alexander in. Why make a web magazine, you ask? Well, for those who don't know me, I've been posting battle reports on the internet for several years now, with very positive reviews. On more than one occassion I was even told that reading my reports was a preferable activity over reading White Dwarf. I didn't think much of it at the time, figuring it was just one more crazed fan trying to get close enough to steal my awesome top hat (stay away, I mean it), but after a while the wheels in my head started turning and I thought it might actually be worthwhile putting my (alleged) talents and free time to use. I am of course very enthusiastic about the hobby in general, and play a great deal of games on a regular basis (more than is healthy, really). I recently left my home country of Australia for the slightly less sunny expanses of Europe and here I have met a great number of equally enthused gamers, hobbyists and collectors, many of whom have become great life friends of mine, and many more who may be appearing in these very pages before too long. What you are reading now is the collaboration of many hard working individuals putting together a product that will hopefully become an internationally used source of education, inspiration and amusement. I hope you enjoy reading Unseen Lerker, and look forward to seeing you around.

Isaac "Bobo" Alexander

CONTENTS

4 The next three months in wargaming. TOUR&AME&T SPOTLIGHT sticks his head into the biggest 6 Bobo tournament in Denmark: Giant Fanatic. TACTIC–ATTACK easy to mess up, difficult 11 Deployment: to master. Master Loke reveals all. GLOBAL GAMI&G GATHERI&GS

15 Ten Basic Modelling Tips. SPECIAL CHARACTERS Rouco, the current #1 in 16 Marcelo Australia, lets us pick his brains. HOBBY COR&ER

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

21 Russ Veal's beautiful Chaos army. MEETI&G OF THE MI&DS and Daemons of Chaos clash 24 Lizardmen in a battle of the titans. RA&TS & REVIEWS crew of (mostly) willing volunteers 35 Our test, rate and review all the latest toys! ARMY SHOWCASE

you can do for your magazine, 38 What competitions, submissions, and much

THE BIT AT THE E&D more.

&EXT ISSUE

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better - it does.

This web magazine is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. The Chaos devices, the Chaos logo, Citadel, Citadel Device, the Double-Headed/Imperial Eagle device, 'Eavy Metal, Forge World, Games Workshop, Games Workshop logo, Golden Demon, Great Unclean One, the Hammer of Sigmar logo, Horned Rat logo, Keeper of Secrets, Khemri, Khorne, Lord of Change, Nurgle, Skaven, the Skaven symbol devices, Slaanesh, Tomb Kings, Trio of Warriors, Twin Tailed Comet Logo, Tzeentch, Warhammer, Warhammer Online, Warhammer World logo, White Dwarf, the White Dwarf logo, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer world are either ®, TM and/or © Copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2009, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

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GLOBAL GAMING GATHERINGS JANUARY Event name: Kohortex Dates: 9th January City & Country: Bydgoszcz, Poland Website Event name: Bad Dice Masters Dates: 9th, 10th January City & Country: Derby, England Website Event name: The Conflict GT Dates: 16th, 17th January City & Country: &ew Jersey, USA Website Event name: Grimgor Team Tournament Dates: 23rd, 24th January City & Country: Le Barcares, France Website Event name: Sheffield Slaughter Dates: 30th, 31st January City & Country: Sheffield, England Website Event name: DogCon Dates: 30th, 31st January, 1st February City & Country: Sydney, Australia Website

FEBRUARY

MARCH

Event name: Full Tilt 8 Dates: 7th February City & Country: Leopoldsburg, Belgium Website

Event name: Merseyside Meltdown Dates: 6th & 7th March City & Country: Liverpool, England Website

Event name: GW Throne of Skulls Final Dates: 6th, 7th February City & Country: &ottingham, England Website

Event name: LonewolfGT Dates: 13th, 14th March City & Country: Dallas, USA Website Event name: Chemnitzer WHFB Tournament Dates: 27th March City & Country: Adort, Germany Website

Event name: Arena Krieg II Dates: 13th February City & Country: SchieĂ&#x;stand Adlum, Germany Website

Event name: Monster Brawl V Dates: 27th, 28th March City & Country: Muttenz, Switzerland Website

Event name: The Chalice of Dreams Dates: 20th, 21st February City & Country: Lourdes, France Website

plus more coming soon...

Event name: Marauders Winter Doubles Dates: 21st February City & Country: Stockport, England Website Event name: Hoosier Challenge Dates: 27th, 28th February City & Country: Evansville, USA Website

. co n ic i l nc t ree s. n e g . g ww w. fla w : oto ww Ph lags: F

For individual tournament details and websites please see the Global Gaming calendar on our forum: www.unseenlerker.com/forum

Is your event missing? If you know of a tournament or gaming event that we don't and you think it warrants a mention in the Global Gaming calendar, send us an email with the details at global@unseenlerker.com.

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Russ Veal's AWESOME Chaos army.

Check it out on page 21.

Only in Unseen Lerker. U N SE E N

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TOURNAMENT SPOTLIGHT:

Picture: www. avalon. dk

Giant Fanatic, long reputed to be one of the best tournaments in Europe, recently ran in Copenhagen for the 12th time since its initiation. And what a blast it was! The event took shape in 1998, funded and organised by a hobby shop called Fanatic. The owner, Jonas Faering, had originally planned it as a business venture with the side motive of trying to expand the local gaming community. The event was immensely popular, with over 1500 people visiting, shopping and gaming over the two days, and before anyone knew it Giant Fanatic was a regular feature on everyone’s calendar. Since 2008 a group of independent gamers have taken over the organisational side of things, and by all accounts the event just keeps getting better and better. Giant Fanatic is held on the first weekend of October in the Remisen sports complex in Østerbro, Copenhagen. Scores of eager pilgrims make their way there each year, with gamers

from Norway, Sweden, England, and this Last minute painting. year even Australia making up 20% of the field. It is very much an international event; an opportunity for like-minded people to get together for a few days and trade stories, eat curry, drink beer, and maybe even play some toy soldiers.

Model by Ben Johnson.

The tournament prides itself on its unique nature. Every year it attempts to set the benchmark for innovation, whether it’s through new, funky scenarios and restrictions, incredibly high quality terrain, on-the-dot organization, or amplifying the tournament’s social aspect. Many times it has happened that Giant Fanatic will trial some new idea, and within months or even weeks other tournaments have followed suit and adapted to boast something similar.

The calm before the storm. . . Raargh.

Avast!

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BEHI&D THE SCE&ES: INTERVIEW WITH AN ORGANISER Asger Sams Granerud is one of the three instrumental individuals behind getting Giant Fanatic to run smoothly. Our reporter in the field, Bobo, caught up with Asger to get some inside gossip.

Bobo: So, Asger, why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself? What is it that makes the hobby ‘tick’ for you? Asger: I enjoy playing games, almost any games. More to the point I enjoy challenging mental puzzles, and games give me a good opportunity to fulfil that in a pleasant and social way. More than that, I enjoy meeting new people and finding out what makes them tick, and playing against someone in Warhammer is more or less the perfect avenue for this. Bobo: Do you think this is one of the reasons why you’ve put so much work into organising Giant Fanatic? From what I understand you’ve been working on it tirelessly since last year’s event. Asger: That’s right. Unfortunately I am also a perfectionist and like my fellow TOs I want to ensure that we go 110% towards making GF the best event possible, year after year. Hopefully all the hours we’ve put in beforehand are reflected in the quality of the two days people get to experience. Bobo: Having been there, I can certainly say it was! Apart from the high level of professionalism and work about the tournament, what would you say separates it from all the other tournaments going around at the moment? Asger: First of all, location. GF is currently the only major tournament being run in central Copenhagen, which makes it a lot easier for people to get to. Second, I think the methodology we use to construct the tournament really tends to set it apart. Bobo: Oh? And which methodology might that be? Asger: As we all know, composition and restrictions and such are very sensitive subjects. Tournament organisers are constantly trying to come up with a new system to try and bring the different armies into “balance”, with varying results. At GF we’ve more or less scrapped all that, because we can accept the fact that it’s nigh impossible to balance the game, and often attempts to do so merely unbalance it even further. The systems we implement are not intended to be perfect, just different. We’re not afraid to try new things, and if we can challenge players to think outside the box, both with list building and during their games, then we consider our system to be a success. Bobo: Sounds like a very unique approach to planning a tournament. Any ambitious plans for next year? Asger: (chuckles) Well, I don’t really want to give anything away, but I will say this: “tailor your own tournament.” Bobo: What on earth does that mean? Asger: If I told you, I’d have to kill you. I can tell you something else exciting though. This year we attempted, through judicious use of technology and people who know how to use said technology (i.e., not me), to implement and SMS draw system. It didn’t quite work out, but next year we should hopefully have it up and running. Bobo: An SMS draw? Is that kind of like phoning a friend on Who Wants to Be a Millionare? Asger: Essentially, when you sign up on the website you can list your mobile phone number with your registration details. Then on the tournament weekend, right before each round starts, you will receive a text message with your table number, opponent’s name and army, plus the finishing time for the round. It’s a totally unnecessary feature, but it’s so cool we can't resist! Bobo: That does sound cool! Well, thanks for your time, Asger, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you. Good luck with your preparation, and we’ll see you again at GF13! U N SE E N

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The consumer says... Thomas Laurfelt

Thomas, is this your first time at Giant Fanatic? o, not at all. It’s a fantastic event and I have been coming for many years.

And how would you rate GF12 compared to previous years?

Wood Elves by Matt Oakley.

It’s much the same, to be honest. Same venue, a lot ofthe same faces. One thing I have noticed is that the organisation just keeps getting better and better. They’ve run a really tight ship this year – I think they’re going to struggle to improve for GF13! Another thing is the terrain that they’ve specifically built for the scenarios. It’s really high quality, and gives the tournament a very professional feel to it. ot to mention the scenarios are fun!

What’s been your favourite thing about the event? I actually really liked the fluffquiz! It’s something a bit out of the ordinary, but I think the background stories are just as much a part ofWarhammer as any aspect ofthe game. It was really fun to go around and chat to other players about what answer they put to which question, and wondering how many we were going to get right.

Ork Warboss by Kasper Rud Pederson.

Ben Curry

Ben, this is your second time at Giant Fanatic, what do you think of it compared to other tournaments you’ve played, whether in England or abroad? I like it. It has a very unique feel about it, with the heavy emphasis on scenarios and soft scores. There are lots of ‘serious gaming’ tournaments going around these days, but this makes for a refreshing change ofpace and really forces you to rethink the game a bit.

War Hydra by Thomas Kragh.

What was your favourite thing about the event? I love travelling to tournaments, purely for the fact that I get to meet and game with people I normally wouldn’t see. This year alone I’ve made great friends with guys from France, Belgium, Germany, orway, and Denmark too. It’s a very social hobby for me, and GF really lets me get as much out ofthat aspect as possible.

Gamers in action.

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So you’re coming back for GF13, do you think? Already booked, baby!

All photos taken by Isaac Alexander. LERKER

Kjartan Nickelsen - WINNER AWARDS:

1st Overall Best Newcomer Best Team

Kjartan, congratulations on your outstanding performance! How does it feel to win the first GF you’ve been to? Fantastic, obviously! I’ve been playing tournaments for two years now, but never been to one in Copenhagen before. Suffice to say I will be coming back.

Can you tell us a bit about the army you were using? Two ofmy friends and I were all playing a similar list, based around ‘Ole’, a Greater Daemon of urgle. The rest ofmy list contained a urgle Herald in a block ofPlaguebearers, 2 units of urglings, 6 Flesh Hounds, 6 Flamers, two units ofHorrors, and some other bits and bobs.

Interesting list. The big green fellow doesn’t normally see a lot of action compared to the other Greater Daemons. Did the rules pack influence your choice there at all? Ofcourse. Bloodthirsters and Chickens ofChange were banned, and so was Siren Song which makes the Keeper a much less attractive option. But Ole is great fun, probably the toughest unit in the game, and I think his urgling creating ability is really well suited to these scenarios.

Very true. So was your basic tactic just to swarm up the field with &urglings and watch the opponent drown in them? There’s obviously a little more to it than that, but yeah, drowning in urglings is always fun.

What did you think of the rules pack as a whole? I think it’s great. The nature ofthe restrictions really forces people to explore other routes to victory with their armies, rather than rely on the ‘same old same old’ stuff. For example, with a total ban offlying large targets some armies suddenly become much easier to deal with, while others become much more viable to play with. I think anything that promotes creativity in army building is good for the hobby.

All in all, Giant Fanatic was a very unique event which not only promised an interesting and fun weekend, but managed to deliver it in full. If you like challenging armies, outstanding terrain, stellar organisation, weird and wacky scenarios, and a great social atmosphere, be sure to be there next year! Until then, we were more than happy to present this event the much coveted:

The Giant Fanatic Team.

DETAILS FOR NEXT YEAR Where: Remisen sports centre, Østerbro, Copenhagen, Denmark When: 1st – 3rd of October, 2010 Website: www.giantfanatic.dk Where to stay: Hotel Rye, http://www.hotelrye.dk/english.htm U N SE E N

Unseen Lerker Gold Star OfApproval LERKER

Playing toy soldiers is all very well and good, but it's time to GET PHYSICAL! For something totally different, why not try: It's fun! It's a good workout AND provides friendly competition!

It's easy 足 anyone can play!

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Increases your sex drive! * * ot yet confirmed by official UL testers.

And to keep your strength up, don't forget to eat this issue's Featured Food: Invented in Turkey. Available Everywhere.

A little bit fatty, but oh so tasty!

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Recently voted the most popular take足 out in Germany!

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TACTICâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;ATTACK! Loke "Gronx" Andersen

Loke Daugbjerg Andersen is a Danish exile currently living in Vietnam. He has a wealth ofprevious gaming experience, but more importantly he has lots oftime on his hands and enough knowledge ofthe English language that he makes the ideal minion for this tactics segment. For his first column we tore him away from slurping noodles and whittling bamboo flutes to talk about a subject which baffles every Warhammer player at one point or another: deployment.

Loke: Greetings most honoured people, goblins and gremlins. The kind editor has allowed me to share a thought or two in this part of this work of his, so I've decided to go through a few aspects of the game, outlining mechanics, tips and tricks useable for both beginners and more advanced users alike.

The art of deployment actually starts when you put your list together. Since this part isn't about list construction, I'll simply add a few general ideas. When constructing your list, you'll probably have a good idea about how your list is going to work. There are a wide range of different kinds of lists, so I'll try to split them into 4 main list types: The gunline These lists typically rely on superior, mostly stationary, ranged power. These lists typically consist of several war machines, 3+ units of shooting infantry, along with either anvil units or hammer units. Anvil units are units such as most dwarven units, units capable of taking the charge from an enemy which has been softened up by the shooting and either stalling them or breaking them again. The hammer units are most often some kind of cavalry or other such elite unit, capable of charging the softened up units, breaking and running through the enemy's advancing troops. The fast and the furious These lists typically rely on getting over the table in a hurry with fast elite units, often suplemented by monsters and fighty characters. They will typically start charging the enemy in turn 2, trying to end the fight before their inferior numbers becomes a problem. The horde These lists simply try to swarm the opponent, present the enemy with so many targets that eventually they'll start breaking, as soon as the infanry starts hitting the enemy's flanks. The moving and shooting pestilence These lists typically consists of several units capable of inflicting ranged harm to the enemy while dancing away from their charges, these lists typically relies on magic to add to the mobile damage, while having a few mobile hard hitting units, typically monsters, chariots and other units with a small frontage. When designing your list, try to figure out how important it is for you to start, as opposed to how much you want to control the deployment phase. If getting the +1 to start is very important to you, try to minimize the amount of deployment entries you have, while still maintaining your strengths. If you wish to control the deployment, the opposite of this holds true, try to include as many cheap units as you can, such as warhounds, goblin cavalry, skink skirmishers and such, as this enables your deployment of your more expensive workhorses. U N SE E N

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Now onwards to the game itself. Imposing your will, or plan if you want, on the opponent, is what you're aiming for. Before deploying, start with analyzing the opponentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s army, you should, with a bit of experience, be able to see which one of the armies is the more aggressive one. If you have the offensive army, you must keep things like escape routes in mind, try to deploy centrally, with a strong flank if the opponents army is stationary. If you're the defensive player, you must try to lure your opponent into a position where his units will clump up, get stuck in each others paths, or be delayed with a minimum of sacrificial units spent. Having a pre planned deployment without knowing the terrain is a recipe for failure. You should almost always consider the terrain available to you, try to use it or limit your opponents usage of it, If you're using either the gunline or the horde, you might want to pre-plan your deployment, with the gunline try to visualize lines of fire, consider how hills or houses might grant you line of sight advantages, or deploy a few units near a hill, and the others far away from it, as the opponent might assume you making a castle of units on the hill. (See diagram below for an example. ) With the horde, it is usually important to keep your general quite centrally for LD purposes, so consider this while trying to fit all your units in between pieces of terrain. You have to keep panic in mind when playing with a horde, so make sure that you aren't deploying small units with US5+ near the centre, as those units can cause 5-6 panic tests if they get wiped out by magic or shooting.

An example of a well executed deployment strategy. An empire player having more deployment entries than the Warriors of Chaos opponent decides to fool the opponent into thinking that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll castle on the hill, like most defensive armies with war machines would usually do. The smart thing to do now, would be to deploy the rest of the units, including war machines, on the left flank, since this would give you at least one more turn of shooting before your expensive machines and characters get threatened.

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In this Lizardmen vs Bretonnia matchup, the Lizardmen player has decided to bring eight small expendable units: the Skinks, Terradons and the Salamander, which forces the Bretonnia player to deploy his whole army before the Lizardmen player puts down the Stegadons, Kroxigor, Saurus and characters, an almost perfect example of a refused flank deployment. The plan from here on out would then be to move the left side around the forest, quickly demolishing the left side knights and forcing the Bretonnia player to turn towards his flank if he wishes to engage the valuable units. With the two more mobile army setups, you must try to limit the use of either your opponents shooting or number advantage. Try to use terrain to keep your expensive units out of the sight of massive shooting, use forests, flanks, hills, other units to block LoS while either advancing, or shooting pieces of your opponents army. Deploying heavily on one flank can force shooters to spend 1-2 turns moving, force horde armies to turn, blocking their own movement, making it easy for you to engage him with a smaller and more compact list. The ideas that I've touched on here are obviously just a few examples of the myriad of tricks and traps you can learn along the way, but I'm quickly running towards my maximum article allowance here, so I will quickly summarize (damn right you will - Ed.): - Find out who the aggressor is, if his army benefits from being aggressive use it against him wherever possible. - Analyze terrain, where do you want the main battles to take placeÍž how you can avoid shooting/maximize the amount of time you have for shooting. - Put down fast/inexpensive units first, before committing to a plan. - With a more mobile army, use flanks and terrain to divide or bottle up the opponents army. - You aren't killing the opponentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s army in the deployment phase, but your actions here will dictate the flow of the game, dice and deployment wins games. U N SE E N

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Russ Veal's GLORIOUS Chaos army.

Check it out on page 21.

Only in Unseen Lerker. 14

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THE HOBBY CORNER Domus: When called upon by the internationally infamous (as in very famous, not famous

in a bad way) Bobo to provide some hobby tips for his magazine, I was more than willing to oblige and share some tips I’ve picked up over the years. I got into the great miniature hobby back in the 90’s with a game called ecromunda, got busy doing other things and came back with a vengeance in 2003 around the same time that GW’s Hordes ofChaos army book was released. I’ve since been inspired by some ofthe great artists in our hobby to create armies with a significant visual theme. Here are some tips (in no particular order), James "Domus" Hyde and hopefully there will be something here for everyone.

Ten Basic Hobbying Tips

For those unaware, Domus owns about 54 orange armies Ed.

Stripping Miniatures

Editor's note: Simple Green can be difficult to get ahold of outside of the US. Similar cleaning products should do the same job, but remember to test them first!

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~ Special Characters ~

Marcelo Rouco is currently the #1 ranked Warhammer player in Australia. This year he managed to win no less than three of the major events in Australia and New Zealand, rocketing himself to the leading seed with a total rankings score of 397.8 out of 400 – a feat unmatched by anyone in the rankings’ history. Our reporter in the field, Bobo, managed to clobber his way through the horde of screaming fans to find out from Mr Rouco just how he became so successful.

Bobo: Marcelo, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Marcelo: My pleasure, Isaac, I always enjoy any excuse to talk about Warhammer. Bobo: Why don’t you start off by telling us a little about yourself? How did you originally get into wargaming? What are your favourite things about playing it?

Marcelo: In high school I used to play Dungeons & Dragons role playing games and I enjoyed competing as part of the school chess team. About five years ago I came across a Games Workshop store and Warhammer seemed to combine the best of the things I most enjoyed of those high school games. Meaning the fantasy background of D&D and the strategic competitive nature of chess.

Bobo: So, obviously we want to know how you’ve managed such a phenomenal gaming feat as you have this year: the epic 397 rankings score and the undisputed #1 rankings position. You’ve been playing competitively for a few years now, what was different this season?

Marcelo: This is my 5th year of Warhammer and 4th year of tournament play. My first four years of Warhammer I

spent playing exclusively with Bretonnians and was Best Bretonnian General in the Australian rankings for the three years I competed with them. Although I was the #1 ranked Bretonnian player in the Oz Rankings for so long, I never finished the tournament year as the Overall #1 until now. I only enjoy playing armies of good alignment, I have never played with evil armies. After 4 years of Brets I needed a change and decided to use High Elves for the 2009 Tournament year. I found High Elves to be far better equipped to handle the newer power armies (Vampire Counts, Daemons and Dark Elves) than Brets.

Bobo: Speaking of your High Elves (and a very nice looking army you have, by the way), tell us a bit about them. What appeals to you about the army, what sort of list do you traditionally use, and what sort of battle plan do your games usually revolve around?

Marcelo: What I like about High Elves is that they are able to compete in all phases of the game and tailor the army to any type of play that you may wish. Unlike the Brets I was used to, which had very limited magic and shooting and relied heavily on breaking units on the charge in combat, with HE you can accentuate shooting, magic, or close combat and combine these three in any dosage you desire. In my case, it was a very balanced force that relied on troops rather than characters. I like building lists that are well balanced to take on all comers and that rely on the combined used of weak to medium strength units to win games rather than relying on strong units to do the job. Anyone can throw a Dragon, Greater Daemon or War Hydra forward, it takes far more skill to win through the combined use of units that can only end up on top by working well together.

Marcelo's 2009 High Elf Tournament Army Archmage: level 4, elven steed, Jewel of the Dusk, 2x Dispel Scroll Noble: barded elven steed, battle standard, dragon armour, shield, Helm of Fortune, Sword of Might 15 Spearmen: standard, musician 10 Archers 10 Archers 15 White Lions: standard, musician, Lion Standard

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15 Pheonix Guard: standard, musician, War Banner 5 Dragon Princes: standard, Banner of Ellyrion 5 Ellyrion Reavers: spears and bows 2 Lion Chariots Great Eagle 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers

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Marcelo: As you might notice, there is no single 'power unit' in my army list. It only has 2 characters and not a

single unit champion. Points were saved wherever possible to put more troops on the ground. Any of those units would be in serious trouble if it tried to work unsupported. So when I built the above list I split it into combat groups that would always deploy and work together. Typically with an anvil unit that should be able to hold the charge of most units for a single turn while a second hammer unit (often the weaker of the group) would hang further back waiting to come in for a flank charge in my subsequent turn). Combat groups were Phoenix Guard (Anvil) with Spearmen (Hammer) which would deploy around the centre of the table. White Lions (Anvil) with Dragon Princes (Hammer). Both these units can go through forests unhindered, the BSB would always go with the Dragon Princess, adding punch to the unit but more importantly giving the re-roll on stubborn for the White lions break tests to make sure they held no matter what charged them. This Combat group would deploy off to one flank. Behind and between these two combat groups would sit the fire base: both units of Archers and the Bolt Throwers. The Wizard general would start in the Phoenix guard and move to the Archer or Bolt thrower units when the enemy got too close to the Phoenix guard. The two Lion Chariots were the flexible (react to the enemy) 3rd combat group. They are a decent unit on their own but devastating when they both charge together. There is not much that can stand to a 2 Lion Chariot combined charge. The fast Cavalry and Eagle have the job of slowing down the enemy by stopping march moves which gives more time for the shooting and magic to weaken the enemy as well as diverting enemy units to stop multiple charges on my anvil units. The Anvil units could hold a charge from any one enemy unit but are not strong enough to take a charge from two enemy units, and they had to hold for the hammer units to come into the flanks of whatever charged the anvil units.

Phoenix Guard and Spearmen - Marcelo's Anvil and Hammer A solid firebase is one ofthe High Elfarmy's main strengths. ofchoice. Few enemies make it across the board unscathed.

Bobo: What is your favourite unit in the army from a gaming point of view and why?

Marcelo: With both Brets and High Elves, my favourite units were the Fast Cavalry units. These units allow you to choose your combats, by diverting enemy units that you are not yet ready to fight. In Warhammer, if you can dictate which enemy units you fight and when, you’ve won the game. Bobo: What advice would you give to other players who are attempting to improve their gaming, perhaps follow in your footsteps? (don’t worry, we won’t tell your rivals)

Marcelo: Drop all the very strong units/characters off your list and challenge yourself to play with weaker units. I

always get a “Yeah, right, as if I would do that” type response to my comment whenever I’m asked. The reality is that if you are relying on your uber unit/character to do lots of damage to win you the game than you will never be stretched as a general or learn as much as if you were trying to win with weaker units in your army. We learn far more when we lose games than when we win them. So don’t be afraid to play with weaker lists and lose games, it’s part of the learning process, and you’ll become an ever greater general the more you do so.

Bobo: The Australian ETC team was recently announced, the eight top players who will be travelling to Germany in August to compete in the world’s largest teams event, and you are naturally at the fore. What are your thoughts on the tournament as whole, and what are you most looking forward to about it?

Marcelo: I’ve never represented Australia in any event and doing so in something I enjoy doing as much as playing Warhammer is a very exciting prospect. I look forward to becoming an even better general by playing the world’s best Warhammer players. No matter how my games go I’ll come back happy. When I win I’ll be proud of contributing to Australia’s result and when I lose I will be taught a generalship lesson that I would not have otherwise learnt. LERKER U N SE E N

Bobo: The Australians managed to achieve 11th place

overall (out of 28) on their first attempt last year. How is the team altering their preparations this year and how do you think you will fare as a result?

Marcelo: Last year was Australia’s first at the ETC, and

considering the issues that a first time competing country needs to face I believe they did very well. Many of the rules interpretations at the ETC were different from what we were used to playing here, such as units fleeing off the board being destroyed when they touch the table edge and causing panic at that point to all friendly units within 6 inches, and there were 3-4 others that if you are not used to playing them in that manner it can really undo some of your games or not see opportunities to capitalise on. This year we have been implementing all these ETC rules interpretations into our tournaments, so Both the Lion Chariot and Great Eagle fill invaluable roles we won’t have any rules surprises that cost us games. within Marcelo's battle plan. Also in Australia we have a very strong composition component where there is peer group pressure to moderate lists. Even though our team toughened up their lists they still had very weak lists compared to the field, we’ll be better prepared with stronger lists this year.

Bobo: Do you have an all time favourite quote and if so, what is it? Marcelo: “It's not what happens to you that defines you, it's what you do about it.” Often things happen to us that are beyond our control, whether it’s in life or during a game, we can choose to be defeated by it, or pick up the pieces to get up again and continue trying. I believe these choices that we make along the way are 99% of the reason each one of us is where we are today.

Bobo: Finally, what three words would you use to describe yourself - whether as a person, a gamer or a crustacean? Marcelo: Mmmmm, that’s tough, as outsiders might see us very different to the way we see ourselves. But I’ll have a crack: focused, competitive but generous (away from the gaming table!).

Bobo: Well, it’s been an honour chatting to you, Marcelo. Best of luck to yourself and the rest of the Australians at the ETC and we look forward to seeing you again there. Photo: Oz-Vagabonds

Andrew Goodman, the Australian captain from 2009, demonstrates to the team how they are going to crush their foes. . . using team member JeffGalea's head.

Photo: Oz-Vagabonds

The Australian team placed 11th overall at last year's ETC, and have their sights set high for 2010. Marcelo's 2009 tournament record includes: Ides of March ‐ 1st ConVic ‐ 1st Pilgrimage ‐ 11th Fields of Blood ‐ 1st

Despite being a competitive player, Marcelo is known for being a gentleman both at and away from the gaming table.

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Orktoberfest ‐ 3rd

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WHAT ARE

YOU LISTEN I

NG TO?

Every issue we like to find out just what kind of music the readers of Unseen Lerker have been listening to and enjoying. Being the first issue, we obviously have no idea what that might be, so we had to ask a few of the people here around the office. Send in what you're listening to plus a very short description of what you liked about it, using the below format, to music@unseenlerker.com.

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A r oun d Th e W or l d

Hamlet's Castle

Old Town Jail

Want your picture in here?

Unseen Lerker is a truly global magazine - we want everyone in the world to be able to appreciate reading it. To spread word of its existence, we are looking for our readers to take Unseen Lerker to the most unusual places on earth. To get yourself in the magazine, simply send us a photo of yourself somewhere fun with either a copy of the magazine or one of our t-shirts, mugs or hats to lookatme@unseenlerker.com. Don't forget to include your full name and location!

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ARMY SHOWCASE

Russ Veal is one of the most active tournament players in England, and has qualified for the UK Masters event both years it has been run. In addition to being a good player, Russ’s hobby talents also extend to painting and modelling, and this year his Warriors of Chaos army won the Best Painted prize at three of the most prestigious events of the year: the Warrington GT, the Throne of Skulls GT Heat 2 and the UK Masters. We managed to strap him into a chair, get the swinging lightbulb out, and find out just how he makes the magic happen.

Bobo: So tell us, Russ, just what is it that makes a good painter? Russ: A lot of people I have spoken to over the

years think there is some trick to painting that good painters know and they don’t. I get asked a lot – how did you do the weapons? What’s your recipe for gold? Etc etc… well I want to say with a brush and a good eye for colour and years and years of practice but people often look at me like I am harbouring some great secret for myself! There really is no trick to it just lots of practice and patience. For me to be a good painter you need to always try and improve with each model/army you paint. I am still learning new techniques and improving, each army I tend to try something new even if it’s just use of a different medium or one new technique. There are painters out there who really put my stuff to shame but that’s good because it shows how much more I can learn and improve. I paint for myself and if other people like my work then that’s great and I get a kick out of it.

Bobo: You have a lovely looking Chaos army here. How many hours of work would you say went into producing it?

Russ: Well I didn’t really count but I started the

army back in Dec 08 and finished it in September 09. First unit I produced was the chosen – these took a long time (all my free time over xmas break) in between family stuff and xmas/new year. The first unit is often to hardest because you are still thinking about colour scheme and how to go about painting the models once you have that down and look of the army decided upon you can really motor along but it does start to get tedious. I took several breaks from the army, just doing other projects until I felt the enthusiasm to paint them again. U N SE E N

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Bobo: What is your favourite piece in the army and why? Russ: The warshrine for me stands out because I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually do a lot of

big conversions in my armies, I am really pleased how this turned out. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the fact its pretty unique and came together from bits I had lying about, Its flagellants pushing it, a corpse cart mixed with an orc boar chariot, the mordheim beastmaster as the driver, some skull piles and plastic skulls I had lying about with the defiler back banner and various other bits and pieces! I decided to make the two shrine guards to frame the shrine off nicely, originally I wanted it to be all on one base but this was not practical for gaming so I made it modular and just about squeezed it on a chariot base!

(pictured below)

Russ: "I am working on my Vampires currently â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not the same standard as my Chaos but I am experimenting with speeding up the process without sacrificing the quality to much. This basically involves experimenting with some "after dip" blends and interesting basing to set the army off and taking time on centre piece units and characters. I'm liking the look of it so far, and the best thing about it: I should have a gaming army ready a lot quicker than if I took the same approach as with my Warriors of Chaos!"

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Bobo: What advice would you give to young aspiring painters who are trying to improve their skills, or someone trying to take out a Best Painted prize like you have done? Russ: Well improving your painting and going for a best painted army prize are very different aspects.

Getting your army noticed, picking a striking colour scheme, basing, centre pieces and executing it well are some of the best ways to win army painting awards – I think consistency is a massive factor in winning best painted awards, it needs to look like a cohesive force. Single model painters look at a figure and come to a colour pallet, setting and look for that model, when you do an army it’s the same process on the whole. I consider myself an army painter and have yet to really delve into single figure painting. As for improving your skills – apply yourself and practice. Read guides, watch good painters. Learn colour theory and try and always improve your work from piece to piece. But it’s important to remember find your own way, take the bits you like and leave the bits you don’t and find your own style. Experiment and have fun and feel proud of the models you have painted, you are only competing with yourself each time to get better.

Next issue, SNEAK PREVIEW: The Eternal Waagh! U N SE E N

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MEETING OF THE MINDS A Daemons of Chaos vs Lizardmen Warhammer battle report.

Preface For our first Unseen Lerker battle report, we wanted to give you a hard-fought battle between two of the top armies going around. Daemons of Chaos and Lizardmen are both forces to be reckoned with at the moment, so now all we had to do was find a couple of monkeys to play the armies... About the players

Andy Isherwood is one of the most prolific Daemon players in England, having won half a dozen

tournaments including the Irish GT and the Throne of Skulls GT Final with them in the past 12 months. He has qualified for the UK Masters both years it has been run and is being tipped as one of the favourites to win it this year. Andrew Chesney is rated among many to be one of the best players in England, with a wealth of gaming experience in his past and present (and most likely future too, provided the Hungarian immigration authorities don't catch up with him). His Lizardmen have scored him numerous podium positions in the last year, including 2nd overall at the WPS Club Challenge, one of the largest tournaments in the UK. Together Andy & Ches make a formidable force when they enter tournaments together, under the name Team GloboGym, and it is not an uncommon sight to see them in 1st and 2nd position in the final results standings. Both players tend to play very aggressively, so whatever happens we're guaranteed to see a good scrap!

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Ches: When Bobo approached me with his great idea for a gaming magazine and

then followed it up with the offer of playing the very first battle report to grace its pages, I naturally jumped at the chance. It was only later I found out that I would be playing good friend and Ibis Miniatures business partner, Andy “Thirster” Isherwood... Oh well, there had to be some downside I guess! I was planning on using one of my better painted armies as the photos of the game Andrew Chesney would indeed reflect upon me. I settled on Lizardmen, they hadn’t had a run out since the Club Challenge and needed the exercise. Although I had painted a few extra units including two Stegadons, some Chameleons and a Carnosaur I decided that 24 hours wasn’t enough time to get my head around a new style of play. Therefore I just went with my exact CC list, and Sammy the Slann made his come back. I had a passing word with Andy to make sure we weren’t going to spoil the report with him using his GT list and ripping me a new Chaos gate in two turns. He agreed that he wouldn’t take the -2 Leadership banner and also dropped Siren Song.... phew.... All I had to do was not take Bane Head, which I never take anyway. The basic battle plan was to take Shadow magic, and as I knew all the spells could guarantee an attempt on both Unseen Lurker and Pit of Shades (with the judicious use of the extra power dice per spell). The only way I have found at having a chance of beating Daemons is to get on the front foot and give them little room for manoeuvre. The Piranha Blade veteran would try to chop up the Flesh Hounds whilst the Slann dropped things down big pits. Game on! Slann Mage Priest ‐ 480 Battle Standard, Becalming Cogitation, Focused Rumination, Focus of Mystery, Divine Plaque of Protection, Itxi Grubs, Dispel Scroll Skink Priest ‐ 435 Level 2(3), Engine of the Gods, Wardrums of Xahutec, Plaque of Tepok

Scar Veteran ‐ 133 Cold One, Light Armour, Shield, Burning Blade of Chotec

Scar Veteran ‐ 160 Cold One, Light Armour, Enchanted Shield, Piranha Blade

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12 Saurus Spearmen ‐ 174 Full Command 12 Saurus Spearmen ‐ 162 Standard, Musician

Skink Cohort: 16 Skinks, 2 Kroxigor ‐ 212 Full Command 10 Skink Skirmishers ‐ 80 Javelin & Shields 3 Terradons ‐ 90 3 Terradons ‐ 90

5 Saurus Cavalry ‐ 230 Standard, Musician, Huanchi’s Blessed Totem

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Andy: I was quite looking forward to playing Ches in this game. We work in the

same office, so get to play against one another quite frequently, but naturally this time was something a little more special - there was real pride on the line! Now, seeing as Ches and I play so often we more or less know how the other guy is going to approach the game before deployment even starts. We have similar ideas about how to build armies and what tactics to use in what situations, and I think by this stage Ches has almost figured out how to beat my usual Daemon army (based Andy Isherwood around Barry the Bloodthirster). So, in an attempt to throw my old adversary, I decided to dust off some of my more 'interesting' units from the cupboard and see if I could surprise Ches with a trick or too. The most radical change I made to my usual list was swapping the Bloodthirster for a Lord of Change with the Will of Tzeentch ability. Normally I would also take Mastery of Sorcery in order to get full knowledge of the Shadow deck (an amazing lore that we here in the office use a LOT), but I thought I would be even sneakier by instead getting the extra power dice ability and just casting Ches's Shadow spells against him using Glean Magic. Sneaky, eh? I backed this up with the usual assortment of Flesh Hounds, Furies and Horrors that are the stables of most Daemon armies, plus my dual single Fiends which I have really grown to love. I also included a chariot-mounted Tzeentch Herald with the Beasts lore, also not something I usually use. His job was to run around and try to either Beast Cowers Ches's Engine or Saurus Cavalry, or cast Wolf Hunts on my combat units to get them stuck into Ches's troops. The final inclusions I made were the Khorne BSB on the juggernaut and a solid block of Plaguebearers with a Herald leading them. Together these two units are probably the best offensive and defensive combat units in the game (respectively), and I knew Ches was going to have to use a lot of resources if he wanted to try and get rid of them. As for plans, I find they rarely survive first contact with the enemy, so mine are always the same: run at the enemy, cast some magic, and argue about the moral high ground later. Simple. Lord of Change ‐ 600 Level 3, Tzeentch’s Will, Power Vortex

Herald of Tzeentch ‐ 225 Flying chariot, Master of Sorcery, Spell Breaker Herald of Nurgle ‐ 190 Palanquin, Stream of Bile

Herald of Khorne ‐ 215 Juggernaut, battle standard, Armour of Khorne, Firestorm Axe

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10 Horrors ‐ 138 Standard, musician 10 Horrors ‐ 138 Standard, musician

11 Plaguebearers ‐ 187 Full command, Standard of Seeping Decay 5 Furies – 60

6 Flesh Hounds – 210 5 Flesh Hounds – 175

1 Fiend of Slaanesh – 55 1 Fiend of Slaanesh – 55

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The Setup Deployment was a fairly simple affair for both sides. Ches deployed the bulk of his forces in the centre of the battlefield, with the Skink Skirmishers heading for the difficult terrain piece, the Engine anchoring the north, the Cohorts sneaking around the south, the cavalry in the centre, and the rest of the Slann's minions hanging around the big boss himself. For Andy's part, he'd had his deployment zone split by an inconvenient difficult terrain piece, but he didn't seem overly worried since he was planning on pressing in on the Lizards from multiple angles anyway. He had the Plaguebearers plonked on the south side of the terrain piece, opposite the majority of Ches's forces, while the Khorne and Tzeentch Heralds were leading the faster contingent coming from the north. Andy ummed and ahhed for a while about where to put the Lord of Change, not wanting to expose him to too much poison shooting or any first turn Unseen Lurker possibilities, and finally settled for plonking him right opposite the Slann. What do you get when two of the most powerful wizards in the old world meet? We'd soon find out...

Magic Lizardmen

Slann

Lore of Shadows: all spells

Skink Priest

Lore of Heavens: 1,3,4

Daemons

Lord of Change

Lore of Tzeentch: all spells

Herald of Tzeentch Lore of Beasts: all spells

Horrors

Flickering Fire of Tzeentch U N SE E N

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Turn 1 Ches managed to win the first turn and his Lizardmen leapt into action. In the south the Cohorts made a beeline for the Horrors opposite them, while the Skirmishers took up residence in the terrain and everyone else jostled for position. Most of the Lizards had surged towards the Daemons southern contingent with the Lord of Change and Plaguebearers, but the Engine hung back to hold off Andy's other flank. In the magic phase, Ches began by killing a Furie with Forked Lightning, then used his Ixti Grubs to ensure that Pit of Shades went off, but in return Andy used his Tzeentch's Will re-roll to ensure it was dispelled. Then came the four-dice Unseen Lurker on the Saurus Cavalry with Piranha Blade Veteran. Andy began to utter the words "Spell Breaker" but then saw the three sixes that Ches had managed to roll and snapped his mouth shut. The Cavalry hurtled forward with another six on their Huanchi Banner to crash into the nearest Flesh Hounds! A turn one charge! In combat, the combined attacks of the cold ones, Saurus riders and Scar Veteran managed to cause seven unsaved wounds on the Flesh Hounds, who only managed to kill one model in return. The post-pop result was that a single Hound still stood, with the Saurus Cavalry deep into the Daemon lines. Andy began to declare some charges, with the Lord of Change aiming for the Saurus Cavalry's flank and the Plaguebearer block heading for the front. He paused in his enthusiastic declarations as he heard some faint sniggering from the other side of the table. Andy looked at the situation again, and realised the predicament he was in. If the Lord of Change didn't charge then he would be in the way and subsequently block the Plaguebearers' charge as well. But if he did charge, not only would he be wasting all his juicy magic potential, but in trying to pursue the Cavalry he would land himself right in the middle of the Lizardmen army. Andy thought better of it and didn't charge.

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Instead he flew the Lord of Change to a safer position, waited for his northern combat flank to arrive, and tried to drop the Slann down a big hole using his own Pit of Shades spell. Ches used all his dice to stop it, which meant a few Skinks from the Cohort died to Horror magic, but no-one really seemed to notice. In combat, the last Flesh Hound died. LERKER

Turn 2 With the Saurus Cavalry now unengaged, their Scar Veteran leader ordered them to ignore the looming Plaguebearers and reform to face the flank of the nearby Lord of Change. The Slann moved up, suspiciously within Lurker range. Nearby, the Saurus units weren't overly keen to fight the Khorne Herald and his Flesh Hounds entourage so the Terradons, who had just finished dropping rocks on the Furies, were ordered to interpose themselves between the Flesh Hounds and the Saurus. The magic phase saw Pit of Shades miscast and give the Slann a wound, while Unseen Lurker on the Cavalry failed to cast by one. Shooting and a bunch more rocks killed off the right flank Fiend of Slaanesh, who had been sneaking around to cause havoc in the following turns. Andy was now presented with several juicy options - to get his Slann into Lurker range Ches had been forced to also leave it within charge range of the Lord of Change. However, a successful flee move from the Slann would leave the Lord of Change open to be flank charged by a full unit of Saurus. Andy went for the sensible option and instead charged the flank of that same Saurus unit, figuring he would be able to turn around and wrap up the Slann in the next couple of turns. The Saurus expectedly fled and escaped (just!), leaving the Lord of Change in an excellent position to cast Gift of Chaos on the nearby Lizardmen units, which killed almost a dozen models total from five different units. The Plaguebearers also charged the exposed flank of the Saurus Cavalry, who proceeded to flee 18" on three dice and end up back in the Lizardmen deployment zone! Those guys really like to roll 6s! Elsewhere, Andy well and truly destroyed the blocking Terradon unit by charging them with the Tzeentch Herald's chariot, the remaining Furie and by sending the Khorne Herald out of his unit. The Tzeentch Herald also tried to cast Beast Cowers on the Engine of the Gods, who was currently being marchblocked and diverted by the other Fiend of Slaanesh, but Ches obviously had big plans for the dinosaur and used his solitary Dispel Scroll on the attempt. The Khorne Herald overran through the bloody remains of the Terradons and slammed into the Saurus unit behind containing the other Scar Veteran. Ches was running out of diverters, and the Flesh Hounds were about to hit home.

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Turn 3 The turn began with the Saurus Cavalry rolling a '10' for their rally test. Andy jumped in the air and cheered - their general's Ld was only 9! Ches just shook his head kindly and pointed to the word "musician" on his army list. The unit rallied to face the Lord of Change's rear. The fleeing Saurus Warriors also rallied to face the flying Daemon, and the Slann turned around for some more Lurker action. The Tzeentch Herald prepared his Spell Breaker... This time is was Ches's turn to declare some charges - the SkinkKroxigor Cohort charged the Horrors they'd been chasing, and managed to completely destroy the unit in combat. On the far north flank, the Engine of the Gods was being harassed by the remaining Fiend, but instead of charging it Ches unexpectedly revealed the Wardrums of Xahutec and using the monster's free pivots walked straight around the annoying blocker, preparing to blast the cluster of Daemons in the center of the board. The Burning Alignment, despite capping out at a range of 6", managed to kill not only the Fiend, the remaining Furie and five Horrors, but also put a wound on the Tzeentch Herald and managed to completely obliterate the Khorne BSB fighting the Saurus spearmen! Turns out that Engine isn't just a pretty face afterall... Things went from bad to worse when the Slann managed to cast his second Irresistible Unseen Lurker spell of the game, propelling the Saurus Cavalry and Scar Veteran into the Lord of Change's rear. In combat the two characters fought a challenge, which saw the Saurus hero get pounded into the dirt by the Greater Daemon, but not before he and his cold one mount managed a combined three wounds on their foe. The Scar Veteran's sacrifice was not in vain, and with the unit's additional combat resolution added in as well the Lord of Change lost his hold on reality and disappeared back into the warp. Things looked grim for the Daemons - could they pull it back?

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Turn 4 It was make or break time for the Daemons. Something had to happen and it had to happen fast. The Flesh Hounds, sadly no longer joined by their fearless leader the Herald, ploughed into the front of the Saurus in front of them. A solid of amount of chomping ensued and a handful of hardy Saurus fell, but the return attacks from the second rank of spears and from the Scar Veteran easily equalled the combat resolution score and saw the Hounds off by the end of the second round.

Slann's Becalming Cogitation and floundered in trying to get a spell off.

Next to this combat, the chariot-riding Tzeentch Herald swooped up onto the hill to get a better look over the battlefield and try and get in on some close quarters action himself. While he was waiting though, he did his best to try and slow down the Engine of the Gods with Beast Cowers and also give himself a little more speed using Wolf Hunts, but he proved no match for the

Elsewhere, the Saurus Cavalry obviously decided they'd done enough work for one day and failed their stupidity test, ambling forward into their pedestrian brethren instead of getting back into the action, while the Slann retreated slightly into the rocky ruins and the remaining Skinks and Terradons ran hither and thither spraying poison at the Plaguebearers (who, being essentially walking sacks of disease and poison, were none too impressed). The Daemon army was in tatters, but the Tzeentch Chariot was in a very threatening position on the hill and the Plaguebearers were ready to pounce on the disorganised Lizardmen forces. Could they still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? U N SE E N

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Turn 5 Ches's second last turn began with the Skink-Kroxigor Cohort, who had finished dealing with the Horrors and turned around to reenter the battle, charging the Plaguebearers in the rear. Despite only killing one Plaguebearer and losing two of their own return, the Cohort managed to win combat by enough to send another four Plaguebearers into the ether. Nearby, Ches had completely forgotten that the rocky terrain did not prevent flying movement, and with a great deal of (warranted!) glee Andy declared a charge from his Tzeentch Herald's chariot into the Slann! That could be a very quick case of roadkill!

The Slann sensibly fled, but Ches only rolled two inches on two dice for his distance! There were many oohs and aahs from the spectators around the table as the tape measure slithered out to give its verdict...

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The charge was half an inch out of range. Much cheering (from Ches) and booing (from Andy) ensued. Fortunately for the Herald his failed charge also happened to fall just short of the difficult terrain, which meant he didn't take any damage for entering it. Unfortunately for the Herald he was then subjected to another Engine blast and charged in the flank by a whole unit of Saurus, who had thus far done very little and were itching for a fight. Despite valiantly dragging down two of the Saurus in combat, their combat resolution proved too much to bear and the Herald disappeared back into the warp with a shriek and an explosion of smelly purple smoke. In the combat between the Cohort and the Plaguebearers things quickly swung in favour of the Daemons when the Nurgle Herald and his palanquin moved into contact. The Lizardmen were broken shortly after and run down by the Plaguebearers' 10" pursuit move. This carnage panicked a nearby unit of Terradons, who fled deeper into the Daemons' deployment zone. LERKER

Turn 6

With only the Herald and a handful of Plaguebearers remaining from the once ferocious Daemon army, the game's conclusion was inevitable. However, Andy was determined to fight on and kill as many of his cold blooded enemies as possible. On the Lizardmen side, the Terradons and the Slann both managed to rally, and in a nonetoo-subtle move Ches pushed his Saurus Cavalry (now containing the Burning Blade Scar Veteran - hopefully his fate would be less violent than his brother's) towards the Plaguebearers. The Engine glowered nearby. The magic phase kicked off in full form with the Slann achieving his third Irresistible Force of the game, this time on Pit of Shades. This saw all the remaining Plaguebearers be sucked into the magical vortex, save for the Champion and the Herald, both of whom had obviously become leaders because they knew how to push underlings into swirling black voids instead of themselves (they both made their Look Out Sir rolls). Sadly for Ches (Andy: "Yeah, cry me a river.") the spell he really wanted to cast, Unseen Lurker on the Saurus Cavalry, fell woefully short of the required casting roll and the turn came to an end. At the beginning of his turn 6, Andy had a very long, thoughtful look at the battlefield. After a moment's consideration, he made use of the only option left to him - he charged. Combat, however, proved to be far less of a dramatic affair. In a challenge between the Scar Veteran and the Herald, neither hero could overcome the other, while the Plaguebearer Champion did manage to drag one Saurus rider to the ground while dodging the return attacks, claiming half points for the troublesome unit. This left the Daemons losing the combat by one, but Andy rolled a comfortable '4' for his Instability test, and the game came to a close. Phew!

RESULT Lizardmen: 2665 VP Daemons: 831 VP

Major victory to the Lizardmen

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Ches: Well that went better than I could have expected! Having to use the Itxi

grubs on the first casting of Pit of Shades was annoying but following it up with a triple six for Unseen Lurker on the Cav with the Piranha Blade in was just ace. It pinned Andy down, as well as costing him the unit of Flesh Hounds. Andrew Chesney I was pretty confident that all the counter charges he could attempt would result in either me running away to safety or the Lord of Change sitting in front of my lines. From my side of the table I feel that the bait I set for the Lord of Change on the 2nd turn cost Andy any chance of battering me. The Khorne Herald had been blocked so had to charge out of his safe Flesh Houndy home and beat up some Terradons, hoping to eventually beat up the Saurus. This was always going to mean the Engine blast was absolutely crucial. If the Lord of Change had flown over and blasted him there would be nothing I could do about it, as it was I scrolled the Beasts Cowers that would have pinned him - killing the Herald and sweeping the field clear of Daemonic filth. Of course a second IF casting of Unseen Lurker to get the freshly rallied Cav into the rear of the Lord of Change was pretty useful! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll take luck over skill anyday.

Andy: So many excuses, so little time... I must say Ches thoroughly outplayed me

Andy Isherwood

here and definitely deserved the win, so congrats to my opponent and business partner there. There were a few big instances were the dice really rocked the boat, so to speak, but they really only compounded the mistakes I made. Let's have a look at those, shall we?

First of all, I totally forgot about the Wardrums. BIG mistake. As demonstrated in the game, it is a very bad idea to send characters out by themselves when there's an Engine loitering in the vicinity. I honestly thought I would get away with sending my battle standard bearer out on the grounds that the Engine was being marchblocked and diverted by a Fiend. Even if Ches just walked around the Fiend he would still need at least a 10" roll on the blast to reach my Herald. Wardrums halved that required distance - so lesson learned there. Second, why the heck did I charge the Lord of Change at Ches's Saurus? It was possibly one of the most obvious traps Ches could have laid, and I fell right into it. Even if I'd killed the unit it wouldn't have been worth it since it put the Lord of Change in such a bad position. Much better would have been to scrap the plan of using Ches's Shadow magic against him (which was cute in theory but not really that brilliant in practice), and fly over to blast the bejeezus out of the Engine using the massively destructive Tzeentch lore. I'm quite confident I could have killed both the Priest and the Stegadon in a single phase, and after that it would have been a simple matter of wrapping up the Lizards' left flank and rolling onwards till we reached the Slann. As it was all the Lord of Change ended up doing was blocking my Plaguebearers' charge before being spitted by those infernal Saurus Cavalry! Oh well. Next time I'll take my Bloodthirster, and we'll see how much Ches's Saurus Cav like seven strength seven attacks up the jaxxie!

Unit Of The Match: 5 Saurus Cavalry - 230pts Standard, musician, Huanchi's Blessed Totem Add Scar Veterans to taste and watch this powerful heavy cavalry unit go through entire armies by itself. For best effect we recommend combining it with judicious use of the awesome Unseen Lurker spell!

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You may never have thought that crushing heads, tearing limbs off living bodies and ripping eyes out of faces is so very satisfying—until you play God of War. God of War is a game series that began on March 22, 2005 and consists of five titles; the final in the series will be released in March, 2010. The franchise creators, Sony Computer Entertainment, bring a whole different look to Greek mythology, as well as Zach Kin-Wilde gaming. Everything from the visuals to gameplay is detailed and intense. The story begins with Kratos, a Spartan captain. After serving the Gods of Olympus for many years, he is betrayed and pulled into a spiralling journey of revenge. As he goes up against gods and demons you love to hate, he reinforces your desire to lash out at them when he guts, maims and cleaves. You will never be disappointed with Kratos’s badass attitude. This game is high in entertainment value for onlookers, except that they will want to rip the control from your hands for their own heroic smashing session. Another surprise is the camera control: there isn’t any. The creators have cleverly programmed the camera placement for every section of the game. Not only does this allow you more concentration on moving your character, but they also use it to advantage by moving the camera to produce captivating cinematic shots. This just adds to the giant podium on which God of War stands. The four main titles in the series were only released on Sony consoles. But it is definitely worth buying a platform for playing these games. Without a doubt, this series is in my top five favourites. I’d like to suggest something similar to these hack–and–slash games, but nothing compares. They’re brilliant.

Shadow King, written by Gav Thorpe, is the second tale in the Sundering trilogy. This part of the Time of Legends collection, set in the Warhammer world, charts the fall of the High Elves and the rise to power of the Dark Elves and their Witch King Malekith.

Chris Fitzsimmons

The story is told not from the perspective of Malekith, but from that of Alith, youngest son of the house of Anar, a noble family of Nagarythe. It is a tale of anger, revenge and a bitterness born as the elven race tears itself in two. What makes the writing of all these books, and by extension the Horus Heresy series, interesting is that we know how the story ends. The only room to manoeuvre for the authors comes the bits in the middle. I'm impressed with Thorpe's choice to avoid the obvious option of continuing as he left off in the first book (Malekith), by telling the tale from the point of view of the Dark Elves. Instead he chooses to allow us to watch through the eyes of the Naggarothi loyalists as their race teeters on the brink of destruction at the hands of Malekith and his Mother, Morathi. Looking at it as a piece of the Warhammer canon, Shadow King is another great addition. I like where Thorpe takes his hero in the story. The use of the Shadow Warriors is a great way to express the real cost of the sundering. Also the filling out of the backgrounds of both Morathi's pact with darker powers than even herself and the origins of Helebron (who makes her debut here) is great stuff for any self respecting fluff geek. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the book is let down by its very linear plot. That's just how Thorpe does things. There aren't any sub‐plots, or interweaving layers, or the other things that make you have to think when reading it.

Don't get me wrong, Shadow King is certainly a step up for Gav Thorpe. I think it's his best yet. I just wish he wasn't practicing on my favourite fictional universe. The Warhammer world has the potential to provide a huge depth of field for a fiction writer, and after reading Shadow King, whilst I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it, I can't help but wonder: “What if Dan Abnett had written it instead?”

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As far as this sudden epidemic of middle of the road vampire movies goes, Daybreakers wasn't bad. It's set in a future world in which earth's population is plagued with an epidemic of its own: Sam Neill. No, just kidding, it's vampirism. The unique thing about this film for me was the premise it was made under. Vampires are Isaac "Bobo" Alexander usually portrayed as brooding and menacing creatures, but in Daybreakers they carry on in the remains of our world almost as if they were human, with the notable exceptions of sun‐proof cars, warehouses of humans strung up to be converted into fast food, degenerating monster‐vamps tearing each other to bits beneath the subway, and asking for an extra dollop of blood in your coffee instead of cream.

The story is fairly simple: the new vampire world is starving to death. Their usual meal of choice, the human race, is almost extinct, with only a few desperate survivors battling on. Meanwhile the lead vampire blood scientist (played by Ethan Hawke) is equally desperate working on a blood alternative at the same time as struggling with his moral issues relating to being a vampire. Sam Neill, playing the billionare vampire villain, has no such deliberations and happily slaughters anyone who gets in his path. Overall the film was passable as an interesting take on the genre with one or two scary moments (I flinched every time a bat flew past ‐ such a girl) and a couple of scenes which might make you smile. It's by no means the best vampire flick that has come out of Hollywood in the last decade, but it's far from being the worst.

OLD BUT GOLD: Casablanca (1942)

John Doe

JUST DON'T GO THERE: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

Everyone loves to have a good rant. Don't deny it, we know you do. To get a bit of mental stimulation going for our readers (hard work, we know - sorry) we're opening this space every issue to the most interesting 500 word 'rant' about any subject at all. And what's better, you get to remain completely anonymous! Send your piece to rants@unseenlerker.com. (&ow, we say "any subject", but anything considered too political or offensive is likely not to be published. Thanks.) Freedom

No, I don’t mean the freedom when Mel Gibson (or was it William Wallace?) brandishes his sword in front of his countrymen to reclaim his country from the fiendish English. I mean the freedom that is riding a motorcycle. I haven’t been riding motorcycles for long, but I have now tasted the invigorating freedom that it brings. I was never a huge fan of motorcycles, nor did I hate them. I just had no interest in them. On occasion I’d walk pass one and it’d be nice to blissfully dream about how awesome it would be to ride a motorcycle and then it’s gone in a fleeting moment like the memory of a long lost dream. Circumstances change and suddenly I’ve booked in my training course to learn how to ride a motorcycle. All nervous and kiddy like, I groan through the initial walk through on what the bits on a motorcycle are. That’s a clutch, that’s the front brake etc etc. It’s finally over and the trainer let’s us get on the motorcycle. I sit down, grab the handles and I am in love. At the instructors word I try turning the engine on – a massive let down as I have no idea how to do it. I finally figure it out like and that fleeting dream has come true. It’s totally awesome. And within a weekend, I have my licence, all my motorcycle gear and a motorcycle. Second‐hand albeit, but still something decent to learn on. The ride home after picking up my motorcycle was the most nervous I’d been in a very long time. Stalled it once on a hill start and was going slow as a turtle on crutches. But it’s been two long months and I’m growing with confidence everyday. Now, most people would tell you you’re just going to become a statistic. This was probably one of the reasons why I never did get a motorcycle. But after reading up on the topic and talking to friends who I never really realised had motorcycles; it's only as dangerous as you want it to be. Yes, there are inherent risks, but that's life isn't it? You can take as many precautions as you can to lower the level of risk, the primary method being to have full kit. While legally only a helmet is required, most enthusiast riders would say everything is mandatory. That's gloves, jacket, kevlar jeans, boots and most importantly a helmet. Then when you do your training there’s tips and tricks for on the road, for example don’t ride in the centre of the lane due to the oil that car’s spill or riding on different sides of the lane to move away from the trucks that are buffeting your motorcycle or to increase visibility for the upcoming blind spot. If you take responsibility for yourself and keeping yourself aware of what is going around you, then you may just potentially have a very safe run and never get into an accident. Motorcycling is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done. Getting on a motorcycle on the weekend and just cruising can be described as Zen‐like. Nothing holding you down. Just you, the open road and your trusty steed. Freedom.

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For this issue, OG Games have generously provided a ÂŁ20 gift voucher for us to raffle off. To find out what you can spend it on, check out their website at www.oggames.co.uk Also, at least once per issue we will be giving away some of our exclusive Unseen Lerker merchandise. This time dice! One lucky reader will recieve ten custom Unseen Lerker dice, available only through us. What's more, at every tournament or event that we are at promoting Unseen Lerker, we will be giving away a free yearly subscription to both first and last place!

And the best bit? By subscribing to Unseen Lerker you will be automatically entered all of our competitions. That's right, you don't have to do a thing! We'll be announcing the winners on our forum (www.unseenlerker.com/forum) shortly before the release of Issue #2, so keep your eyes peeled to find out if you've won!

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