Unseen Lerker Issue 2

™

ISSUE 02

FEB – MAR 2010

Warning: May Contain Awesome SPECIAL CHARACTERS

PETER VAN LIJSEbETTEN reviews, rants, sports, food, polar bears BATTLE REPORT:

TOMB KINGS VS ORCS & GOBLINS EVENT SPOTLIGHT:

BAD DICE MASTERS

ARMY SHOWCASE:

The Eternal Waaagh!

TACTIC-ATTACK:

Diverting Your Attention!

A magazine for gamers, hobbyists and collectors

THE ETERNAL

WAAAGH!

Check it ONLY IN out on UNSEEN page 24 LERKER

UNSEEN LERKER

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SINCE YOU LAST TUNED IN Shameless Plugs Thanks to the following people for allowing us to promote ourselves at their events and on their shows and websites: Heelanhammer Podcast, Baddice Podcast, Podhammer Podcast, Reading Spiky Club (Winter War), Terra Nova Gryphons (Merseyside Meltdown), The Warhammer Forum, Maelstrom Games, OG Games.

And as always, thanks to our readers and everyone else who supports the magazine.

Unseen Lerker Winners Jack Armstrong free subscription (1st overall at Reading Winter War)

One Magazine To Rule Them All

Mark Evans free subscription (Wooden Spoon at Reading Winter War) Owen Bell free dice (Find Lergy competition, Issue 1)

Team Unseen Lerker Achievements

Harry Barrett free copy of Issue 1 (‘Terrifying Trio’ at Merseyside Meltdown)

Isaac Alexander 2nd overall, Sheffield Slaughter

Matt McDonell free copy of Issue 1 (‘Terrifying Trio’ at Merseyside Meltdown)

Chris Fitzsimmons 3rd overall, Brighton Warlords doubles

Ian Ralph free copy of Issue 1 (‘Terrifying Trio’ at Merseyside Meltdown)

Best Wood Elf general, Merseyside Meltdown

Aleksander Aasen free dice (Issue 1 competition) Eli Langskaill free OG Games voucher (Issue 1 competition)

Operation: World Domination

COUNTRIES WHERE UNSEEN LERKER IS READ

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States

UNSEEN LERKER

EDITORIAL

CREDITS The Unseen Lerker Team Editor: Isaac “Bobo” Alexander

Wow, here we are again. It feels like an age since we released Issue 1, and so many things have happened since then that I would believe someone else had done them!

So, where to begin?

Business Overseer: Bryan “Ubertechie” Carmichael Editorial Consultant: Chris “Fitz” Fitzsimmons

The first thing you will notice about Issue 2 is how very pretty and professional the layout looks compared to Issue 1. For this eye-candy we have to thank Heath Moritz, our new graphic designer who has come on board and really helped us take the magazine to a new level. While I’m on the subject of thanking people, I would also like to mention Bryan Carmichael, who has been an invaluable friend and business partner in getting this magazine off the ground, and fellow editor Chris Fitzsimmons who is always willing to make time to attend my requests. Finally, and most importantly, I’d like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of Unseen Lerker already – readers, subscribers, contributors, friends, countrymen…you get the picture. The response we’ve had to its release has been overwhelming, and we’re really looking forward to continuing to better ourselves and cement Unseen Lerker as a permanent fixture on the global gaming scene.

Tactics: Loke “Gronx” Andersen Hobby Corner: James “Domus” Hyde Lead Artiste: Max “Brakken” Karpsten Graphic Design: Heath Moritz Contributors: Baddice, Kim Otto Nielsen, Chris Fitzsimmons, Zach Kin-Wilde, Keith Wilkinson, Greg Dann, Dan Comeau, Ibis Miniatures, Peter Van Lijsebetten, Jacob Scott, David Johansson www.unseenlerker.com editor@unseenlerker.com Want to advertise in Unseen Lerker? Well now you can! A variety of options available.

Email shiny@unseenlerker.com for more info.

With the help of fine readers such as yourselves, we can do it. Thank you.

Isaac Alexander, Editor

CONTENTS 23 6 TOURNAMENT SPOTLIGHT

The Bad Dice Masters.

13 17 20

Look out your window.

We’re there.

TACTIC-ATTACK! All you ever needed to know about diverting.

THE HOBBY CORNER

How to make terrain in large quantities.

SPECIAL CHARACTERS

Peter Van Lijsebetten, one of the biggest model collectors in Belgium.

UNSEEN LERKER AROUND THE WORLD

24 28

ARMY SHOWCASE

43

COMING SOON

The Eternal Waaagh!

BATTLE REPORT Tomb Kings and Orcs & Goblins duke it out, Swedish style.

Issue 3, Lerker Merchandise, and the first UL tournament!

LEGAL DISCLAIMER This 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.

HAVE YOU SEEN 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 receives two free Unseen Lerker dice.

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TOURNAMENT SPOTLIGHT by Chris Fitzsimmons

Bad Dice As with any good sport (as we are now classing Warhammer), there is always an element of competition. As human beings we are always looking to find the best of the best among ourselves, and showcase their talents in tests of stamina, skill, accuracy, and concentration. Many countries now have their own Masters-style tournament, with up to twenty players each vying for the overall title each year. In the UK this event has been run in both 2009 and 2010, inspired by and based on the Australian Masters tournament which Andrew Galea began in 2004.

At the end of the rankings season (the day after the last tournament in December), the top ranked 16 players from England according to RankingsHQ.com are invited to participate in a weekend of ultimate competition. This year we ducked our heads in to see what was what.

All of the participants took no hesitation in making full use of this last feature, and when combined with the rice and lamb curry that the bar staff put on for the hungry generals made leaving the room a very difficult exercise.

The event itself gets its name from the Bad Dice podcast, who have organised the event this year and look set to continue doing so in coming years. Ben Curry and Ben Johnson are the driving forces behind Bad Dice, but since they both managed to qualify for their own tournament they had to rope in the equally talented (but not quite as lucky) Adam Hall to run the event on the day. A good thing too, since he is far prettier than either of them, and every good tournament needs a handsome poster boy.

The 2009 UK Masters – a freaky looking bunch.

The Setting The dark and mysterious pub in Allerton, Derby, where the event takes place is also the home to the Derby Wargames Society, a gaming club which was established an impressive 30 years ago. The Royal British Legion pub could be described as the perfect venue for this tournament. The space in the main gaming room (which would struggle to support a larger tournament) is completely ideal for an event like the Masters, there’s a small stage for the organiser and his team of minions to oversee the proceedings, clean and functioning bathrooms, and, perhaps most importantly, there’s a bar.

The Greasy Food Phase is an important aspect of Warhammer.

UNSEEN LERKER

Masters The Event Things began on the Saturday morning with Ben Curry and Ben Johnson turning up bright and early at the venue to begin setting up. Unfortunately for our intrepid heroes 6am proved a little too bright and early, and they were forced to wait around for an hour until the pub staff turned up to open the building for them.

Things went smoother from there, with all of the participants arriving (and on time, no less) despite the nigh-apocalyptic snowstorms that had descended on England that week. There was a slight moment of panic when all the flights to London were cancelled, leaving Bobo (in Denmark at the time) stranded, but things cleared up in time and everything was set to go.

The games themselves cracked on in truly epic fashion, with Chris Legg losing his Bloodthirster in the first 20 minutes of the tournament due to the presence of the Amulet of Purifying Flame, which is apparently rubbish and should never be taken. There were several draws among the rest of the field, showcasing not only the new modified victory point table but also the pure caginess with which each game was being played.

Marcus Pitt broke away with an early lead after his win against Legg’s Daemons, but was quickly brought back down to earth as Andy Isherwood battered him 20-0. This left the Daemon King facing off against Andrew Chesney’s Skaven for the Saturday Night Live showdown. Things were looking up for Andy to begin with, but then the Doomwheel came into play and it all went horribly wrong, ending in a 14-6 win to Chesney.

This left them completely tied on battle points, both with a very surprised look on their faces as Bobo (and his beard) snuck straight past both of them with a big round 3 win!

Tensions were eased (or at least forgotten) as the local takeaway guy showed up, and was almost bowled over as the hungry gamers rushed in and relieved him of his shipment of burgers, pizzas, curries, and drinks.

Sunday morning saw the competition pick up right where it left off, with all of the players setting in for the long haul. Martin Bunting was playing in an almost meditative state, completely immune to the sounds and distractions all around him, while further down the tables several other competitors appeared to be having fun and were briskly told off and that this was a serious event, fun was not allowed.

Things were getting intense at the top tables, with Bobo just having edged out over Isherwood but then bottling it completely and going down like a sack of potatoes against Ches. This left Ches’s Skaven facing their fifth Daemon army of the weekend under the command of Keith Wilkinson. The luck of the rats finally wore out and Keith took the win, securing himself 1st place overall in the tournament as well. 2nd went to Chris Legg, who racked up five wins after his first round disaster and stormed back into form, silencing the taunters from the peanut gallery. Bobo managed to claw his way into 3rd, and though he claims not to be bitter about the whole thing he still flinches every time a Plague Furnace drives past.

After all the ridiculous dice rolls, the ups and downs, the beer, the curry, the shattered dreams, the tears of triumph, and the terrorist-like beards sported by some of the competitors (enough about the beard! –Ed.) there was one thing that everyone involved could agree upon: the 2010 Bad Dice Masters had been a lot of fun. The event gets a lot of outside criticism for being overly competitive; driven by rankings and caught up in itself to the point where the competitors lose sight of the game’s primary hobby: to have fun. The fact is, all anyone has to do is to meet or play against any of the players in attendance of these Masters events to see that the opposite is true – they are having just as much fun as anyone else.

Check out our exclusive interview with the winner, Keith Wilkinson, on page 11!

For a more in-depth look at each player, his army list, and his thoughts going into the event, check out the Bad Dice Masters homepage at baddice.co.uk/masters/the-players

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TOURNAMENT SPOTLIGHT BAD DICE MASTERS

This Lord of Change really just wants to hug.

Martin Bunting’s Wood Elves

Adam Hall, the organiser, goes all ‘blue steel’ on us.

Andy Isherwood’s Daemons

Ben Curry tries to hide in the kitchen.

Dan H: “Alright, who stole my Vampire Lord?”

Ben Curry’s Dark Elves.

The final round underway.

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1ST

Keith Wilkinson Daemons

Chris Legg Daemons

A highly experienced tournament player, who goes way back to the heyday. Not having been very active lately only serves to makes his victory all the more impressive.

Leggy brought the list that has done well for him all season, and will have silenced not a few critics with a great result.

2ND

Isaac “Bobo” Alexander Daemons

3RD

5TH

7TH

Bobo has only been in the country a few months, his impressive qualification form meant a good finish was always on the cards.

Andrew Chesney Skaven

4TH

With a tournament history longer than his toenails, Andrew’s experience is matched only by his insanity. 4th place is a great start to the Year of the Rat.

Martin Bunting Wood Elves

Andy Isherwood Daemons

The 2009 Master has played more games with Wood Elves than anyone else alive and it showed.

To come 5th in this field with Woodies and almost no games in the year is immense.

Andy is one of the most experienced Daemon generals in the world. The fact that he plays nothing else means he knows the army inside out. Ish will have been disappointed to have lost out in the Thunder Dome game.

6TH

Anthony Spiers Dark Elves

Ben Johnson Empire

Another GT Final winner, tipping himself to win might not have paid off for Ant, but getting to write Ben Curry’s list for the GT Final probably made up for it!

Ben did incredibly well to qualify for the Masters without any help from the GT heats. He’s still getting to grips with the Empire list but will have learned loads, watch out!

8TH

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TOURNAMENT SPOTLIGHT BAD DICE MASTERS

Rob Downey Daemons

9TH

11TH

Daemons were the weapon of choice it seems, and Rob came with a plan – poop Nurglings all over everyone! Toilet cleaner was obviously going cheap in Derby though.

Dan Heelan Vampire Counts

10TH

Tom Mawdsley Lizardmen

Chris Taylor Tomb Kings

A relative new-comer compared to the rest of the field, who has stirred things up with his arrival on the scene. This finish will have done nothing to dent his confidence.

Only having played in exactly the amount of tournaments he needed to qualify, Chris is like Chuck Norris: when he strikes, he kills. Tomb Kings probably don’t quite have it compared to the top tier in the right hands.

12TH

Russ Veal Warriors of Chaos

13TH

15TH

Usually a Lizardmen player, Dan was on a mission to try something new for this year, and had a great time using a “proper army”. Not enough toys hurt him a little in the final analysis.

Russ played for fun, and took a few risks which didn’t pay off, instead of the safe option. He won’t mind though, by his own admission qualification is the prize here.

Marcus Pitt High Elves

14TH

The recently elected Team England captain, who returned to his beloved High Elves who have served him so well in the past. Highlights include offing Leggy’s ‘thirster in game one.

Michael Biggs Daemons

Ben Curry Dark Elves

A strong favourite to win the event, the dream crusher didn’t live up to his billing, probably because he wasn’t wearing his cowboy hat.

Ranked #1 in the UK going into the event and being tipped as the favourite to win, Ben had a bit of stinker to say the least. However, in his own words he’s “still ace.”

16TH

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TOURNAMENT WINNER

Keith Wilkinson Keith, congrats on your overall victory. What were your expectations going into the tournament?

To be honest I wasn’t hoping for anything beyond a top five finish as I haven’t really played too much recently due to family and work commitments. Feels like I’ve lost my edge a little!

I was looking forward to the tournament as a whole as I missed last year’s purely due to the fact my little boy was two weeks old. I actually picked Ben Curry as my tournament favourite (how wrong I was – oops!).

Despite the quality of players in attendance I wasn’t too worried about playing anyone in particular; the field was that strong there wouldn’t be any easy games and I felt that anyone attending could win the event.

Tell us a little bit about your army. 4/5 of the other Daemon players went for a Greater Daemon as their general; what made you decide to leave the big toys at home?

I wanted to try something different and stand out from the crowd. I also wanted to prove that Daemons don’t need a big gribbly to win games.

What was the toughest game of the weekend and how did you overcome the challenges your opponent presented?

My toughest game of the tournament was against defending master Martin Bunting and his Wood Elves - very tough without a greater daemon to catch the buggers, and man can that guy play Warhammer! It was also a very enjoyable game; myself and Martin go back a very long way having played many times over the years and it’s always a good, close battle. I overcame the potential hazards of this game by presenting him with too many targets to deal with. This worked to a degree and I came out with a hard fought draw.

Tell us about some of the sneaky tactics you tend to use with your armies.

With all my armies I utilise a lot of support troops and don’t tend to rely too much on uber characters and units. The chaff wins games every time. I find it the hardest to play against slightly inexperienced opponents as they try things that you wouldn’t expect - it’s like playing poker against a novice: they play with no fear! I find this very difficult to predict so I go into every game against every opponent the same, giving each and every player the same respect.

Name: Keith Wilkinson Age: 30 years young Location: Wigan, England Favourite army: Vampires If I’m not gaming I’m… with my family Soup of choice: Heinz tomato soup all the way

What was your overall strategy for this event?

It may sound daft but I really didn’t have a strategy going into the Masters as I really didn’t think too much about it before I turned up. For example I only read the rules pack the night before the event and I didn’t know who I’d be playing so I just react to what’s in front of me. I went all-out in every game as I never play conservatively or play for draws; I’m an aggressive player so this kind of comes naturally for me.

Do you have any weird gaming habits or quirks?

I’ve not got any weird gaming habits apart from ‘The Tell’: when I feel like a game is getting away from me I tend to stand up or sit on my legs. I don’t know why, I just do. So if you see this in future you know you’ve got me on the ropes!

How has your Warhammer gaming career developed?

I got kind of dragged to the Club Challenge in 1999

by Geoff Porritt and came 16th, then the same position again in my second tournament at the WPS GT before actually winning my first event at the Ribble Rumble in 2000. Chuffed to bits and I was already hooked into playing games with a bad hangover and all the usual shenanigans that followed. I’ve been winning or placing at tournaments ever since really, here and there, and think I’ve got about 20 titles and approximately 40 trophies over the years.

What sort of advice would you give to up-andcoming gamers who want to improve their standard of gameplay?

The only advice I can give to up and coming players is that we have all been there. Keep practicing and find better and better opponents, when you beat them move on a find someone else. Steady progression will work eventually. Keep your chin up always and glory will be yours.

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Playing toy soldiers is all very well and good, but it’s time to GET PHYSICAL! For something totally different, why not check out:

Roller Derby Roller derby is a sport played almost exclusively in the United States. We’d like to use this allotted page space to ask the simple question: why?!

For those who have never witnessed a ‘bout’ of roller derby before, allow us to set the scene.

Ten girls. In stockings. And skates. Racing. And beating the hell out of each other on the way.

Violence, speed, and gorgeous girls – really, what’s not to like about roller derby?

And to keep your strength up, don’t forget to eat this issue’s Featured Food:

Basmati Rice & Curry ‘There is no try, there is only eat…or eat!’ Yoda, the Empire Strikes Back.

‘I’ll be back.’

Arnold Schwarzenegger upon leaving a curry house.

‘Thank you. Thank you very much!’

Elvis Presley upon being ser ved basmati rice & curry.

‘I fear I’ve made a terrible mistake in my dish of choice.’ Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC.

‘I’m now convinced that fasting in protest is not the way to go.’

Gandhi, through a mouthful of basmati rice & curry.

‘And on the seventh day, the Lord rested…. and ate basmati rice and curry.’

The Holy Bible.

UNSEEN LERKER

Tactic-Attack: Loke “Gronx” Andersen

TACTIC–ATTACK: Diverting Your Attention!

Run! But run in the right direction you silly goblins!

This is an article on how to get your opponent’s units to go where you want them, an act also known as diverting.

One of the keys to winning is to make the battle progress according to your plan. The other keys are, of course, some good dice and a mug of your preferred beverage.

To reach this goal (making your opponent move as you desire), most armies can use their units, usually the small and quick ones, to dictate the opponent’s movement directly. I’ll split the most common ways of doing this into the following categories: 1. Fleeing with skirmishers 2. Fleeing with non-skirmishers 3. Using units placed at an angle to turn the opponent’s units 4. Other ways to divert units

1

Fleeing with skirmishers A detachment of Empire Archers stopping the movement of a unit of Dark Elf Spearmen, while the Knights are ready to flank the Spearmen if they decide to charge.

Things to watch out for: If your skirmishers are blocking a charge, make sure that other hostile units aren’t able to charge them first, making them either flee or rank up to them, leaving the blocked units free to wreck havoc on your army.

Watch out for panic as well, either from skirmishers fleeing through your own units, or from a destroyed unit if the enemy unit catches your skirmishers.

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TACTIC–ATTACK! Loke “Gronx” Andersen

2

Fleeing with non-skirmishers

3

‘Angling’

A unit of Imperial Pistoliers moving forward to block a unit of Dark Elf Cold One Knights from charging a Cannon.

A unit of Empire Free Company blocking the path of a unit of Black Guard, their angle ensuring that the Black Guards will end up partly in the wood after an overrun or pursuit move, taking them out of the game for two turns.

Things to watch out for: Do not get too get greedy, be sure that you’re actually blocking the opponent’s unit. And don’t shoot enough of his troops to enable him to get around you after the casualties are removed!

This is a move which can be used by the armies which are otherwise unable to flee, to help with controlling the opponents’ army. Use the fact that the charger aligns to the charged unit to set his unit up for flank charges or other nasty things, or use it against units with hatred or frenzy to force overruns or pursuits into unfavourable positions.

This can also be used by unbreakable or stubborn units to hold units in place, which can be used to either block other units in his army, or to set them up for flank charges in subsequent turns.

Things to watch out for: Panic can be your enemy here as well, so if you plan on breaking/get destroyed with a unit, ensure that no nearby units decide to leg it as the result. Another thing to remember is that there is the chance of your unit holding the charge, either as the result of odd dice, insane courage, or unforeseen events happening.

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Other ways to divert units A unit of Plaguebearers gets stopped in their tracks by a heroic Dwarf Gyrocopter.

The terrain prevents them from escaping, leaving them with a reform or change formation manoeuvre as the only way out.

Charge them! This might seem like an odd suggestion, but against units with frenzy, hatred, or even low Leadership, you can charge them with the goal being losing combat and getting pursued somewhere, such as dragging a large frenzied units of knights into a forest by charging them in the flank with three Lizardmen Terradons.

Wheeling denial – This might sound a bit odd to some, but by placing a unit, typical a fast or flying unit, at the side of a unit, you can prevent them from wheeling in the opposite direction, due to the rule stating that one’s own units has to stay 1” away from enemy units. This then forces the opponent to move forward until he’s clear of your blocking unit, if he wishes to wheel in that direction.

Additional hints Counters:You don’t have to charge, always remember that. Keeping your units covered and blocking his fast units also helps a fair bit when it comes to dealing with such. Keep your cool, make sure you either kill or otherwise stop his support from controlling you, and remember, movement wins games.

Use in moderation: Just because you can divert his units, does not mean you have to. If you simply throw all your units forward in the early turns, you might find yourself needing that single unit to block a decisive charge later on. It is often better to simply block a part of his units, dealing with the others, while keeping some of your obvious diverters in reserve.

HeelanHammer is a podcast devoted to Warhammer Fantasy and aims to cover all aspects of the hobby, from club to tournament gaming, from book reviews to painting models - everything!

All photographs and miniatures generously provided by Ibis Miniatures www.ibisminiatures.com.

heelanhammer.com

THE ETERNAL

WAAAGH! Check it ONLY IN out on UNSEEN page 24 LERKER

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THE HOBBY CORNER: James “Domus” Hyde

The Scenery of War In this issue of the Hobby Corner, I would like to share some of the insight I have gathered over the years in regards to making terrain. Specifically, mass producing terrain for use in Warhammer tournaments. I learned quite a bit about making terrain in general from a great friend, Caius Jannison. A British transplant to the U.S., Caius has been in the wargaming hobby longer than I have even known of its existence and I just want to acknowledge him as a very heavy influence in the methods I employ.

As our local gaming club hosted tournaments, we used terrain from a variety of borrowed sources. Over the course of time, our club splintered off into smaller groups and our group quickly developed a need to have its own terrain ready and available for gaming and tournaments.

When I build terrain, I typically like to build terrain in “themed” groups. The 6th edition Warhammer rulebook has great coverage of terrain themes in regards to the different locales of the Warhammer universe (Naggaroth, Empire, Ulthuan, Athel Loren, etc…). I have personally built terrain for roughly 30 tables for Warhammer gaming. The terrain I have built was built in 3 different themes, with roughly 10 tables per theme. Most “tables” consist of five pieces of terrain.

Two hills, two forests and a piece of difficult terrain typically make up a table.

All of my terrain is created using a number of similar methods/features.

My focus when building this terrain is in producing quality pieces in large quantities. More time could be spent in the detailing phases to create higher quality terrain pieces, but as these are built to travel I feel creating high quality terrain would be a poor investment of time given the future abuse that is sure to come.

squares for me as I don’t own a table saw. I then will draw lines on the squares dividing them further into 4 quarters.

Next I draw rough shapes into each quarter to create the “flats” for the hills, forests and difficult terrain pieces. A quarter can produce anywhere from 1-4 pieces of terrain depending on the size and shapes drawn. I do like for each piece to be unique and therefore use a variety of sizes and shapes. I use a scroll saw to carefully cut each shape out.

The exact process happens in numerous steps, dealing with as many of the pieces as possible in one sitting.

Bevel the edges of the flats

Cut out the all of the flats All of the features are mounted on a hard board “flat” for stability and protection in transit. I typically buy 8’x 4’ sheets of Masonite at the local hardware store.

They will generally cut that into 2’x’2

I then use a belt sander to bevel the outer edges of each shape individually after they are cut. This makes one heck of a mess so I always recommend this step happens outside.

A meteor didn’t kill the dinosaurs – Domus’s terrain did.

THE HOBBY CORNER: James “Domus” Hyde Cut out, shape and smooth the hills All of the hills are cut and shaped from 1” - 1.5” thick polystyrene sheets. I initially used to use a GW foam cutter for cutting and shaping hills. After lots of batteries and frustration, I found Hot Wire Foam Factory(www. hotwirefoamfactory.com). I now use an A/C power Hot Wire Foam Factory sculpting tool for all of my cutting and shaping needs. I do also use a long serrated knife and utility knives but the Hot Wire Foam Factory sculpting tool has become my main tool and I highly recommend it to anyone creating a lot of terrain. After the basic shape of the hill has been created I will typically smooth out the hill using a medium grit sanding block.

Glue the hills to the flats Get a Hot Glue Gun. I use hot glue more than anything as my main adhesive. It’s a cheap, flexible, and non-toxic adhesive. I do have the occasional need to use superglue for something, but typically few and far between. Care must be taken if using superglue near sheet styrene as it will “eat” through the styrene and destroy your carefully carved hill / feature. All of my flock is adhered to the pieces using the good ole PVA white glue which you can buy in bulk from your local hardware store. (*My local hardware store really likes it when they see me come in!!!)

“Sand” the flats for Forests and Difficult Terrain I use PVA glue to glue sand (typically with some small rocks mixed in) to the flats for the forests and difficult terrain pieces. I start by using blue-tac to adhere 2 GW 60mm rounds at various points on each flat to ensure that no glue is painted onto that surface. This allows me to later mount trees or difficult features providing for configurable terrain and to allow for ease of removal for moving troops through the terrain. I will then put some PVA glue in a disposable bowl and “paint” the glue on using a large brush. I then place the piece in a large plastic storage tub and pour the sand/rock mixture over the piece. This allows for minimal mess and minimal waste. Sandbox sand is a great option for “sand” and cat litter a great option for “small rocks”.

Glue the trees and difficult features to the 60mm GW rounds Trees are commonly purchased rather than created. Almost all of my trees are purchased from www.hobbylinc.com and I have generally found them to be a great source of low-cost scenery items. I have used trees from Model Power and used the white metal Woodland Scenics trees.

Simple and practical: the two key rules for making terrain.

Paint all of the pieces I will typically develop a paint scheme separately for each terrain “set” on a couple of terrain pieces.

Once the colors are determined, write down the formula so I can reproduce it at a later date. I head to my local Wal-Mart and buy the cheapest bulk acrylic paint I can find. It is very important that you never use spray paint on polystyrene as the aerosol in the paint will “eat” the styrene. A number of folks recommend base coating by hand and using spray paints later.

Personally I always just paint all of my terrain by hand, using VERY LARGE BRUSHES!!!! (*I do recommend using water to thin your paint when painting the sanded surfaces.)

Let it dry This is the step I have great difficulty with – patience is a virtue when mass producing terrain.

“Flock” the terrain As with the painting, I tend to develop a “flocking” scheme for the terrain sets individually as well.

I will then work towards buying large amounts of flock in bulk and keeping the mix in a big plastic storage bin. Reason being that I paint on the PVA glue (after the paint has dried) and “dip” the terrain features into the bin and then shake the excess off. This minimizes waste and mess and makes touch ups at a later date a breeze.

You won’t believe how easy this rocky feature was to make.

UNSEEN LERKER

Woodland Scenics makes “shakers” of flock which are very reasonable priced for the volume you receive. They are available in a number of colors and textures.

A few other random tips:

“Seal” the terrain I use a spray varnish to “seal” off the terrain. This helps keep the flock on the piece and helps with paint damage during transport. As you will see, even sealing the terrain you will still incur damage. Touch up that terrain every so often.

Enjoy your creations!

There are lots of fun things you can do with terrain, and it really is just a matter of giving it a whirl and seeing what you come up with. To round off, here are some examples of some terrain I have made in the past using these techniques:

Fancy a dip?

The Empire themed terrain consists of a watchtower, green hills, forests, “scrubs”, rocky difficult terrain, and a swamp, lake and river. I have also recently added some of the new GW buildings to this collection of terrain. The “ridges” of the water features were created using drywall mud.

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A ruined pyramid can add so much character to your games.

The Jungle themed terrain consists of hills (like ruined pyramids), forests, and difficult terrain in a variety of features (swamp, fences and huts). I was heavily inspired by the Lustria book for this terrain. The trees were created using two different methods; 1- Plastic Reeds from the local craft store with metal wires in them, 2 – Pine Cones with the “leaves” pulled off. Both trees were “topped” using pieces of plastic fern tied together with floral wire and cut into shape. The huts were created using a tube from construction adhesive and small pieces of bamboo. The bamboo was glued around the exterior of the huts and then trimmed off after the fact. The hut was “topped” in the same fashion as the trees.

The local craft store was raided for all manner of plastic plants which looked like it might have a home in a jungle.

The Chaos Wastes terrain consists of hills, wasted forests and a variety of difficult terrain features. This terrain was created to invoke the feeling of a wasteland and uses the same 60mm GW round bases to create removable features. Baking soda + PVA Glue was used to create the snow effect. They were mixed together and then “painted” on. After letting the mixture dry a bit (but not fully dry), additional baking soda was sprinkled over the top to try and create that freshly fallen look.

Having detachable trees makes terrain far easier to move models through.

Search the internet and any other hobby materials you may have for resources. Hobbyists are really great typically about sharing what they have learned and the tools and materials they have used. I constantly research on the internet and compile links to any great tips I learn. I have also used quite a bit of the insight provided from GW in their army books, rulebooks and White Dwarf articles. I do have to recommend www.hirstarts.com as a great resource for terrain building as well as for moulds for creating building blocks.

Don’t be afraid of water features.

I have built a number of different water features now and they are some of my favorites. I have created a river, lake, and a couple of swamps.

The river was created in sections which can be constructed a number of different ways and paint was used to create the “water” effect.

The other features I have used a product available here in the U.S. called Envirotex Lite. This is a 2-part expoxy which dries clear and creates a very glossy finish. Add a little paint to the mix and your “water” takes on a colored, opaque look. Add a little bit of wash / ink to the water and the water gains coloration but remains clear.

Keep your eyes and mind open. Lots of day to day items can be used as terrain pieces. Plastic cups for silos, salad plates for futuristic buildings, and kids toys for a variety of pieces.

Rummage sales are a great place to shop for “toys” for terrain.

Special Characters

Peter Van Lijsebetten Peter Van Lijsebetten is insane. No, really.

When we first heard about his gargantuan model collection we quite literally had our socks blown off (reward offered for their return). We managed to drag Peter out of his fortified lair, a secret vault dedicated to hobbies that he’s had built beneath his house, and ask him a few questions in return for a jar of what we told him was manufactured sunlight.

So, Peter, you’re clearly obsessed. Tell us a little bit about your addiction.

What addiction ? Oh, you mean my hobby…

It all started when a friend of mine discovered Warhammer way back in the nineties. He was very into the gaming aspect, but didn’t know the front from the back on a paintbrush. I had done some ‘modelism’, in the form of WW II 1/35 scale kits, and offered to give painting these lead guys a go. After having done a unit of my friend’s Skeletons I was hooked, and picked up an army of my own (High Elves) shortly after to paint.

Since the beginning I have been more interested in the collecting and painting side than in the actual gaming side. (Wait, it’s actually possible to do more than just game in this hobby? No one told me! –Ed.) From this initial spark, my collection has grown…

At first I wanted to collect Dark Elves, because when playing against others our combined Undead/High Elf force raised more than a few eyebrows; and Dark Elves were at the time just High Elves painted…darker…

The idea to own all the Elven races struck, but then 5th edition came out, so I had all these cool knights all of a sudden (Brets). Later Tomb Kings were released, and then Lizardmen, and then Ogres, and then…well, let’s just say it’s always possible to find an excuse for a new army! Of course there’s a few other game systems that I’ve been introduced to through my club, like Legends of the High Seas, Uncharted Seas (by Spartan Games), Mordheim, DBA, Wings of War, Inquisitor, Armies of

Name: Peter Van Lijsebetten Age: 38 Location: St.-Niklaas, Belgium Favourite army: Empire Favourite non-wargaming activity: I have 3 kids. Draw your own conclusions.

Soup of choice: Vegetable soup. With meatballs.

Arcana, and many, many more. The only downside to this is that there are so many models and good systems, and so little time to spend on all of them.

My lord, when do you have time to scratch yourself!

Where do you see all of this going?

Well, I’m counting on the value of my collection ever increasing, much as it did for my old Magic the Gathering collection… I have never dared calculate how much my hobby has cost me over the years, but it must be quite a bundle. Where all this will eventually lead, I don’t know, however I have a pretty good idea…

Being in this hobby brought me into contact with www.warhammer-empire.com, an internet site where I’m a moderator on the forums. There are one or two guys over there that have collections that dwarf mine, and are about twenty years older than me. So yeah, ask me again in twenty years.

“From day one my rule has been strict: Not painted does not make the gaming table. Of course, since my friend didn’t paint that meant I was always painting two armies at once! Fortunately Skeletons don’t take long. On the other hand I refused to paint zombies, so my friend’s army was the only one without them for a very long time…”

These Ogre Maneaters are just some of the hundreds of unique figures in Peter’s collection.

UNSEEN LERKER

What are your favourite pieces in your collection?

The answer to that one is easy and ever-changing: the last one I finished. But apart from that, it’s those models that took extra effort to make such as my Karl-Franz on dragon conversion, my War Altar, my Ogre butchers, the old Eltharion on Griffon model, the Maneater unit for my Empire army, my converted Liche Priests, the Old Vlad and Isabella Von Carstein… The list really is endless. Of course the older models are not painted as well as the newer ones (although my skills are limited I did improve over the years), but that doesn’t necessarily mean they lost their attraction to me…

“As I’ve mentioned before, I am a member of www. warhammer-empire.com. Having seen miniature exchanges on other forums I wanted to introduce the concept to the generals of the Empire as well. So I did, and with great success. For those who don’t know the concept, it is like this: you enter in the exchange, giving your details to one central person (me, in our case). When all the entrants are known, they get paired with a sender and a receiver.

Subsequently, you convert and/or paint one mini, which you then send to your receiver. In exchange your sender sends you one, and so on. The fun part is that nobody knows their sender before actually getting the mini, so you could be due a mini from a great painter while being mediocre yourself, but also the other way round. For two years in a row, I have now run this event at w-e.com, but for the second edition, some of the participants have surprised me: instead of painting one model they painted

two – one for their receiver and one for me. They secretly sent these models to a forum member living close by, who presented me with the completed unit (plus a stunning accompanying terrain piece). This unit, consisting of miniatures from all over the world, is a personification of the participating forum members in the Warhammer community, and together they form a unit of free company.

This particular unit is a great source of joy for me, since it symbolizes how people can, despite cultural differences, find a common ground on which to selflessly cooperate. It also reminds me that the work I put into the website is appreciated by many, which in itself is a reward.”

Get Some Facts Into Ya Peter Van Lijsebetten… …owns a total of EIGHT painted Warhammer armies, ranging from between 2500 to 10000 points each. He also owns twice that amount in unpainted figures. … also owns and plays over a dozen other games systems in addition to Warhammer, and is the founder, treasurer and administrator of the largest gaming club in his hometown. …is an internet demi-god as a moderator on www.warhammer-empire.com.

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WIN STUFF!

We love giving stuff away – especially shiny stuff.

And this month it’s not just the magazine that got shinier, but our prizes as well!

Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game Core Set and The Skavenblight Expansion (provided by OG Games – as reviewed on page 40 & 41 by the Test Dummies!)

More dice! Another ten of our custom UL dice to one lucky reader. (Yes, we’re really trying to get rid of them…)

A one-of-a-kind Unseen Lerker shirt!

Remember that only Unseen Lerker subscribers get entered into this draw. We’ll announce the competition winners in the next issue, so subscribe for your chance to win!

UNSEEN LERKER

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Reader Tobias Hallberg with UL Issue 1 at Olsbrostenen, FalkĂśping, Sweden.

Unseen Lerker Around The World 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!

The Eternal Waaagh!

ARMY SHOWCASE Kim Otto Nielsen

Dogs in the moonlight – either Dire Wolves or Wolf Riders depending on your mood.

“The idea for the army was more of an accident than inspiration.”

Hi Kim, nice horde. Tell us exactly what you’ve got going on there?

Well, it’s an undead Orcs and Goblins army. It started out as Vampires and Orcs and Goblins, but I’ve acquired enough Pump Wagons to expand it into Tomb Kings when I get the urge to paint red again. It’s pretty easy to see what most of the things are, since I’ve been really consistent in my choice of what is what. Skeletal guys are Skeletons, Night Goblins are Zombies, Savage Orcs are Ghouls, etc.

The idea for the army was more accident than inspiration, many years ago I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to start a competitive army (VC) or a fun one (O&G). So I decided to do a 2-in-1.

I started building the army around half a year before the Storm of Chaos came out – rumours of a Carstein-focused list sounded perfect for my idea. I converted a lot of stuff, but never got round to finishing the army because I couldn’t really get some of the things to come out as I wanted them. There were two things that made me drop the project in the

Name: Kim Otto Nielsen Age: 50 Location: Copenhagen Favourite army: The Eternal Waaagh!

Favourite colour to paint: My homemade ‘Skellie Brown’ Basecoat black or white?

Black! And undercoat by hand – always!

Soup of choice: Thai Tom Yum Goong

end: converting the Black Knights (ugh) and realising that all my Orcs/Skeletons needed different bases every time I changed armies.

Gork has stomped on all of Kim’s units – the proof is in the pudding, er, basing!

UNSEEN LERKER

Boar Boyz / Black Knights burst through a wall – nothing can stop this charge!

How much time have you spent on the army?

What’s your favourite aspect of the army?

To date, I would have to guestimate around 900 hours.

No, that’s not a typo! To do what I really want in the army, doing all the stuff that I need for both VC, O&G and TK, I’d have to use between 5-700 more. So that’s not going to happen anytime soon! I’ve got a unit of Black Ors for Grave/Tomb Guard ready for paint, but at an estimate of 8 hours per model painting mostly red armour, that’s been put aside. All this sounds like a lot of hours, but it never felt like that. When I started playing Warhammer just after 6th edition came out, I completely stopped computer games. I started lying on the sofa at night painting and converting. My wife approves, since she has the other sofa which means we actually spend lots of time together. Also, I’ve become quite good at hearing movies rather than seeing them since my sofa doesn’t have a very good angle on the TV!

Tough question - there’s lots of little details I’m especially happy about. Overall I’m really pleased with the high bases. Almost all the units have had Gork stamp on them, so there’s a footprint on the bases. I have to admit that I blatantly stole the idea from Simon Holm, a Dane living in Sweden, after I saw his O&G at a Giant Fanatic. Also, since most VC armies tend to come out a little dull I wanted something to catch the eye, so I chose to make all the metals in the army red. It worked out really well, even though everybody told me that red armour was just so oldschool and ugly! A few people even told me that it would ruin the army; they’ve all changed their minds now that they’ve seen the finished product.

“When I’m working on a project I only do the same amount of planning as everyone else does before a tournament, and then have to go into a painting frenzy the week before. Stress is a good motivator!”

What was the trickiest bit to get right?

The Black Knights! I knew from the start that I needed to make some undead boars and tried hard to find something to make the boar skulls from. In the end I used a plastic bannertop, cut up, glued together and greenstuffed. I’m not entirely satisfied with it, but it works. When it came to the mounts’ bodies it was nearly impossible to use horse skeletons and get it anatomically right. A friend suggested just cutting them down since no one would be able to tell the difference. I can still tell, but it worked out nicely.

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Varghulf-Spider and various smelly characters.

Have you created any other whacky themed armies and/or do you have plans for more?

Probably my most well known army are my Samurats – a Skaven army completed converted to emulate a horde of Samurai rats! That was my first major attempt at an army. Took ages modeling samurai armour on all those rats. Unfortunately I didn’t really enjoy painting at the time, so the paintjob is really bad. Still love the army though. As for projects on the go…I’ve always got something that I’m fiddling around with. I was doing a fully converted Beastmen army, but the new book has turned me off it somewhat and I’m instead pursuing my other idea of a High Elf/Dark Elf army where every model has a sea dragon cloak. Again, a lot of work but hopefully the end result will be worth it.

Pump Wagons unite to form Kim’s first Tomb King chariot unit!

“I tend to create my armies sometimes up to ten years at a time. The term ‘work in progress’ really doesn’t illustrate my methodology!”

UNSEEN LERKER

Video Game Review

Bayonetta

Zach Kin Wilde

Book Review

American Gods Author: Neil Gaiman

Chris Fitzsimmons

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To avoid disappointment, I’ll start off by saying: this game is awful!

Now, I don’t mind a bit of sexy slipped into games. It obviously draws a larger crowd. But Bayonetta takes it one step too far – and then goes another five steps. The exaggeration of the already-exaggerated womanly features takes it away from being a game to more of an irksome voyeuristic exercise. Then when they decided to work on the gameplay, they seemed to make it up as they went along. Without a defined genre for Bayonetta, gameplay clashes between shoot-em-up, point-and-click and adventure-platformer, inconsistently mixing world and character designs.

their heads. Then they explode in a rain of blood, bones, guts, and shiny golden rings to collect for upgrades.

The cut-scenes throw together nonpairing styles of storytelling (full animation, animated stills with voice-over, film strip montage).

At first, you are thrust into a hugely cinematic battle.You fight countless enemies on a broken clock tower that is falling off a cliff – only, the cliff seems higher than Mt Everest, exhausting you with endless button-mashing.

Theme songs are an important part of any game. After ten minutes of the second stage, you’re gagging on the cover version of a lightweight 1950s pop song; a recurring nightmare that is only occasionally interrupted by a deafening classical choir of biblical proportions.

The combat is so stuffed with effects that you and any other character around you disappear in the sparks of the brawl. The high rating suggests a fairly bloody game, but when enemies fall, stars appear above

Bayonetta is by far the worst game I have played. I felt so fun-deprived that I didn’t have the stomach to complete it. I am utterly baffled as to why this game is so popular.

American Gods is the best book I have read for several years. If you’ve not read it yet and that’s enough of a recommendation for you, then read no further. Put down this copy of Unseen Lerker (sorry boss!) and go find a copy of it. Seriously.

However, if you need further convincing of its genius, I should tell you that the book relates the tale of Shadow, a recently released felon, who enters the employ of Mr Wednesday.What starts out as a road trip, quickly becomes a trip of a very different kind. Shadow becomes embroiled in a battle for the spiritual real estate of the USA. In a conflict between the old gods, the pantheon of the greeks, the norse and the ancient Egyptians, and the new gods of television, consumerism and mass media he learns his life has far more meaning than he could ever have dreamt.

worshipping the female form both delights and revolts.

This is an epic book, and focuses not only on Shadow’s journey but the lives of other characters, both past and present.

These sections are some of the best parts of the book, such as the Ifrit cab-driver, or a prostitute whose twisted take on

One of Gaiman’s greatest achievements in this book, apart from the story itself, is its pacing. The true nature of the story creeps up on the reader in the same way as it does on Shadow, it’s not until a full third of the way into it that its fantastical nature s fully revealed. It just keeps feeding you bread crumbs until you’re fully absorbed, before slapping you round the chops with the reveal.

Read this book if you like fantasy novels.

Read it if you like road stories. Read it if you like thrillers. Above all, read it because American Gods is a damn fine example of the literary art, engrossing, surprising and unique.

The Bold And The Beautiful A tomb kings Vs OrCS & goBLins Warhammer battle report

One of the goals we have here at Unseen Lerker is not only to bring you an entertaining magazine every other month, but to also take you places on the global gaming scene that you might not have a chance to go yourself.

result of the tougher than normal armies used at this tournament, or perhaps in preparation for it, many of the tournaments in Sweden have abandoned the old ways of heavy soft scores and fluffy bunny armies in favour of a more cutthroat way of warfare.

This issue we’ve skied, shivering and slushed our way to the winter-permeated realm of Sweden. In this ancient land of stunning lasses,Viking heritage, great value home product retail stores, and people named Björn, the Warhammer gaming environment has undergone more of an upheaval in the last few years than other countries’ have in a decade. Many attribute this change in climate (and not a word about the polar bears please – they’re fine) to the evergrowing European Team Championships, in which the Swedish team have upped their game year after year and are now even threatening to topple the other ‘safe bet’ countries from their podium positions. As a

For this issue’s battle report, we decided to rope in two of Sweden’s best: David Johansson and Jacob Scott. Both players have been around long enough to notice the change and, like the polar bears, they have merely flowed along with it and adapted to their new surroundings. Both players have been a part of the Swedish ETC team in the past three years, and for this game we asked them not to take their armies ‘to the hilt’. Let us remember Sweden as it once was – a peaceful, caring place, where people could browse the isles of Ikea at ease while listening to the latest Abba hit.

Well, readers, here it is. The name of the game is fun!

Enjoy.

UNSEEN LERKER

JACOB SCOTT TOMB KINGS Jacob: The Tomb Kings army that I play is pretty conventional, especially with regards to magic items for characters. The Tomb King is equipped with the Cloak of the Dunes, Collar of Shapesh and Flail of Skulls, a setup that I almost always play with. He is mobile and flexible, can support troops who have come a long way down the field of play, and he is ideally suited to dealing with all kinds of monsters and characters. The Tomb Prince in chariot with flail and ‘Flamin Wheels’ upgrade is also not particularly surprising, as he helps with the extra punch in one of the chariot units – the extra impact hits also helps a great deal if he needs to solo-charge anything. His magic capabilities, while not earth-shattering, are especially important much later in the battle, when I tend to start attacking. This means that my first few turns tend to largely be spent firing the Catapult and zooming around with the Carrion. The two Liche Priests, again with fairly standard kit, help with all these plans and are pretty much essential to the army working at all.

I’ve always played the Tomb Kings as an aggressive force with three chariot units. I prefer this setup over the more defensive archer blocks, though both are effective.

Simply, I just want to have fun in the movement phase!

The real ‘fulcrum’ of the army is the 20 Tomb Guard and their attendant bunker of 10 Skeleton Archers where both my Liche Priests tend to hang out. Next on the roster are four Carrion. Five would be much better of course, for crossfire and table quarter reasons, but I had to cut the extra bird in order to get all the chariots and their banners into the army (which looks better on paper after all!). Two Tomb Scorpions more or less picked themselves – they’re a bit random and unreliable when tunnelling, but when they do come up wow do they pack a wallop! For my rares I chose the everreliable Screaming Skull Catapult and my Genie/Bone Giant (voiced by Robin Williams, of course). The big fellow isn’t lauded as being great by a lot of Tomb Kings players, but not only is he my favourite model in the army but he’s also quite handy out on the flanks due to his free pivots, small base size, and terror.

Jacob’s tomb kings 2250pts Tomb King – 263 (Light Armour, Flail of Skulls, Collar of Shapesh, Cloak of the Dunes) Liche Priest – 148 (Skeleton Steed, Dispel Scroll)

4 Skeleton Chariots – 180 (Standard) 5 Skeleton Light – 70 Horsemen 10 Skeleton Warriors – 80 (bows)

Liche Priest – 173 (Skeleton Steed, Dispel Scroll, Hieratic Jar)

20 Tomb Guard – 264 (Standard, Champion)

Tomb Prince – =176 (Chariot, Flail, Light Armour, Shield, Chariot of Fire)

Tomb scorpion – 85

3 Skeleton Chariots – 120

Bone Giant – 220

4 Skeleton Chariots – 180 (Standard)

Screaming Skull Catapult – 110p (Skulls of the Foe)

4 Carrions – 96

Tomb scorpion – 85

I wrote the list without any idea of what David was going to bring to the table. He taunted me for a few days with the prospect of using his Daemons, which he tends to do very well with, but when the curtain was drawn back he’d brought his old favourite the Orcs.

Despite being a favourable matchup for me, I had to be wary of the Wyvern as well as his seven (!) dispel dice.

I thought I could probably get an advantage early on by allowing the Wyvern some breathing room from the Catapult – but not so that his troops could still benefit from his leadership. For the rest I expected to play fairly defensively, but since that meant David’s units had to come to me, opening up potential flanks for the Bone Giant and Chariots to pounce on, I was kind of okay with that. And if that plan didn’t work or it all went to heck in a handbasket, well... we’d have to improvise!

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The Bold And The Beautiful: tomb kings Vs orcs & goblins

David Johansson ORCS & Goblins David: I’ll admit I was tempted to play Daemons for this game. Well, no, actually, I wasn’t. I’ve been playing Daemons in most of my competitive games for almost a year now, including at the ETC and at the Swedish Champions League, and while they are extremely competitive, for this special occasion I decided to return to my most beloved army: the Greenskins.

When choosing my list, I tried to include a variety of the models in my collection as well as stuff that I thought might give Jacob some headaches on the table. Fortunately the Orcs and Goblins army is full of potential headaches (and not just for your opponent!) and I went about selecting my list with a special blend of trepidation and glee…

First and foremost, I just had to include my Black Orc Warboss and his Wyvern. With Ulag’s Akkrit Axe, the ‘Ead Kicking Boots, the Big Boss Hat, and the Enchanted Shield, he was ready to take on any of the units that Jacob could throw at me, including a fully kitted Tomb King. In order to at least contain Jacob’s magic phase, as is essential against Tomb Kings, I went for two level 2 Shamans – an Orc and a Goblin – as well as a Black Orc BSB with the Spirit Totem for some bonus dispel dice. Hopefully this will prove adequate for the first few turns until my choppy units can get into his wizards and make bread from their bones (literally).

For the rest I decided on a fairly solid mix of troops, with two large Orc blocks, two mobs of Night Goblins with two Fanatics apiece and some frenzied Savage Orcs to hide the characters in initially (no one likes Ld6-7 panic tests from a certain Catapult…). For special units I went for two Rock Lobbas and a Spear Chukka, to worry the inevitable chariot units and Bone Giant as well as keeping Jacob’s characters on their toes. The final addition was a tough-as-nails unit of Black Orcs toting the Banner of Butchery, who are worth taking for the uber models alone, never mind the awesome damage potential.

David’s Orcs & Goblins 2248pts Black Orc Warboss – 451 (Ulag´s Akkrit Axe, Enchanted Shield, Warboss Um´s Best Big Boss At, Bigged´s ed Kicking Boots, Wyvern)

20 Night Goblins – 114 (Musician, Boss, 2 Fanatics)

Black Orc Big boss – 180 (Mork’s Spirit Totem, Boar)

5 Goblin Wolf Riders – 71 (Musician, Spears)

Goblin Shaman – 115 (Level 2, Dispel Scroll)

5 Goblin Wolf Riders – 71 (Musician, Spears)

Orc Shaman – 120 (Level 2, Nibbla´s Itty Ring)

12 Black Orcs – 231 (Shields, Boss, Musician, Standard, Nogg´s Banner of Butchery)

18 Savage Big ´Uns – 282 (Boss, Standard, Musician) 24 Orc Boyz – 174 (Shields, Standard, Musician, Boss)

20 Night Goblins – 114 (Musician, Boss, 2 Fanatics)

Rock Lobber – 70 Rock Lobber – 70 Spear Chukka – 35

20 Orc Boyz – 150 (Shields, Standard, Musician, Boss)

Overall I thought I’d picked quite a balanced army, which would hopefully give us a few interesting scenarios during the game as well as being fun to use.

Winning tends to be something that lurks (“lerks!”

–Ed.) in the back of one’s mind when playing Greenskins anyway, so I’d just have to say my prayers to Mork and Gork and hope for the best! As a great man once said: waaagh!

UNSEEN LERKER

The Setup was already trying to lull his opponent into a false sense of security... From here the Tomb Kings adapted what Jacob assures us is a fairly standard deployment, with the infantry, characters and Catapult in the centre and the chariot units, Carrion and Bone Giant waiting in the wings. On the north side of the battlefield, David had been given the difficult choice between coming up the centre of the battlefield (and risking his Wyvern against the Catapult) or trying for a more extreme flanking manoeuvre around the central rocks. In the end he compromised, sending the Wyvern around the rocks to hide from the Catapult and the bulk of his army ‘up the guts’ to start engaging the Tomb Kings ASAWP (as soon as waaaghing possible).

Tomb Kings:

MAGIC Orcs & Goblins:

Tomb King Incantations of Smiting and Urgency Tomb Prince Incantations of Smiting and Urgency Before the battle David and Jacob decided to have a brief discussion about how they were going to treat each terrain piece for the game. There were two hills and one forest on the table, the rules for which were all fairly straightforward, but when it came to the big chaosy ruins in the middle and the fort knox-like structure on the northern side of the battlefield, they decided to rule both pieces as impassable terrain that blocked line of sight. In the case of the former it was for the simple reason that it would be impossible to move any figures through it; in the latter’s because neither player was a big fan of the building rules in the rulebook (also, it didn’t seem to have any doors...).

With that out of the way, the roll for table sides was made. Jacob won the roll, and chose the southern side of the battlefield even though he felt the firing arcs for his Catapult would be slightly more limited there.

Either he had a cunning plan to get around this or he

Liche Priests Incantations of Smiting, Urgency, Summoning, and Vengeance

Orc Shaman Gaze of Gork, Eadbutt Goblin Shaman Gork’ll Fix It, Hand of Gork

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Turn 1

The Tomb Kings’ won the roll for the first turn, and with on command from their magic carpet riding leader, they stuttered forward in true relentless undead fashion. With no ability to march, the advance seemed rather slow, but Jacob assured us that the army gets faster as the game goes along. In the magic phase, all of the characters concentrated on getting the Screaming Skull Catapult to fire a free shot. David did well to stop the attempts at first, matching the rolls dice for dice, but when the Hierophant rolled a 10 the infernal machine cranked into action. A direct hit on the Black Orcs saw six of the unit die, but the survivors shakily passed their panic test. In the shooting phase the Catapult tried to repeat its performance, but the crew were obviously too giddy with their success in the Magic phase and the shot sailed wide, annihilating a nearby Greenpeace protest but not harming anyone important.

In response, David’s first turn began with checking for animosity. With both his Shamans and BSB sheltering in the Savage Orcs to avoid the Catapult’s panic effect, David really didn’t want to roll a 1 for them. Fortunately he didn’t, though the west-most unit of Orcs did and

Jacob: “Boo-yah!”

squabbled, as did the central Night Goblins. The Night Goblin unit on the far eastern flank however surged an eager 5” forward and with a further move they released their pair of Fanatics at the closest unit of Tomb Kings chariots. Both spinning loons careened the required distance, and with some impressive to-wound rolls removed two of the enemy with their balls and chains!

The rest of the movement phase was fairly arbitrary, with the Wolf Riders scooting here and there, the infantry advancing in semi-coherent fashion, and the Wyvern flying menacingly a full 20” forward. In the magic phase, Jacob elected not to dispel the Itty Ring which put a further wound on the crippled chariot unit, on the grounds that he was just going to retreat them and heal them next turn anyway. This plan was then blown completely out of the water when David cunningly cast Hand of Gork on one of his wayward Fanatics, sending it careening straight back through the damaged chariots and wiping out the survivors with a mighty 6 hits and 5 wounds! With this screening unit now gone David’s Rock Lobba could draw a bead on the Tomb Prince’s unit, and David returned Jacob’s favour with a perfect guess and then a ‘hit’ on the scatter dice. Sadly it would seem that the Goblins accidentally fired a pile of manure instead of a rock, and rolled a 1 to wound the Prince’s chariot, which left him smelly and surprised but very much, well, alive. Kind of.

UNSEEN LERKER

Turn 2 Jacob began his second turn by checking to see if either of his burrowing Scorpions turned up. Neither emerged however, allegedly biding their time for the opportune moment to strike. With the loss of his most central chariot unit, Jacob had to reposition slightly. The Tomb Prince’s unit shuffled to the side, while the Carrion prepared to make a run at the Goblin war machines – they wouldn’t keep rolling 1s forever. The unit of 3 chariots sidled around the terrain and presented themselves to the Wyvern. This surely would lead to their destruction, but by charging them the Warboss would be bringing himself into the open as well as being angled to face away from the heart of the action. Speaking of which, Jacob had callously sent forward his unit of Light Horsemen to draw David’s frenzied Savage Orcs into a trap. The Savage Orcs would be forced to charge them and then overrun, whereupon the waiting Tomb Guard (with Tomb King) would charge them in the flank.

Jacob: “I have you just where I want you...”

David: “That’s what you say to all the boys.”

Magic saw the Greenskins once more unable to prevent the Undead from having their way, and the Carrion were magically propelled into charging the Rock Lobba.

This triggered the second batch of Fanatics nearby, though obviously this lot weren’t quite as enthused as their colleagues and only took 1 wound from the undead birds as they swooped past. The Catapult continued with its sniper-like accuracy and got a perfect hit on the centre of the squabbling Orc unit, causing them to panic and flee off the table. On their way they ran through the second Rock Lobba, causing it to also flee, while in the combat phase the other Rock Lobba crew couldn’t stand against the Carrion and were also run off. A big turn for the Tomb Kings...

Waaagh! was the order of the day, as David tried a very sneaky manoeuvre to give his Wyvern line of sight to the flank of Jacob’s archer unit containing both Liche Priests – a game-changing charge. Due to the proximity of both the rocky terrain and the enemy chariots he needed to roll exactly a 5 on his 1D6” move for it to work. He called for a blessing from the great green gods... Mork and Gork were obviously out playing badminton and didn’t hear his cries however, and the Wyvern fell short. The Savage Orcs had no such problem, careening into the Skeleton Light Cavalry with glee. David also sent a unit of Wolf Riders into the flank, for reasons which only became clear in the combat phase... The rest of the Orcs and Goblins’ turn was fairly uneventful, since between animosity and the marchblocking Carrion the remaining units were struggling to get in on the action in time. The Savage Orcs and the Wyvern (now leering menacingly in the middle of the Tomb Kings army) would have to go it alone. In combat the Light Horsemen were expectedly annihilated, with the Savage Orcs overrunning. This left the Wolf Riders to also overrun – straight past the back of the Savage Orcs and into the front of the Tomb Guard – pinning them in place!

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Turn 3

Despite Jacob’s plan looking like it could be scuppered, and with the Wyvern ready to crash into the flank of the Tomb Guard next turn, he coolly took stock of the situation and repositioned his units as best he could to deal with the incoming threats. The Tomb Prince’s chariots, who until now had had nothing better to do than shoot at stray Fanatics, zoomed up onto the hill to face the Wyvern, while the Bone Giant also lumbered up over the rise to face the monster’s flank. The Liche Priests urged their bodyguards out of the way and prepared for the magic phase. The Tomb Prince and King both did their utmost to move the chariots into combat, but their attempts with smothered with a flurry of dispel dice. The first Liche Priest also tried but was silenced by the last of the dice. The Hierophant, thinking he had succeeded, began to chant, but David whipped out his Dispel Scroll before Jacob had even rolled the dice. But then Jacob grinned – and used the Hieratic Jar! The chariots smashed into the Wyvern.

In the shooting phase the Catapult continued its stellar run by killing four of the east-flank Night Goblins and panicking the rest off the table. The Black Orcs began to feel very alone... In combat, the chariot charge ended up backfiring horribly. Despite having a banner and outnumber plus a bunch of impact hits, they only did one wound and suffer six in return – before combat resolution! After the dust cleared only the Prince and one other chariot remained. Nearby, David was relying on

all of his Wolf Riders to be killed in combat so that the Tomb Guard wouldn’t get a pursuit move into the flank of the Savage Orcs. The Wolf Riders, oblivious too this plan, proceeded to kill two Tomb Guard on the charge!

David: “What are you doing, you fools!? You’re supposed to die!”

Jacob then managed to miss almost all of his return attacks, with the Tomb King only killing three out of the four remaining Wolf Riders. The subsequent pursuit move saw the Tomb Guard hit the flank of the Savage Orcs. Uh-oh!

With his two most important units locked in combat, there was little David could actually do. His remaining units – namely the Black Orcs – rushed to aid their brethren, but weren’t set to arrive for at least another turn.

Combat this turn favoured the Orcs in both instances.

In the Wyvern fight, the Warboss and his pet managed to completely destroy the Tomb Prince’s chariot, and after combat resolution only the Prince himself still stood on one wound remaining. In the other fight, some massive “whiffage” (or rubber flail syndrome, as Jacob calls it) saw the Savage Orcs only lose combat by one against the Tomb Guard. Crucially though they still outnumbered the undead so were testing on Ld8 instead of Insane Courage. They passed the test with ease.

UNSEEN LERKER

Turn 4 Things began with a pop, a clack and a scuttle as one of Jacob’s Tomb Scorpions finally arrived. It charged the flank of the remaining Wolf Riders, who were loitering nearby, but proceeded to miss all four attacks! No one really seemed to notice though – all the action was in the middle.

David’s turn, and all he could do was continue to hope to hold until the Black Orcs arrived. One more turn and they’d be there... In his magic phase he threw three of his dice at Gork’ll Fix It, directed at the Tomb Guard, and this time it was Jacob’s turn to use a Dispel Scroll.

This proved wise, as in the combat this turn the Tomb Guard lopped off the Savage Orc champion’s head with a killing blow, though the King was still having difficulty scratching the Orc BSB. When all was said and done the Orcs had lost combat – but still outnumber the Tomb Guard by one model! They once more passed their break test.

The Wyvern and the Warboss decided that the Bone Giant was the biggest threat to their longevity, and put all of their attacks against him, scoring five wounds in total. Despite the awesome strength of the attacks, Jacob went all to make all five armour saves. The Bone Giant then pummelled the Wyvern into the ground. The Orc Warboss, not feeling so brave without his mount, legged it and was run down by the pursuing fear causers.

With the Prince’s chariot unit now destroyed, this left room for the Bone Giant to get into combat by charging the flank of the Wyvern. David’s magic defence was suffering now too (the Spirit Totem being useless with the Savage Orcs currently rank bonusless), which allowed the unit of 3 chariots, previously little more than a glorified speedbump, to careen into the Wyvern’s rear as well. The rest of the magic was concentrated on healing up the Tomb Guard to try and regain that all important outnumbering bonus against the Savage Orcs.

Once there were more undead than orcsies, David’s main unit would be fleeing straight into that piece of impassable terrain...

The Orc BSB, suddenly emboldened now that the Tomb King’s flail was only strength 5, accepted a challenge from his royal highness and proceeded to put two wounds on the mummy! The King, obviously surprised at this turn of events, failed to do anything in return, and could only watch in horror as the Savage Orcs cut down two of his Tomb Guard as well, actually managing to draw the combat! In the Wyvern fight the Tomb Prince knew his luck had run out, and managed to inflict another wound to the Wyvern (leaving it on 3) before being eaten. The Warboss held firm despite having enemies in his flank and rear.

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Turn 5

All of this culminated into a very rude shock for the Black Orcs, who had been just about to deliver a decisive charge but now found themselves being borne down upon by three untouched chariots and a Bone Giant!

Despite passing their fear and terror tests, Orcish courage was no match for the scything wheels and smashing blows of the enemy, and the Orc elites perished.

Elsewhere, completely forgotten by the rest of the battle, the valiant Spear Chukka crew had given up trying to shoot things and were busy fending off the Carrion. Next to them, the unit of Orcs who were trying to come into the game suffered a direct hit from the Skull Catapult, turned tail, and fled straight through the combat between the Carrion and Chukka crew, leapfrogging off the board.

In the fight everyone was waiting for, the Savage Orcs continued to hold out. The challenge between the BSB and the Tomb King had come to a complete standstill, while the lesser minions traded blows tit for tat. The Savage Orcs lost combat by two this time, but a quick count revealed that they once again had the outnumber bonus, meaning they were testing on a 6 with a re-roll...

The first roll of the dice produced an 11! Not good!

The re-roll... a 6! This wasn’t over yet!

The second Tomb Scorpion turned up, just in time to see its comrade finish off the Wolf Riders it was fighting. Both then turned to face the final unit of Night Goblins nearby.

In combat, the Savage Orcs continued to fight like demons, making a flurry of 6+ ward saves to deflect the incoming attacks and then killing enough Tomb Guard to draw the combat once again!

David turned his Night Goblins to face the incoming Scorpions, while the stalwart Speak Chukka crew were finally run off by the Carrion.

Jacob: “These guys are really starting to annoy me...”

UNSEEN LERKER

Turn 6 With one Tomb Scorpion looking like it was out of range, and the other one not fancying its chances against a static +4 combat resolution with only 4 attacks, Jacob declined the charge on the Night Goblins.

This turned out to be a sensible move, since with its final shot of the game the Screaming Skull Catapult scored its fifth consecutive ‘hit’ result, killed nine Night Goblins, and panicked the remainder. The Scorpions, who were now busy trying to pinch the hat off a passing Fanatic without getting hit, breathed a sigh of relief.

That same Fanatic – who had earlier taken out one of Jacob’s chariot units almost single-balledly – tripped on his own shoelaces, stumbled, righted himself, and then swung a massive 11” towards the remaining 3 chariots who had just gone through the Black Orcs.

A great cascade of bone, noise and metal later and the triumphant Goblin emerged on the other side of the unit, just short of the Bone Giant, having added yet another chariot to his tally.

The combat began with the Orc BSB having run out of steam and failing to harm the Tomb King. The King, in return, finally found the right end of his flail and clocked his adversary for a wound. David cheekily made the armour save. The Orc’s boar mount then reared up and gored the Tomb King for a wound! The Collar of Shapesh deflected it, and a Tomb Guardsman nearby fell instead, but Jacob was sweating. The Tomb Guard also lost one of their number to the Savage Orcs’ attacks, while failing to harm the enemy in return. This gave the Tomb Kings a combat resolution score of 5 against the Greenskins’ 4... and this time the Tomb Guard had outnumber.

Which doesn’t matter of course, when you roll Insane Courage like David did!

Then came the combat phase everyone was waiting for.

The Savage Orcs had held out, against the odds, for no less than six combat phases. Apart from a certain very tired Fanatic they were now the only Greenskins left on the table. The question was – could they hold out one more turn?

RESULT Tomb Kings: 1869VP – Orcs & Goblins: 699VP Solid Victory to the Tomb Kings

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AFTER BATTLE THOUGHTS Jacob: Even compared the amount of damage that the Catapult normally does during a game, it was just incredible this time!

Alone it managed to run off both units of Night Goblins, both Orc blocks, a Rock Lobba, and splat half a unit of Black Orcs.

That was more than half the models in David’s army, and without those units he was really struggling to threaten me in enough places at once. Tomb Kings love being able to just react to one threat at a time. Moreover, the panic threat alone from the Catapult forced David to deploy his three characters in the Savage Orc block from the get go, which as you saw led to a rather ‘interesting’ situation in the centre of the board. I really thought I would have broken that unit with a full unit of Tomb Guard and Tomb King in the flank, but the dice just weren’t having it and David got away with his little mistake.

Still, considering that unit was the only thing in his army that survived, I can’t really complain too much.

There were a few unexpected things that happened during the game – like losing a whole unit of chariots in the first turn, and breaking the Orc Warboss with all my ‘underling’ units once my shock troops had been pulverised – but overall I would definitely say that most of the weird situations ended up favouring the Tomb Kings. All’s well that ends well, I guess! What was it I was saying about improvisation?

David: Well, I always knew this was going to be a tough game. The Orcs and Goblins’ weaknesses really are highlighted when playing against an immune to psychology army, just for the fact that you’re the only one taking tests! Despite all that I thought there were a couple of instances where the game could have turned, like my BSB managing to almost kill the Tomb King in a challenge and the Wyvern *just* dying before he could finish off his attackers. I still can’t believe Jacob made five 5+ armour saves for his Bone Giant in that round...

The Skull Catapult was always going to be my biggest problem in this game, and it really showed. All it has to do is take one unit out and then the Tomb Kings had a gap in my line to infiltrate. From there it tends to collapse quicker than a house of cards in a hurricane.

With Jacob’s edge in the magic phase he could really afford to play reactively, which the Tomb Kings do better than almost any other army.

In retrospect I really wish I’d branched off the beaten track and taken Shagga’s Screaming Sword on my general.

Tomb Kings tend to cluster their characters very much, and the extra attacks and strength would have been really useful. Also, I think I would have preferred my Warboss on a boar instead of the Wyvern, which would have allowed him to deploy with the bulk of the troops and provide his leadership from the start rather than sneaking up the flank and hiding from the Catapult.

Oh well, lessons learned and all that. I think it’s a pretty hard matchup for the Orcies (most are these days), but we still had a very enjoyable game, and that’s what counts for me at the end of the day.

Unit Of The Match: Screaming Skull Catapult with Skulls of the Foe Deploy this deadly war machine in a solid position and watch as it rains death onto your enemies. You can even fire it twice per turn by using the Incantation of Smiting!

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Isaac “Bobo” Alexander

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With James Cameron’s new hit, Avatar, being lauded as one of the most revolutionary films in existence, it would be inappropriate not to review it. Since its release in December 2009 it’s become the highest grossing film in history with a box office taking of over $2 billion. But is Avatar really as good as it says on the tin?

Well, it really depends what you want from your movie watching experience.

For me this film is really let down by its cardboard cut-out storyline and a script that could have been written by Barney the Dinosaur. I want interesting dialogue, plot twists and unexpected things from the characters. Avatar’s plotline can be guessed from the word go, but most people don’t mind this as much as I do so it’s probably not an issue.

Plot aside, the major pedestals from which this film shouts are the astounding CGI skins and accompanying 3D technology which they are saying you should be

watching the film with. And, in all fairness, the film looks pretty darn amazing. For the most part it doesn’t really “leap” off the screen at you, but it definitely has a more real feel to it than your normal movie. Lingering ash floats in your face, bullets explode around you - and let’s not even talk about diving off cliffs!

I think Avatar is certainly a unique film.

I think it’s a successful film. And yes, I’ll admit that it’s definitely a revolutionary film in terms of what they’ve done with the CGI and 3D animation.

The script is still bollocks.

Ladies, gentlemen and the rest of you readers out there, it’s time for a rant! So, since the rant from last issue was about motor cycles, which is an immensely cool means of transportation, I decided that my own rant should be about being cool.

So, what is being cool, when one is a fan of playing around with tin soldiers, painting the little plastic and metal buggers lovingly, while dreaming about better rules and the good ol’ days? As every sensible person out there, who isn’t really sure about how to answer a question, I immediately asked Google for an answer. Google then provided me with John Travolta. This did kind of baffle me, since probably his most famous role was playing a skinny white guy singing in some high school musical movie, but when Google says it, it must be right.

I therefore decided to delve further into the study of this master of coolness, given to me by the powers that find stuff. Mr. Travolta did indeed start out singing and dancing, mostly about having a greasy fever on a Saturday or something, but dance he did, so to be cool you have to dance? This seemed very odd to me, so I decided to try to solve this mystery.

The question I then asked myself was, when did he become cool? After a very intense study of the source material, my conclusion is as follows: Mr. Travolta became cool when he stopped being a dancing good guy, and started being a cynical bad guy. This was especially clear in Swordfish, an action/thriller flick which the critics hated but quite a few people liked, where he plays a very bitter cynical guy surrounded by lots of pretty things, including cars, girls and computers. Worth noting is the long speech he gives on misdirection.

So, what does this have to do with tin soldiers? Well, misdirection dear Stanley, misdirection. If Mr. Travolta can be cool by acting as a bitter old man, so can we!

I admit that his funding is quite good, his girls are pretty and his cars are nice, but the essence remains the same. To achieve the proper level of coolness, we simply have to start acting as old and bitter as possible. And that, my friends, is the true meaning of cool.

THE TEST DUMMIES Warhammer: Invasion

Producer: Fantasy Flight Games No. of players: 2 (expansions allow more) Type of game: Living Card Game “Warhammer: Invasion The Living Card Game is a two-player card game of intense warfare, clever kingdom management, and epic questing. Players must carefully allocate their resources as they seek to build their kingdom, complete quests, and attack the enemy’s capital.”

--OG Games, official game provider for the Test Dummies.

Dummy #1: Greg Dann I must admit that this game had an advantage over a lot of board games I have played; it is set in the Warhammer universe. This is a place I spend a lot of my time and any opportunity to dive back in will pique my interest. It was with much excitement that I opened the box and I was not disappointed by the contents. FFG provide good quality card stock for the tokens and top quality artwork on the playing cards.

Getting into the game was very easy, the rulebook is simply laid out and the game works in a very straightforward manner, there is a detailed description of how the turn works and when actions can be taken. The game can be enjoyed with the decks straight out of the box and indeed I have a friend who plays it this way with his son, getting a lot of enjoyment out of it; However adding in the first expansion and making a deck that mixes more than one race brings a whole range of new options and challenges into the game.

For me the thing that puts Warhammer: Invasion above other similar card games is the need to balance the areas in which you play your cards. This not only provides many options but it also allows the game to be different each time you play it.Your Chaos Knights may be killer in your Battlefield zone, but the opportunity to draw three more cards if they are in your Quest zone or gain three more resources in your Kingdom zone could tip the balance. Not to mention that your opponent probably won’t wish to attack wherever they are defending. This also means you are very rarely left with nothing to do or cards you can’t play.You may have to play a card slightly differently, but there is always something to do.

There are, however two aspects of the game I can see people having problems with. Firstly is the fact it is a card game. An obvious point maybe, but there are those people who just don’t connect with card games in the way they do with other games.

Secondly is the nature of the expansions. It is very different from buying blindly as you would with a CCG but if your playing group are buying the expansions and you aren’t then you will find yourself outgunned very quickly. Fantasy Flight Games has taken a huge step in providing multiple copies of each card and making sure you know exactly what you are buying. There can be no complaining that you couldn’t find the cards you want but if you want to keep up with your friends or attend tournaments then you will also need to buy the latest expansion.

At just over £7 a month this won’t break the bank but on a personal level I find I play too many other games to buy each month’s expansion pack and when I do I will be sharing the cost and contents with my friends who play.

Overall I do like this game, quite a lot actually. It regularly finds itself among the games I take to our gaming club and every time I play I do really enjoy it. For those who have played Magic The Gathering I found this game to be more tactical. Deck building will play its part but how you play the cards is just as important as when you play them. For those who don’t like collectable card games I would recommend looking into the ‘Living’ system as it does address a lot of the issues involved in CCGs.

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Thanks to OG Games we will be giving away both the Warhammer: Invasion Core Set as well as The Skavenblight Threat expansion, to one lucky subscriber! The winner will be announced in the next issue of Unseen Lerker, so subscribe today for your chance to win!

Dummy #2: Dan Comeau As you would expect from Fantasy Flight, the aesthetics of this game are fantastic, with good quality card stock, particularly the card pieces representing the cities and the tokens. Initially thumbing through the cards, I loved the artwork as it really captures the nature and atmosphere of the Warhammer universe.

I have to admit that the text on the cards was quite daunting; it really makes no sense unless you know the rules! That being said, when we sat down to play our first game, Greg went through the basic rules, and these were simple enough to pick up on my first go.

My favourite mechanic of the game is the use of cards as different resources depending where you place them.

One of my main issues with other card games is the need to have specific cards in your deck for resources.

This can cause major problems if you do not draw enough resources to play cards from your hand. In MtG this is called Mana Block, and it cannot happen in Warhammer: Invasion.

In Invasion almost every card is a resource depending, on where you place it. So from the outset, you are constantly thinking whether it would be better to place units for attacking, drawing cards or gaining resources.

In my opinion this makes the game less reliant on the luck of the draw and more on the skill of the player, which makes this game much more enjoyable.

There have been many times I have played other card games and have been incredibly infuriated when I don’t draw the cards I need. Whilst playing Invasion I have always found the cards I draw every turn are useful and I’m not left floundering for a few turns waiting for that one card I needed!

I am not a person who enjoys too much subtlety in my games and I disliked the fact that the game works best with subtle combos and traps. This will certainly appeal to some people, but alas not to me.

The number of possible strategies and the amount of thought that needs to go in to playing, can make this a daunting game to begin with. It is not always immediately clear how best to win when you are new to the game. This is particularly true when using the starter decks that come in the box, as some of the decks are a bit unbalanced. However with practice and as more expansions are being released, you will soon be able to tailor your decks best to suit your style of play and it becomes a very rewarding game to play.

The game is fairly quick and easy to pick up, but provides a challenge for people who want to spend the time developing their decks and mastering the game.

This is definitely a game that will be enjoyed by players who like to spend their time setting up combos and timing their chance to strike. But if like me, you want a quick fun game you can just pick up and smash your opponent, this may not be for you.

Warhammer: Invasion is not a lightweight game. It requires the regular purchase of expansions to keep players interested as the starter decks can grow stale, and because of this I’d hesitate to buy unless you are looking for a game to become heavily involved in.

However, if that is indeed the case, then I would highly recommend it. The starter set and the expansion sets are all very good value for money.

Overall, I enjoyed the game as a distraction from my usual miniature wargaming, but not enough to make it a regular game for my collection.

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