Week 4 – The Little Feckers 2… and this time it’s personal

Well, I’ve had it! I’m sick to death of Sonya kicking my ass in every game we play. In our 5 years together I’ve won maybe 3 games… of Connect4… and I’m a bloody wargamer! I’ve made grown men (and kids…) cry as their empirically designed forces are thoroughly Ronked by my own which at best could be described as a bit o’ this an’ that. I just can’t seem to beat her. This slip of a woman with her innocent questions such as “oh! Did I win?”, “I’m sorry baby was that your hero?” and “Darren, why are you chewing the edge of the table?” At this stage now I’d rather have a 3 hour relationship chat than play a game of snap with her.

We’ve some time off and she want to play some games… I’m too PO’d to write anything else… work it out for yourselves…

WarGods by Crocodile games has always seemed to me to be the little game that could. Written by Chris Fitzpatrick, creator, sculptor, artist, writer, friend to the unwell and lover of small animals. His sculpts have graced other companies in the past, his dark-elf minis for GW are still some of the best in that line. The art, capturing the setting perfectly, is supplied primarily by the renowned Des Hanley. There is a slickness to this company and indeed game that is sorely lacking in larger companies…

The premise of the game is that the popular “mythology” of the ancient world was real and the avatars or Harbingers of the gods walked the earth battling each other for world domination. The first mythos dealt with is Aegyptus (guess where that is…). All the big hitters are there Set, Sobek, Isis, Bast etc… the back-story is compelling and does actually get reflected in the game (a rare enough occurrence these days)

The game itself is set up for massed combat between units but it equally has great flexibility for small squad sized forces. I’ve found the game fast enough which surprised me as it’s an orders/counters based system. It’s only when your harbingers meet up for a “provocation” focus then seems to flip between the larger unit action and a single combat between heroes. It can grind a bit but TBH I don’t care. It’s a very immersive game that is designed for campaigning from the get-go. On top of it all the book is gorgeous and worth the money even if you don’t play the game. Have a look a the warbands available here

Their making inroads now to the other realms with the release of the Wendigo Raiding Party from the Hyperborea line and the upcoming release of WarGods of Olympus (seriously, you’ll never guess…). As for miniatures these guys beat both Warmachine and the new and improved Rezolution for best mini line at origins in July this year. Sums it up really. Check out the gallery etc… here

The Croc has however a very weak web presence and there are no QS rules available for new players to give the game a bash, missing a trick there I think. That said they are running a global campaign over 2006-07 which I for one will be participating in. The details can be found here

Urban War by Urban Mammoth has to be one of the best skirmish level games I’ve ever played. Fast, engaging with a rather unique method of force creation it lends itself to a 40 minute skirmish as easily as a 3 hour bloodbath. Set in an island spanning conglomeration the game is a fresh take of the Void property of old. There are now 7 factions available of which 5 are a take on some part of previous/current human culture. The other two deal with an AI construct and its forces and snaky aliens with a penchant for mutation and warp portals. The game currently only covers Infantry and light vehicles but there is the promise of more to come

Originally released as a short series of magazines which updated both the rules and added new troops for each faction the game has outgrown its chosen media. As you can imagine carrying 5 magazine the each game can be cumbersome. This is to be remedied with the imminent release of an updated, one volume, rules set for the game. There is also the release of Metropolis the larger squad based game set in the location.

The impressive artwork and back stories really add flavour to both the factions and indeed the game itself. Artist such as Clint Langley and Christophe Madura really capture the gritty feel of small unit warfare together with the unique aspects of each faction. Look at the artwork for the Triads and Syntha for a good example of this. More than anything else though it’s been the minis that have kept me hooked... the fact that the game is enjoyable is a bonus.

The minimum number of figures used is five though technically you can get away with four. Core boxed sets of 5-7 miniatures are available and these can be added to with themed boxed sets of Support troops, Assault troops etc… together with Individual blisters. The minis themselves are, for the large part, crisp and stylish and, with the exception of the Infinity line, are the best Sci-Fi game minis out there, GW included… I myself have 6 of the 7 factions, I didn’t like the heads on faction 7, and I’m slowly painting my way through them.

The abilities and flexibilities of troops is governed by the Calibre(Cal). The premise being the higher the Cal the better the trooper, though veterans of the game would no doubt disagree. In a recent game a friend and I abandoned the standard organisation and played with Cal 2 and 3 troops (highest calibres) resulting in a short bloody encounter with some hysterical movie-ending moments.

Even with the release of the newer games on the horizon Urban Mammoth have still made all the original magazines available on the website. This means that for the outlay of 15ish pounds, slightly more than a GW codex, you can start to play. A smart move when you consider that with a more IT literate market companies will be spending less and less on printing…
The original magazines can be found here (at the bottom)
The combined information per faction can be found here
The fan based magazine INN can be found here

Based on both the Film and the animated series Starship Troopers by Mongoose is a classic example of a great game let down by its core minis. To be clear, ST is a fantastic skirmish level game which makes passable in roads into massed combat. The game play is fast and furious. There are some hysterical possibilities due to reactions of bugs etc… and the vision of a fully painted force of bugs is unnerving and tends to get your blood up. The boxed set itself is on a par if not better than anything GW offers as a core game and the variations within even that small selection of miniatures is comprehensive.

Lets talk about the downside for me … and it’s a biggie… The figures for the Mobile Infantry Cap troopers that come with the boxed set are so fiddly and overly complicated that I have, in the year I’ve owned them, yet to complete the second squad. A case of excellent vision but poor planning and execution for the plastics. In attempting to complete the squad the last time I ended up embedding a miniature in the plasterboard wall. I’m not kidding, ask Sonya, and I’ve been assembling these kind of things for over 15 years.

Apart from that particular squad the other minis are pretty flawless. The metals suffer from flash and mould lines no more that other properties do. The remaining plastics have a “Snap-Fix” ease to them and all of them, including the cursed ones, are straight forward to paint meaning you can get a good looking force together fairly quickly.

The army lists included in the main rules are fairly opaque but give you enough of an idea on how they work without buying the separate army books. The “feel” of the game however is pitched at exactly the right level. Waves of bugs hitting the overwhelmed forces of humanity who respond with a startling array of technology and equipment while the weird Skinnies skulk around … are they friend or foe?... Why is it that their weapons spurt “goo” at you?… Great stuff.

I have enjoyed the games of ST I’ve played and given everyone involved in those games was a bit eh… jolly it speaks to the rule-set that we didn’t lose interest. I would like to see, and would buy, a second edition of this game which tidies up the force selection and some minor rules glitches. … and for the sweet love of Robo-Jesus redo the MI figures…

Next week - Confrontation, Dwarf Wars et al, Chronopia

Just bought: Warhammer Ancient Armies, Orboros figures for Hordes, 2 DBA armies as a Christmas pressie for someone (not you Lucy… you’re getting something else).
Currently Playing: Warmachine… Sonya’s new "favorite game"…
Currently Painting: Everblight and Orboros for Hordes, Gladiator force for Urban War and starting on My grey knights dreadnought from Forgeworld
Looking forward to: the next 10 days off, pepper vodka from Demijohns and the release of Metropolis
Music: Underworld soundtracks together with Weezer and PJ Harvey. It’s basically been a student flat from the late 90’s …
Watching over and over: House and a growing collection of empty bottles….