Weekender: Age Of Sigmar Campaign Impressions & A Lifetime Wet Palette?
September 23, 2017 by thisisazrael
It's time to get stuck into the mix for The Weekender today. We've got loads of awesomeness from the worlds of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and more so grab a beverage and join us.
Weekender Podcast Download
Without further ado, let's dive in...
Wild West Exodus 2nd Edition Week
Watch out for the Wild West Exodus 2nd Edition Week, beginning October 2nd, 2017, discussing the awesome factions, gameplay, and more.
Age Of Sigmar: Season Of War - Firestorm
Make sure to go and check out our first impressions of the new Firestorm Campaign that has been put together by Games Workshop for Age Of Sigmar.
You can check out our article on it HERE and let us know what you think of this new idea for campaign gaming in the Mortal Realms.
Boot Camps & Hobby Gods
We also have some goodies to give away from our Boot Camp last week. You can comment on the Live Blogs from Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you might win yourself a cool Wolsung Starter Bundle.
In the spirit of awesome prizes, we also have a Hobby God to announce as we give Janus1004 the accolade for his Early Roman Regiment.
News
It's time to find out what's been happening in the world...
- Para Bellum Show Conquest Renders - Check out the renders for the Brute & Archer Drones for the Spire
- SAGA 2nd Edition - Find out what details we know at the moment on the new edition of SAGA
- Firefly: Brigands & Browncoats - A new pre-order pops up with some excellent goodies to enhance your game
Have any of these news pieces caught your attention?
Saratoga Article Series Interview
We sit down to talk about the Saratoga Campaign article series with Oriskany which has been going for the past few weeks.
You can check out Part One and Part Two of the article series and get stuck into the comments as we explore more of the American Revolution.
Kickstarters
It's time for fundraisers...
- Shieldmaidens & Dragonbreds - Take a look at these new plastic kits from Shieldwolf Miniatures
- Everlasting Wet Palette - Is this worth your time as a nice bit of shiny hobby bling?
Let us know your thoughts and get commenting below...
Have a great weekend!
I’ve never been first…what am I supposed to say here?
FUR5T M*****F*****S!!!! I believe is the traditional internet ejaculation in this circumstance… 😉
A Quick Happy 80th birthday to the Hobbit for yesterday
Does that take it out of Copyright yet?
Not in the UK. Jan 1st 2044 is the date that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings become out of copyright. They’ll still be trademarked terms, though.
I am probably completely wrong but isn’t it the date of the death of the author plus 75 years?
Close :). It’s the first January first that occurs from 70 years after the death of the author.
Although, as a whole bunch of IPs created in the 20th century and which make some big corporations a lot of money are due to enter the public domain in the coming decades, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some changes to copyright law which protects their ownership of them.
Then there’s the whole issue of when the IP has been ‘transferred’, such as J.M.Barrie’s Peter Pan and G.O.S.H. In that case it’s in perpetuity in the UK, another few years in the US but already open in most of the rest of the world.
GOSH don’t have the copyright over Peter Pan, that’s long since expired. What they have is a right to royalties. They can’t stop anyone from using it nor dictate how it’s used.
Don’t forget that the copyright of the movies and novels are different beasts too.
So while we may see the end for the novels we won’t have them end for the movies.
Given that they extended the copyright to a silly 70+ after creator death I’m pretty sure they’d find a way to add another 100+ years. Somehow.
I mean … imagine them having to have an original thought.
Dud Warren’s fear of Polar Bears develop after a bad experience with a Foxs Glacier Mint?
No, just really f***ing scary! 😉
He looks like someone has nicked his bottle of Cresta
I have been mocked for my fear of bears (which has at times been called irrational). It’s good to know I am not alone. Also, don’t watch the revnant, skip the first 10 minutes of 13 monkeys.
Fun fact: bears are the only mammal that can laugh and swallow at the same time, this is due to their child sized gullet.
Laughing and eating eh?
Maybe i should be a bear!!! 🙂
The number one threat to America? Bears! All animals have souls, except for bears, which are godless killing machines.
http://www.tshirtbordello.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/600x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/b/e/bears-threat-america-lg.gif
Have to find @warzan a werepolarbear mini …
There is nothing irrational about a fear of bears – they are some of the most dangerous terrestrial predators on Earth, especially the larger breeds such as Grizzlies and Polar Bears. When a predatory animal is so large that we fit neatly into its prey range, is known for its opportunistic hunting habits, and is easily strong enough to literally tear your head from your shoulders or your entire body in half, then fear is not only a reasonable reaction, but an eminently sensible one.
I am not suggesting that bears should be culled or anything excessive like that, but merely that people should be wary of them and shouldn’t do anything to provoke an attack, and equally shouldn’t needlessly wonder around their habitat. A healthy fear of, and related respect for, the animals seems an attitude more conducive to that outcome than empty, posturing bravado.
My family comes from northwest Montana and Alaska, we’ve grown up with bears since God knows when (blacks, browns, and grizzlies). We don’t “fear” them … but make no mistake, we have a healthy respect for them.
I remember I was eight years old when we were visiting my grandma in the Cabinet Range of the Rockies, and grandma asked if she should make huckleberry pie for dessert that night. Everyone said yes, so my dad and grandfather said they’d go out and get huckleberries. I thought they were going to the corner store, but they started loading up .44s, .357s, and .12 gauges.
Were they gonna rob the store?
They were going out to gather the huckleberries on their land in the wild, and since bears like huckleberries almost as much as we do …
Just a precaution in case you run into one. The people there know what to look out for (wear no cologne, aftershave, or perfume, NEVER take a woman with you if it’s “her time of the moon” if you know what I mean). They also watch for tracks, broken undergrowth, and especially droppings. If you see them and they’re fresh, no big deal, just take a different trail.
But don’t ignore it.
Seen dozens of, if not over a hundred, browns and grizzlies in the wild in my time. Keep an eye out for them, stay out of their way, show them respect. They’ll do the same for you.
Ah, @warzan , with your Battle of New Orleans reference . . . you’re only off by one war and 40 years. We’re making progress! 😀
Actually, I can’t talk any trash . . . I grossly misquoted the size of Burgoyne’s wager. The wager was £10, not £20,000 . . . a big difference. 😐 I was able to fix it in time for the article but not the interview. No worries.
Just for you, Warren, I’ll see if I have any little plastic toy alligators around and set up some unconventional Louisiana artillery tabletop photos for you. 😀
“you’re only off by one war and 40 years”
My record for historical butchery continues completely intact in this episode! 😉
Not at all, sir, you legitimately are getting better. 😀
Actually, lots of people over here get the Revolution and War of 1812 mixed up, specifically a lot of Americans somehow think our national anthem comes from the Revolution … it’s from the barrage of Ft. McHenry in the War of 1812.
The two wars are similar in a lot of ways … the British are the “bad guys” and the rather clueless Americans lose a string of embarrassing battles … and in the end only survive because the British have more important things to do … beating up on the French. 😐
there never is anything more important than beating up the French. 😉
Even when we ally with France, the British still refer to the enemy as French. (Lord Raglan in the Crimea).
Hey, nothing against the French, but they were a powerful nation and a big threat to Britain and her allies in those days. When you’re on top, people want to take shots at you. Lord knows people were trying to “take the wind out of the sails” of Spain in the 1400-1500s, France in the 1600-1700s, and Great Britain in the 1800s and early 1900s.
@damon – well, that war didn’t end too well for Lord Raglan. And in the 1850s Napoleon was only 40 years ago so I guess in “living memory.” I suppose it’s tough to break 500 years of habit in just 40.
As a Brit myself, I must admit that historically the British have been capable of being total gits, especially when it comes to fighting wars with scant legitimate justification, my favourite historical example being the infamous War of Jenkin’s Ear.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins%27_Ear
God, how many wars between the English and the Spanish during the late 1500s, 1600s, and early 1700s? It’s almost a constant state of low-intensity trade war in the Caribbean, with occasional outbreaks of peace and regular updates / refreshes of why they were fighting (it was really always over trade, shipping lanes, and colonies, but they always needed new justifications).
“What are we fighting over this time?”
“Who knows? Some guy’s ear? Good enough for me.”
For the Americans, we have the Revolutions which I feel is justified, and 1812 (which is infamous for being fought over “impressment” – but damn, we tries SOOOOO hard to stay out of the Napoleonic Wars through the terms of Adams and Jefferson roughly 1801-1810). So there were huge factions of the US government that wanted no part of that war . . .
I’d say the first real US war that’s tough to justify is the War for Texian Independence / Mexican War in the 1830s and 1840s.
Unless, of course, you count some of the wars against Native Americans. General Sullivan’s invasion of the Iroquois Confederacy 1779-1780 (ordered by Washington, I have to admit) is straight-out ethnic cleansing. Kinda tough to defend that one.
At least it was not just 1£
Gotta admit though, £20,000 sounds more impressive. I think I was confusing it with the £20,000 Benedict Arnold was supposed to be paid for selling West Point in 1780.
is that where they get the name gator aid from lol?
Possibly. 😀
It’s the Weekend!!
We’re about to attempt a ‘light’ AoS campaign at club soon:. Many will use the same models they used for a KoW campaign. Me, I’ll be dusting off my Beastmen for the first GW action I’ve bothered with for a few years… Something about the ‘light’ AoS approach that appeals.
Lloyd just do it
The idea to get @warzan to read book passages reminds me of working for a certain high street stationers in my youth… they introduced walkitalkis so shop floor could talk to warehouse but we used to read the must off colour or explicit passages we could find from the “black lace” set of books and their fellows… passed the time
#lloyditup
@oriskany I thought the ECW was pike and shot not Black powder 😉
Uhh … what?
The tactics in “Pike and Shoot” can be seen as different/a pre-cursor to “Black Powder” .
ECW/TYW more or less see the development from the Tercios with shoot unit as an auxiliary to the musket/rifle centric tactics
I dunno, everyone. There are plenty of early firearms in the ECW, they’re one of the primary weapons, and they use black powder. This is like people who say Romans aren’t “Ancients,” they’re “Classical” … or Greeks aren’t Ancient they’re “Hellenic” or Seven Years War Prussians aren’t Black Powder, they’re “Age of Enlightenment.”
Units as late as the Battle of Second Manassas in 1862 were using pikes. Does that make ACW “Pike and Shotte” as well?
Last recorded battlefield kill with a longbow was in 1942. Does that make World War II “Medieval” Era?
It doesn’t really matter to me what specific label people want to put on things. Personally I’m trying to cast as wide a net as possible so I can engage (not exclude) as many people as I can into the conversation.
Now I need to get back to my Post-Modern / Pre-Nuclear Industrial Age / Postmonarchistic-Socialist Era warfare. Don’t you dare call it World War II. 😀
awwh Jim you always make me smile, that has got to be one of the best descriptions for era classification ever.
You should send a copy to the Wargames Research Group for their future publications 🙂
@oriskany at least over here the wargaming period of pike and shot or “pike and shotte” is the period in which pike blocks were part of the standard army formations before they were replaced almost totally by firearms. Yes there are overlaps but those manly come in the SYW and the Great Northern War.
😀 😀 😀 😀
More about SAGA
The announcement of Saga’s new edition has drawn interest from lots of players, and that interest has developed into a deluge of questions. You’ll find answers to the most frequent ones below, direct from Saga’s author – Alex Buchel.
Saga is getting a second edition. Why?
The new edition of Saga arose from our desire to improve the game and make it more accessible.
I’ve always thought that designing a miniatures game was more of a job for a tinker than an artist. Unlike a work of art, where at some point the artist has to say “I’m done”, a set of rules constantly evolves and never stops being improved. That’s why you see players modifying a couple of rules in their favourite games far more often than you see people repainting part of their art collection or tweaking the end of the novel they bought!
Generally, a game evolves by being added to, with supplements or via errata and updates. The end of this evolutionary process (whether it’s effected by an editor or the gaming community) marks the final end of the game in question.
I have never really liked errata and updates. They are necessarily missing from the rulebook the players have in their hands, and they must be actively looked for to be found. Having to cross-reference several sources of information (in this case the rulebook, the updates, and the errata) just causes confusion and makes learning the game harder than it needs to be.
With Saga, we’ve decided to use our errata to improve the game, removing editing errors from the book and supplements, and fixing problems that appeared after publication. But that doesn’t mean I’d stopped thinking about how – from my perspective – the game could be further improved. And those ideas were tested during our games. Some fell by the wayside, but others were carefully noted down for future use.
The release of Aetius & Arthur brought to light a problem Saga suffered from: the impossibility of getting the rules separately from a certain period. If you aren’t interested in the Late Roman or Arthurian period, you have to get the rules elsewhere, either in their most recent incarnation (Crescent & Cross) or in their original form (Saga: Dark Age Skirmishes). Since we want to release supplements opening Saga up to new periods without repeating the basic rules in each book (making them more onerous than they should be!), we didn’t want that problem or the legitimate issues it raised to continue. Not to mention it was an obstacle to making Saga as accessible as it should be.
Studio Tomahawk therefore decided last year that a new edition of Saga would see the light of day. I sat myself down to compile the notes and ideas I’d seriously collected for more than a year to draft a new version of the rules.
Saga 2 – Evolution or Revolution?
Let me reassure Saga players – you’ll recognise the game you know and love. You’ll still use Saga dice and battleboards, and you’ll still lead your Warlord to a glorious end, whether in victory or defeat!
This new edition has been a chance for us to put the years of experience we have accumulated since Saga was first released in 2011 to work ironing out certain aspects of the game, without touching the bones of the system. We have improved certain mechanisms, simplified others, and rearrange the layout. The changes are numerous, and amply justify a new edition.
I think that this new version is easier to learn, brings more tactical choices, and offers a challenge as much to existing players as to new ones. I’m sure that some of our choices will surprise players, but rest assured – we have spent countless hours around the gaming table weighing up each change, checking and testing every one to develop the current version.
How will the new edition of Saga be released?
Saga will be released as a softback rulebook of fifty or so pages. This format was chosen in order to provide the rulebook – the entry point into the Saga system – as cheaply as possible. Although for now we cannot give a price for the book, believe us when we say it’ll be lower than some have feared, and much closer to the cost of Dark Age supplements like Northern Fury than a book like Crescent & Cross.
This rulebook contains the whole game system, but does not include any factions or battleboards. It explains the mechanisms of movement and melee, how to assemble a warband, the special rules, and includes a generic scenario.
Over time we will publish the Saga Universes. These will be hardback books devoted to a particular historical period or fantasy setting. Each of them will specifically describe the special rules for all its factions and will provide several battleboards. Each Saga Universe is an independent and self-sufficient product (well, except for the main rulebook). Therefore, each Saga player will be able to choose the universe or universes that interest them, without having to invest in the entire collection, or having to buy books on periods which don’t appeal to them.
The first of these Universes will come out at the same time as the rulebook. It will be Age of Vikings, which will cover the Dark Ages from the 8th to the 11th centuries with no less than 12 factions, the legends of this heroic age, and mercenaries for you to recruit.
The following publications will cover other settings, historical, mythological or fantastical. Images from the teaser video should give an idea of the direction we’re aiming in…
We also intend to publish the Book of Battles, which will be an ideal companion to the rulebook. It’s a collection of scenarios, additional rules and gameplay options for players who want to explore Saga in different forms, with scenario-driven play, campaigns or multi-player games.
So can I throw out all my old books and figures?
The new edition of Saga replaces the rules found in Saga: Dark Age Skirmishes and Crescent & Cross. The Dark Age factions – which is to say those in Saga: Dark Age Skirmishes and its three period supplements – will come out at the same time as the rulebook in Age of Vikings, which I mentioned above.
The factions from Crescent & Cross will be revised and rounded up in another Saga Universe, Age of Crusades, which will come out a little later in the year. Six new factions will enrich the period, bringing the contents of this Saga Universe to twelve factions in all.
Aetius & Arthur, having been developed after we’d started working on the new edition, will remain in the range and won’t be replaced. When Saga is released, we’ll make available the necessary amendments to bring it up to date. Aetius & Arthur will therefore become a fully-fledged Saga Universe, and its contents will also give you a good idea of what future supplements will be like.
The Age of the Wolf supplement will also get an update to make it compatible with the second edition.
Players will still be able to game with the scenarios in the old books, especially in the run up of the Book of Battles’ release.
It will not be impossible to play the new rules with the old battleboards, although occasional difficulties might arise. These won’t be insurmountable, and will tide players over until their favourite factions are updated.
As for figures, all warbands from current factions will be usable in their current form with the new edition of Saga. We have made it a point of principle to ensure that not a single figures will be made obsolete by the arrival of the second edition.
You’re going to add fantasy to Saga? Vikings with fireballs?
Yeah, and Saracens with flying carpets…
More seriously, we’ve never hidden our affection for myths, legends and medieval fantasy in general. We aren’t going to introduce fantasy into historical settings (at least no more than we already have, for those who think Saga is already a fantasy game!), but what Saga player could resist the call of the Iliad, Norse mythology, or any other medieval fantasy world? Not me, in any case – I dream of playing Saga in these universes!
Therefore, some Saga Universes will be purely historical, while others will draw from the myths, legends and medieval fantasy stories that have inspired us. Players will be able to choose which settings they want to play in depending on their preferences.
But I’ll still be able to pit Vikings against Crusaders?
With the new edition, we want to promote games within a single Universe. That said, since all the Saga Universes share the same basic rules, improbable encounters are possible and often pretty fun.
Nevertheless, players should keep in mind that the Saga Universes will be developed independently from each other. Therefore, even if we are confident of the balance between factions in a particular setting, we cannot guarantee that battles between warbands from different Universes will be fair. But checking for yourself costs no more than the time to play the game!
When will all this be available?
The rulebook and Age of Vikings will come out first, in 2018. Age of Crusades and the Book of Battles will follow. After that, we have lots of other Universes in development, and the order of publication depends on how quickly they each progress.
That’s some mighty fine translating, @torros 😉
Thanks very much. I m a natural at linguistics with English to English being my specialty
Don’t be modest. Claim credit for translating it from French lol
http://www.studio-tomahawk.com/saga-new-edition-interview-alex-buchel/
Thanks @torros really informative!
Well up for Lloyd’s hot liquid dribbling on the tabletop!
Note to team, I am no desire to see Lloydy or anyone else’s ‘lava’ spilling out over the table…hot black cement, hooping great loops of it…
Oh god…
TURN – an excellent series.
Osmosis – without it there would be no plantlife and therefore no life on this planet – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis
Oriskany: the US Navy named ships after the battle – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oriskany_(CV-34)
Indeed, @dothonion – we discuss this at moderate length in the article thread, as linked below:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/historical/saratoga-campaign-american-revolution-storm-west/#comment-403776
Copied below for convenience:
Yes, there’s the Battle of Oriskany, the US Navy aircraft carrier that would be named after the battle (CV-34, briefly mentioned in the movie “Top Gun”), fought extensively in Korea and Vietnam, and even sci-fi starships named after the battle / carrier (Star Trek, for example, has two USS Oriskany ships, NCC 1020 and NCC 1733 – same class as Enterprise).
The US Navy Oriskany is semi famous here in Florida because she was finally sunk off our state’s coast to form a large artificial reef. Already she’s a prime diving spot and home to all sorts of marine life and happy fish who by all accounts love their new condo! 😀
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
TURN started off well, the history in the writing became more and more “off” as it progressed into later seasons.
I really don’t like the main character, but that’s more a subjective thing. His affair with the heroine in complete fiction (wasn’t she like 30 years older than he was? Or vice-versa?)
What I DO like about the show is where, in a few places, they decide to get more than a little “historically creative,” they do it in places where there is no evidence that a certain thing happened, but also no evidence that it DIDN’T happen. They realistically and plausibly “game in the gaps” as Warren might say, crafting storylines that definitely COULD have happened, without stepping on any historical toes.
I refer in particular to Major General Charles Lee’s culpability in his “capture” at New Brunswick, New Jersey, December 1776 and the continued affection between Peggy Shippen and Capt. John Andre after the British withdrawal from Philadelphia, early 1778.
Other things, like their portrayal of the Battle of Monmouth (July 78) and Yorktown (Oct 81) are just … well, the less said the better.
I DO like Caleb and some of the other supporting characters. Benedict Arnold is well done, a difficult blend of absolute bad-ass hero … and whining drama queen. I like how they took some of the religion out of George Washington that our culture has unfortunately retroactively stamped on him (the way they handled his “praying” at Valley Forge was a neat touch).
I also like the way they portray Peggy Shippen. Yes, she WAS that hot, there are no photographs obviously but anyone who ever wrote about her remarked how she was one of the most stunning women in the continent, and she has to be to tangle the fates of men like Arnold and Andre. She was also incredibly smart and self-assured. I’ve seem people on other sites remark how she’s portrayed as too world-wise and borderline ruthless for a “girl” only 18 years old. People grew up faster back then, at 18 you were usually married, had a kid, owned a house or farm, were serving in the military, etc.
So yeah, overall a mixed bag. But I prefer to focus on the positive. 😀
I’d like to know what @elromanozo thinks about the everlasting water palette
Damn you and your Kickstarter wares… I have just backed the wet pallette
I was drinking my morning coffee listening to the show and got a small chock when you started talking about my Romans! Feels great that you liked them and be certain that I am super proud to have won this prize. Now I just need to finish some more of them and get going on the Carthaginians that they gonna fight… 🙂 Hopefully there will even be some elephants from Victrix later on to show off, who knows.
Congrats mate, well earned, lovely looking unit.
Those Romans are badass to be sure, @janus1004 – I always like it when a historical entry wins a prize.
Well deserved award
http://justcuteanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/baby-polar-bear-snow-cute-animals-pictures-pics.jpg
Damn that didn’t work… one day I will learn and successfully post a picture on a forum!
Sadly you can’t insert pics in the Weekender forums
I’m guessing warren isn’t a monty python fan – how could he not name one of them “Biggus Dickus”?
What have the romans ever done for us I ask you.
Ooo,, Ive spotted aome fabled realms mugs! Cant wait fir that game!!
Floating islands will always be a winner for me, I’d be very interested to see how he would go about this.
Those romans that won the hobby god bag are awesome, a massive well done on those and an even bigger one fir winning the bag.
Ive just finished Spartacus, no wild animals in it but its well worth a watch. Id love to do a themed force around this era to re-create these skimishes and bigger battles. With a new SAGA edition on the way maybe its the right time for me to start one!!
Firefly is one of my favorite shows, definitely gone before its time. It really wish Josh weedon would change his mind and bring it back. I know this wont happen and the crew are looking a little old now but it would be really cool to see it back on the screen. I really like the look of this game, especialy the 2 pose figures so you can reprisent whats going on at the time.
Loved how @warzan gladiator facts were all wrong and his story went no where lol and yet it managed to get to the gutter when knobs were brought into the topic….lol
Hem hmmm
Every fact was correct just not in the right order or attributed to the right historical figures
But it was damned close this time! 😉
I keep telling you, man . . . you ARE getting better.
Shit, you know 100 time more about gladiators than I do.
Can’t wait for Lloyd to spurt his dripping gobbets of hot hobby lava all over the show! Lloydy, get your ass in gear and show us how its done!
Mierce does a bunch of 3 legged creatures, the Abhorrents
http://zedmeister.co.uk/dlpc2/rewards/Abhorrents.jpg
Gladiators??? Need to do some updates for ARENA REX ;D Seems like a fun Gladiator game.
It is! I’m currently working on my second faction.
My normal wet palette is a seal-able tupperware box, kitchen roll and greaseproof paper. I might back this new wet palette – rule of cool!
@oriskany You should check out the new Napoleonics skirmish game FORAGER, it’s on Kickstarter now for the physical rulebook. It seems quiet neat, and with some interesting characterful mechanics. Easily converted to ACW, and I think they will make expansions for it!
I’m looking forward to reading the article series!
Thanks, @while . 🙂 The first two parts of the series are already up (links are in the video text above) – covering the overall British plan, opening moves, fall of Fort Ticonderoga, delaying action at the Battle of Hubbardton (which we do in its entirety in 20mm Battlesystem) and the Siege of Fort Stanwix / Battle of Oriskany (also done in 20mm).
I’ll definitely check out that KS, thanks for the heads up! 🙂