Tag Archives: 40k

40k in Combat

Posted on by tjkopena

This story came up on Slate the other day about soldiers playing 40k in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Warhammer 40K: Why American troops love to play a game featuring Orks, Necrons, and Space Marines. – Slate Magazine

Fortunately, soldiers are reflexively given too much respect for even such a mainstream source to scorn dudes playing with toy dolls, so it’s actually discussed fairly reasonably.  It even seems like the author put some effort into learning more about 40k.  I enjoyed the many links to items on Games Workshop’s website.  The trip to the NOVA Open is a double nice touch, that’s pretty cool; the NOVA guys must have been excited.

The one guy interviewed mentioned developing a grid based scheme to play without miniatures.  I’d be curious to hear what he came up with and how well it works.

Redcap’s Corner Update

Posted on by tjkopena

Having been away all summer, last week was my first chance to head over and check out Redcap’s new location at 36th and Lancaster.  It must have been kind of bittersweet for the guys to move, having sunk all that work into updating the previous space.  It’s almost certainly for the best though, this is a much bigger venue.  Quick observations:

  • The retail space got a lot bigger, and they’ve filled it with all awesome stuff.  The 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Warmachine, and Reaper/miscellaneous miniatures selections have gotten pretty large.  The boardgame selection has become very substantial.

    View down the length of the main space. That is indeed a wall of boardgames to the left. Out of sight are several bookcases of boardgames to the right…

    40k!

    Warmachine stock.

  • The main gaming space is as big as before.  There’s a large number of tables for cards and standard boardgames, plus a handful of double tables for miniatures and big boardgames.

    Yu-Gi-Oh!

  • The previous loft became two or three private rooms for role playing and miniatures.  I believe the guys are keeping these generally locked but available for regular groups looking for quieter space.
  • There’s now separate men’s and women’s bathrooms, each bigger and nicer than the old one.
  • They’ve both constructed and purchased a bunch of terrain.  There’s little reason to bring any for a typical night anymore.  Most of it is at least playable, and some of it’s actually really good.

Pile of terrain.

One of several bookcases filled with terrain.

One of the miniatures tables.

All in all, it’s pretty sweet to see the store seemingly doing well, there was a seemingly substantial crowd in there Sunday evening.

First 40k Sixth Edition Game

Posted on by tjkopena

Tonight at PAGE, Jason, Valerie, Colin, and I got in my first match of sixth edition 40k.  Colin and I teamed up for a 2 on 2 of Space Marines and Imperial Guard versus Jason’s Deathwing Dark Angels and Valerie’s Eldar.  It was mostly a learning game as Jason coached Valerie in her very first game of 40k, with Colin also talking up changes for sixth edition.

Jason prepares for his doom!

Catachans stare down the oncoming treacherous Dark Angels.

There are definitely a lot of details all over the place that have changed and will require some attention to not overlook.  So far among the perhaps small yet I think consequential changes is that Rapid Fire weapons can now fire once at the full range, even after moving.  When I started playing 40k, two things really bothered about Space Marine Tactical Squads: 1) They didn’t have pistols, so they couldn’t shoot a unit they were about to assault.  2) They couldn’t move and shoot at range.  Both of these really cut down their options and just didn’t make much sense.  The previous edition took care of the first one, so it’s nice now for that second point to be closed up.

Kingbreakrs and Eldar race for the central objective.

Kingbreakers heroically assault deep into enemy lines.

Another interesting bit I had not caught up to until the game is that leaving Space Marine Drop Pods is a standard disembark, which now basically has a 6″ bubble around the vehicle.  That’s quite a bit of room to get out, move around, and shoot stuff up or dive into cover.

Focus Fire is also something of which good use of is going to be the hallmark of a good player over an average player.  It probably won’t have huge effects, but I think appropriate use of it could really help you out at times, and it presents a strong strategic tradeoff between more possible kills versus more likely kills.

A Dark Angel ancient stands fast in the face of the Kingbreaker attack.

The Dark Angels have neither mercy nor fear for the fallen.

Overall, I remain optimistic about the new edition.  In a few places it seems a bit more fiddly than the previous one, but not overly so.  Certainly there is a ton of new stuff in the rulebook, like flyers and terrain, but I think a lot of that can be safely set aside until everyone’s ready to incorporate it.  Or, you know, somebody shows up with a Stormtalon and everybody has to get ready in a hurry.

On a largely unrelated side note, the just-released Dark Vengeance box sets are absolutely amazing.  It seems like a great value at $107 for 49 miniatures (I guess $99 for 48 in the standard edition), and those miniatures are absolutely amazing.  The cultists in particular are super cool looking and extremely detailed.  I had to work really hard to impose some self-discipline and not pick up a box.