09/3/13

Tuesday Screenshot – Aliens: Colonial Marines

click to enlarge

In space no one can hear you sue. After all the bad press, horrendously negative feedback and legal shenanigans, I decided to pick up Aliens: Colonial Marines anyway. I love the Aliens universe and I got the game very heavily discounted. Three hours into the single player campaign, I so far feel I got my money’s worth.

I have gotten some scares, some challenging levels and even a chuckle or too at the use of the Aliens canon. If you held off on getting Colonial Marines like I did but are still kinda sorta curious, now may be as good a time as any to pick it up…discounted, of course. Tell them Gus sent you. And then after they ask “Who?” you can ask if the game is still discounted.

Ultimately, not a bad way to spend a few dollars and a few hours waiting for one of the biggest PC releases of the year…

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08/24/13

Space Hulk – PC Game Review

Bless your armor and consecrate your weapons as Grogheads boards the Sin of Damnation with Veteran Space Marine Craig Handler leading the charge. Find out if Space Hulk, the latest PC game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, is worthy of the Emperor’s praise.

Developer & Publisher: Full Control Games

First, A Shameless Disclaimer:

For purposes of full disclosure, my love affair with all things Warhammer 40K began in the latter half of the 1980s, when I stumbled upon the first edition of Rogue Trader and a box of plastic Crimson Fist Space Marines at my local hobby shop. Since that day, there has been no turning back.

For the next decade, I was an avid player of the table top game. I fielded large armies of loyal Space Marines, Imperial Guard, and at one time, I even dabbled with the Eldar. Although I no longer play the game on a table top with minis, I am still hopelessly obsessed with the universe, reading as much of the fiction as I possibly can, and pre-purchasing any game released electronically on PC or console.

Despite the above, somehow, I still managed to avoid buying or playing Space Hulk, the board game. I knew of its existence, but I suppose I preferred the wide open table-top battlefield to the confined corridor style maps encountered in a game of Space Hulk.

So, while I am admittedly biased towards loving everything Warhammer 40,000, I am a relative neophyte to the world of Space Hulk. This, combined with my faith in the Emperor, I hope will permit me to approach this review with the love of a dedicated fan, but with the objectivity of a newcomer. Continue reading →

08/20/13

Tuesday Screenshot – Space Hulk

Click to enlarge

Space Hulk

Suffer not the unclean to live.
Lead us from death to victory,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
from faith to slaughter.
Lead us to His strength and an eternity of war.
Let His wrath fill our hearts.
Death, war and blood;
in vengeance we serve the Emperor
in the name of the Primarch!
In the name of Sanguinius!

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06/28/13

Origins 2013 – Exhibitor Hall!

Brant Guillory, 26 June 2013

The exhibitor hall was refreshingly busy. Some of the dealers I spoke to had reported some slower sales, and the big guns of wargaming that had been present for so many years – GMT, MMP, Avalanche, Matrix, LNLP – were all missing for various reasons. But if you wanted to find some great gaming, there was no excuse, because it was everywhere. Even without the more well-known companies, there was plenty of wargaming to be found with Grognard Simulations, Proving Ground, Zvezda’s big booth, Collins Epic Wargames, VPG, and more.

What else did we find in the dealer hall? Check it out. Click on images to enlarge.

Escape: The Curse of the Temple, a real-time tabletop game

Yes, real-time. It’s got a sand timer, or a CD with a music track you can use.

Bayonet Jr showing off the stack of games for sale.

… and trying to avoid their picture being taken.

Many dealers, like Crash, advertised games that were on Kickstarter.

The ‘dungeon crawl’ table for the Munchkin Pathfinder game.

Another view of the ‘dungeon crawl’ table for the Munchkin Pathfinder game.

These guys had a light-projection table plugged into a computer to project the map onto a light box for RPG encounters.

Another view of the projected light-box.

These poster maps were HUGE and printed on vinyl for durability.

BIG starship plans from Blackwyrm Publishing.

Bayonet Jr gives you a sense of the scale of these maps.

Scrying Eye also does some very cool game mats.

Steampunk airships make for great table maps.

The geomorphic dungeon crawl tiles were a neat find.

Scrying Eye’s rack of game mats was impressive in its quantity.

So how many of the basestars can you name?

And how many of the battlestars could you ID?

Miniature spaceship armadas are more impressive when they’re on the wire posts to elevate them.

More spaceships, and fighters were 3 / $1.

These handmade ships from Sea Dog Games break down for travel and are made in Columbus.

No, he’s not having an identity crisis. There actually was a priate that would sail under a British flag to close on ships, then run out the Jolly Roger.

TechCommander figures. They’re not really “minis” when they stand 6 inches high.

A Caribbean “castle” for your pirate adventures.

It’s a cooperative game where all the players are trying to take down the bad guys together.

8th Summit has some expansions for Agents of Smersh coming soon.

Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures

The full table for Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures

One more look at Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures

VPG had much more than just their wargames out for the public.

And those miniature dice towers are just darn cute.

VPG was focusing on family games, rather than their more famous wargaming lines.

Balance of Power from Catalyst. Bayonet Jr actually spanked the demo guy in their sample game.

That’s it for our 2013 Origins coverage. See y’all next year!

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06/9/13

Book Review: Baneblade

Author: Guy Haley

Publisher: Black Library

Reviewing Author: Jim Zabek

Reading Warhammer: 40,000 fan fiction is something of a guilty pleasure. It fills the time when I’m not in the mood for military history. Its quality is usually high but I’ve run across a few books that weren’t quite up to snuff. But sometimes I run across a novel that stands above the normally solid entertainment that this genre offers, and Baneblade is that book. It’s not only a great Warhammer: 40,000 novel, it’s a great fictional war novel.
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Keep Calm and Grog On!

Tag: Sci-Fi