Late to 8th

The clock has run out and the book is ready. 8th edition is ready for pre-order. The price: manageable. Sure it's a bit on the expensive side, but really, you're only getting one. That is until the next edition. Personally, I want the gamer's edition with the bag. Because the only thing I was missing from my hobby of playing with toys was a purse. And, yes, I am getting one.

The dice are pretty interesting but I think that they should have more per set. Think about it for a second: 8 dice in a bag. Infantry getting to attack in two ranks; shooting in two ranks; horde formations. You're going to need more than 8 dice per set of rolling. They look amazing but I really don't want to buy two sets to get 10 dice to attack. Bit of a nit-pick but can't be positive about everything.

I'm loving the style of the new templates. The whole range of extras has such a great look and feel to it. I'm digging the Engineer's Ranging set but I probably won't get it. 

The one really crazy thing I like from the post on the GW announcement is that airship. I have to admit: I'm a sucker for steampunk airships. I got my hands on a really old White Dwarf which has plans to make a giant bog monster with a howdah (one of my new favorite words) on its back. Might have to make that guy a project.  

So what am I going with for my first 8th edition army? I got Ogres, Wood Elves, and Skaven, all of which I'm really comfortable with, especially Skaven. But I think I'm going to have to go with the small Lizardmen army I got to building. The Lizards have become a bit of a project army for me. I have always hated basing, but through the magic of the Internet, got a few new tricks up my sleeve. 

Lizards now are crazy magical. Bow before the glory of the Hypo-toad! Comets, lightning bolts, and re-rolls. Lizardmen have the magic phase down. Its pretty easy to go this route and load up on Engines of the God and spam Burning Alignment. I'm not such a fan of the typical lists for an army. Throwing in the random unit that no one uses or fielding a different lord can really throw your opponent off. I want to get those units that people general think are weaker in the Lizardmen and prove you can be competitive with them. I'm already fielding skink-kroxigor cohort units, razordons, and a skink chief on a steggadon (not an ancient). 

Now, I want to field kroxigors, but they are actually really hard to get your hands on. I really like the look of the new trolls, especially since they're in plastic now. So, I've been working on making trolls into Kroxigors by painting them up with more of a scaly skin look to match the real kroxigor and skink look I'm going for.

The real kroxigor is hunting his fat, ugly cousin.

I love these models. I just recently picked up a set of real kroxigors but I'm still going to field my fat kroxies. They look great reaching over a rank of skinks by the way. I'll get a group photo of these chaps when I finish them up. 

The local GW has the new book and I got to see a bit of Tuesday, but other plans pulled me away. I did get to see a Dwarf charge of 12", which was freakin' amazing. Hopefully I'll the breakdown of the new combat rules this weekend. Until then, be seeing ya.

Ogres and Escalating

Warhammer 40K had kind of worn on and I wanted something different. Warhammer Fantasy filled that need of renewal perfectly. I wanted a quick army that could build fast and was straight forward as possible. Enter the Ogres.

Ogre Kingdoms are larger than man-sized people who live up in the mountains. Practically every unit has the 'Dogs of War' special rule. This means you can normally field an Ogre unit in any other army that has 'Dogs of War' as a rare unit. Ogres are all S4, T4 and have 3 Wounds a piece. And that's a core choice.

Also built into every Ogre is the Bull Charge. If an Ogre charges more than 6 inches (since its movement value is 6, they have a full charge range of 12 inches), each Ogre in contact gets an impact hit. Plus every Ogre in the second rank grant +1 S to the impact hit.

Big dudes, cool rules, lot's of wounds. So what's the draw back? They are very expensive points wise. A normal Ogre Bull is between 35-43 points depending on how you outfit them. So if you want two ranks of Ogres, you're pumping a lot of points into one unit. The other issue is survivability. Ogres are T4, yes, but have crazy low armor. Ironguts have Heavy Armor but wield great weapons so they have to balance. Their magic, while really funny sometimes, is usually pretty weak. All Gut Magic spells cast on a 3+ but that also means dispelling is usually pretty simple.

I'm still excited about seeing Ogres in 8th Edition. I loved my Ogres when I got started. With the rumors of an additional attack at the end of combat from larger models, the old Ogre list is starting to creep back into my mind. I can see it now: the 3x3 formation of Ogre Sized units running down small units and taking their lunch money. With the additional rumors of Ogre Sized models in the second rank getting up to 3 attacks instead of an additional 1, that's quickly becoming 3 Impact Hits at S6, 18 attacks at S4, and another possible 3 Stomping Attacks at S4. Start adding command and heroes to units like that and Ogres get a new lease on life.

I first started out in Fantasy with an escalation league with my Ogres. Escalation leagues are a fantastic way of starting a new army or even a whole new game system. So if you're thinking you want to get into Fantasy when the new edition comes out, try an Escalation league. If there's enough interest I'll post on how to run one effectively for Fantasy. And remember, a lot of GW's already have the new book. Some of them are even going to be running some demos of the new rules in the coming weeks. Ask them and see if they're hosting a preview night. Until then, stomp ya laters!