Age of Sigmar Unboxing and initial thoughts

Here's my unboxing video showing the contents of the Age of Sigmar Warhammer starter set.  Probably not much new in there, so I'll add some thoughts and opinions below.

First off, its a nicely packaged starter.  Much more of a starter than previous GW offerings, in that you can actually play full games with the models and rules supplied.  The previous ones were sort of half baked in my opinion, because you needed the army books to play the full game, and didn't really have enough models to have a proper force.  This one seems different in that sense, so is more catered towards the first time gamer than the long time neck beard.

As for the sprues, of course the details are amazing and all of that, but the thing I've noticed is that the good and evil guys are totally separate on the sprues.  You can easily split the box without clipping anything.  The sprues are either completely one side or are divided down the middle and can be snapped in half.  This is a great design, and will make splitting with friends that much easier.

In terms of the new faction (Sigmarines), I can't say that I'm thrilled by them.  I don't particularly like painting space marines, and that's what these guys feel like.  One of thing things I like about fantasy are the troops and their smaller scale, so these guys are basically the opposite of that.  I'm also not keen on the round bases, but we'll have to see how that works out with game play.  I'm not about to rebase all of my guys yet, but maybe I will if I get indications that the round bases are the way to go in the long run.

For me one of the key things about a gaming system is that it is supported and living.  This means an active player community and new releases.  I think the approach GW has taken will allow give them the opportunity to have successful releases for a long time, and allow the game to flourish.  Sure, it needs some sort of mass battle set of advanced rules, but that's secondary to having a game that can support continual releases and a large catalog of miniatures.  Maybe Kings of War will be the competitive rule set for tournaments.  Maybe GW will release something even better.  Who knows.  All I care is that Fantasy remains profitable so GW keeps producing models.

Unboxing Assassinorum Execution Force

So I when I saw this I was sold... then I heard about the Knight release and couldn't decide... well, in the end I picked this up, so here's the unboxing.  I love GW's new plastic characters, so with 4 in the box this makes sense to me.

The details are amazing, but we knew about the mini's.  The actual game looks decent quality, and the boards are pretty heavy duty. I'm not sure how playable the game will be, but they put some effort into this.

Here' the unboxing video along with some sprue pics of the Assassins.

Harlequin Unboxing and Assembly

I caved and picked up a troupe box yesterday... I had wanted to wait until the full release came out before picking anything up, but these things are trickling out so slowly that I pulled the trigger.  I'd like to put together a small band to complement my Dark Eldar, so I'll probably pick up a transport and character to go with these guys.  I'm also considering the idea of converting wyches into Harlequins... might be a decent conversion project.  The basic idea would be to put masks on heads and use Harlequin arms.

Also, a size comparison below the video...

Smaug Unboxing (pics and video)

I picked up my Smaug at the local GW today (along with the new White Dwarf) and here's the unboxing. I'm going to continue with an assembly walk through and painting video as well... hopefully I'll have enough time over the Christmas holidays.

Anyway, first impressions are good for this model.  There are no visible mold lines, and the casting is pretty much flawless.  We'll see how well the different parts fit, but so far the warnings about expert modeling skills seem over blown... those are needed to fill in bubbles on finecast.

Some size comparison Pics and unboxing video below... 

Dark Eldar Archon unboxing and assembly

Here's a quick look at the new Plastic Archon model that came out with the Dark Eldar release... I've wanted to open him up and assemble earlier, but haven't had the time.

I'm not a huge fan of this model due to the statuesque pose, but the detail is pretty cool.  I left his head and trophy rack off for painting, but assembled everything else.  I suppose you could make a case for leaving off his cape, but I didn't want to deal with any gaps on his shoulders.

I'm not sure when this guy will get painted up, but here's a look at him compared to the finecast crap version I painted a little while back.  Unboxing and assembly video after the break.

Forecast calls for Smaug

So, I took a gample and put in an order for Smaug.  Its crazy expensive, but hopefully I can recoup some of that through the blog and my youtube channel.  When I saw that it was limited to 200 (for now) I decided to go ahead... unfortunately that was at full Canadian retail... ouch.

Expect me to milk this one... unboxing, assembly, and step by step painting... even though you wont be able to buy one for yourself (unless you got one of the other 199 of them).  I'm thinking that magnetizing the wings will make sense to help avoid it breaking.

Space hulk 2009 Unboxing

I'm excited about the re-release of Space Hulk... its a good chance for me to finish painting the figures from the 2009 version.  I dug up some pictures from the archives (below) to show what was in the box that time around.  I'm also working on some painting tutorials to get up for the new edition. From what I've read the contents are virtually the same.  I'm curious to see the special rules for other chapters... maybe they'll release rules for other races like they did back with 2nd edition Space Hulk.

Spacewoff Stormwolf/Stormfang Unboxing and Assembly videos

Here's a look at the new Spacewolf flyer... its a pretty cool transport, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the whole frost cannon thing.  I'm going to paint it up to go with my bloodclaws to replace the land raider that I had been using (ineffectively) for them.

Its a decent looking kit, but most of the space wolf icons are built into it, so if you wanted to use it for something else it would take a bit of work.  The second video shows how I assembled it for painting.

Ork Meganobz Unboxing

I`m excited to get these guys assembled and painted up.  I love the extra options... although I`m not sure how I feel about the kill saws.  We`ll have to see if those make sense, maybe in larger mobs a couple of them will be good to pop vehicles.

The Big mek looks decent, although building that option means you need to buy at least another box (to have enough nobz to make a mob).  The kit looks like it should be pretty easy to magnetize, so we`ll see if I can make that work in the assembly video.

Ork Mek Unboxing, Assembly and Magnetization

Here's the new plastic Ork Mek boy, and I magnetized his one arm so that I could swap the kill saw and wrench depending on my list.  Its pretty simple to do, just a 1/8" magnet in the body and a 1/16" magnet in each arm.  I show how to set them in the video, nothing magic there.

Anyway, a cool model, and will be helpful to have to give a little variety besides the Mek in the lootas box.

Unboxing New Ork Mek Gun and Shokk Attack Gun

Here's a couple more unboxing videos for the latest Ork releases.  The Shokk attach gun is particularly interesting because it shows how GW plans on replacing even more finecast stuff with plastic sprues.  The size of this sprue is bigger than the ones that single characters come on, so its possible this is the first of many to come in this box size (and price range).

The Mek Gun box is intersting because it comes with lots of grotz, but only makes one gun.  For the price that kind of sucks, so I'm going to try any kit bash this with a trukk box and make 3 extra guns.  We'll see how many things in my bitz box I'll have to use to make that work.

Flash Gitz Unboxing

Picked up a couple boxes of Flash gits today along with a box of nobs to try out the interchangeability of the kits.  That will come when I do an assembly video, but for now here's the unboxing.

I did some Freebootaz a while back using pirate heads from ebay and Baddruck (below)... I'll have to repurpose them and the painboy that went with them.

No real surprises here since the sprue pics are on GW's website.  No decal sheet, just three sprues, instructions and 40mm bases.

Unboxing the Gorkanaut

Here's a first look at the Ork Gorkanaut, and whats in the box.  No surprises here really, three sprues, instructions and the normal ork decal sheet.  There are some nice bits, but not really much extra stuff like was in the stompa kit.  I'm working on an assembly set next, and of course a painting video after that.

Imperial Knight Unboxing

I've just picked up one of the new Imperial Knights, and its impressive.  I've got an unboxing video below and I have some thoughts about ridges on GW kits below.  I'll be doing an assembly and magnetization video shortly and will follow up with a painting video.

Dwarf Dragon Slayer Unboxing and Assembly

Here's the new Dragon Slayer plastic character.  These single pose plastic characters are stunning, and the dynamic pose on this guy really takes the cake.  I'll be painting him up as soon as I get a chance and posting a video, but that may take a week or so.

Wall of Martyrs Unboxing and assembly

Well, these have been sitting in my to-do pile for quite some time, but with the new Stronghold Assault book I thought I should get in gear.  Now that there are rules I can see these getting a lot more use.

Anyway, below are three videos, one for each of the core Wall of Martyrs pieces; Imperial Defense line, Imperial Bunker and Imperial Defense Emplacement.

Deathwing Command Squad Unboxing

I caved again... well, sort of.  I wasn't sure if I was going to try and collect a Dark Angels Army, but with the stuff I've finished from Dark Vengeance it looks like that's where I'm going... so I picked up the Dark Angesl Command Squad box.  I went through my bits boxes and found lots of terminators that I can use with the extra bits to make up some extra squads.  I really like the idea of doing a deathwing deepstrike and shooting the enemy apart all in one go.  Seems like a cool list, but we'll have to see if I can make it work.

Here are some pictures of the contents.

Unboxing The Hobbit Escape from Goblin Town

Here's a look at the new Hobbit boxed set and its contents.  I'm not as much of a fan of the true scale mini's, but the set is quite nice.  It'll be interesting to paint these guys up and have a go at the game.  Any suggestions about which ones to start with?  comments please.

Video after the break..

Dark Vengeance Unboxing and review

Here's a full unboxing and look at the sprues.  I'm sure you're already aware of what's in the box, so its more about me sharing my thoughts on the kit and impressions.  I'll be doing an assembly video and start to get into painting these guys as soon as possible.

Dark Vengeance Unboxing (German)

oooo.... can't wait.  Just a couple more days and I'll be doing one of these videos. (found via Faeit 212 http://natfka.blogspot.ca/2012/08/dark-vengeance-unboxing.html)

I guess this memo about showing stuff before the release date.