Wave 3 has been out for a couple weeks now so I thought it was about time I did a little review of the new ships. We picked up a couple TIE Bombers and B-Wings and used them in a game to see is we would like having them. We also got a Lambda Shuttle and a HWK-290 but haven't had a chance to use those in a game yet.
Overall impression of the models was really high at first glance but when we tried to fold the wings down on the Lambda Shuttle they didn't want to go down all the way without feeling like they were going to break or the whole ship was going to come apart. It is my understanding after talking to a couple of local players in town and some guys on the internet that we are not the only ones that had this problem. BUT it was easily fixed using a file and little time. now the wings fold down on that just fine. I will post up a how to on that here in a day or so. The rest of the ships were really high quality in appearance. Though when you look at the size of the B-Wing it looks like they changed up the scale because it looks like it is bigger than it needs to be, but I could be wrong.
In Action the B-Wing and the TIE Bomber are just absolute tanks as they can take a load of punishment before going down, and combined with the right pilot and add-ons can be down right evil. I did learn that the Bomber works best when it is paired up with TIE Interceptors to fly support for it.
Really what it comes down to is that I do really enjoy this game and even though I am sitting here waiting for a rerelease of Wave 1 ships I honestly don't have much to complain about because it is a fun game to play. These new ships add a new dynamic to the game and really help keep things fresh.
If you go back to the review post that I made earlier this month for the Star Wars X-Wing game. This time I am going to review the KR Multicase storage system. We happened to pick it up to keep our X-Wing models in so I thought I would write a review for the case.
Now for over a year now I have had multiple people tell me that I need to look into KR cases cause they liked the foam better as well as the cost over other options that are out there. So when we bought into a new game we took a shot at trying a new storage system for it.
My first impression of the KR system is that the foam is really soft, it is no where near as dense as some of the other foams out there and it might be actually really good for painted miniatures with little fiddly bits that can get broken off because it should absorb impact a little better and not be so stiff. Now I don't know this for sure but I think having a little more give in the foam that it might be better... but I could be wrong. My big problem with the soft blue foam trays is that they are really flimsy and if you have any weight in the trays you have to be careful to not spill the contents all over the place.
The storage system its self I also want to question a little too because it just a cardboard box. And while it is a rather rigid box it is still just cardboard and it does have a lower crush rate than say something with hard plastic sides. Now KR does offer other cases to put the cardboard box into I just didn't invest in one. Also being that it is just cardboard if it gets wet in the rain going to and from the car or someone spills a drink on it and its ruined.
My overall opinion is this...
There is no perfect storage and transport option for our beloved games and figures. Everyone of them has its pros and cons, be it cost, reliability, amount of protection. Some are better than others and you should pick the storage option that is right for you and your needs. Personally I would give KR Multicase 3 out of 5 as it is a good product and it is good to see variety in the storage and transport market. For the cost its not bad, but that is based on just getting the foam and the box for the X-Wing models that we got. If you get any more models we will need another case and then we will have to look at getting one of the bags or something to keep the stuff together. But doing that will really put the cost up there with some of the other options out there and it is still cardboard boxes. Another thing to note is that if you decide to get this set for your X-Wing models be prepared to put the 5 Straight movement template either on top of the tray or to cut the foam to make it fit with the others cause the slot to put the straight movement templates into isn't cut long enough.
Thats right... got another Dreadball team done. This time it is the Void Sirens, which if you are not familiar with the game they are the female Corporation team. I am thinking about calling mine the Vixens or something like that.
I decided to diverge from the pink and white for something a little darker. So I went with purple and black with green visors and some silver details on the models.
Things are looking like we are going to be having a Dreadball league before too long at the FLGS and that got me thinking and itching to repaint some of the models that I have sitting around the studio... as well as get the rest of the blasted models painted.
So I sat down and I tried to think of how I wanted to paint my team... I wanted it to be somewhat influenced by the box art with a couple of little changes. Mainly I went from blue to black on my models. Now all I need is name for my team.
Some of you may know that I am a HUGE Star Wars fan... not to the point that I know the expanded universe inside and out or anything like that but I am a fan. And in the last post I did a review of the X-Wing game from Fantasy Flight Games, well the other night we were playing and we mentioned again that more dice is a good thing for that game cause you don't get enough. Then I decided that each player really needs a couple sets of dice cause otherwise one person ends up hogging all the dice. Then I remembered seeing something about an app you can get on your phone from Fantasy Flight called Star Wars Dice and decided to give it try, and here is my review of said app.
Star Wars Dice is a phone app that can be purchased in the Google play store or the iTunes App store. I got it for my iPhone for only $4.99. I thought the app was a little tricky to use at first as far as trying to figure out how to get the right dice that I needed, but once I figured that out it has been fun just to play around with. Believe it or not is has the dice from the Star Wars Edge of the Empire rpg as well as the dice for Star Wars X-Wing and a set of regular Polyhedral dice for you to choose from. And you can have as many dice out there at a time as you need to roll. For example I had 5 red attack dice and 4 green agility dice on the screen and then I would just select the number and the color of the dice I needed to any given roll and then just gave my phone a shake, then laid it down on the table so my gaming buddy could see the roll. It was rather effective and it made for some entertaining moments cause the app has some cool sound effects built right into it. Since I was the Imperial player I selected the Imperial sound effects and every time I gave my dice a shake they would bounce around sounding like Imperial Blasters. The dice rolls really were random too... and the Imperial forces still couldn't hit anything they shot at.
Now lets take a minute to talk about cost...
Like I said a little while ago I only paid $4.99 for it, now look at the cost of the sets of dice for X-Wing are going to run you $7.95 a set and if you happen to be into Edge of the Empire those dice are going to set you back $14.95. And a set of polyhedrals will run between $4.95 to about $12.95 depending on the manufacturer and the color or finish. And that is for only ONE set each... with this app you can have as many as you can fit on the screen for only $4.99. That sounds like one hell of a deal.
Now I know what you are thinking "you like the feel and the thought of rolling real dice" or "my opponent or event organizer wont let me use that" which is fine and fully understandable cause some people are that way and I am in no way saying that you have to buy this app. I am just saying that it is a really helpful tool to have handy for those kind of situations when you don't have enough dice.
So if you are like me and you are into X-Wing or Edge of the Empire give this app a serious thought cause it really is a helpful tool and it can also add some cool sound effects to your games.
Okay so this game has been out for a while and I have seen the stuff on the game store shelf and have seen a few people playing it at the store and even talked to a few people that have been playing it in different areas of the country and they all have made this game look very tempting to me. So after some serious consideration and talking to a couple of friends I decided to take a serious look at this game and pick up a copy of the Core Set from the local game store to see what I thought about it. I was also given some advice about what all other ships I should really be looking at getting.
So I am going to give you my review of Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars X-Wing
The Core Set (which is an absolute must have to even play) comes with one X-Wing and two TIE Fighters, as well as the specialty dice and all the templates and tokens needed to play the game. The rulebook is actually pretty short and if you go and watch the Tutorial Video on the Fantasy Flight website you get a good concept of the rules and how the game actually plays. Man this game is super simple to play compared to the other games that I play, and honestly it is a huge relief to play a simple game that is this much fun. If you are playing just the Core Set you can play a game in about 30 minutes or so... especially if you keep you play surface fairly small. The game can play in as little as a 2'x2' square but if you want to play more ships you will obviously need more space. The tokens and the movement templates are a thick cardboard and I am a little worried about them getting torn up from use. I do wish that the Core Set came in acrylic or something a little more durable but that is easily remedied by going to a third party. But really that is my only complaint when it comes right down to it.
Now I could not just leave it at that, we had to go deep and get some of the Expansion pack ships such as The Millennium Falcon and Slave 1. For ANY Star Wars fan those two ships are a must have. Also we picked up some A-Wings and some TIE Interceptors (as that was all we could get cause everything else is out of stock). We did pick up enough ships and with using some of the upgrade cards like Proton Torpedoes and R2-D2 we played a 150 point game on a 3'x3' game surface and it was a blast. Since we are still somewhat new to the rules and with all the other little additions to the game with all the upgrades and such the game took close to 2 hours but I look for that time to come down with the more games that we intend to play.
The hardest part of the game play was the way the ships move around the board by selecting your move on a maneuver dial and then you HAVE TO make that move using the templates. At times it makes the game more like a badly choreographed dance. That and trying to anticipate what your opponent is going to do make things interesting... sometimes they turn right in front of you and sometimes you forget which way you are facing and you pick the right distance and type of maneuver but the wrong direction.
The ships that we have managed to get our hands on LOOK GREAT for being prepainted the details on the ships look really good and they actually look like miniature versions of what you see in the movies which helps with the game play and getting you into that world... or vastness of space as this one turns out to be.
As far as needs go there isn't much that you need to add outside of more ships that is. One thing that I can highly recommend that you pick up is a second set of dice... or even a second core set cause you only get 3 red shooting dice and 3 green defense dice and there are situations where you might need 4 or even 5 dice. You really don't need terrain because you actually think about it space is really wide open and there is not much in the way of things to hide behind. There is the occasional planet or moon or even the occasional floating space rock or rocks. IF you must have 3D terrain to fly around grill lava rocks make great asteroids or pick up one or 2 of those craft foam balls and call it a moon.
Overall I have to give this game like 4.5 out of 5 because of the one con I have with the card movement templates, but that is the only thing that I have wrong with game. I highly recommend this game to others. If you have been sitting on the fence about getting into this game, get your ass off the fence and come have fun. Cause we have had a blast since picking this one up last Friday night.
Well gang August s gone and what a great month it was. Got a ton of models painted for the league, got a few things sold that have been cluttering up the storage area here in the studio. Still have more stuff to sell but I am going to wait until after the holiday weekend to go through everything and get an inventory so I know what all there is and what all I am asking for it.
Also in the news we managed to find and pick up a copy of Star Wars X-Wing and a bunch of other ships to go along with it, and damn its fun. I am working up a full review of the game here in a little while.
On the paint block for this month is going to be Dreadball I do believe. Maybe some Gators...
