It’s been a while folks, but Tabletop Tuesday is back (albeit, a little late in the day)! Now I know I’ve been out of the saddle for a spell, so I think the best way to celebrate would be to jump right in and sift through some of the great tabletop news that’s come out in the last few weeks.
The Limited Edition White Scars cover for the new Space Marine Codex – I’m a little bit biased.
The folks over at Games Workshop dropped an exciting bit of news with the release of the new Space Marine codex for the Warhammer 40,000 miniatures game. For their 6th edition incarnation, the most popular army for Warhammer 40K gets a slew of new model kits and several collector’s edition covers. Now, the model kits are beautiful. I mean, just look at these veterans –
The Vanguard Veterans are close assault specialists and wield the best hand-to-hand weapons in conjunction with powerful jump packs.
Sternguard Veterans know how to hold the line after centuries of service to the Imperium of Man and can level immeasurable firepower against their foes.
But as great as these models are, only time will tell if the rules in this new book will be up to snuff. As a Space Marine player myself, I’m really anxious to get my hands on the book!
Since we’re on the topic of miniatures and since I know Chris is probably reading this, I know I won’t get away without mentioning the amazing news that Fantasy Flight Games dropped at GenCon about Star Wars: X-Wing the Miniatures Game.
Rebel transport with alternate X-Wing
Tantice IV – Corellian Corvette
The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. New, bigger ships. For many an X-Wing fan this will come as a huge blessing, but the fun doesn’t stop with the new models. To match these additions, FFG is releasing 2 new game modes. Cinematic play will showcase scenario driven games using the new ships. Epic format tournaments will allow competition using these new models. They carry a hefty price tag at $59.99 for the Rebel Transport and $89.99 for the Tantive IV, but I know a whole mess of folks who are going to be frothing at the mouth to get their paws on these.
Tabletop Term of the Week: With miniatures games on the brain, I think it’s best for me to touch on one of the fundamental elements of how such games are played – points systems! Since many of these games have vast arrays of models to choose from, it can be confusing to see why someone wouldn’t just bring a butt load of tanks to a fight. The balancing mechanic that most miniatures games use is a points system which ensures that all players are fielding a comparable force.
As an example, if I were to sit down to play a game of X-Wing, my opponent and I would both choose a game size. If we agreed on a small game of 50 points, I’d be able to include Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing (28 points) and a Gray Squadron Y-Wing Pilot (20 points). This brings me as close to 50 as possible without going over. My opponent would do the same with the ships of their choice and we would be able to have a fair fight because the points values calculate a given model or units strenghts (and weaknesses).
And on that note, I’m going to call it a Tuesday. Don’t worry, though! Even though this week was short and sweet, I’ll be back next week with more of the same!
