Was lucky enough to get the Algoryn Skirmish Force from the missus for Christmas whilst my Dad got me the Concord Combined Command Starter army...just far too much BTGOA goodness to cope with.
Did I pick the "Space Marines" of the Antares game?!?
They would probably be the closest thing in Antares to marines, but they're different enough. Still waiting for my Concord army box to arrive... stupid mail...
Did I pick the "Space Marines" of the Antares game?!?
the closest thing to Space Marines in GoA are the Ghar. One can almost detect a few subtle jabs at 40k in general and space marines specifically in the background and technology of the Ghar. They are the closest analog, being "generically engineered soldiers" that know "only war" and wear "powered armor" that requires a reactor and still uses slug-throwing weaponry.
I meant "Space Marines of Antares" in terms of the faction that many will be playing!
Hopefully there will be a fairly even spread among all factions...wherever it is I go to get games of Antares in!
Oh hahaha my mistake
Well as of this moment Concord and Ghar are the easiest to play because of the starter set and the plastics available. Sort of like how USA and Germany were the easiest when Bolt Action came out in 2012 due to only those plastics being available. With time you'll get a much larger spread - the factions play quite differently! And everyone's waiting for the Isorians because apparently even the models previewed in the rulebook are just proofs of concept and not final at all!
Alex C wrote: So the concensus on this game is good?
Wife likes the activation mechanic so we are looking to try the game. It seems to have been well received.
You're going to get a bit of a biased perspective asking in this thread. It seems ok but I've never played. I've got my concerns on token spam and some of the model/faction aesthetics but it looks like it has potential now (as opposed to during the poorly executed kickstarter). They've used the years since well.
Alex C wrote: So the concensus on this game is good?
Wife likes the activation mechanic so we are looking to try the game. It seems to have been well received.
So far I'm liking it. I think (I have to play more to be sure) that the activation mechanic works more unevenly at low units games (as in, a row of activations from the same side will have a bigger impact), but as the number of units get bigger it will even out. At bigger unit games command units will probably feel a lot better (at low points, I didn't really see the point of fielding them when not forced to).
Maybe I'm just too brow beaten by Games Workshop and their "other stuff doesn't exist!" policy for decades but... is the official GOA channel showing off a conversion of a primarily other company's model in a video?
edit: I booboo'ed. The models are indeed different as pointed out below.
After hearing the D6 interview, I got pretty excited. The gameplay sounds like a great update to sci-fi table top miniatures games.
I'd like to buy the book and a faction. But, from the site, I can't really tell how they play. I'm not too into the Ghar (but maybe I am, don't know) based on look and low model count. So, I don't think I want the starter box
Any chance somebody can map BtGoA to 40k factions for me?
For example, I assume:
C3 = IG due to large model count and mostly shooting and losing troops is no big deal
Algoryn = Eldar? I basing this on aesthetics alone
evancich wrote: After hearing the D6 interview, I got pretty excited. The gameplay sounds like a great update to sci-fi table top miniatures games.
I'd like to buy the book and a faction. But, from the site, I can't really tell how they play. I'm not too into the Ghar (but maybe I am, don't know) based on look and low model count. So, I don't think I want the starter box
Any chance somebody can map BtGoA to 40k factions for me?
For example, I assume:
C3 = IG due to large model count and mostly shooting and losing troops is no big deal
Algoryn = Eldar? I basing this on aesthetics alone
Nobody can map the Gates of Antares factions to equivalent 40K factions. They aren't meant to be analogues for 40K armies. This isn't Mantic.
But I'm sure someone can give a quick overview on how the factions play. I think I saw a good summary of that somewhere.
I can't help with any 40K mapping to Antares mostly because, like Albino Squirrel wrote, it's not analogous. It's early in the life cycle of the game so how factions play I'm sure will be viewed differently now vs. the future when more models and units are released.
I've been playing with and against the following and so far here is what I see on how some of the factions play:
Concord - Very good weapons, good at shooting from range. Not superior when up close and in hand to hand. Not bad though even at that. I do love my drop troopers!
Ghar - Elite Suits and Horde units. Not as many units and less flexible with their force structure. Very tough suits, they can take punishment. Hordes can be made shooty and very much a threat. I fight against Ghar a lot these days, very popular faction.
Algoryn - Good shooting and above average close combat. I like to field this faction the most. I am able to take on all comers so far with my force but it requires a different way of playing vs. when I field my Concord. Algoryn don't have plasma weapons for all their soldiers.
Boromites - They like to get up close and are very tough. Really good heavy weapon to. Slow. Still very powerful when used correctly.
Freeborn - I've only fought against them a couple of times. They seem like a faction with a lot of options.
Iosorians - Haven't fought them yet. I suspect they're going to be similar to Concord.
Remember that drones and shards are a part of the game and that while they do the same thing in game, IE: a targeter probe...targets stuff. How or if you use them varies between factions and changes how they play. Hopefully someone will find the good summary and post a link to that.
Edit: and I can't wait to get that new Concord Howitzer. Very nice looking model and I think it'll see a lot of use on the table, even with my Concord Drop Trooper force.
Warlord Games has announced to release the german rules within the first half of 2016 according to Christian on Brückenkopf-Online. That is quite important for us here
Maybe even some other language editions are in the works as well?
I don't know about the French, Spanish and Portuguese markets but in Germany you will have a much larger crowd to sell to if you translate the rules of a tabletop system. It is not because of ignorance but the average english skill level here makes it hard to get into, regularily play with and especially enjoying a game with non-german rules for many players (That's what you get told quite often). For people starting with the tabletop hobby, translated rules are a must.
evancich wrote: After hearing the D6 interview, I got pretty excited. The gameplay sounds like a great update to sci-fi table top miniatures games.
I'd like to buy the book and a faction. But, from the site, I can't really tell how they play. I'm not too into the Ghar (but maybe I am, don't know) based on look and low model count. So, I don't think I want the starter box
Any chance somebody can map BtGoA to 40k factions for me?
For example, I assume:
C3 = IG due to large model count and mostly shooting and losing troops is no big deal
Algoryn = Eldar? I basing this on aesthetics alone
Nobody can map the Gates of Antares factions to equivalent 40K factions. They aren't meant to be analogues for 40K armies. This isn't Mantic.
But I'm sure someone can give a quick overview on how the factions play. I think I saw a good summary of that somewhere.
Someone pointed out above that in a lot of ways the Ghar (the fighting suits) are like Space Marines in terms of the background, aside from the fact that a Ghar suit is substantially more durable in game.
The bundle is direct only. The X-Howitzer and Interceptor Bikes are going to be available to retailers separately. I don't know when the X-Howitzer will be released. It's on individual pre-order direct from Warlord Games now. The bikes are released and on sale now, I think. I'm still waiting for my FLGS to get them in. Drop Troopers are available to retailers, at least that's where I've purchased my two boxes of them.
In the past it's taken about a month from release on the Warlord Games shop to show up at my FLGS.
That Concord faction as a whole is impressive. I am not as much a fan of the Ghar, but the alternate scheme shown further up the page helps them, too. Great work by Warlord on these recent releases!
Quick question: I caved and bought some Ghar Battle suits, but I want to replace their claws with some sort of pew pew. Do the spare drone heavy weapons from the Concord sprue match the plasma blaster on the Ghar in size and/or style? Or would I be better off using some spare Medge Tempest heavy weapons?
Priestley sure gives a lot of interviews. The interview he gave with Adam Corolla went about where I thought it would, but his interview with Jenny Scordamaglia was a pleasant surprise. Between all these interviews and his no-doubt upcoming Twitter feud with Kanye West, I hope he has time to play the games he's creating.
Our good friend Vincent Rospond at Winged Hussar Pubs is putting together the first of what is hoped to be a series of books set in the same Antares universe as my Beyond the Gates of Antares game.
Winged Hussar Publishing, LLC
21 hrs ·
A couple of exciting posts coming up, first we have reached an agreement with Warlord Games and Rick Priestley to produce novels and short stories for "Beyond the Gates of Antares" in the late Autumn of 2016. More to come on that later. ..
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Quick question: I caved and bought some Ghar Battle suits, but I want to replace their claws with some sort of pew pew. Do the spare drone heavy weapons from the Concord sprue match the plasma blaster on the Ghar in size and/or style? Or would I be better off using some spare Medge Tempest heavy weapons?
Size-wise you could probably work it out. Style wise they are quite different.
I've been using Dark Eldar bits myself for "bomber" conversions:
Our good friend Vincent Rospond at Winged Hussar Pubs is putting together the first of what is hoped to be a series of books set in the same Antares universe as my Beyond the Gates of Antares game.
Winged Hussar Publishing, LLC
21 hrs ·
A couple of exciting posts coming up, first we have reached an agreement with Warlord Games and Rick Priestley to produce novels and short stories for "Beyond the Gates of Antares" in the late Autumn of 2016. More to come on that later. ..
This week, we also had an update from Paul Sawyer of the design studio, giving an insight into what might be heading our way...
"Andres has painted the Algoryn Intruder Skimmers, Ghar Tectorists, several Isorian phase troopers, Isorian targeter probe shard, Boromite Matriarch and is currently working on the Algoryn Mag Mortar.
Wojtek is at work on a couple of characters for the forthcoming supplement - one for Isorians and one for Boromites. He's almost finished the Boromite engineers and auto-workshop.
Steve is making a couple of tweaks to the Freeborn special character for the supplement but is otherwise hard at it on US Airborne 3-ups...
Russ is skiiing in France. Yeah, we thought so too...
Me? I'm to be found sat waiting for the postman - the 3D prints of the plastic C3M4 combat drone are due with us any day and is the last stage before the tools are cut..."
Mr Paul Sawyer has put a few previews up on the Facebook group. First is the Freeborn character introduced in the next supplement, Amano Harran:
"Amano has made a name for himself amongst the worlds of the Determinate, and his ship – the Nebula – has become almost as famous as its captain. Utilising some of the most advanced technologies of Antarean space, it is often assumed that the Nebula is equipped with alien derived space drives as yet unknown to the human civilisations of Antarean space. That may indeed be so, for Amano’s travels have certainly taken him to worlds beyond the ordinary congress of human space..."
Also the following studio update:
"Andres has finished painting the Algoryn Mag Mortar and is now hard at work on the Freeborn Sky Raider squad as well as batter, medi, camo, shield, gun and compactor drones. The webteam have been taking pics and videos so expect to see something soonish.
Wojtek has completed Boromite Engineers, mag cannon and mag heavy support teams. He's working on the Isorian X-howitzer and crew currently before turning his attention to a Boromite special character which will also be making it's entrance in the supplement."
Definitely one of the more characterful factions, looking forward to seeing what else comes along for them.
And glad to hear that the Boromites are going to get some more releases, they're the faction I'm collecting although a little spartan in terms of choices at the moment.
Priestley sure gives a lot of interviews. The interview he gave with Adam Corolla went about where I thought it would, but his interview with Jenny Scordamaglia was a pleasant surprise. Between all these interviews and his no-doubt upcoming Twitter feud with Kanye West, I hope he has time to play the games he's creating.
And glad to hear that the Boromites are going to get some more releases, they're the faction I'm collecting although a little spartan in terms of choices at the moment.
But Boromites have the frag borer, the coolest looking weapon ever.
Have seen quite a few pictures of the recently released Ghar Command Crawler, the resin casts look fantastic.
Priestley sure gives a lot of interviews. The interview he gave with Adam Corolla went about where I thought it would, but his interview with Jenny Scordamaglia was a pleasant surprise. Between all these interviews and his no-doubt upcoming Twitter feud with Kanye West, I hope he has time to play the games he's creating.
Carolla interviewed Priestly? Link???
No, it was a joke. But it does seem like only a matter of time...
A small amount of fiction is on the Warlord site, intermixed with product descriptions and also articles. Some short fan fiction is on the Warlord site too. Hard to find some of it it seems.
The rule book has much more about the background, races and more.
If in doubt, it might be worth it to wait for the novels.
Rick Priestly did indicate the game is inspired by Iain M. Banks' Culture series. The game isn't the same as those books, but it's good enough for now for me when I want to read more. "Get you by" novels, if you will.
Zond wrote: I like the skimmer design but the pilots all look like they're out for leisurely drives.
Hah! I know what you mean. I think it's because of the high riding position and can probably be solved by filing down the pilots torso a little. Right now they remind me of an adult sitting in a kids ride-on car you'd see outside a shop
$32 for a pdf direct from them (unlike from drivethrurpg where they'd take a cut) versus $48 for the physical copy that they sell to distributors for roughly half ($24) and still make a profit. I'd say the value isn't there for the pdf and folks should just get the hardcopy at a discount online instead.
$32 for a pdf direct from them (unlike from drivethrurpg where they'd take a cut) versus $48 for the physical copy that they sell to distributors for roughly half ($24) and still make a profit. I'd say the value isn't there for the pdf and folks should just get the hardcopy at a discount online instead.
Price is steep, that's for certain. That said, I find pdfs more convenient for general use, personally.
Price is steep, that's for certain. That said, I find pdfs more convenient for general use, personally.
I find both physical and virtual copies to have their own advantages and disadvantages and I value both for their own reasons. I tend to use virtual copies much more outside of actual games (list building, concept work for house rules, general reading, etc) whereas I prefer hard copies actually at the table. Regardless, if they can make a healthy sustainable profit from selling a hard copy to distributors at $25 despite having the added expense of producing and shipping the dead tree copy, then they can sell the pdf direct to the consumer at the same rate and make an even better profit margin. I realize they've made some improvements to the PDF compared with an official just scanned copy ala Palladium Books with the quality of a bootleg but those costs are a pittance when properly amoritized over thousands of copies. They certainly don't justify charging 33% more for the virtual copy than they charge distributors for the physical copy. I realize you're not arguing with me but rather I thought I'd add some nuance and justification to my previous more succinct post.
although you could also use it to argue that they should be selling the physical book for the same price they offer to distributors too, as by selling that at MRSP they are making even more profit margin
although you could also use it to argue that they should be selling the physical book for the same price they offer to distributors too, as by selling that at MRSP they are making even more profit margin
I wouldn't argue that because I understand the importance that the traditional retail chain has for physical copies both traditionally and also in the future and that's not even counting the added value of bulk orders that distributors make compared with the normal consumer. None of that applies though with digitial copies sold direct to consumers that bypass two tiers of the chain and the price margin added at each of those steps. Don't get me wrong... if there is a new company that wants to sell physical copies direct to customers at the same price as they do to distributors (knowing full well that they'll piss off the rest of the food chain), I don't have an issue with them doing it... but I won't lobby for it as I don't think it is a reasonable stand personally. For virtual copies sold direct to consumers, that's a different story.
Pacific wrote: Free PDF if you bought the physical copy would be a nice touch
The problem is now I've been spoilt by Corvus Belli/Infinity, you start to expect it from everyone..
I'd be happy to pay like £5 for a digital copy to go with a physical copy, but any company that thinks I'm paying almost twice to get a physical and digital copy of a rulebook is having a giraffe.
The actual hovercraft and drone things look great, but the queen is unappealing. I feel like the appeal of the Antares factions is so specific. It's easy to not like any of them, even though I really want to.
I'm failing to see what's wrong with the Boromite ladies besides the price. I actually rather like the smaller woman, and I seem to recall others liking her way back when she was initially previewed.
Looking forward to the plastic vehicle, though. The Ghar suits are great and the Concord drones really tickle my fancy, so the plastic vehicle is right up my alley.
The Boromites are my least favourite faction as well, a shame that the design of the Boromites seems to turn some away from GoA altogether.
I am currently Concord/Algoryn collecting and the recent Concord releases have been stellar...jetbikes, big cannon and the delights of the all HIPs C3M4 drone to come. The test sprue for it looks great.
Had to stare at the mini a bit to work out that she wasn't sticking her tongue out.
Boromites seem on par with the angry mole rat people to me, concept and execution wise.
Glad the game seems to be getting some traction. Hard to believe how badly the crowd funding was bungled given the timing.
Barzam wrote: I'm failing to see what's wrong with the Boromite ladies besides the price. I actually rather like the smaller woman, and I seem to recall others liking her way back when she was initially previewed.
People having differing tastes? I think that's what happens in my case, at least. I feel very "neh" about the faction as a whole, TBH.
That said, with that mini, my impression that the Genestealer Cult would work beautifully as proxies for them gets even stronger.
Paul Sawyer: "Happy (Brood) Mothers Day!
Here are the first images of the finished Matronite Broodmother.
It's been a Herculean job for Wojtek but he's finally completed this humongous beast. She won't be available for a while as there is a lot of resin mouldmaking and production testing to do on a model this size!"
No way it could be Mantic. sure it's out of scale with the rest of the game/universe, but they have decided on a material, there's an actual sculpt and it doesn't have tiny leg syndrome.
obviously Isorians will be dropping soon (and will be taking All Of My Money with them)
You and me both. I wonder if they're going to start with metal infantry or go straight to plastic? It's sort of weird that it's taken them this long to release the Isorians considering we were teased their prototypes over a year ago.
Gameplay-wise, they probably are pretty similar. Visually though? Not so much. I haven't really bought into GOA yet since I've been waiting for the Isorians. I can't wait to see what their drones and drop troops look like with all of their biotech gear.
warboss wrote: Wow.. just wow. That's about all I can say about that model without breaking Dakka's rule #1.
Were you going to personally insult a user here, or someone in particular?
Because otherwise - fire away!
Nah, I was referring possibly to the sculptor and the boromite thing itself; it may have feelings somewhere under all that globbed on green stuff rolled in kitty litter. At least I still have Concord and Algoryn to occasionally oogle in the thread.
After much outcry from the community, we’ve pulled-forward the initial releases for the Isorian faction for Beyond the Gates of Antares – and this week, we’re proud to announce that you’re now able to pre-order the Skirmish Force army deal – with further individual releases to follow…
During the long period of isolation that followed the collapse of the Sixth Age many human settlements failed altogether. Advanced civilisations declined to barbarism. Only in a very few places was the light of knowledge carried onwards. One such place was Isori, with its long history of technical expertise and the unique resources of the Isorian system behind it.
Applying their vast technical skills the Isorians began to improve space drives and discovered ways to increase the endurance of spacecraft and their crews. The flexible nature of space-fabric had long been understood, and the Isorians used this knowledge to build ships capable of reaching near-light speeds previously thought impossible.
The Isorians sent out explorer probes to the surrounding solar systems – and in doing so, they stirred an enemy – triggering the outbreak of the centuries long struggle between the Isori Senatex and the strange alien race of Tsan Kiri – a silicon-based life form, in appearance almost spider-like, though possessed of uncompromising ferocity and great intelligence – at least as technically advanced as the PanHuman Concord and in many ways more so.
Interstellar War raged for nearly two centuries – fighting across the depths of space, contesting asteroids and the very stars themselves. The advantage swung many times – however the Isorians seemed to take the upper-hand and pushed the Tsan Kiri back toward their homeworld…
The Tsan Kiri had devised a silicon-carbon interface spore as a means of attacking the Isorian IMTel at source. At first this was successful and the machine intelligence of the Tsatean Shard was corrupted giving the Tsan Kiri access to all the knowledge of the IMTel. What the Tsan Kiri hadn’t appreciated was that IMTel, deprived of its layers of defence by the interface spore, rather than rejecting the influence of the Tsan Kiri technology very quickly merged with it. Unaware of what had happened, Isorian spacecraft carried the modified IMTel from Tsate to Isori. Soon the new hybrid IMTel had spread into Antarean space itself and to the worlds of the PanHuman Concord. This half-human halfalien IMTel brought many new wonders to the worlds it reached. It brought many other strange things beside…
THE SKIRMISH FORCE CONTAINS;
– 1 x Senatex Command Squad
– 2 x Senatex Phase Squads
– 1 x Senatex Support Team with X-Launcher
– 1 x Nhamak SC Light Support Drone armed with Plasma Light Support
SENATEX COMMAND SQUAD
Base cost – 110
Spotter Drone – 10
Unit Total – 120pts
SENATEX PHASE SQUAD
Base Cost – 112pts
Two additional Phase Troopers – 40pts
1 Plasma Lance – 3pts
1 Spotter Drone – 10pts
Unit Total – 165pts
SENATEX PHASE SQUAD
Base Cost – 112pts
Two additional Phase Troopers – 40pts
1 Plasma Lance – 3pts
1 Spotter Drone – 10pts
Unit Total – 165pts
SENATEX SUPPORT TEAM WITH X-LAUNCHER
Base Cost – 40pts
Plus Crewman (3 man team) – 15pts
Spotter Drone – 10pts
Unit Total – 65pts
NHAMAK SC LIGHT SUPPORT DRONE WITH PLASMA LIGHT SUPPORT
Base Cost – 59pts
Spotter Drone – 10pts
Unit Total – 69pts
FORCE TOTAL – 584PTS
The above list is one which we’d suggest, given the contents of the Skirmish Force deal – however you could of course form smaller forces, or use the Army Rules and some additional equipment to boost the points total a little – so there is still room for personalisation.
So $100 for 17 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 3 Crew, and 6 Drones, vs $32 for 1 Infantry (fat), 1 Vehicle (a dais), 1 Crew, 2 Drones? Their pricing is... interesting.
Are they just a re-skinned Concord (ruleswise)?
Infantry are neat, the 'totally regular guy' face with the visors up is a little jarring.
I agree that the supportransition weapon is odd, not as nicely designed as the infantry and spotters.
Nostromodamus wrote: Yup, love the Isorian aesthetic, but their rules seem like they'll just be Ken to the Concord's Ryu.
The first thing I noticed about them is that their list is very abbreviated, almost a stand-in list. I'm almost positive they'll be getting a much more in-depth list in the near future.
I like the Isorians. That drone is weird and Mr. Tentacles is awesome. I hope they include enough heads to swap in all "masks-down" ones for the unit leaders. Without the "masks-up" heads they'd be pretty intimidating. $100 is not a bad buy in point either. I'd totally get them if I wasn't flat broke already.
.
The mouth on that boromite thingy is also pretty terrifying.
Love the look of the Isorians. Almost makes me think of the first chaos marines (the ones that were proper chaos, warped and weird in the Morcock sense of the term - rather than evil/spikes)
The background is really cool for them as well, well worth reading. They essentially defeated an alien species (who sound a lot like they were space spiders!) and ended up integrating parts of their tech and biology into their own. Which is why they look a bit gribbly
Pacific wrote: Love the look of the Isorians. Almost makes me think of the first chaos marines (the ones that were proper chaos, warped and weird in the Morcock sense of the term - rather than evil/spikes)
The background is really cool for them as well, well worth reading. They essentially defeated an alien species (who sound a lot like they were space spiders!) and ended up integrating parts of their tech and biology into their own. Which is why they look a bit gribbly
yeah, their IMTel, instead of combating the enemy AI networks (and virii, etc), just absorbed it and adapted. Love the Isorians!
They look great to me, but I'll wait for the plastics. I'll also most likely clip off all the random teeth sticking out of their high technology machines.
One of those little drones looks like a Zergified Echo Papa 607, and I love it!
I love it too Bob, the turret and weapon especially. I think the Concord are reaping the benefits of having a consistent art direction, even the tiniest drones/bikes and now this share the same design ethic...cracking stuff.
That Concord C3M4 drone gives me great hope for how visually and aesthetically different the Concord and Isorians will be when their ranges are both much more complete.
Wel, maybe I should spend more time on the positive, then.
I really love the consistency that drone has with the rest of the line, having the same smooth lines and rectangular recesses as the troopers and the smaller drones without resorting to Mantic style silliness. The use of the ring antigravity drives and a pair of jet(?) engines for additional thrust work much better than what we usually see on sci fi designs, and give it a nice little Cameronverse touch. The turrets are practical, at least more so than many other ranges attempt, and the little winglet sponsons have a rule of cool effect that Mostly spares them from embarrassment. Mostly. The little gun on the prow seems a bit excessive, but will be easily corrected in a plastic miniature. The overall shape is dynamic, reminiscent of a DZC design, which is a nice association in my mind.
Agree with you about the Drone, definitely think it is reminiscent of a DZC design (although I guess that just comes as a consequence of being all sleek and futuristic looking) - might be tempted to stick a smaller gun or turret on the top of it.
I respect this opinion, but I'm a bit torn on the scouts. I have to admire Warlord's guts in even putting them out (along with the large and surely expensive rock monster.) They're not conservative, safe-bet type models. They'll either create their audience due to some unique charisma or fail to find one and not sell.
I think I do like the Ghar troops more when they have helmets and some tech stuff on them. Still not crazy about their froggy, doughy, textureless little bodies. I'm not a convert, but I no longer dismiss the Ghar troopers out of hand. They might be able to hook me with more humanoid light body armor coupled with those visors.
The Lucas remark was spot on, by-the-by. Even THX 1138 had "little people" in the mix. What is it with Lucas and his fixation on dwarfism?
Nice. I love those guys carrying "shells". With all the anti-grav/hover tech, I wonder why it needs stubby little legs. Might just leave those off and put it on a short peg to make it "float"
Nice. I love those guys carrying "shells". With all the anti-grav/hover tech, I wonder why it needs stubby little legs. Might just leave those off and put it on a short peg to make it "float"
I presume its for the recoil in the same way howitzers (including big self propelled like the M109) and mortars today use trails and baseplates.
I respect this opinion, but I'm a bit torn on the scouts. I have to admire Warlord's guts in even putting them out (along with the large and surely expensive rock monster.) They're not conservative, safe-bet type models. They'll either create their audience due to some unique charisma or fail to find one and not sell.
I think I do like the Ghar troops more when they have helmets and some tech stuff on them. Still not crazy about their froggy, doughy, textureless little bodies. I'm not a convert, but I no longer dismiss the Ghar troopers out of hand. They might be able to hook me with more humanoid light body armor coupled with those visors.
The Lucas remark was spot on, by-the-by. Even THX 1138 had "little people" in the mix. What is it with Lucas and his fixation on dwarfism?
Think that's David Lynch isn't it?
Agree though, really like the Ghar but they are 95% there for me. A few more models and they might just become one of my favourite factions, some of the concepts for them are great, perhaps just needs a few more battle suit designs or like you say some more cool looking little dudes.
What I like about the Freeborn, as a faction, is that it would be extremely easy to just use other models and say they are a different Freeborn house. They are basically space nomads living on huge ships, travelling and trading and providing mercenary services, or other related duties, and there are different groups of them throughout Antares space. I have gathered various unused 28mm sci-fi models out of my collection from different makers to use as a rag-tag Freeborn mercenary force, led by a mock Firefly crew.
Hmm. I suppose if I were to actually play the game, I could run my Viridians as Freeborn. I just picked up a C3 Drop Squad this past weekend. I'm looking forward to painting them, but I'm not sure what color scheme I want to use.
Think those look absolutely fantastic, some of the jetbike ideas have been very good so far (and glad they've not just re-used the Concorde miniature with a freeborn pilot).
You can imagine these making a high-pitched 'wawawawa' noise as they hover unsteadily through the air.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: How is GoA doing? I thought it was dying out, due to the failed kickstarter.
What are Isorians like? Are they basically Chaos Concord, with nearly identical stats and rules?
Well, I'd say that so far so good under Warlord, but only time will tell. It had a good initial release, but we'll see how much traction it gets.
The isorian/chaos simil is kind of fitting, yes. Right now both armies are almost identical, with just a couple different options. We've been told that's going to change, though, so we'll see.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: The only army I really like aesthetically are the Isorians, and I'm not too keen on playing an army that's just a reskin.
Do you have Concord currently? If not, no reason not to get into Isorians. Both lists are in the main rulebook, Concord just happened to get most of their range first. As to which one is the reskin is entirely down to your perspective.
I would maybe lay off the Isorian basic troop type as they should be out in plastic within 6 odd months.
I think the initial failed Kickstarter was to the overall benefit of the game. It meant that Rick Priestley had no artificial deadlines to create the rules, deadlines that tend to lead to shortcuts and oversights. It also meant that upon the rules release that five factions were already good to go. Yes the miniatures are divisive, but you can pick and choose around them and the game itself (IMHO obviously) is excellent.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: The only army I really like aesthetically are the Isorians, and I'm not too keen on playing an army that's just a reskin.
Do you have Concord currently? If not, no reason not to get into Isorians. Both lists are in the main rulebook, Concord just happened to get most of their range first. As to which one is the reskin is entirely down to your perspective.
True, but I really don't like mirror match ups. If two armies are the same, then the chances of a mirror match up increases.
I know its an odd reason, but I never enjoyed a mirror match in these sort of games.
I think it might be better to call the Isorians undeveloped instead of clones. They have a small army list compared to the other armies and they do have their unique sniper unit and their own type of armour. I'm sure they'll get more distinct as they get expanded on.
It is not like all the non Ghar armies are 100% unique, the others armies do share options. For example most of the armies have a selection of all the support and heavy weapons or Freeman using Concord drones.
Barzam wrote: The STAP was what came to my mind as well. I think this is the first Freeborn set I actually like.
Ditto on this being the first Freeborn set I've liked, but I really like it. If they can follow this aesthetic in the future, this could be a great faction. I still get a Dune-ish (Fremen?) vibe from the Freeborn, which I quite like.
I think these jet bikes look a lot better than Lucasfilm's STAPs. Great roguish touch with the billowing capes.
Can someone give me an overall impression of all the factions?
Like, I get that Concord are meant to be baseline, and that Ghar are a tanky faction with some cannon fodder thrown in, but what about the others?
Is it a similar sort of thing to DzC, where you have glass cannons (scourge), horde (Resistance), Slow but tough (PHR), super mobile (Shaltari) and generic (UCM)?
The above probably isn't entirely accurate, but you get the idea
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Can someone give me an overall impression of all the factions?
Like, I get that Concord are meant to be baseline, and that Ghar are a tanky faction with some cannon fodder thrown in, but what about the others?
Is it a similar sort of thing to DzC, where you have glass cannons (scourge), horde (Resistance), Slow but tough (PHR), super mobile (Shaltari) and generic (UCM)?
The above probably isn't entirely accurate, but you get the idea
It's quite hard to describe as the core of most armies is basics infantry backed up by support weapons, many of which are shared. We don't have any BA style army wide special rules and armies are still waiting for their army lists to get all the models.
While they may have the baseline human stats I'd actually say Concord are above the baseline due to their basic infantry having plasma guns which lets you pin Ghar battlesuits much easier than the mag gun armies and their other top quality weapons. Except for the Isorian, everyone else is more primitive.
Boromites are probably the easiest non Ghar army to describe. They have a lot of improvised short ranged or hand to hand mining weapons and have access to Lavamite beasties that very in size from swarms to tank sized. Their base stats lend themselves to being stubborn but slow.
Freeborn have a wide variety of troops from basic colonial troops to elite houseguard and their specialists range from skark riders to imported Concord combat drones. Their staline is basic human but as they lack the more powerful Concord and Isorian armour or the toughness of the Boromites and Algoryns are what I'd consider the most fragile army.
Algoryns are what I'd consider quite standard although they have above human toughness. In addition to their basic infantry they have specialist assault and infiltration units.
Isorian are still pretty limited but they have phase amour they lets them go down as a reaction if they already have an order which gives them better survivability against shooting. Their sniper is a highly accurate shooter whose gun can ignore cover and put out an randomised amount of shots.
It's tough to describe things in terms of typical glass cannon, horde, Slow but tough, super mobile and generic because the pinning and activation mechanics are so significant (often, killing is just a nice bonus and a pin is all you need).
Ghar for example are absolute tanks (with the option to support themselves with some dirt cheap infantry), but they're expensive and can be shut down with pins, even if nothing really dies.
Freeborn have lots of variety, which tends to be soft, but they can run infantry which is very comparably tough to concord (Varangar with a booster drone). Freeborn also have one command unit that can take Concord/Isorian equipment with some really amazing drones, but it's a single unit in the army. On the other side of things, they have what can best be described as low armoured fanatics - a unit that will run forward regardless of pins and casualties, but when they fail a roll (on a 10), you lose control of them for the rest of the game.
Concord are definitely generalists on the elite side of things. Overall good equipment, and they currently have the largest variety in the game in terms of list, and available models.
Isorians are similar to Concord statwise, but they have a much more limited list currently, with advantages in always being able to go down to avoid fire (so a more resilient list, but with far less options available).
Boromites and Algoryn both tend to be superior assault armies to Concord/Isorian/Freeborn based on their stats, armour and equipment. I haven't really got a feel for them in detail though.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
RazorEdge wrote: In the Beta Rules was a Sample list with Concord and Freeborn Units were Mixed. Is this still possible?
Not currently, but supposedly the upcoming supplement will include at least a few mercenary options.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Can someone give me an overall impression of all the factions?
Like, I get that Concord are meant to be baseline, and that Ghar are a tanky faction with some cannon fodder thrown in, but what about the others?
Is it a similar sort of thing to DzC, where you have glass cannons (scourge), horde (Resistance), Slow but tough (PHR), super mobile (Shaltari) and generic (UCM)?
The above probably isn't entirely accurate, but you get the idea
It's quite hard to describe as the core of most armies is basics infantry backed up by support weapons, many of which are shared. We don't have any BA style army wide special rules and armies are still waiting for their army lists to get all the models.
While they may have the baseline human stats I'd actually say Concord are above the baseline due to their basic infantry having plasma guns which lets you pin Ghar battlesuits much easier than the mag gun armies and their other top quality weapons. Except for the Isorian, everyone else is more primitive.
Boromites are probably the easiest non Ghar army to describe. They have a lot of improvised short ranged or hand to hand mining weapons and have access to Lavamite beasties that very in size from swarms to tank sized. Their base stats lend themselves to being stubborn but slow.
Freeborn have a wide variety of troops from basic colonial troops to elite houseguard and their specialists range from skark riders to imported Concord combat drones. Their staline is basic human but as they lack the more powerful Concord and Isorian armour or the toughness of the Boromites and Algoryns are what I'd consider the most fragile army.
Algoryns are what I'd consider quite standard although they have above human toughness. In addition to their basic infantry they have specialist assault and infiltration units.
Isorian are still pretty limited but they have phase amour they lets them go down as a reaction if they already have an order which gives them better survivability against shooting. Their sniper is a highly accurate shooter whose gun can ignore cover and put out an randomised amount of shots.
decker_cky wrote: It's tough to describe things in terms of typical glass cannon, horde, Slow but tough, super mobile and generic because the pinning and activation mechanics are so significant (often, killing is just a nice bonus and a pin is all you need).
Ghar for example are absolute tanks (with the option to support themselves with some dirt cheap infantry), but they're expensive and can be shut down with pins, even if nothing really dies.
Freeborn have lots of variety, which tends to be soft, but they can run infantry which is very comparably tough to concord (Varangar with a booster drone). Freeborn also have one command unit that can take Concord/Isorian equipment with some really amazing drones, but it's a single unit in the army. On the other side of things, they have what can best be described as low armoured fanatics - a unit that will run forward regardless of pins and casualties, but when they fail a roll (on a 10), you lose control of them for the rest of the game.
Concord are definitely generalists on the elite side of things. Overall good equipment, and they currently have the largest variety in the game in terms of list, and available models.
Isorians are similar to Concord statwise, but they have a much more limited list currently, with advantages in always being able to go down to avoid fire (so a more resilient list, but with far less options available).
Boromites and Algoryn both tend to be superior assault armies to Concord/Isorian/Freeborn based on their stats, armour and equipment. I haven't really got a feel for them in detail though.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
RazorEdge wrote: In the Beta Rules was a Sample list with Concord and Freeborn Units were Mixed. Is this still possible?
Not currently, but supposedly the upcoming supplement will include at least a few mercenary options.
Thank you. That helps me understand them a little better.
I think I'll wait and see what else they release before making a decision, like with what I'm doing for DzC.
Supposedly they are releasing another alien army as well, and I don't want to start on Isorians when they release an army that appeals to me more.
Good to hear that its gaining traction though. I had a look at the beta rules, and it does appear to be an interesting rule set.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Supposedly they are releasing another alien army as well
Well, not "another" alien army, as there are currently no non-human armies in the game, but there are aliens in the fiction and a model release has been rumored.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Supposedly they are releasing another alien army as well
Well, not "another" alien army, as there are currently no non-human armies in the game, but there are aliens in the fiction and a model release has been rumored.
No non humans? Aren't Ghar aliens? I could have sworn I read they were an alien empire.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: Supposedly they are releasing another alien army as well
Well, not "another" alien army, as there are currently no non-human armies in the game, but there are aliens in the fiction and a model release has been rumored.
No non humans? Aren't Ghar aliens?
No, they are a genetically modified strain of human.
From the latest studio update (lots of other good stuff out there):
"Wojtek has finished the new troop type/race for the Isorians."
So when Isorians get their expanded list, they should get some aliens in there (one would assume it's some of the spider aliens that they went to war with).
I was thinking the same thing Mango, but I think that's all in the paint and modeling. I think the aesthetic is very clean, I'm thinking like Infinity. However I've been looking at the Ghar and imagining them with base iron colored, weathered suits and kinda puts a different spin on them that's more appealing to me.
So, perhaps imagining them with different paint schemes might help
I see the new drone packs are listed as multi faction. Given the difference in appearance between the gun drones and the Boromite Matriarch gun drones are we expecting this packs to stay multi faction or just a be temporary thing until everyone else gets their drones made?
I'm getting pumped for Konflikt '47 too. Great idea on using existing models, could be an interesting themed army to have a 'Counts as' Ghar Grot army.
Dez wrote: I'm getting pumped for Konflikt '47 too. Great idea on using existing models, could be an interesting themed army to have a 'Counts as' Ghar Grot army.
Oooh yeah. That system looks pretty rad as well.
Wonder what the rules are going to be like.
So, some friends tried out their Concord and Ghar starter armies last night with a few other of us who are curious watching. I have to say, the rules for GoA look very interesting.
However, I'm a bit dismayed at the lack of variety and plastics for other factions. I appreciated the faction run downs over the last pages. Could someone do a similar summation of what is known about Warlord's plans to expand the factions' ranges and what the time frames are for people interested in, say, Isorians or another of the smaller, all-metal factions?
I think some plastics for Algoryn are coming next (no idea when), including the plastic vehicles I posted above. I would expect there to be some more Isorian stuff released with the first supplement as their list will supposedly be filled out in that book. Whether this will include plastic troops, I haven't heard. There will also be another version of the M4 - the T7 transport. And there will be a plastic heavy drone M25/M50 (could be sold as one kit or separately, as with M4/T7) usable by Concord and Freeborn.
The only difference I can find between Concord and Freeborn vehicle choices (aside from Interceptors versus Sky Raiders, if you're counting bikes) is that the Freeborn have access to cheaper T7 variants based on armament (comes armed with a Mag Light) rather than the standard Plasma Light of the C3T7. This suits the fluff because in fully machine integrated societies like the Panhuman Concord and Isorian Senatex, the IMTel makes all the decisions and will not allow soldiers to go into battle with less than a minimum amount of armament and armour. The Isorian Tograh MV2 Transport is the same way, Plasma Light is the sole armament choice. Concord and Isorians have nice stuff and no choice but to take it. Freeborn are more flexible.
Dez wrote: I think the aesthetic is very clean, I'm thinking like Infinity. However I've been looking at the Ghar and imagining them with base iron colored, weathered suits and kinda puts a different spin on them that's more appealing to me.
The infinity thing is what i hate
I know I can paint them differently and I had the same thought with the ghar.
As an idea, what about trying the rules with miniatures you do like? Best of both worlds then
I have been planning on the very thing but there are difficulties in transplanting other ranges due to weaponry etc.
Manchu wrote: The fluff is annoyingly good -- I say annoying because it is drawing me deeper in and making want to spend more money!
Im probably the opposite. Humans fighting humans fighting humans hundreds of thousands of years in the future where computers and nano tech run entire civilizations and they still have bodies on the battlefield.
I really wanted to like this game as i wanted to get back into futuristic wargaming after leaving 40k around 10 years ago but I just cant pull the trigger. For 2 weeks I have stared at the cheapest box set delivered on ebay but nothing I currently see convinces me to but it :(
sure it's out of scale with the rest of the game/universe, but they have decided on a material, there's an actual sculpt and it doesn't have tiny leg syndrome.
