So, I'd say we are kind of cluttering the news & rumours thread a bit too much with stuff that should probably be elsewere, so I've made this. If any mod thinks it actually belongs in the news thread, I'll let it die here ^_^
And without further Ado, I'll be posting here my very first painted C3 Strike Squad. It's painted in fast tabletop quality (I want to have painted armies, fast), with a very slight modification of the official paint scheme:
...please ignore the big, mean TAG on the background ^_^
Which TAG is that? Speaking of clutter, is anyone worried about tokem spam with pin markers cluttering the table in GOA? I noticed that potential problem while watching one of the Rick Priestley short youtube rules demo videos. It was a problem in HG at least for me and I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that it is in Halo as well.
It is pretty awesome! In GOA, I think in the video Rick said you can have a half dozen or more pinning markers on a unit and in the video they were using one token for each. That seemed like it would add up to alot of token spam quick if I'm remembering it correctly.
The pin markers in the starter set are a little explosion with a numbered dial on them. You turn the dial to indicate the number of pin on the unit. Or you can use dice to indicate the number of pins. It's really not a problem. It's the same pinning system as Bolt Action and that works well.
alternativbely you could do what people do with games like Kings of War and Hail Caesar - use a Warbases casualty counter and model it as a casualty.
pgmason wrote: The pin markers in the starter set are a little explosion with a numbered dial on them. You turn the dial to indicate the number of pin on the unit. Or you can use dice to indicate the number of pins. It's really not a problem. It's the same pinning system as Bolt Action and that works well.
alternativbely you could do what people do with games like Kings of War and Hail Caesar - use a Warbases casualty counter and model it as a casualty.
Ok, thanks for the clarification. I'm not a fan of counters on the tabletop overall and was worried that they'd add up like explosions in a scifi summer movie freeze frame. One per unit isn't too bad though.
pgmason wrote: The pin markers in the starter set are a little explosion with a numbered dial on them. You turn the dial to indicate the number of pin on the unit. Or you can use dice to indicate the number of pins. It's really not a problem. It's the same pinning system as Bolt Action and that works well.
alternativbely you could do what people do with games like Kings of War and Hail Caesar - use a Warbases casualty counter and model it as a casualty.
Ok, thanks for the clarification. I'm not a fan of counters on the tabletop overall and was worried that they'd add up like explosions in a scifi summer movie freeze frame. One per unit isn't too bad though.
Definitely the most visually appealing is the numbered dial. Companies like warbases make a 30mm-ish size base with a view window, and a turnable dial. Model a casualty or an explosion on the dial-base so it looks like it's part of the terrain. Other people use the warbases dials as an order dice holder as well. http://war-bases.co.uk/ACCESSORIES/GAMING-AIDS?product_id=159
IIRC I owed some comparison pics over here, so let's get to it.
Before starting, a reminder: Warlord bases are seriously thin, so at first I put a second base below the Antares minis to get them at the same height than the rest, although I did pics of most of the comparisons with the regular base too.
Wow, those space marines look the worst out of the whole bunch. Thanks for the size comparison pics. Also, your manga/anime bookshelf is probably the most photographed bookshelf on dakka. The admech trooper though looks remarkable normally proportioned for a GW fig.
What is the fig between the big Haq HMG bruiser and the drop trooper? I don't recognize him but I'm certainly not that I'm an expert.
Spoiler:
Are those US Ariadna in the first infinity pic? They almost look hasslefreeish.
My starter set Ghar are done, working on a table for them.
In January I'll be getting the starter army set, I've got some outcasts and outcast command squads in the mail to add. I'm having a ton of fun with this game.
warboss wrote: Wow, those space marines look the worst out of the whole bunch. Thanks for the size comparison pics. Also, your manga/anime bookshelf is probably the most photographed bookshelf on dakka. The admech trooper though looks remarkable normally proportioned for a GW fig.
What is the fig between the big Haq HMG bruiser and the drop trooper? I don't recognize him but I'm certainly not that I'm an expert.
[spoiler]
Are those US Ariadna in the first infinity pic? They almost look hasslefreeish.
Spoiler:
[/spoiler]
First Pic: Middle guy is a Yu Jing: Hac Tao.
Second Pic: Third guy is one of the new USAriadna guys, middle guy is old Haqqislam mobile infantry Halqa.
warboss wrote: Wow, those space marines look the worst out of the whole bunch. Thanks for the size comparison pics. Also, your manga/anime bookshelf is probably the most photographed bookshelf on dakka. The admech trooper though looks remarkable normally proportioned for a GW fig.
The SMs are the most blinged out of the bunch. They are also by far the worst proportioned. The AdMechs are really nice, for GW minis.
As to the shelf... hey, what works works
What is the fig between the big Haq HMG bruiser and the drop trooper? I don't recognize him but I'm certainly not that I'm an expert.
Are those US Ariadna in the first infinity pic? They almost look hasslefreeish.
What plastictrees said ^_^
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AngryMojo wrote: My starter set Ghar are done, working on a table for them.
In January I'll be getting the starter army set, I've got some outcasts and outcast command squads in the mail to add. I'm having a ton of fun with this game.
That looks seriously badass. I'm seriously thinking about getting the Ghar army too, with the Wayland 25% off discount.
The SMs are the most blinged out of the bunch. They are also by far the worst proportioned. The AdMechs are really nice, for GW minis.
As to the shelf... hey, what works works
The bling is pretty annoying side by side with "normal" figs but the horrible proportions were more what I was referring to. Just don't tell judgedoug that I agreed on their horrible proportions... he'll gloat. The admechs though look like they could as least at arms length be used with the rest of the figs as long as you don't mind the 50/50 mix of baroque and Flash Gordon details.
First Pic: Middle guy is a Yu Jing: Hac Tao.
Second Pic: Third guy is one of the new USAriadna guys, middle guy is old Haqqislam mobile infantry Halqa.
Thanks! I've had my eye on a few Yu Jing models but the Hac Tao didn't catch my eye painted as much as others like the Invincibles. There unfortunately isn't any single faction whose minis I like the majority of but Yu Jing has bumped up a notch after this thread.
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AngryMojo wrote: My starter set Ghar are done, working on a table for them.
Spoiler:
In January I'll be getting the starter army set, I've got some outcasts and outcast command squads in the mail to add. I'm having a ton of fun with this game.
Looks nice. Are you remounting them on the done up bases in the foreground or are those for some incoming Concord?
Pacific wrote: AngryMojo - think that red works really well for the Ghar, very aggressive looking!
Many thanks. It started as a mistake, I was going for a deeper crimson and I wound up with hot rod. I liked the look, and thought "Meh, why not?" I just need to figure out the colors the studio painters use for the ghar fleshtone, I have a feeling that will look good next to the screaming "goes faster" red.
AngryMojo wrote: My starter set Ghar are done, working on a table for them.
In January I'll be getting the starter army set, I've got some outcasts and outcast command squads in the mail to add. I'm having a ton of fun with this game.
What are those bases in the front with the rocks on them?
Well, I finally decided to take advantage of Wayland Games' 25% off on Antares stuff, and sometime in the future (as most of the stuff was "available to order", which means they'll get it whenever) I'll be getting a Ghar army, a female NuHu, another drop trooper squad and some scenery and order dice.
Got two main questions:
- What sets it apart from other wargames?
- What's the major functional (as in, in game) differences between the factions?
On the first point, the main mechanical points that differentiate it are the order dice sequence, and pinning. Every unit you have contributes one order die to the bag, some units like big vehicles will give multiple orders. At the start of the turn, a player draws a die from the bag, whoever it belongs to gives an order to a unit. Advance, fire, run, etc. Then the next die is pulled. This gives the game an alternating activation of sorts, with a level of uncertainty. Also, if a unit still has a die in the bag, it can react to being shot at or charged by spending that order. Pinning is also an important thing, whenever a unit is shot at and a hit is scored, they get a pin whether they are hurt or not. Pins act as a penalty to your command value, accuracy, and most other rolls, if a unit is given an order and they have any pins at all, they have to make a command check or immediately go down instead. Down = hit the dirt and claim as much cover as possible.
Second, can't give you too much info. I haven't played enough.
Thanks for the topic, Albertorius. Good to see people are starting armies for GoA. Looking forward to the first campaign book and some story-based scenarios.
After a total debacule playing for the fuirst time and using to many rules, gonna cut it back and give it a fresh go Weds using just the starter box contents.
Im making data cards for easy reference for the starter box guys.
Confused on Grenades a bit. Ghar Disruptor Dischargers are point blank so only useable when being charged and charging. Blast of d4 and SV of 2.
If three guys charge, do I roll 3 times on the blast value? If I get a 4, 1, 3 I have a total of 8 hits. Are they auto combined into a single hit with a SV of 16? Grenades say you combine the SV?
Also how is the starter anyway balanced? Ghar is 368 to the Concord 684
Possibly as I'm not on g+. I got the scale pics you posted in the past without any issues unless you used a different linking technicque. They're broken links and when I tried viewing them individually is when it told me to download a .webp file. Maybe it only works if you use the Google Chrome browser?
str00dles1 wrote: Confused on Grenades a bit. Ghar Disruptor Dischargers are point blank so only useable when being charged and charging. Blast of d4 and SV of 2.
If three guys charge, do I roll 3 times on the blast value? If I get a 4, 1, 3 I have a total of 8 hits. Are they auto combined into a single hit with a SV of 16? Grenades say you combine the SV?
Roll once, it applies to all of them.
str00dles1 wrote: Also how is the starter anyway balanced? Ghar is 368 to the Concord 684
It's not,k but the disparity isn't as bad as you think. Ghar basically need the plasma dumps and amplifiers, which adds on an additional 90 points. Granted, this makes them 462 points to the Concord's absurd number, but it helps to balance. Add in a few army options, pare down what the Concord get, and you'll have a small learning game.
So for the squad of three, I roll once. Lets say they get a 4. So thats a total of 12 SV 2 hits with the grenadeswhen charging.being charged?
How do normal grenades work?
Lets say my Concord strike team has plasma grenades in melee since they dont have a actual melee weapon. I get 4 hits, so it turns into a single SV 4 hit?
str00dles1 wrote: So for the squad of three, I roll once. Lets say they get a 4. So thats a total of 12 SV 2 hits with the grenadeswhen charging.being charged?
How do normal grenades work?
Lets say my Concord strike team has plasma grenades in melee since they dont have a actual melee weapon. I get 4 hits, so it turns into a single SV 4 hit?
Yup on both accounts. I don't believe you're required to combine the hits with normal grenades, but I could be wrong.
str00dles1 wrote:Confused on Grenades a bit. Ghar Disruptor Dischargers are point blank so only useable when being charged and charging. Blast of d4 and SV of 2.
If three guys charge, do I roll 3 times on the blast value? If I get a 4, 1, 3 I have a total of 8 hits. Are they auto combined into a single hit with a SV of 16? Grenades say you combine the SV?
You'd roll to hit one time for each ghar battle suit, and you'll then roll the Blast d4 for each hit. Let's say you get 2 hits, and you get a 4 and a 3 on the blast rolls.
After figuring out the total hits from each blast, you allocate them following the rules (so, one hit for each enemy mini in the unit before assigning more to the same one), and after that, you compound the hits. Let's say you assaulted a unit of 5 C3 guys; you made a total of 7 hits, so 2 of the 5 guys would get 2 hits. Those two hits for each guy would get compounded, for a total SV of 3 each.
Also how is the starter anyway balanced? Ghar is 368 to the Concord 684
It's not ^_^. I guess it had more to do with the number of sprues.
str00dles1 wrote:How do normal grenades work?
As any other weapon (They are blast weapons but not OH weapons, so as stated on page 33, you resolve as usual: you roll to hit, you allocate the hits on the enemy), except that if an enemy gets more than one hit, they get compounded.
Lets say my Concord strike team has plasma grenades in melee since they dont have a actual melee weapon. I get 4 hits, so it turns into a single SV 4 hit?
If all four hits go to the same mini, yes. If not, then no.
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warboss wrote: Possibly as I'm not on g+. I got the scale pics you posted in the past without any issues unless you used a different linking technicque. They're broken links and when I tried viewing them individually is when it told me to download a .webp file. Maybe it only works if you use the Google Chrome browser?
I don't know... I've been doing the same for all the pics I post here... hm. Let's see...
I don't know... I've been doing the same for all the pics I post here... hm. Let's see...
How about now?
Spoiler:
Yup, that one works and looks good! Do you use the static technique to get your static grass to be so vertical? This link doesn't have the .webp at the end when I try to individually open it up so apparently works for me within the post. I'm using firefox on windows so I'm not using some hipster custom OS/browser combo as an fyi. I have no idea what the possible difference could be as I'm getting that pic fine and the scale pics but your OP and previous post don't load.
warboss wrote: Yup, that one works and looks good! Do you use the static technique to get your static grass to be so vertical?
Actually, it's not static grass. Well, there is static grass in the base, but what you're referring to are tufts from The Army Painter, specifically, Highland tufts:
I started using them on my MILICIA Badlands border regiment, but I... stopped working on that project, and had some spares.
This link doesn't have the .webp at the end when I try to individually open it up so apparently works for me within the post. I'm using firefox on windows so I'm not using some hipster custom OS/browser combo as an fyi. I have no idea what the possible difference could be as I'm getting that pic fine and the scale pics but your OP and previous post don't load.
This time I linked directly to a public Google images gallery, so I guess that was the problem.
Ah, thanks. I didn't know they made tufts. 'Nuff said about the MILICIA... I'm in the same situation with some Northerners. I'm also glad you found out what the issue is for me with the pics since I rely on you for half my scale inquiries.
In any case, merry Christmas everyone! Even you ugly Boromites out there!
So, we just played our first full BtGoA game. We played the "Run, Fartok, Run" scenario using the suggested forces from the core:
Ghar Forces:
- Fartok, the escaping pilot
- Battle Squad with plasma amplifiers
- Assault Squad with plasma amplifiers
Concord Forces:
- 4 Strike Squads with plasma grenades, 1 plasma lance and a spotter drone each.
- Plasma Light Support unit composed of 3 light weapon drones with spotter drone.
I managed to blow up in a firefight the last Ghar battlesuit with Fartok a mere 2 inches from the edge of the table (and victory), and we had a lot of fun with the game. We had so much fun that we've decided sumarily to make it one of our regular games, along with Infinity and X-Wing .
Great game, plays fast but it's tactically sound, the scenario was interesting because both sides were equally capable of victory. The battle suits are beastly powerhouses in a firefight, even one so lopsided. Other than pouring immense amounts of firepower into them, the C3 units didn't have much recourse, and the distort shots managed to wreack havoc in every unit it hit (ignoring cover was a biggie, too).
We got to try it out Thursday. Just the starter box, no upgrades at all for anyone.
Pretty much as expected, super imbalanced. It wasn't even pointwise the problem, just the fact Concord gets 8 activations to Ghar 2. Box would have been well off -1 concord squad +1 Ghar shooting squad.
The game itself is alright. Might try it again in a few weeks with more balanced forces and see how it plays. I would say it is far better then maelstroms edge the second time though. Just based on it has toooons more races/units.
Middle of the road for us here, and no one else is the least interested so not gonna take off.
Ghar really need their plasma amplifiers - even just using the extra action dice to get a "free" rally stops the other side pinning you to death. Ghar also have a ton of really nasty options and special rules to remember - for a first play through to learn the rules, it may be easiest to split the Concord force.
Just curious, but if you know the boxed forces were going to be that imbalanced, why didn't you tailor the lists to make a more even game before you played?
Played a basic meeting engagement today and just kept playing until last man standing to give as many of the rules as we could a whirl. Concord vs Concord, each side had:
4 x Strike Squad (Plasma Lance, Spotter Drone) 1 x Light Support Drone squad (extra Drone, self-repair)
Played with a lot of blocking terrain and some obstacles and area cover.
This is definitely a game of cover - the squads caught in the open took a lot of punishment, including one squad that was wiped out in a single shooting action. Conversely, a unit of two guys Down in Light Woodland held out for several rounds of intense fire. Even sitting behind an obstacle made an obvious difference to survivability.
The blocking terrain meant that a lot of our firefights were within effective range - often to the detriment of HL armour. Even an extra +1 here and there makes a difference.
Assault is messy - great for finishing off a reduced and Down enemy, far more of a crapshoot against a fresh enemy of any strength.
Follow looks to be a great option and concentration of firepower is key - too often the enemy had a chance to recover pins/get up from a Down status and somehow keep going.
Plasma Light Support weapon is nasty. Multiple drones firing them are hell on wheels against infantry.
Nice to have a range of shooting options on the basic squad - definitely some tactics there, even against other Strike Squads.
The Damage Chart makes units very durable even when they're not Ghar.
The rerolls from Spotter Drones, Leaders etc do make a difference. Leaders in particular are great for soaking up damage, and increased levels of Leader make them really tough.
The first pin, which causes you to start making Command rolls rather than activating automatically, really degrades both activation and performance. Like that a lot, it "feels" right and means that the you're always choosing between finishing off one unit or making several struggle.
Great game - nicely tactical, always choices to make, a lot of manoeuvre once we worked out that being caught out in the open was a bad idea. Gonna be a favourite, I feel.
I was incredibly excited for a new sci fi game from Rick. I backed the failed kickstarter and kept up with news, but somewhere along the line my hype deflated and the game dropped off my radar. That is until now. Think I will be ordering the starter set tonight, the rules look like EXACTLY what I want out of a wargame and the minis get better and better with each release. I don't want to play Concord or Ghar, but the starter set is too good of a deal to pass up and I am certainly I could either sell them to other players or enjoy assembling and painting them.
For a bit I was put off by every race being an abhuman, but hearing Rick's reasoning bought me over.
Zatsuku wrote: For a bit I was put off by every race being an abhuman, but hearing Rick's reasoning bought me over.
I haven't really heard anything about this (I guess I haven't been following that closely, even though I backed the original kickstarter). So I guess that means there are no "pure humans"?
Zatsuku wrote: I was incredibly excited for a new sci fi game from Rick. I backed the failed kickstarter and kept up with news, but somewhere along the line my hype deflated and the game dropped off my radar. That is until now. Think I will be ordering the starter set tonight, the rules look like EXACTLY what I want out of a wargame and the minis get better and better with each release. I don't want to play Concord or Ghar, but the starter set is too good of a deal to pass up and I am certainly I could either sell them to other players or enjoy assembling and painting them.
For a bit I was put off by every race being an abhuman, but hearing Rick's reasoning bought me over.
The rulebook mentioned Vorls many times. It is an alien race that attacks all humans. Whether Rick will eventually create this race as an army is up in the air. I bought the starter set because it is such a good deal. You may like to keep the Ghar instead of selling both.
Zatsuku wrote: For a bit I was put off by every race being an abhuman, but hearing Rick's reasoning bought me over.
I haven't really heard anything about this (I guess I haven't been following that closely, even though I backed the original kickstarter). So I guess that means there are no "pure humans"?
AFAIK, Concord, Isorian and regular Freeborn are more or less "pure humans". The differences between them are more in their societies than anything else. Boromites and Algorin diverge more, but look more like specialized morphs than anything else. The most radically variant morphs seem to be nuhus and ghar.
I got my algorin army, and it is a whole lot of stuff in those packs for a very sensible amount of dough, truth be told. Now, it might have to do with the fact that lately the only stuff I've been buying in metal has been Corvus Belli's Infinity stuff, that is absolutely flawless, but I got mildly dissapointed with the algorin's cast quality, all in all. The metal doesn't really bends (rather, it breaks) and I got very noticeable mold lines in about three of the units.
It didn't keep me from preordering the interceptor jetbikes, though, so... ^_^
I like the claws better now after a month or two, but not a fan, really. That's okay, GoA will evolve over time, designs will change, etc.
I now wait for better pics of Fartok in suit to see how Warlord is upgrading the walkers and then make a few modifications to mine in a similiar way (hopefully the power of the green stuff is with me).
The Command crawler has an uneven number of legs. It seems that is some kind of uniqe characteristic for the faction. I have an unbuilt Enterprise NX kit lying around and thought about using the saucer section (~30 cm diameter) for the main body of a large Ghar crawler XD Now I need five legs Or seven?
Well, he has some points, that much is for certain. I don't really agree in others, but the presentation of the rules could use a lot of help, for example.
The "movements and ranges in 5 inches increments, oh the humanity!" rant made me laugh, though xD
Yeah, he's hilariously butthurt over the fact that someone else has released an actual game while his pet home-brew continues to be vapourware. Whatever else you can say about Beyond the Gates of Antares, you can't say that it's unavailable to play.
Just googled the link as I've never heard of the author or the blog previously. I only skimmed the beginning of the review/critique admittedly but I'm not so sure about dismissing it all as sour grapes. He does go on in detail at length about his problems with the system and does specifically mention his own ruleset in the beginning along with a possible bias. I'm not sure there is much more you can ask from someone who is specifically calling it a "critique" as opposed to the more neutral sounding term "review".
Alpharius wrote: It is a rather scathing 'review' at that though.
And interesting in that it appears to be one of the few that finds the game such an awful experience, overall!
It does indeed sound like that from a quick skim but I don't think it is fair to dismiss it off hand since the author at least goes through the time and effort to list and explain his grievances. I'd say a hilarious sour grapes "review" would be something you'd typically end up moderating here on dakka that just says "it sucks! they're dorks and my stuff is better!" without actually exploring the reasons. I don't disagree nor agree with his review as I've not read it fully nor own GOA and I've got no skin in either game (his house rules or GOA) currently. I'll at least read the critique tonight though.
Most importantly, though, I didn't realize 70's Pornstache, the only model shown during the KS, actually made it into the rules as the mascot for the game (like fusilier whoever for Infinity).
warboss wrote:Just googled the link as I've never heard of the author or the blog previously. I only skimmed the beginning of the review/critique admittedly but I'm not so sure about dismissing it all as sour grapes. He does go on in detail at length about his problems with the system and does specifically mention his own ruleset in the beginning along with a possible bias. I'm not sure there is much more you can ask from someone who is specifically calling it a "critique" as opposed to the more neutral sounding term "review".
It is very much a critique, yeah, and he says as much. And at the very least he makes the effort of stating the why's of his critique, so...
That said, and even agreeing about some of his points, some of the gripes seem as much a thing of "I don't like this stuff and instead like this other stuff" as objective critique.
But I do agree on some points (blasts tend to be too much work for the output, for example, and the book certainly needs another passing IMHO).
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warboss wrote: Most importantly, though, I didn't realize 70's Pornstache, the only model shown during the KS, actually made it into the rules as the mascot for the game (like fusilier whoever for Infinity).
It did, and the reviewer is completely right about that, too.
I guess it's amusing precisely because Sandwyrm has been working on his own thing for several years now, and is criticizing someone else for actually producing something that isn't what he would have made.
Well, as I said, we played last saturday. I did the two armies, each to try to test some different things, and gave my opponent the chance of choosing which army to play with.
He chose the Ghar, and I got thoroughly creamed xD
We played a regular battle, on a 4x4 table (the one we use for Infinity), with an orbital transmat near the edge of a forested area. This was the initial deployment:
I decided to store the light combat drone unit with the Interceptor's compactor drone, so as to be able to deploy them later on.
The first turn's first couple of activations went for the Ghar commander, who used them to unleash hell on the centermost Strike unit. The unit went Down, which helped it to not suffer casualties, but it ended up getting a total of 3 Pins. After that the Drop troopers advanced and fired at the Assault Ghars, which god pinned. Unfortunately, the move put the drop troopers right in the sights of most of that flank, and the Battle suits and Outcasts fired at them, for a net result of 4 Pins.
After that, the Concord's left flank advanced, with the Interceptors running and deploying the combat drone unit in between the two boulder areas, and the Drop command squad and Strike squad taking cover behind the boulders. The Ghars mostly didn't move, and chose to wait for the puny humans to close in. First turn ended with the center Strike squad not managing to lose the Down order die (but shedding 1 Pin).
(The pics are after the first actions of turn 2. I forgot to take it before ^_^)
Second turn's first order die was a Concord one, so I decided to try and use the C3 Drop Leader to kill some stuff on the left flank. He managed to give an Advance order to the combat drones and interceptors, and the three units tried to kill stuff. The combat drones erased the Outcast command squad, and the interceptors and C3 Command managed to put two pins on the battle suits.
Problem is, of course, that after that all activations were Ghar. The interceptors disappeared in a hail of disruptor bomblets, the C3 Command got targeted by the outcasts and got 2 Pins, and the Drop Squad ate even more fire, more Pins, got a casualty and went Down. The Strike squad able to move advanced and shot at the battle suits, giving them a Pin. Things were not looking up, all in all.
The rest of the battle most of my units ended up getting Down (due to disrupt dice, Command rolls and everything else) and not getting back up, which freed the Ghar to pour more pins onto them.
We wrapped up at the end of turn 3 due because we got out of time:
Automatically Appended Next Post: OK, lessons learned from this game:
- Adding buddy drones in a game against Disruptor munitions is not a very good idea. They die, fast, and those points go to waste.
- Ghar are seriously annoying. All those Disruptor weapons makes for a very tough battle, because they add pins really fast.
- a 4x4 table for 1000 points is seriously small. The amount of units, coupled with the weapons ranges makes it feel very cramped.
- Flitters (and by extension, probes) are great. For their cost, they act as quite effective force multipliers, and at the very least will divert fire.
- Order dice economy: We can see both extremes here. The Ghar had a lot of order dice thanks to the outcasts and flittters (cheap, but give dice), plus the ones from Amplifiers. By contrast, due to the fact that I went pretty elite with the Concord, they always had much fewer order dice. That proved fatal, because the chances favored the Ghar to be activated first. That, coupled with Disruptor munitions, allowed them to effectively block many Concord order dice.
All in all, it was quite an interesting game. We made some mistakes, but much smaller ones than last game. So far, it looks like you'll need to use different approachs to face different enemies, which is nice.
I really enjoyed reading the bat rep and your conclusions. Something I thought throughout many times was you should really add more line-of-sight blocking obstacles to each area of the battlefield. Some buildings and some hills - if you dont have them in your collection yet, different sized books laid flat and piled up under pieces of cotton and Tupper boxes are a good start. It prevents the Ghar from murderpinning everyone and also allows each side's troops to react to the enemy by moving hidden. I think the game profits from this, and it also adds a strategical element of timing attacks. I am not talking about boring endless walls but hills you can hide until the right moment to climb up and shoot and blocks of buildings where you have to cross 'the streets' etc. Play missions that are forcing both sides to move and re-position right from the start.
Not a whole city! The A bit of fresh of air made me lol. I see. But such an open battlefield... It's like War of the World tripods lazoring tiny humans
I've succumbed to yet another great deal on a miniatures starter set. Gates of Antares, here we come. To Infinity, and Beyond!
Anyone picked up Algoryns yet? Do they look as much like not-Turians in person as they do on the web store? That was something that caught my eye. I'd love to have 28mm stand-ins for my favorite Mass Effect aliens (Geth don't count, they're robots, not aliens) Even better to have a great rule system that they fit in and play well in.
Albertorius wrote:Nah, I do have buildings and the like. It was a confluence of two things:
1) We've been playing a lot of Infinity lately, almost every time on urban tables, absolutely every time with buildings.
2) I had just gotten hold of a Citadel Battlemat ^_^.
So basically, it was a change of pace and a bit of fresh air from being too enclosed with buildings, lately. I need to get some hills, though.
Warhams-77 wrote: Not a whole city! The A bit of fresh of air made me lol. I see. But such an open battlefield... It's like War of the World tripods lazoring tiny humans
I once had plans to make a load of tree trunks - about 6" in diameter, 8" tall, or so - to represent the lower reaches of something like a giant redwood forest. That way you could fight out something like the battles round the shield generator on Endor and still have large LOS-blocking terrain pieces.
bocatt wrote: I've succumbed to yet another great deal on a miniatures starter set. Gates of Antares, here we come. To Infinity, and Beyond!
Anyone picked up Algoryns yet? Do they look as much like not-Turians in person as they do on the web store? That was something that caught my eye. I'd love to have 28mm stand-ins for my favorite Mass Effect aliens (Geth don't count, they're robots, not aliens) Even better to have a great rule system that they fit in and play well in.
They kinda do, yeah ^_^. They also fit quite nicely into the same "warrior race" mold, all in all.
AndrewGPaul wrote: I once had plans to make a load of tree trunks - about 6" in diameter, 8" tall, or so - to represent the lower reaches of something like a giant redwood forest. That way you could fight out something like the battles round the shield generator on Endor and still have large LOS-blocking terrain pieces.
bocatt wrote: I've succumbed to yet another great deal on a miniatures starter set. Gates of Antares, here we come. To Infinity, and Beyond!
Anyone picked up Algoryns yet? Do they look as much like not-Turians in person as they do on the web store? That was something that caught my eye. I'd love to have 28mm stand-ins for my favorite Mass Effect aliens (Geth don't count, they're robots, not aliens) Even better to have a great rule system that they fit in and play well in.
They kinda do, yeah ^_^. They also fit quite nicely into the same "warrior race" mold, all in all.
Sweet! I like them. I'm not sure if I like the Concord Interceptors or these more. The shape of the bikes kind of reminds me of the Kodiak
I swear I'm not just making this up! I can't help but think they were inspired by the game. Which is not a bad thing. They're by no means the same (Algoryns are exiled humans right? And Turians are dinosaur aliens ) and I think they're creative and original enough to stand on their own merits while still being awesomely reminiscent of our favorite gruff alien neighbors.
Alogryn are their own Human Faction. They are fighting for their own survival against implacable rivals to maintain their Independence. They are a caste society based around military needs and have a warrior culture.
So, they are not exiled. However, it's not written but I'd guess IMTeL thinks the Algoryn Protectorate needs to be reabsorbed and controlled. I don't think Algoryn are looked on as needing to eradicated by IMTeL C3 like the Isorian shard. Isorian shard is incompatible with IMTeL and therefore needs to be destroyed due to their incompatibly with IMTeL. That's my take on it with what I've read so far.
I like the look of the Algoryn and the new skimmer. I wasn't aware of the similarity with Mass Effect but I've never played that game.
I've heard people say they like the Algoryns precisely because they do remind them of Turians from Mass Effect!
Definitely a strong resemblance, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, it's very difficult to be entirely original and 'cool' ideas (such as reptile-like aliens) are a pretty good concept.
Heh I have to admit, I was tempted to get some Algoryns for exactly that reason! I may yet do.. once I've build and painted all those Ghar and Concord...
Albertorius wrote:Nah, I do have buildings and the like. It was a confluence of two things:
1) We've been playing a lot of Infinity lately, almost every time on urban tables, absolutely every time with buildings.
2) I had just gotten hold of a Citadel Battlemat ^_^.
So basically, it was a change of pace and a bit of fresh air from being too enclosed with buildings, lately. I need to get some hills, though.
Warhams-77 wrote: Not a whole city! The A bit of fresh of air made me lol. I see. But such an open battlefield... It's like War of the World tripods lazoring tiny humans
I once had plans to make a load of tree trunks - about 6" in diameter, 8" tall, or so - to represent the lower reaches of something like a giant redwood forest. That way you could fight out something like the battles round the shield generator on Endor and still have large LOS-blocking terrain pieces.
Opinions are all over the place. Since it's a GOA thread, you'll get more "likes" than normal as folks who want to invest in the line will be more drawn to reading/posting in the thread than those who don't as is the case with any line specific thread. Personally, I can't stand the boromites (they look like bad 70's Dr. Who villains to me made into minis in the early 1990's), mildly dislike the space gypsy faction whose name escapes me at the moment... but there are a good amount of Alygoryn and a few Concord designs that I like. There isn't enough in any one particular faction to get me to take the plunge, though. The quality overall has been improving since the 70's pornstache kickstarter preview days. YMMV.
Yeah I like the Concord and Algoryns sculpts for sure but in the rulebook there's like one or two Isorian minis and they look great and we still don't have any of those
I have to agree the Boromites and Freeborn are really meh. I wouldn't mind if the Algoryns stay the same and just get expanded on but I really hope those two factions get some updates. They're both really interesting in fluff but they just look awful
The Ghar are growing on me. Their background is cool in a way but not my cup of tea, but the model range looks great IMO
I like most of the models, even the Boromites are growing on me. The Isorians look cool but the army is basically a Concord palatte swap and I already have Concord...
teabiscuits wrote:I've only just found this thread, very cool
I'm just starting on my Concord army.
I really like the concord strike figures on page 1, Albertorius, did you use army dip with them?
I've used it before, and found it too glossy. Someone at work told me I should use a matt spray, but I've no idea what it is.
Nope, no dip, just inks.
Regarding the matt spray, they're talking about matt varnish spray. Usually, after painting a mini you varnish it to prevent damage to the paintjob. Now, with the usual dipping methods that's not really necessary, as the dip itself contains more than enough varnish, but as you noticed,it is of the glossy kind. So, when dipping, you usually finish the minis using matt varnish (either brushed on or sprayed) to dull the shine.
EccentricOwl wrote:How do you guys feel about the sculpts?
They're certainly different to many of the more mainstream minis. I kind of like them. Remind me to other sources of inspiration that the ones we usually see.
Opinions are all over the place. Since it's a GOA thread, you'll get more "likes" than normal as folks who want to invest in the line will be more drawn to reading/posting in the thread than those who don't as is the case with any line specific thread. Personally, I can't stand the boromites (they look like bad 70's Dr. Who villains to me made into minis in the early 1990's), mildly dislike the space gypsy faction whose name escapes me at the moment... but there are a good amount of Alygoryn and a few Concord designs that I like. There isn't enough in any one particular faction to get me to take the plunge, though. The quality overall has been improving since the 70's pornstache kickstarter preview days. YMMV.
I quite like Concord and boromite designs for the most part, and Ghar has really grown on me (I liked the battle suits, but the naked little guys I didn't like much, up until I had them unpainted in my hands. Now I do ^^). the elite freeborn infantry I like well enough, but I find that picking and choosing from the Eldar and Dark Eldar ranges work better for me.
I don't like the boromites look, they look much too goofy for me, and right now I'm looking for substitutes between Mantic Forgefathers (I like the new plastics quite a bit) and Genestealer Cult (because they look amazeballs, because I want to buy them and use them for something, because they share the mining theme and because I think I'll be able to proxy a lot of things aout ot the box).
Not sure about isorians. Need to see more. Currently angling towards not much liking anything but the regular infantry.
The models:
I was on the fence until someone showed me the models "in real life" and was hooked immediately. I don't know what it is but seeing them online I wasn't too taken with them. Once I held an Algoryn and Concord model, I had to buy as much as I could. Maybe it's the paint job on the official models that didn't do it for me. I always like the Algoryn though I guess. I really like the background and faction history and cultures. Note I have never been a fan of 40K background other than early on with the 80s British humour so that's only my opinion and I'm not knocking 40K current or past on it's background, etc. I will say this about Beyond the Gates of Antares; it's nice to play a game without an "argument phase!"
I like the models so much I even do crazy stuff like this:
Note, in a normal game of Antares one would rarely if ever even see ONE of the X-Howitzers let a lone three of them! My evil plan is to use them for campaign or tournament scenarios as objectives. And in big Mega games a few times a year I hope.
I'm not a fan of the Boromites, Ghar or Freeborn but a number of my gaming friends have those and really, really like those. I had planned to stick to just my two; Concord and Algoryn. Note that model wise, the Algoryn are taller and a bit thicker as humans go so they, in a slight way, tower over the Concord and other factions. They play different than the other factions too. I have to admit, the more time passes the more I like the ugly Ghar. Ugly in an evil "we hate you because YOU'RE different" kind of ugly. All the models themselves are very well sculpted. Differences are anatomical in an expected way not in a "big hand" and "big head" or other dorky way. Certainly not all of the poses are perfect but the sculpting is clean and the product is very well made including the metals, resins and hard plastics.
I don't work for Warlord Games nor do I get free stuff from them. I'm just a customer that likes the models and the especially the game play.
I'll probably end up getting armies of everything (I kind of end up doing it a lot... we play at my home most of the time ^^). So far I have sizable (for what we're going to play) Concord, Algoryn and Ghar official armies, and Freeborn (Dark Eldars).
Today Warlord has finally released the core rulebook in pdf, too, so, it's a good time to check it out!
Nice looking setup there teabiscuits, how did the game play for you?
Quick question guys - what's a basic/good configuration to setup the Ghar from the Xylos Horizon starter box (i.e. I guess the equivalent of '10 marines, 1 flamer, 1 missile launcher' from 40k?) Just taking a look at mine in the box now, the technology is unfamiliar to me!
Pacific wrote: Nice looking setup there teabiscuits, how did the game play for you?
Quick question guys - what's a basic/good configuration to setup the Ghar from the Xylos Horizon starter box (i.e. I guess the equivalent of '10 marines, 1 flamer, 1 missile launcher' from 40k?) Just taking a look at mine in the box now, the technology is unfamiliar to me!
Well, the Xylos starter has one Ghar Battle Squad and one Ghar Assault Squad, and those don't really have any variant builds, so there's not much to change there. They have options, but not visible ones.
teabiscuits, I'd say that the terrain works perfectly well for Antares
Thanks Albertorius, i do intend to expand my sci-fi terrain ...... i have some ambitious ideas for terrain, that i think will look great (possibly too ambitious for me)
Pacific wrote: Nice looking setup there teabiscuits, how did the game play for you?
Thank you I've never played any games by Warlord before. This was our first game. It played quite well, ran very smoothly
I like the dice system for deciding the turn order ....... but it did seem to favour me heavily after he lost a few dice. But i guess this favours your success during the game
Shooting was very easy, i really like the pin markers.
Overall it was good, I think it will be better with more games
I did too, but I double dipped and also got the starter box (Xilos Horizon) so I can have a few forces and everything necessary to start up some games at my flgs. My gaming circle is primarily about 40k, but my hope is to introduce them to Antares to have something else to play every once in a while.
I am really enjoying my first foray into the GoA game and Universe. The miniatures are certainly Marmite aesthetically but I thus far love the Algoryn and Concord factions and have painted up some of both. As for the rules I am enjoying the learning curve of getting into the game.
I like them, the blue also gives a nice alien feel. I'm looking forward to how people will paint the big 'mite monster, and with your choice of colours it should look very menacing.
Thanks. I'm really looking forward to the big one. I love stomping around the table with my giant monsters. Will have to think a bit harder about my colours since the rock skin is just a wash and drybrush and the Broodmother will deserve better.
Now that I've gotten and assembled my Genestealer Cult minis, I'll start by using them for count-as boromites (the fact that both share the mining theme certainlt helps ). What do you guys think about this as a starting boromite force?
Boromite Mining Clan (Skirmish Force, 750 points) - Overseer Squad with 2 additional gangers, Lectro Lash for the Overseer and Plasma Grenades (141) (For this I'll use the Genestealer Primus and the GL hybrids to count as plasma carbines)
- Gang Fighters (97) (These will be hybrids with Autoguns)
- Gang Fighters (97) (Same as above)
- Work Gang with Heavy Tractor Mauls (98) (These will be the aberrants)
- Work Gang with Mass Compactors (98) (2nd-3rd gen hybrids)
- Lavamites, 1 additional Lavamite, upgrade to rock brood (115) (2nd gen hybrid for the handler and purestrains for the rock brood lavamites)
- Boromite Support Team Mag Light Support w/ Borer Drone (66) (The Light support will be the laser drill, and another hybrid for the second crewmember. The drone will be a familiar)
- Boromite Support Team Mag Light Support w/ Borer Drone (66) (Same as above)
CthuluIsSpy wrote: How do mag gunners deal with Ghar?
They can't pin the Ghar, can they? Or did Mag weapons receive a strike value since the beta?
They're SV1 which can't pin the Ghar battlesuits unless you cause a casualty, which isn't very common. So you need to take lots of support weapons, the X-Launcher with net ammo is popular, and possibly avoid Mag gun units in favour of alternatives like mass compactors.
durecellrabbit wrote: Looks like a good use for your GSC, you might have some trouble with Ghar but I think that's pretty standard for the mag gun armies.
Yeah, I can't really see much ways to get a good anti Ghar punch at that price point :(
Let me know how the HtH guys work out for you. I'm busy waiting for official models.
Our group tried it months ago when it first really came out. Watched the short vids warlord put out but didn't explaine enough. Our group has played bolt action for years and years (among many other systems) and this one had a lot of confusion.
Id really like to give it another go, but a good how to play vid would be great.
I think it should be great. The new rebel Ghar list with added units for the likes of the Algoryn and a few more special characters will add something to the game. Add in the new scenarios and additions/advancement of the background and I am really looking forward to it.
Has this, or any other part of Dakka, got a show off your painted GoA miniatures thread yet?
Also someone has provided a useful overview of what the individual factions feel like:
Th scenarios and the campaign elements are highly attractive. I've got the book preordered, so just wisit for whenever it's supposed to come out this month. Hopefully the campaign system will be less fiddly than the infinity paradiso one, which was a bit of a headscrambler of complication.
Not seen any painting threads, but my Ghar are coming along nicely lately. Very quick to paint!
It came from the GoA Facebook group called IMTEL. It is very useful if you have a Facebook with lots of previews and is all round a pretty cool community.
I have the confirmation email too, am looking forward to the supplement, bonus rebel Ghar, x-howitzer and C3M4 drone.
Pacific wrote: Has anyone got the new Xilos campaign book yet and would like to post their thoughts on it?
I have it. About half the book is the campaign and it's 6 scenarios. Many of them are pretty different from your usual game, think along the lines of the narrative ones in the big rule book, and some of them like the tunnel game might be quite difficult to setup. It also includes bonuses and results that carry between games.
The rest of the book is an expansion of the army building in the rulebook. There are rules for mercs and allies and stats for the npc critters. There are army book updates for Isorians, Algoryn and Freeborn (Just a new weapon team). Ghar Rebels get a new army list and Freeborn and Boromite get a trimmed down merc army lists. Then there are a bunch of special characters.
Overall it's worth getting if you're interested the campaign or are one of the army getting a good amount of new stuff like the Ghar Rebels or Isorians. As a Boromite player I'm not really sure I needed to buy it. I don't think I'll get around to playing the campaign, the new army list isn't very useful for me and while I like (and bought) the special characters sculpt I'm really not sold on expensive character models ingame.
That's a shame. Hopefully it'll pick up when the plastics for other races come out. Warlord have been very slow at that.
It's a bit quiet here as well but there are several players who bought into it but have yet to work on their armies. Hopefully when mine is painted then I can encourage them to get involved again.
The admech trooper though looks remarkable normally proportioned for a 
I like the claws better now after a month or two, but not a fan, really. That's okay, 
I have to admit, the more time passes the more I like the ugly Ghar. Ugly in an evil "we hate you because YOU'RE different" kind of ugly. All the models themselves are very well sculpted. Differences are anatomical in an expected way not in a "big hand" and "big head" or other dorky way. Certainly not all of the poses are perfect but the sculpting is clean and the product is very well made including the metals, resins and hard plastics.
