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Alright so ive looked over heavy hear blitz a lot and fell in love with the models,
I just want to know all about the game from people whose played it.

How fun it is
How cheap it is
How easy it is to learn
all that kind of stuff

Same thing with arena.
It seems that i would like that more because it looks more like an rpg type like you level up and get upgrades i may be mistaken but if its what i think that would be awesome, i really want to make a arena for the game.

1) It's fun but it takes getting used to (especially for 40k players). Everything you do has an effect on your shot unlike other games. Shooting someone at max range who is moving at max speed while you are also doing the same in 40k pretty has no effect on hitting chances (same % to hit as both stationary at point blank range in 40k) whereas each does change the roll in HG. HG does one opposed roll for combat (instead of multiple sequential rolls like in 40k) but has lots of modifier to account for.

2) Depends. The gears are priced at roughly $9-12 each (more for the big guys and a bit less for the squad boxes) so they're in league with other games' prices. The larger resin pieces like tanks and striders cost are too expensive for their size IMHO since they run $30-50 and are smaller than 40k land speeders. The good news is that most games are played at 3-4 squads worth of guys so getting the starter set puts you most of the way there (you get both rulebooks and 2-3 squads in each). You also don't need to get the larger vehicles as none of them are must have units ruleswise.

3) Easy depends on your prior gaming experience. The modifiers turned off some of my local players as they felt it was too complicated compared with 40k. I actually like the fact that you need to think before acting or pay the consequences. YMMV.

As for arena, I don't have that game so can't comment too much. It's definitely cheaper though as you pretty much build a single squad worth of guys (your dueling team) instead of an army. It's more of a Mordheim to HG Blitz's WHFB. Are you in the Atlanta area?

I like Blitz. Once you learn the system you can crank out a big game in about 2.5-3hrs. You will want to learn the game in stages though. There can be a steep learning curve when it comes to combat and you'll probably need to get half a dozen games in before things really start to work for you.

The game is all about building positive modifiers. You aren't going to get anywhere just sitting back and sniping model vs model. You need to flank. You need to have multiple models attack a single target from multiple angles. You need to use terrain. Failure to do all of these things will either A) get your army wiped off the table in no time and/or B) make for an extremely frustrating game as you plink shot after shot of a gear and do absolutely no damage to it (option B is what most folks seem to experience IMO.)


Cost wise, Blitz is no less expensive than any of the other mini games out there. Yes, you need fewer figs but the figs themselves are pretty pricey. A solid army will run you in the range of $150-- $200. There is some confusion on what a new player needs to buy to start playing. My suggestion would be to pick up the two player starter and play a bunch of small games (you'll want to learn the rules in chunks) before springing for an army box. These sets include the rule book (which is now only used for army lists) and the field manual (which is the new rule book) and enough figs for two players to get in some quick learning games. Your next purchase is probably going to be either a full blown army box or a single squad (most folks seem to like the Strike squad boxes for this.)

Arena - a game I really, really wanted to like but just can't. I loved the idea of a Necromunda style campaign system with gladiator gears. Unfortunately, the rules for campaign play are very incomplete and just seemed tacked on. It's been a year since release and there a lot of "what happens next" questions that still have not been addressed. Top this off with scenarios that seem like they should be cool but don't play all that well and some other balance issues and you have a mess of a game. Our group played a few games, waited most of a year for a FAQ and decided to move on.

Of course, others may have a different opinion....

warboss wrote:1) It's fun but it takes getting used to (especially for 40k players). Everything you do has an effect on your shot unlike other games. Shooting someone at max range who is moving at max speed while you are also doing the same in 40k pretty has no effect on hitting chances (same % to hit as both stationary at point blank range in 40k) whereas each does change the roll in HG. HG does one opposed roll for combat (instead of multiple sequential rolls like in 40k) but has lots of modifier to account for.

2) Depends. The gears are priced at roughly $9-12 each (more for the big guys and a bit less for the squad boxes) so they're in league with other games' prices. The larger resin pieces like tanks and striders cost are too expensive for their size IMHO since they run $30-50 and are smaller than 40k land speeders. The good news is that most games are played at 3-4 squads worth of guys so getting the starter set puts you most of the way there (you get both rulebooks and 2-3 squads in each). You also don't need to get the larger vehicles as none of them are must have units ruleswise.

3) Easy depends on your prior gaming experience. The modifiers turned off some of my local players as they felt it was too complicated compared with 40k. I actually like the fact that you need to think before acting or pay the consequences. YMMV.

As for arena, I don't have that game so can't comment too much. It's definitely cheaper though as you pretty much build a single squad worth of guys (your dueling team) instead of an army. It's more of a Mordheim to HG Blitz's WHFB. Are you in the Atlanta area?

Where i game is in Marietta

sarcastro01 wrote:I like Blitz. Once you learn the system you can crank out a big game in about 2.5-3hrs. You will want to learn the game in stages though. There can be a steep learning curve when it comes to combat and you'll probably need to get half a dozen games in before things really start to work for you.

The game is all about building positive modifiers. You aren't going to get anywhere just sitting back and sniping model vs model. You need to flank. You need to have multiple models attack a single target from multiple angles. You need to use terrain. Failure to do all of these things will either A) get your army wiped off the table in no time and/or B) make for an extremely frustrating game as you plink shot after shot of a gear and do absolutely no damage to it (option B is what most folks seem to experience IMO.)


Cost wise, Blitz is no less expensive than any of the other mini games out there. Yes, you need fewer figs but the figs themselves are pretty pricey. A solid army will run you in the range of $150-- $200. There is some confusion on what a new player needs to buy to start playing. My suggestion would be to pick up the two player starter and play a bunch of small games (you'll want to learn the rules in chunks) before springing for an army box. These sets include the rule book (which is now only used for army lists) and the field manual (which is the new rule book) and enough figs for two players to get in some quick learning games. Your next purchase is probably going to be either a full blown army box or a single squad (most folks seem to like the Strike squad boxes for this.)

Arena - a game I really, really wanted to like but just can't. I loved the idea of a Necromunda style campaign system with gladiator gears. Unfortunately, the rules for campaign play are very incomplete and just seemed tacked on. It's been a year since release and there a lot of "what happens next" questions that still have not been addressed. Top this off with scenarios that seem like they should be cool but don't play all that well and some other balance issues and you have a mess of a game. Our group played a few games, waited most of a year for a FAQ and decided to move on.

Of course, others may have a different opinion....

That price isn't bad at all compared to 40k and warhammer games they go way up there, ill definitely check it out.

I'm on the south west side far burbs but I actually tried organizing some HG over at Gigabytes to no avail. I found a couple interested people with armies on their forums but only one ended up meeting up to try the game.

Thats exactly where i play to.

If you get some people organized to play HG, let me know and I'll make the trip. I actually just bumped my old thread on the store forums to see if anyone is interested. Check out the giga general tabletop forum for the thread and see if you already know some of the closet HG players since you game there. I've only been there 3 times total (and not since before they moved) so I've only met the one player so far.

cody20 wrote:
How fun it is

To me, the game is fascinating. You have many armies to choose from. You have to arrange your army according to the level of difficulty. Then, you need to pick your squads. Each gears can have multiple upgrades and options. From the modelling point of view, it is WYSIWYG according to your weapon choices. When people tell you that you have to stack up the modifiers, it means that all the gears in the team have to work together to get a good shot. For example, a guided weapon gets +1 to roll against a target that is designated. Model that is cross-fired may get -1 to their defense roll, etc.

cody20 wrote:
How cheap it is

The good thing is that tournament size is around 800 to 1000 TV. There are 9 starter sets available. With the exception of the 2-player starter and two others, the rest can provide you an army up to more than 800 TV with options and upgrade. Each set comes with Field Manual and the corresponding book for that particular army. I would advise you to take the advantage of the sale happening right now. You can up to $10 worth of gift for every $50 of purchases and the premium base as the added bonus.

cody20 wrote:
How easy it is to learn

You cannot learn all in one go but the first 1 and 2 games will teach you the basics.

I don't play HG arena so I cannot tell you anything about it. For the beginners, the most common question is where to start and which book to buy. If the army that appeals to you the most happens to be represented by one of the starter sets, go for it.