The War Altar

New Eldar Images Spotted

2013-05-22T00:27:00.001+01:00

So it seems that the next Warhammer 40,000 Codex that will be released is going to be Eldar. These precious shots have been making rounds on the internet.

Read on for some more juicy pictures, including the magnificent Wraithknight.

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Preening Dandies - April 2013

2013-05-09T14:17:00.001+01:00

A New Beginning - the Dawning of Man

A new year, a new contributor to the Preening Dandies posts on The War Altar. A big "thank you" to Newbreed for his tireless work over the last 12 months, however like Alex Ferguson, he's decided to call it a day after all his moaning and harassment of everyone for so long.

Flames of War Tournament Stats (IRE/NI: May 2013)

2013-05-07T11:01:00.002+01:00

We've got another Flames of War tournament kicking off soon, it seems like an appropriate time to have a look at the state of the game. We're still operating with a seriously flawed data set (not enough tournaments yet) but we'll improve over time.
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Specialist Games Being Discontinued?

2013-04-30T22:39:00.000+01:00

We're hearing some awful and plausible rumours that Games Workshop are killing the Specialist Games lines. It appears that existing stocks of Specialist Games models (regular and Forgeworld) are being run down and will not be replaced. Damn dark day.

Rumour has it that with the full switch from metal to finecast, the Battlefleet Gothic, Epic, Necromunda and Inquisitor ranges are just going to die out. No restocks, just the remorseless running down of the existing inventory. No mention of the fate of Blood Bowl, which does soften the blow slightly.

I'm really hoping to be proven wrong on this one.

Preening Dandies (March 2013 Edition)

2013-04-17T19:17:00.000+01:00

We've just managed an entire year of Preening Dandies posts. We've got seven entries this month, spread over six game systems. I'd like to thank all those people who've contributed over the last year. In many cases, we've seen their styles evolve and I've found that they've encouraged me to try that little bit harder in own painting. So, thanks, chaps.
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On The Step Podcast 1.1: On the Tau

2013-04-13T00:38:00.001+01:00

Hello to you all, it's been far too long since I've had the time to post on this! I do however return bearing some most excellent news. Trget and myself have started a podcast, find it here and more information after the break.

Model Review: Zvezda KV-1e

2013-03-25T10:05:00.001Z

During a thaw in Nazi-Soviet relations in the late 1930s, legend has it, a team of Soviet officers toured a German tank factory. Their Nazi guides beamed with pride as the latest German tank, the Panzer mk. III, rolled off the assembly line. The Soviets exchanged confused looks and then one asked, in broken German, "Don't you have anything bigger?" The fascist running-dogs would soon understand why the Soviets were unimpressed.

This is a review of the Zvevda 1/100 (15mm) KV-1e. I picked up three of them a while back at Gamers' World. They run 4 euro a piece.

Preening Dandies (February 2013 Edition)

2013-03-19T15:39:00.000Z

We've trudged through snow, ice, sleet and waves of nagging from Frogdog to bring you another batch of finished models. Gaze upon them disdainfully.

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Bristolscale7's History Corner: Blitzkrieg, by the book

2013-03-14T12:28:00.002Z

Blitzkrieg--the word evokes images of charging panzers, Stuka dive bombers, and encircled French troops. The purpose of this article is to discuss the accuracy of this general impression and then meditate on the whether or not Flames of War captures this style of offensive warfare on the table top. So what are we talking about when we use the term? In practical terms blitzkrieg refers to the mobile warfare doctrine developed by a younger generation of German officers in the 1930s. These officers argued that armoured forces should be concentrated along a narrow front to achieve a breakthrough in the enemy's lines. Many military forces in the 1930s saw armour as primarily a tool for infantry support and tanks were distributed among infantry formations rather than concentrated in armoured divisions. According to the German model the concentrated mobile forces could exploit breakthroughs and plunge deep behind the enemy lines to destroy logistics and command structures. At the same time large portions of the enemy would be encircled and eliminated.

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Bristolscale7's History Corner: D-Day

2013-03-01T11:12:00.000Z

With interest in Flames of War increasing I thought it would be a good idea to go over some of the "fluff." Here's a thing. It's the first message sent from General Eisenhower to General Marshall on the morning of 6 June 1944. I obtained it from the National Archives and Records Administration. Digital history FTW. Have a read:

Flames of War Tournament Stats (Ireland and Northern Ireland)

2013-02-14T16:47:00.001Z

We've seen three Flames of War tournaments so far with War in the North coming up very soon. Down in the secret Warhead bunker, the pre-tournament plotting saw wild and unfounded talk of total infantry dominance. Flamethrowers were fueled, assault guns began revving their engines, hopes were raised and.... a load of tank lists suddenly appeared. I thought it might be interesting to check the stats and see what's actually happening.

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Preening Dandies (January Edition)

2013-02-04T21:36:00.002Z

January turned out to be Flames of War month with half the entries coming from that system. Worryingly, they're all Axis forces. The many and varied units of the Allied side don't seem to interest our contributors, who I now suspect of spending their spare time marching around in jackboots.

Chubby Bowl I: Review

2013-01-27T18:34:00.001Z

The first Chubby Bowl ran last weekend over two days in Dungeons and Donuts, Galway. If you missed this one, no worries, it's now a quarterly event. The next event (Chubby Bowl II) is running from 6-7 April, 2013.

Blood Bowl Team Showcase: Tarentino's Ogres

2013-01-22T14:03:00.001Z

During the recent Blood Bowl tournament in Galway, I came across a very striking, heavily converted Ogre team. I was going to roll them into a review of the Chubby Bowl itself but they really deserve their own post. These are the work of Sean Nee, who can be found lurking in Dungeons and Donuts on occasion.

First up are the Reservoir Dogs themed Ogres with their colour-coded bases, Messieurs Blonde, Orange, Blue, Pink, Brown and White.

These little guys are now unrecognisable as Snotlings but you can spot your favourite characters from Pulp Fiction fairly quickly. Vince, Jules and assorted bystanders, gimps and mobsters. There are some doubles in there, too.

And that's the lot. Sean's skills with green stuff will also be seen in the Chubby Bowl review, once I get around to writing it.

Preening Dandies (December Edition)

2013-01-11T17:48:00.002Z

I tire of our regular diet of well-dressed toffs and went with some dour (but preening) preachers this month. We've got an eclectic mix of systems with only one GW model and absolutely no 40k entries.

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Two Irish Blood Bowl Tournaments Announced

2013-01-06T20:07:00.000Z

We're getting totally spoiled here. After all my quiet hoping, we've got two Blood Bowl tournaments in the first quarter of the year. I'm liking you, 2013, keep this up.

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Rankings HQ: Bait and Switch

2013-01-03T20:13:00.000Z

Today, I was not very surprised to hear that Rankings HQ are switching to a fee-based system. I won't replicate the entire letter here but it runs some like "case for sympathy, blah, blah, if you don't find a sponsor for your national rankings, then each player must pay a $12 fee, blah, blah, hard regrettable decision". It's the classic bait and switch gambit that, let's be honest, we were warned would happen when the decision was made to go with Rankings HQ.

Preening Dandies (November Edition)

2012-12-05T16:12:00.003Z

We trudge further into winter and the nerds continue to gather around warm fires to drybrush, highlight and curse the darkness. The month has brought us a small but pretty selection of models.

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Flames of War?

2012-11-27T00:02:00.002Z

Ah, Flames of War. There's been a sudden surge of interest in the WWII war game during 2012, and with the hope of finding something to mix up my war gaming routine I've picked up a few bits and pieces and played some games. Here's a few thoughts for the beginner by the beginner. A lot of this will be from a 40k perspective, so should be familiar enough to most people.

Great rules. Fluff is sometimes a little unbelieveable.

The Decent Looking Tank Tutorial

2012-11-09T11:11:00.000Z

I'm sleep-deprived and my hands are riddled with caffeine. I squeeze in my painting an hour at a time after the kids are in bed. Despite these personal and logistical deficiencies I don't want an army that looks like shit. Thus I present the following tutorial for people who want decent looking tanks but have neither the talent, time, or disposition for 'best-in-show' paint jobs.

For this tutorial I'm using 4 Plastic Soldier Company T-34/85s. I need to add these to my existing collection for Karl's Winter in Minsk tournament.

Here are the tanks assembled and primed with Soviet Armor from Army Painter with the tank tracks painted black.

Preening Dandies: October Edition

2012-11-06T21:09:00.006Z

It's cold, damp and horrible. I hate November. To cheer us all up, let's look at the mailbag.

Tank Aces Campaign: Rounds 3 and 4

2012-10-19T13:13:00.000+01:00

We've finished our Tank Aces campaign and I'd like to thank our players for making the event a success. I expected eight, hoped for ten and got fifteen players. We'll be returning to regular Flames of War for a little while to give our new players a chance to experience the joys of infantry, artillery and air power. Those who have encountered the Big Cats are quite pleased by the prospect.
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Battlefleet Gothic Ireland: Braycon

2012-10-17T12:37:00.000+01:00

It turns out that Graham painted some of the models in the BFG Armada rulebook.

As tournaments go, this one was excellent fun. No stress, no rushing, just a chilled out day of gaming. Despite half the players dropping out in the final few days with excuses ranging from the feeble "I have a thing" to the far more impressive "I've started coughing up blood", the determined survivors got to play in Ireland's first Battlefleet Gothic tournament.

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Open Fire! Making a 1750 point Armoured Squadron

2012-10-15T15:05:00.001+01:00

Open Fire! the new Battle Front starter goes on sale at the end of the month. Last week I showed you the 1750 point U.S. infantry list I was going to make using Open Fire! models as a core. Now I want to go through the British Armoured Squadron I will be able to field (click it).

Once again I'm using the book Hell's Highway because it has good options for combining U.S./U.K. forces. In addition, the British armoured lists are Guards which has two advantages. First, they are veterans. Shermans are quite fragile in Late War. I'll want to keep the fireflies at long range to take advantage of the semi-indirect fire rule (re-roll to hit beyond 16"). Veteran tanks are hit on a 5+ base at long range, on 6s if they are hull-down. Being hard to hit at range, not armor, is the key to their survival. Secondly, Guards reroll both platoon and company morale checks. They'll stay in the fight longer.

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Open Fire! Making a 1750 U.S. Paratrooper List

2012-10-11T10:40:00.003+01:00

Newbreed has previously given a preview of Battle Front's Open Fire! (€60) starter set here. At the most basic level the box has 1005 points of U.S./U.K. forces. The purpose of this article is to outline the 1750 point force I'll be making from the starter set. The premise is that you will be trading the Germans in the box to a friend in exchange for the allied forces from his or her box (thanks Nosediver!). What's that you say? Job done you've got 2010 points now so feck off? Now now, bear with me. You've actually got some choices to make to run a 1750 tournament list that can be considered competitive. Do you want to run a U.S. infantry list with U.K. support, or do you want to run a U.K armor list with U.S. support? I'm choosing the former. Using the book Hell's Highway I've generated the following list for the 101st Airborne (click it):