Thursday, July 17, 2008

GENERAL: 40k 5th edition, the Royal Navy, a dodgy McMuffin and the iPhone

What a week I've had!

On Friday I got up early and got in line to pick up the new 3G iPhone. The sheer number of customers in the store and across the country crashed the activation computers, so they just handed over the phone and told me to do it at home. Fast forward one week and I have only just got a functioning phone. It's great though, and I'm playing with all the options at the moment to work out what I can incorporate into my gaming life. With the internet being so easy to use on the iPhone I can access any forums at any time, as well as the Games Workshop PDF's (including their errata) so rules disputes should be a thing of the past.

Potentially the thing with the most impact, though, will be the ability to update my blogs from the phone. That hopefully means more updates and maybe live updates from tournaments, Games Days, etc. Watch this space.

I was so ill on Friday night that I had to go to bed at 4.00pm and didn't get up until 7.00pm, and I NEVER sleep during the day, especially when I have a new toy to play with. I only pulled myself together by Monday night. Maybe it had something to do with the McDonalds breakfast I ate while standing in line?

On Saturday I got my reserved copy of the Gamer's pack for 40k 5th edition. I had a quick flick through the book and was immediately impressed by the layout, art and amount of background information. It'll take a good few weeks to read through this heavyweight book in detail.

The metal ammo crate was heavier than I expected but smaller. It looks cool but I'm not sure what I could actually use it for. Maybe a large, flat tank? On Saturday morning I had a walk around HMS Tyne. I had planned to pick up my 40k stuff beforehand and I'm glad I didn't. The ammo crate looks like a real-life military artefact, with additional Imperial Eagles of course, and bears the legend 'Hazard: Danger of pre-detonation if used unblessed.' I wonder how the Royal Navy would have reacted if I'd tried to take it onboard?

The Line of Sight laser is fun and projects a target over quite a distance. A bit gimmicky, and I'd probably be a bit self concious to pull it out during a game but hey, it was cheap.

The counters are more practical and there are loads of them on the two sprues. Just be careful when you clip them off the sprue. The plastic is brittle and a couple of my counters splintered as I removed them. I found the best way to do it was to slowly apply pressure as I twisted the clippers. I filed off any rough edges and they were good to go. One thing that was missing, though, was a box to put them in.

Overall I was a little dissappointed with the extras and would probably have been just as happy if I'd bought the book on it's own, especially as I'm broke. Ho Hum.

On Tuesday Gary and I abandoned our Blood Bowl league in favour of a couple of games of 40k 5th edition. I took my Blood Angels, which will be my new army over the next year and Gary took his Daemons. We played a 500 point game then a 1200 point game. I'll write up proper reports for my battle reports blog shortly. The missions, set-up and rules felt very different and it is obvious we need to do some reading up before we play any more games. Also, Gary needs to buy a copy of the rules - 'I had no idea the new book was out yet!'

Last but not least, yesterday the last of my Forge World goodies arrrived in the post. I've hinted at these in the past but never really revealed what they are. I'll do that in my next blog when I revisit my New Model Fund.

Finally, I have posted the second battle report from my Daemonhunters Vogen campaign. This game was against a Black Templar army.

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