AT-43

So today I played a huge game of AT-43. As far as the Game is concerned, AT-43 is a healthy and nutritious addition to our hobby. Even though it's pre-painted, I've never seen pre-painted anything that is as nice as these models. It actually looks like most of the models are done by some kind of computer controlled paint machine. Not only that, but the parts that are painted by hand are done rather well and are not too thick, so if you do want to paint over them, you can without a problem. Actually, check out the Rakham forums for just that. Now, I run a game store so I know my opinion is usually biased in saying people should get into new good games, but this one really deserves a go. It's fast paced because you only activate one unit per turn, so you're never waiting longer than 5 minutes before you go again. It's brutal because guns actually do a lot of damage and cover is super important. Most games I find my Red Blok running from cover to cover until they can get into range with their low accuracy weapons. Today's game was no different. A friend and myself kept a full 1/5th of our army in reserve and just trudged across the table under the Therians higher accuracy, high powered guns. We dug in around drop points, while forcing the Therians back on their heels. We took heavy casualties but our line held and when we captured the drop points we brought in our heavy troops the Kollossuses...Kollossusi...Kollossi? It was Hard won, but hugging cover, putting pressure on the right places and forcing them to commit all their heavy guns to one side of the board meant only our Hetman "Urod" was destroyed. The Kossak "KK5" was fine and bullied the other side of the board.

Okay, I'm rambling as well as going into more detail then I need to. The point was that, because shooting is so powerful, the game feels modern. Sci-fi games tend to under-power shooting for game balance purposes, but I really don't see why. Sci-fi means long range weapons that are accurate and deadly. You don't bring a knife to a gun fight and only the most maneuverable units are even given melee weapons in this game.

The tense atmosphere that makes running out in the open suicide, added onto a simple and elegent "ability vs. difficulty" system, coupled further with a proper ranged attack system all make the game feel like a modern sci-fi shooter should. The way Ranges works is unlike other games where a shot at 2 inches is just as hard as a shot at 48 inches, but a shot at 49 inches is impossible. Rackham made it so that as a shot gets further away, in increments of 10cm, the shot gets more and more difficult to make untill it is impossible.

Genius!

On another note, I have to say that this beautiful thing that is AT-43 is held in the arms of people that I can't say I fully trust. With their penchant for rules revisions almost yearly, and their, frankly baffling, rules corrections I just hope that the game can survive their eccentric rules..."je ne sais quoi". Still Rackham is pushing the boundaries and I hope you'll join me in adding AT-43 to our Game.

In AT-43 the state of the Game is good -1.

Changing with the times

These days it's interesting being my kind of gamer. My kind of gamer is the one who finally accepted the red pill of multiple games. I don't know about or play them all, but man is it a different world once you open your eyes up and say,

"Hey, there are a lot of different ways of doing things out there."

I started with Warhammer 40k and played space wolves because the fellow at my LGS told me that they had the most plastic bits and therefore were the least expensive marines I could buy. I immediately bought two boxes that were not part of a legal starting force. Fast forward 3 years of you knowing exactly what happened (except the part where I was a terror with those wolves), and bham! I finally get bored rolling 60 dice and killing 5-10 models. That was when I took the plunge and tried WARMACHINE. The game was so aggressive I'm convinced I'll get in trouble if I write WARMACHINE in anything but all caps. Woe betide anyone who writes it in itallics, but that's not the point. I was a space wolf player, and if you know one of these fellows, or have played one then you may have noticed that they crave aggression. I do crave aggression. I do love the grind, the crush, the ripped out beatings, and now I finally had a game where I could have a 10 ton robot pick up a warhorse and throw it into a densely packed group of enemy knights.

"Yes sir, may I have another".

And the bug stay with you. I'm always up for learning a new game so long as it looks aggressive and there seems to be ample games to try.

Games Workshop has been waking up from the high it got from '05, and it's got a nasty hangover. Their sales numbers are dipping and they're pretty frantic about getting back on the hog. In the meantime, everyone including your grandma, your wierd sister, and your old french uncle who you thought was dead is getting a major game out there for you to try, and you know what? They're all dead sexy and you should try them all.

Some people have been saying that computer games are finally getting to a point where they make the Game obselete. People have said that the Game is too much work and it's dying.

Personally, I see so much fun and excitement happening in our Game that I can't help but lauph like a giddy little school girl.

Privateer Press is stepping into the CMG arena, and has not relented in the steel toe boot pounding it has been giving to the Game since it started.

Rakham has made entry into the hobby so easy it actually makes Warhammer Fantasy Dwarves cry out in pain, regardless of how bad their rules are written.

I have a total of 5 different games I have to consider bringing into the store, and each one looks like the people who made them actually know the difference between "marketing" and "making your customers hate you for 2 years of record sales".

Right now the state of the Game is good.