GW The Hobbit:Desolation of Smaug releases for December 7th

Here is what is coming
Link to pictures on dakka
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/90/565131.page

A book at $33-probably a journey book with profiles

Plastics at $25 a pop
Legolas
Tauriel
Really?, a PLASTIC hero in a clam pack for $25 dollars?  Better be mounted as well-no they are not, but they are standing on a log! It rolls down stairs alone or in pairs!

Plastics at $40 a pop
Palace Guards
Mirkwood Rangers
Probably still 12 to a box- aaannnndddd NO it is a box of 10.  

Finecast at $20 a pop
Thranduil King of Mirkwood
Thrain the broken
Still expensive, but should have better detail than the plastic heroes

Finecast at $25 a pop
Mirkwood Ranger Captains
Palace Guard Captains
Beorn
Same as above

Finecast at $35 a pop
Mirkwood Spiders
Better be at least three spiders, will probably only be two though.  If they are big enough then they will be worth it.

Finecast at $65 a pop-Direct only
Barrels out of bounds
No idea what this is, but it is priced that same as the white council set is.

I am surprised that legolas and tauriel are plastic, where they meant to be part of something else?  $40 for 12 models in this scale is really stupid.  It is cheaper to buy dark eldar regular troops(bigger, more options) and those are some fantastic models.  


Here is an update with some hints about the rules
- Thranudil - stays the same - just base cost is 16 Moria Gobo with shield and he can buy armour and bow
- Tauriel - stats seems to be the same as Lego in armour, but she has Aragorns attack value, elven coat, bow and special rule that gives her +1A for each enemy she's fightin with(my guess that with each in base contact but thats just info), cost 19 Moria gobowith shield
- Guard Captain - stats as HE cap for 15 Moria Gobo with shields. If he's in 3" from Thranduil he get's +1F. Also bodyguard.
- Ranger Cap - cost the same as above, stats as WE cap, seems to have bow and TW, the same rule as Tauriel but only 3 attack(dunno if only +3, or total max 3)
- Palace Guard - cost the same Ghaladrim pics - stats as HE and the same special rule as their cap
- Ranger - the same cost as erebor with shield, and the same rule as their cap, dunno whats their eqipment.
Special rules of the Mirkwood AL - if the Lider is Thranduil, Lego or Tauriel then can have 100% bows
- Beorn - Dwalin stats but Dale Man with shield defence value and Glorf like M/W/F. He's resistant to magic, burly and fearless and woodland creature. Costs as Gulavhar. He can change into bear on 4+ in his move(model is on 60mm base and seems to be nice - pic in book). In bear form the same Wounds and M/W/F, the same special rules + terror, but rest of stats change into Threebeards. Elf Gero Courage value and Move 8"(as a bear). In this bear form he dosn't have SF, and his heroics are only his. Has special BPA - when he wins he can strike with S10 - if it wound's(enemy won't fury/fate it) he cas strike again with S10 and so on. Radagast Alliance AL.
- Thrain the broken - cost as WE with bow and spear - low stats - F dwarf like, S Hobbit like, C Orc Captain like and on every start of turn he's to pass C test. If he pass it it's ok, if he pass it twice(dunno I just translate from polish) he's got +2 to A,S,F values, but if he fails he acts like a enemy model.
- Bard - cost as full no-name nazgul on horse - stats simillar to Lego(my source don't remeber fully) and he's got a great bow. If he shoot and kill he can shoot again to the target in 3" from the last one - up to three times. Black arrow - ones a game - can reroll to hit, ITW and to wound.
- Dale hero that hac +1 on wounding flaying monster(my guess Girion)
- some lake town hero who costs 4 MG with shield that has Aragons Will value wills - for each will he can regive some hero(dunno the radius) might - on 6 k3 mights, 2-6 one might point, 1 nth
- some new Dale(laketown?) troops
- Yaznag - seems to have bad stat line - he's 10 Gobo with shield, can have lance. He's special rule - if there is Azog in the same army, then the pale orc can kill yaznag and pass all C tests, and him and rest of heros can rerolls missed to wound rolls.
- Gundabad Orcs(pic are supposed to be in book) - cost as erebor with shield, have S4, can buy pic and shiels(dunno if in combination). Special rule the same as Blackshield gobo
- Spiders - cost as 5 Gobo with shield - F as gobo, S and D as Dale man with shield D value and Elf Cap A value. Not a monster, can split poison(dunno how that works) on 4+. The warband doesn't have to contain a hero(don;t know if there is any)

DW Campaign Season 1 Turn 1

The Tripp's Ottomans battled Huan's Americans.

Mission

• Ottoman's mission was to break through the American line.
• American's mission was to capture or destroy the Ottoman's flagship.

Results: The Ottoman broke through, with an intact flagship.
American casualties:

• Sunk: one battleship, 3 cruisers, 1 scoutship, and 7 frigates.
• Damaged: 3 cruisers, 2 scoutships, and 1 frigate.

Ottoman casualties:

• Sunk: 4 cruisers, 2 frigates?
• Damaged: 1 battleship

The Casey Prussian battled Joe's Antarticans.

Mission: both forces were out to destroy
Results: tie
Prussian casualties:

• Sunk: one gunship, 2 destroyers, 3 frigates and one escort
• Damaged: one dreadnought, one Metzer, one gunship, one bomber, and one escort

Antarticans casualties:

• Sunk:  1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, 2 medium flyers
• Damaged: 1 battleship, 1 cruiser

The Brian's Prussians battled Eric's British.

Mission

• Prussian's mission was to sink the Brits.
• British's mission was to break through the Prussian line.

Results: Minor victory for the Prussians
Prussian casualties:

• Sunk: 1 cruiser, 1 frigate, 1 corvette
• Damaged: 1 fleet carrier, 1 scoutship, 1 cruiser, 1 frigate

British casualties:

• Sunk: 2 cruisers and 2 scoutships
• Damaged: ?

December 2013 desolation of smaug release white dwarf information

So, we ringers ( hobbiters?) do not get a lot of rumors before releases from Games Workshop.  So we have to haunt the fantasy and 40k blogs and boards for scraps and the moans of disappointment about anything other than the "main" 2 games.

So far we hear that The DoS release will be a journey book as well as plastic legolas and tauriel.  There will probably be others but that is what we have now.

Things I have learned in the not so distant past

While playing dystopian wars you should always make every available attack, no matter how unlikely you are to succeed.    Who knows, maybe your 45 pt destroyer really can board and take over that 240 pt dreadnaught.  Which was crap...... I mean could be bad for the dreadnaught.

A five model linked team in infinity can make even a combi rifle deadly.  It makes a heavy machine gun a dealer of death.  Doing a parachute drop-in has to be some of the most fun, if least effective strategies in the game.  

It is hard to get back into painting when one has taken several months off.  Until you see all your friends newly painted miniatures.  "Cough" fracas "cough".

DW Campaign Season 1 Rules Updated

FORCE ROSTER: 

Each player starts with 3000 points of naval and air units. The player does not need to be able to field all his model on his force roster for the campaign but will need to be able to field what is needed for battles (games).

Force roster format:

Campaign turn #

Each ship: name, class, current hull points and planned Action for the turn

Each player should maintain a copy of each turn force roster for the game records. If desired, they could be hosted on Richmondwarmancers.blogspot.com

ACTION OPTIONS:

Battle. The model is available to field in a table top game against another player. Most games will be 500-1000 points per side. Uneven matches are acceptable and VPs will be adjusted by ratio of opponent's forces to own force fielded.

Convoy. A squadron of 3 small models is assigned to protect the supply lines. 

Port. The model is in port for repair. Depending on available Resource Points, a model can regain lost hull points. Per model: one Resource Point can rebuild one lost hull point per turn, three Resource Points can rebuild two lost hull points per turn, five Resource Points can rebuild three lost hull points per turn.

Raid. A squadron of 2 medium models or one large model is assigned to raid enemy supply lines. The player to be raided must be designated. Multiple raiding squadrons can be assigned against a single or multiple opponents.

Destroyed. The model is permanently eliminated from the campaign. However, the model and its status as destroyed should be maintained on the roster for game record purpose.

REINFORCEMENT: whenever a player's force roster falls below 1500 points, roll a D6. On a "4-5" three small models are added to the roster and on a "6" a 3 small models and 2 medium models; roll another D6. On the second D6 a roll of 5" signifies a large model is added to the roster and on a "6" a large or massive is added to the roster. Reinforcement is the only way new models can be added to the force roster.

RESOURCE POINTS: each turn a player may repair 6 hull points every campaign turn. The total is modified as below:

+2 if the player achieved a decisive victory that campaign turn (100% more enemy points destroyed than lost).

+1 if the player achieved a marginal victory that campaign turn (more enemy points destroyed than lost).

1/2 of prized models' starting hull points 

All tokens are automatically replenished and all critical hits are repaired without resource points expenditures.

A player's Resource points will always be a minimum of one per turn.

Up to 6 Resource points can be saved from turn to turn.

RAIDS & CONVOY: raids and convoy actions are resolved before the game to be played that campaign turn.

1. For each raiding squadron against an opponent the raiding players rolls a D6: a roll of 4 or 5 is a single hit and a 6 is two and allows an additional roll.  Total the raiding hits. For each submersible squadron raiding a bonus of one additional hit is added to the raiding total (thus a minimum of one).

2. The defending player rolls a D6 for each convoy squadron: a roll of 4 or 5 is a single hit and a 6 is two but does not allows an additional roll. Total the convoy hits. Each convoy squadron gets to defend against each raiding players (raiding players rather than raiding squadron).

3. For every hits the raiding player has over the defending convoy hits, the defending player's total available resource points is reduced by the same amount for the next turn. 

GAMING:
1 v 1 games are ideals, though 2 v 2 games are also acceptable.
2 v 1 games should be avoided and should be played as 3 ways 1 v 1 v1 games instead.

SCENARIOS:
Each player should be dealt 2 cards from a standard card deck. Choose one to play; discard the other. All games will also feature an objective at the center of the table.
Club = cause more enemy hull points damages than loses: Victory Conditions = major win if destroy more than 100% the hull points lost, minor win if destroy more than 50% of the hull points lost
Heart = sink or capture the enemy commodore model: Victory Conditions  = major win if captures the enemy commodore model; minor win if destroy the enemy commodore model
Spade = capture the objective: Victory Conditions = major victory if the player board and hold the objective till the end of the game; minor win the player boards and control the objective at the end of any game turn. The objective has 10 AP points.
Diamond = exit the enemy deployment edge: Victory Conditions  = major victory if the total number of hull points exited exceeds 100% of the hull points lost; minor win if the total number of hull points exited exceeds 50% of the hull points lost
Joker = choose one of the above at the end of the game

CAMPAIGN VICTORY: 

The campaign ends after: 

~ a minimum of 6 campaign turns has passed

~ when the majority of the players decide (which may be longer than 6 campaign turns)

~ when one player has been eliminated

The player with the most Victory Points win (2 for each major victory, 1 for each minor victory). Ties are decided by the player with the largest remaining force roster points.

Raids and Convoy rules are on hold for now.

DW Campaign Turn 0.5

The Ottomans battled the Americans.

Mission

• Ottoman's mission was to break through the American line.
• American's mission was to capture or destroy the Ottoman's flagship

Results: The Ottoman broke through, with an intact flagship.

American casualties:

• Sunk: one battleship, 3 cruisers, 1 scoutship, and 7 frigates.
• Damaged: 3 cruisers, 2 scoutships, and 1 frigate.

Ottoman casualties:

• Sunk: 4 cruisers, 2 frigates?
• Damaged: 1 battleship

The other game of the night was a 2 on 1 game of Prussians against Antarticans. We have decided this was an inappropriate format and will likely nullify the result. Going forward with we have an odd number of players we will play a 3 ways game instead.