Spider 'Mech!

Does whatever a Spider-'Mech does

You know how it goes, no blog updates come for ages and the next update is three times the usual length. So many 'Mechs to post here, so many new rules to gush about, so little time.

Lovely crossbowmen from Curtey's Miniatures. The left hand chap has a mail coif and no nasal bar, so I fear he looks a little too 12th-13th century. I'll hide him in the rear rank.

Of the two sets of rules, one is new and one updated. The updated one is Basic Impetvs, which now costs $5 for a nice .pdf with pretty pictures, evading rules and army lists galore. The number of army lists defies the imagination, they've even two for the Norman invasion of Sicily and the Arab occupants, which I've been thinking about re-enacting ever since those lovely gripping beast Arabs were released. I judge the effort now justifies a price tag, as the rules were originally free.

It's not all sunshine and roses though. Despite many improvements and clarifications in the rules (which have doubled in size from 6 pages to 12) some things have changed for, in my opinion, the worse. Measurement has moved from the 1 or 2 centimeter increment to the 'half base width', which does allow for a variety of basing schemes, but conversely loses a little subtlety in the movement distances and weapon ranges. Speaking of which, slings have been buffed from a short range replacement for the crossbow into something that (numerically speaking) beats both short bow 'B' and 'A' into the ground. Perhaps they have gone too far? I don't know, I haven't played yet.

Bearskin of the Bear Mystic. Front to follow in the next update.

The army lists have also changed, and now are much larger. Again this gives and takes away: army composition can be a little more nuanced, but on the other hand you need more models. This pretty much sums up my opinion of the changes. While the little expansions they've put in are nice, something of the elegant simplicity of the old rules has been lost. Then again, DBA uses one dice and twelve units each, which is VERY elegant, so elegant, in fact, that the game is known as 'Geometry Wars' in certain circles. You can't win either way.

The Mercenaries. Left to right: Catapult, Cyclops (my favourit) and Spider

Swordpoint, however, seems to be a game of the new school. The rules (which I have not read, but have read reviews and podcasts and things) have innovations like shooting before movement and 'Momentum Counters' that simulate the ehb and flow of battle from one side to the other, but also that magical quality of great generals to commit sense the decisive moment and commit their main force/attention/whatever and thus secure victory.

Capellan Confederation contingent. Left to right: Cyclops again, Vindicator (with DIY right arm) and Clint, painted in the colours of a different regiment.

Philosophy aside, the other reason I'm keen to try Swordpoint is that the first tournament is in Swindon where I have friends and therefore a cheap place to kip.

Centurion with sunburst on shoulder

As you can see from the pics, Almost all of my 'Mechs are now painted, save for the two Clan 'Mechs in the box and a metal Whitworth I bought to replace the missing one (Merlin got two Cyclopses instead.) When I finally paint them all I shall have a group shot and show you the already painted models from the box.

'Steiner Recon Lance': Left to right Atlas, Banshee, Zeus, Commando The Atlas's base is the wrong way round...

A final word here commenting on some of the paintjobs I've done. The non-uniform 'Mechs are all ones that had already receiveda a partial paint job, but not so complete that it felt like an insult to strip it and repaint. The Clint especially was a case of this. A classic Capellan design, it was to be green with stripe, but the grey-and-blue was similar enough to 4th regiment of Macarron's Armoured Cavalry for me to include it in the Capellan crowd.

I'm also very proud of the replacement arm I bodged together for the Vindicator. The model had lost it's PPC arm, and I had to construct one from imperial guard bits and green stuff. You've can't tell. The second attempt at the House Liao crest is much better too.

The Steiner Recon Lance is something of an in-joke. House Steiner is well known for having lots of money for big 'Mechs and incompetent generals, so the idea that they would assign big slow monsters to scout duties is not too far from the truth.