Hi and welcome to the MiniatureReview website.  If you are wondering where all the reviews have gone, don't worry.  I am still posting away like mad. 

 

You can find a ton of new reviews on my new blogger part of the MiniatureReview at http://www.MiniatureReview.blogspot.com 

 

Cheers

 

Tom

Romeo from Battlefoam recently came out with a brand new bag for Malifaux.  The bag is a different dimension (12.5W x 10.5L x 7H) than most of the current bags.  I really like the layout of this new bag design.  You get 3 preloaded foams, 1x2" Pluck Foam for large models, 1x1.5" thick tray with 32 2x1.25" and 1x1.5" thick tray with 36 1x1.5".  It has also has a separate storage area that has 4 pockets, 2 pen holders, plus a slider folder for rules.  On the other side there is an additional slider folder for additional rule books.

 

If you're a Malifaux player, this bag is a definite must have.  The bag is now my favorite of the Battlefoam bag lineup.  With this one bag, I can put all sorts skirmish figures in there including (Heavy Gear Blitz, multiple GW Kill Teams and Malifaux).  Even with all those figures there is a ton of room for other games.  The bag is more compact than the other bags and carrying handle is top notch.

 

I would rate this bag as almost perfect.  What I would love to see added would be 2 to 4 pockets on the side for additional storage and a Velcro patch or two to add name tags or cool patches.  I also found that the 36 1x1.5" tray isn't as useful as the 32 2x1.25 tray.  If I had my choice I would go with the 2 32 2x1.25 trays instead or maybe one with even less slots.  I found that the 36 slot compartments were a little small for many of my skirmish figures.

 

 

 

 

Khurasan Miniatures will be releasing a nice 15mm artillery piece for the Vespulids called the Vespulid-Howitzer.

 

While at Gen Con I found myself at the the Mantic Games booth.  Ronnie Renton, the owner of Mantic Games was kind enough to provide me with a sample boxset of the Dwarf Ironclads.  Very cool.  Last night I opened up the Dwarf Ironclad box, which is basically a video tape box and had a look at the figures inside.  To my surprise, there were 20 Ironclad figures plus extra bits like Bull Dogs, Tankard, Dead Dwarfs and Orc heads.  Again very cool.  Unlike many GW models, these look really easy to put together.  No pinning will be required at all.  The dwarfs were nicely detailed and actually got me sort of pumped for a dwarf army.  The Dwarfs are going to be taller than GW Dwarfs, but that isn't a bad thing IMO.

 

Mantic Games is also coming out with their own fantasy ruleset call Kings of War (designed by Alessio Cavatore) in October.   They also have a magazine dedicated to the miniatures called the Mantic Journal.  You can buy a hard copy or download a pdf for free. 

 

There is a really nice writeup on Total Wargamer.  

 

 

Hell Dorado is Back!!  Cipher Studios is re-releasing the Hell Dorado line of figures with a revamped ruleset.  The Hell Dorado starter sets at Gen Con were selling for $29.99.  The rule book should be available in a few months.  The Lost figures are gorgeous and were easy to put together.  I ended up pinning a few of the arms to secure them better.

 

 

Here is what you get in the Lost box set.  The set also came with starter rules.

 

At Gen Con I spent some time with the staff at On The Lamb Games.  Great Group.  They had a bunch of demos running for their new game Brushfire - Historia Rodentia.  The demos were quite fun.  They had a cool orange Brushfire bag giveaway if you bought a certain amount of figures. 

 

I thought I would post some serious inspiration for all those painters out there. These Dream Pod 9 Heavy Gear were all painted by Agis Neugebauer .  He has a ton of painted gears on his website.  Simply amazing stuff.

 

15mm.co.uk just released some new 15mm in the form of the Draccian Heavy Weapons.

 

 

 

 

Here are two very cool models that are now available from Antenociti's Workshop

 

The figures are called [G.O.T.] Miri & Samanda. They are sculpted by Andrew Rae, Painted by Angel Giraldez & Jet-Bikes by Jed.

 

 

I stopped by Cipher Studios while at Gen Con and what do you know, they are re-releasing Hell Dorado.  The actual rulebook will not be released for a few months.  The box sets at Gen Con came with quick starter rules.

 

David Freeman was extremely excited about the release and provided some samples for reviews.  I hope to have them up maybe by this weekend or early next week.  Here are some images to wet your appetite.  You can purchase Augustinus from the Cipher Studios website

 

Just built a bunch of Heavy Gear Southern troopers from Dream Pod 9.  These models are very cool.  The Heavy Gears are for the new ruleset called Blitz.  A typical game runs around 500 to 1000 points.  A 500 point game usually has about 10-12 Heavy Gears. 

 

The Heavy Gears pictured below are size 6 and  7.  There are larger gears that are size 8 plus even larger vehicles like the Visigoth, which is size 13.  

 

 

 

Here are some scale comparisons of the various Kyll'al and Sav'm ZynVaded!™ figures by We Have Issues! Publishing The two assassins on the end don't come in the starter box set.  They are additional figures that can be swapped with the Scouts

 

 

 

 

 

I found this game called ZynVaded!™ by We Have Issues! Publishing at Gen Con and thought it was awesome.  ZynVaded!™ is a tabletop miniatures game where you fight battles on a table top (or desktop, or counter top, etc.)! In it, you assume the role of one faction of the Zyn, an inch-high, insectile alien race determined to conquer our planet, one cluttered surface at a time! You can choose to play as either the Kyll’al, the militant arm of the alien invasion, or the Sav’m, the rebellious faction looking to halt the invasion.

 

The 28mm figures are made out of resin and include an integrated base.  There are currently 2 races (Kyll'al and Sav'm) with 2 more in the works.   The third race should be released probably in a few months.   Both the Kyll'al and Sav'm race consist of 4 figures each right now.  Games are usually played with only 3 figures per side.  The game is designed to play right out of the box or should I say Chinese take out box ($30 gets you the rules, 6 troopers and 4 larva).

 

Here is a link to the ZynVaded! forum to find out more about the game.

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to attend Gen Con and hangout with the Dream Pod 9 team and Robert Dubois the president for a while.  I have never played any of their games before and decided to try out a demo of Heavy Gear Blitz.  Well I liked the demo so much, I brought home some shinny new toys.  First up is the Visigoth Main Battle Tank , a full resin model used for the Southern miniature line. 

 

The Visigoth is the largest tank the Southern line and has enough fire power to take out loads of Heavy Gears.  Since the model is made of resin, you will need to have some clippers and files available for prep work.  The resin is very clean and free of bubbles.  I was able to build the model pictured below in about 5 minutes.  I still have to add other bits and extra gear/weapons to complete the tank.

 

What I really like about this tank is the fact that it has more armor than the Heavy Gears and more actions (3 vs 1 for most Heavy Gears).  This means it can really dish it out and take it.

 

Visigoth Main Battle Tank

Hun Light Tan,  Visigoth Main Battle Tank, Command Jager & Spitting Cobra

 

Gen Con 2010 Day 2. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did take a lot of video. When I get a faster connection next week, I will upload a bunch of the videos to YouTube.

 

Gen Con Day 2

I am currently attending Gen Con and will have lots of updates and pictures to show in the coming days.

 

Here is Day 1

Here is a lineup of some new 15mm Sci-Fi from Critical Mass Games and The Scene UK with some Khurasan Miniatures thrown in for good measure.  I am really impressed with the Scene UK figures.  Critical Mass Games of course never disappoints.  The Astagar figures are probably my favorites of the new releases.

 

 Critical Mass Games Astagar Fighter, Ygs Fighter, Kaamados Agaamid Infantry & Merc Drop Trooper

The Scene UK Special Agent, Battle Robot, Android, Zombie Hunter

Khurasan Miniatures Space Demon & Garn