Ryan and I got together tonight for a game of Warhammer 40k 8th Edition. The store had a couple of packs of Open War cards left so I bought a deck and we played the game we were dealt. I have to admit, I had a blast! We were both excited as we drew the cards, not knowing how our armies would play out in random game play. The nature of the game meant that we would have to out play our opponent and not rely on the optimized build. Since Ryan is just getting back into the game and still gathering models for his army, this worked out great for both of us. New 8th Edition Open War Cards  This was our initial draw. We also pulled two Twist cards - Set Piece Battle and Battle Frenzy - every model got an additional attack! It made perfect sense for Ryan's Blood Angel Lamentors and my Astral Claws were happy to join in the frenzy of our separatist brothers. Ryan brought three of the new Primaris Reivers. They can do some work. Astral Claw lurking in the back field. I hav...

Here's my Warhammer 40k techmarine for hire! I'll use him in my variety of Space Marine armies... White Scars, Astral Claws, Flesh Tearers... everyone except Salamanders. With the new way of building armies in "formations" in 8th edition techmarines are an excellent choice for an HQ option to take a second or third formation that only requires one compulsory HQ selection. Have spanner, will fix or smash. In hindsight, I may add some static grass to his base.

As a former journalist, I finally get to put on my old "press pass" and share a bit of breaking news and perhaps a spoiler:  Games Workshop has been slowly releasing some teasers about the chapter tactics in posts on the Warhammer Community page on Facebook (and possible elsewhere.) I had only seen Raven Guard and White Scars up to this point but an article aimed at new players may have spoiled the future teasers and it included a graphic of the new Space Marine codex chapter tactics.   Chapter Tactics Matrix Here are my thoughts: Ultramarines: They received a very good tactic in the ability to add +1 leadership. Since players will be making a lot more leadership rolls, especially since you still need to test even if you win close combat and you’ve taken a casualty, this is a very useful but not over-powered ability. White Scars: The darlings of the tournament scene got a smashing chapter tactic reminiscent of their old tactics with the ability to charg...

Here's a quick shot of two of the terrain pieces I primed today. A small building with a shielded top for sci-fi games and a Greek style monument for use in historical through modern and sci-fi games. My two sets of terrain that I've been working on fit into one or both of those categories. The Greek pieces are really a part of my Old Hammer Ultramarines/any Greco-Roman 40k army like Blood Angels and the small building can fit in with any of my urban sci-fi/city fight terrain. Those table tops are my two favorites but someday I'll expand into a winter/snow setting and perhaps a chaotic realm, but for now, city fight and ancient Greece are my favorite flavors.

I finally got in my first game of Warhammer 40k 8th edition. Like I mentioned before, I've been on the road a lot and I haven't had much time for anything else in life, let alone gaming. Luckily I got Monday off from my day job and played my buddy Ryan in a small 1,500 game with my Astral Claws vs. his mixed Imperium. It was his first game as well and we were both excited to get our dolls on the table top. I brought: 1 Battalion Captain Chaplain in Termie armor Tech priest 1 Tac Squad in a Rhino 1 Scout Squad in a Land Speeder 4 Rifle dreads 1 Shootie Termie Squad Ryan brought a mix of Blood Angels, Primaris Marines and Guard - mostly just to try out the various armies he wanted to play. We played Big Guns never tire on a Dawn of War map. It was a blast! Astral Claws - a good leader stands behind his men! A good opponent always helps but I liked the game and had a great time. We both spent a lot of time with our noses in the rule book and indexes double ch...