Magnetised Tau Battlesuit Weapons

By Paul | Published: November 20, 2010

Tau battlesuits have a huge number of weapons options open to them. So, unless you will be sticking with the same configuration from game to game or don’t mind spending a lot of time (and money) building lots of differently configured battlesuits then you need to find a way to swap weapons and equipment between games. In this guide we’ll be showing you how to use magnets to achieve this. Magnets aren’t the only option but are much neater than the alternatives, blue-tac etc.

To magnetise our battlesuits we’ll be using Blue Demon magnets, these are the best quality we’ve found and are therefore very happy to recommend them, you can pick them up from our store here: Blue Demon Magnets

Materials used in this guide

In addition to the obligatory Tau battlesuit we used.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5


The model is now ready for assembly and the magnets can be painted.

This method can be repeated on both sides of the weapon if required, giving you even more flexibility including the ability to use weapons on different arms.

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Pre-order Dystopian Wars at 20% off RRP

By Paul | Published: November 17, 2010

Imagine a world similar to our own, but subtly different. Now imagine the year is 1870 and the Industrial Revolution occurred decades earlier than in our own world. Technology is far advanced, and in many cases, unrecognisable, which has led to the development of fantastic naval vessels, hulking land ships and terror from the skies in the form of airships and war balloons.

The Dystopian Wars game, from Spartan games, is set in a Victorian Steampunk world and the rules have been designed to ensure a fun game with a large selection of high quality models in a couple of hours. The rules support Naval, Aerial and Land models from the outset, so that you can set up battles and scenarios in any combat setting. Dystopian Wars features highly detailed resin and pewter miniatures with which you can roam the high seas, scour the smog filled skies looking for enemy flying ships, or doggedly defend the cities and countryside of your home nation using giant Land Ships.

Spartan Games’ fast play rules are optimised for large fleet actions, so you can get as many miniatures on the table as you want, and still finish an enjoyable game in an afternoon or evening. Dystopian Wars is also ideal for multiplayer games, because you get to activate individual squadrons of miniatures from one player to the next. The rules allow for the use of a deck of 52 Game Cards that add an exciting Fog of War element to each game.

You command one of the great imperial powers of Dystopian Wars, you can choose to defend your territories from foreign incursion, or you can conquer the world. The choice is yours…

Dystopian Wars is being released on 24th November 2010, if you order by midnight on 23rd November you will save 20% off RRP.

Pre-order any of the Dystopian Wars range here: Dystopian Wars

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Mantic Games: Mhorgoth’s Revenge review

By Paul | Published: November 15, 2010

The Mhorgoth’s Revenge Battleset contains everything you need to build and play your own Fantasy Battles, including two complete armies and a copy of Mantic’s new ruleset written by Alessio Cavatore.

The Mhorgoth’s Revenge Fantasy Battleset includes; Kings of War Ruleset, Dice, 25 Dwarf Ironclad Warriors including Command, 20 Ironwatch, 1 Ironbelcher with crew, 20 Skeletons including Command, 10 Revenants, 10 Ghouls, 15 Zombies, 1 Balefire Catapult with crew, Undead and Dwarf Poster Guides, Undead Sticker Sheets, 3 Mantic Points & enough 20mm bases for all the models.

First impressions

The first thing that hit me on opening Mhorgoth’s Revenge was just how full it was, I had a quick count and there are 33 sprues in this box.

For £40 RRP (or £30 from Total Wargamer) this seems amazing value for money!!!

(OK, calm down… We need a level head for this review, using three exclamation marks is never justified - Ed)

The Mhorgoth's Revenge box, just crammed full of plastic

On closer inspection

OK, deep breath, lets get stuck in to the box contents.

What you get in Mhorgoth’s Revenge is basically just over 100 miniatures, some dice, a Mantic journal, background information on the 2 armies & a copy of the long awaited Kings of War rule set.

I won’t dwell too long on the quality of the individual miniatures as most have already been reviewed on the blog previously (see existing Mantic reviews). In general Mantics miniatures have been well received at Total Wargamer, the contents of this boxed set, Undead and Dwarfs, particularly so. All of the miniatures contained in Mhorgoth’s Revenge have received ratings of 7/10 upwards. Highlights include the Skeletons & Zombies for the Undead and the Ironclads for the Dwarfs.

Kings of War Ruleset

On to the rules, the first thing you’ll notice about them is that this is not Warhammer, i.e. you’re not looking at a five hundred plus page rulebook. The Kings of War game is intentionally being kept simple and it’s parred down, 12 page, rules make for a faster game.

As a result the Kings of War rule set won’t appeal to everyone, some people will just want to play a more involved/complex system but it does make for an interesting change if Warhammer is the only system you use currently.

Areas where the rules differ substantially from Warhammer are close combat and casualty removal. In close combat each side only attacks in their own turn, this also does away with the need for an initiative attribute. With regard to casualty removal, this just isn’t done at all, damage caused to a unit is recorded and used during nerve (rout) tests, should the unit fail it’s nerve test it is removed from play, until this point it fights at it’s original strength.

One final thing I’d like to add about the Kings of War Rules is that I love the open source approach being taken by Mantic (the rules are available free online - here) and I’m very interested to see how the rules develop in the coming months and years.

Summary

Mhorgoth’s Revenge represents spectacular value for money and if you are thinking of starting a Dwarfs or Undead army you could do a lot worse than starting right here.

The Kings of War ruleset, offers a quick play, simplified alternative to Warhammer and it will be interesting to see how this open source rules system develops.

All in all, this is a great starter set and gets a whopping…

Overall score: 9/10

Pick up the miniatures from this review at Total Wargamer and save 25% off RRP*.

Mantic Mhorgoths Revenge

*Accurate as of 15th November 2010

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Soda Pop Miniatures now in stock

By Paul | Published: November 11, 2010

Total Wargamer is now stocking Soda Pop Miniatures. Soda Pop produce a great range of 32mm heroic miniatures inspired by manga and Tokyo pop culture.

Checkout the full range here: Soda Pop Miniatures

Or go straight to the individual miniatures below:

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Get your shopping cart FREE!

By Paul | Published: November 10, 2010

Total Wargamer Christmas Competition 2010

Fancy walking away with a shopping cart just bursting at the seams with Wargaming goodness?

From now until Christmas we will be choosing a random order once per week and refunding the cost of the shopping cart to the customer.

The full order cost, including delivery, will be refunded on a single order from the preceding week each Monday.

Terms and conditions:

  • All entrants must be over 16 years of age
  • Competition open to UK residents only
  • This competition runs from 12:00 am Monday 8th November 2010 to 23:59 on 24th December 2010
  • The weekly winner will be picked randomly every Monday and will be notified by email
  • The full value of the winning order will be refunded, there is no maximum amount
  • We will not disclose the winners identity publicly but we will release details of the amount won (refunded)
  • Names and country of residence of winners are available upon request
  • The winning order will be decided using the random.org random number generator
  • The Total Wargamer teams decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into, all mail regarding this will go unanswered

Shop to enter

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Avatars of War Plastic Dwarf Berserkers preview

By Paul | Published: November 4, 2010

Avatars of War have just announced their first set of plastic miniatures - some great looking Dwarf Berserkers.

The Dwarf Berserkers will be available in two boxed sets:

A Dwarf Berserker Regiment (20 to 24 minis, depending on the troop type) at 25EUR (approx £22)
A Dwarf Berserker Horde (32 to 36 minis, depending on the troop type) at 35EUR (approx £31)

Here’s the preview…

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Dark Eldar Reavers review

By Paul | Published: November 3, 2010

Reavers are Dark Eldar that ride fast, ultra-lightweight jetbikes and are usually seen sowing destruction and havoc ahead of the main Dark Eldar force.

Reavers are a Fast Attack choice for the Dark Eldar.

First impressions

The first thing that struck me on getting my hands on the Dark Eldar Reavers boxed set was how light it was.

The Dark Eldar Reavers boxed set, which contains 1 1/2 A5 sized sprues, costs £1 more than the New Dark Eldar Raider which contains 2 A4 sized sprues.

This seems very expensive in comparison…

The Dark Eldar Reaver sprues:

Reavers Sprue 1

Reavers Sprue 2

On closer inspection

The sprues contain enough parts to build 3 Dark Eldar Reavers, one of which can be built as an Arena Champion.

The kit includes all the weapons options and upgrades from the codex for the jetbikes themselves but there are no weapon arms for the riders, this is annoying as the Arena Champion has options for close combat weapons. Granted these can be cannibalised from other kits but this could mean running short elsewhere.

Reaver Arena Champion

The Reavers were quick and easy to build, all three taking no more than an hour to put together including cleaning off mould lines etc. The jetbikes themselves are very simple models and the riders come together very easily thanks in part to little notches on the shoulder joins.

As you can see from the pics on this page, once built, the Reavers look pretty good, not mind blowing like the Raider we reviewed a few days ago but they are certainly appropriately spikey, look devilishly fast and I must say I like the whole-face visors.

Finally, going back to my initial bug bear, price. The Reavers are the most expensive boxed set of the first wave of Dark Eldar releases and I have to ask myself “Why?” They definitely contain less plastic than any of the other sets we’ve reviewed, even the Kabalite Warriors box contained two full size A5 sprues, compared to the Reaver’s one and a half. Maybe there is some aspect to their manufacture that creates this higher price but I suspect the real reason is that most of the separate Warhammer 40k bike kits sell for £7, so this has simply been multiplied by three to account for the three jetbikes the box contains. Now, of course, I don’t know this for sure but I would imagine that a box of three models would be cheaper to produce than three boxes each containing one model. Whatever the logic behind the pricing of this boxed set it does seem very expensive to me.

On the tabletop

The Dark Eldar are one of the most mobile armies in Warhammer 40,000 and the Reavers are the fastest unit from the Dark Eldar Codex.

These guys benefit from all the usual rules for jetbikes, making them hardier than most troops as well as more mobile.

They can inflict significant damage on enemy units as they fly by, I can see them being used as Tank Hunters as the Heat Lance they can be equipped with has some pretty scary abilities, combining lance and melta… The guy bringing up the rear in the image below is toting a Heat Lance.

I will definitely be taking at least one unit of 5-6 Reavers in my Dark Eldar Army.

Dark Eldar Reaver Unit

Summary

The Reaver kit contains enough parts to build 3 Dark Eldar Reavers, one of which can be built as an Arena Champion and includes all the jetbike weapon options and upgrades from the codex but annoyingly there are no weapon arms for the Reavers themselves, even though the Arena Champion can take a close combat weapon in the codex.

The Reavers look pretty good and are easy to build. That said they are less impressive to look at than the other Dark Eldar kits we have reviewed in the last week or so.

Finally, and this is what lets the kit down, the kit is very expensive. I really feel that rather than £21, this kit should be priced at about the same £15 RRP level that the Kabalite Warriors are set at.

Bearing cost in mind I can only award the Dark Eldar Reavers kit 6/10. That said, on the tabletop these guys are going to be pretty mean so they will sell regardless, I will be fielding at least one unit of 5 or 6 myself…

Overall score: 6/10

Pick up the Dark Eldar Reavers from this review at Total Wargamer and save 20% off RRP*.

Dark Eldar Reavers

*Accurate as of 3rd November 2010

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Dark Eldar Raider review

By Paul | Published: October 30, 2010

The Dark Eldar are a race of evil science-fiction elves that inhabit the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

As an army the Dark Eldar has been much ignored of late, the last codex being released in 2001 during 3rd Edition.

The new codex is accompanied by a range of great looking new miniatures, the Raider is the Dark Eldars main transport vehicle.

First impressions

From the photos I first saw online I knew I was going to like this kit, on opening the box I wasn’t disappointed.

The main hull sections looked suitably stylish, the lattice work deck sections looked amazing and it was immediately obvious that there are a large number of options for this vehicle. For example there are two sails and two prow-rams, each raider requires only one of each of these so there is plenty of scope for adding variety to your force.

The Dark Eldar Raider sprues:

Sprue 1

Sprue 2

Transfer Sheet

On closer inspection

The sprues contain all the core hull components required to build a Dark Eldar Raider along with 2 crew and 3 (quite litterally) hangers on.

The Dark Eldar Raider is certain to be taken in large numbers by Dark Eldar players, as mobility is essential with this army. With this in mind it is great to see that Games Workshop have included a huge number of options for the vehicle, almost all components that attach to the main hull of the vehicle are supplied twice. There are two of each of the following across the two Raider sprues; Prows, Sails, Rudders and the various blades that attach underneath the vehicle. It addition to these purely visual options the sprues also include optional weapons, Dark Lance or Disintegrator Cannon, and the various upgrades that are available to the vehicle in the codex.

Dark Eldar Raider & Crew

The Raider was an interesting model to build. The main deck assembly is basically built from three layers of components. This made for an interesting, and probably much simpler, way of putting the various engine jets together. The core model was put together in no time.

Only one issue was encountered during the construction and that is that some of the details were incredibly frustrating to attach. Specifically the small spikes that run around the hull, each needs to be attached separately, these parts are tiny and they need to be placed accurately otherwise they can look terrible. I would definitely recommend using pliers or tweezers when attaching these details. If you are planning on building more than one Raider and you don’t have any hobby pliers now might be the time to invest in some. It may have been better to have these spikes supplied in strips but of course a degree of flexibility would have been sacrificed in doing this.

As you can see from the pics on this page, once built, the Raider is a great looking vehicle, sleek and deadly looking as you would expect from the Dark Eldar, the quality evident in the other DE releases is also obvious here. I have just one problem with the completed model… transport.

The model is potentially going to be a bit of a nightmare to carry around, it is so intricate that I fear that no matter how we packed the odd blade or spike may come loose. I would definitely recommend leaving the 3 hangers on unsecured to the Raider, they then make great in game markers to indicate the Raider is occupied. Without the hangers on, the Raider should fit into a 60-70mm cut-to-size foam tray comfortably, even so, I still expect that blades and spikes will get caught on the foam and could well be ripped off when either packing away or removing the model.

Returning to the Dark Eldar hangers on, the ones supplied with the Raider are Kabalite Warriors but according to this month’s White Dwarf the Dark Eldar Vemon, which is to be released later, will include Wyches as hangers on. This presents another reason not to glue these miniatures to the Raider as once the Vemon is released you can use the different models to show what troop type a specific vehicle contains.

Dark Eldar Raider

Finally at £20 the Raider represents good value for money, which is most welcome as you will be using a lot of these…

On the tabletop

The Raider is going to be a mainstay of any Dark Eldar army. When fighting against most armies the Dark Eldar is going to want to close with the enemy as quickly as possible, this is where the Raider comes in.

It can carry 10 of the troops of your choice to the front line in no time at all and being a hoverer benefits from a host of special rules that will keep it in one piece on the way. Upgrades available for the Raider can boost it’s movement to up to 30″ per turn, allow it to deep strike or improve it’s survivability.

Once the Raider has dropped of it’s cargo of psychotic killers (AKA Dark Eldar), a Dark Lance also makes the Raider a formidable anti-tank vehicle.

The Raider is going to appears in significant numbers in any Dark Eldar army.

Summary

The Raider kit offers a large number of modelling options and contains all the weapons and equipment available to the vehicle in the codex.

The completed Raider is a great looking vehicle, sleek and deadly looking, as you would expect from the Dark Eldar, the quality evident in the other DE releases is also obvious here.

Finally the kit is pretty good value for money, especially by Games Workshops standards.

Were it not for a couple of minor annoyances I’d be thinking about awarding a truly awesome 10/10 here. Ultimately, it is the fact that adding some of the vehicle details was such an annoyance that prevents me awarding full marks for the Riader so it will have to settle for a merely spectacular 9/10.

Overall score: 9/10

Pick up the Dark Eldar Raider from this review at Total Wargamer and save 20% off RRP*.

Dark Eldar Raider

and some pliers to put it together with if required The Army Painter Hobby Pliers

*Accurate as of 30th October 2010

Posted in New Releases, Reviews, Warhammer 40000 | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors review

By Paul | Published: October 25, 2010

The Dark Eldar are a race of evil science-fiction elves that inhabit the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

As an army the Dark Eldar has been much ignored of late, the last codex being released in 2001 during 3rd Edition.

The new codex is accompanied by a range of great looking new miniatures, Kabalite Warriors are one of two Dark Eldar core troop choices.

First impressions

The Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors boxed set contains enough parts to build 10 miniatures spread across 2 sprues. A quick glance over each sprue reveals some nicely sculpted, highly detailed parts and what appears to be a good number of options.

The Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors sprues:

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors Sprue 1

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors Sprue 2

On closer inspection

The sprues contain 10 front torsos (6 different types), 10 rear torsos (10 different types), 10 pairs of legs (5 different types), 10 (for want of a better word) posteriors (5 different types) & 15 heads. In terms of weaponry, there are 9 Splinter Rifle toting arms, and also arms holding one each of the following; Blast Pistol, Splinter Pistol, Blaster, Shredder, Splinter Cannon, Dark Lance, Agoniser & Power Sword. Finally is also a Phantasm Grenade Launcher and numerous bayonets, knifes and unequiped weapons, if it’s available to Kabalite Warriors in the codex it’s in this Boxed set…

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warrior with Splinter Cannon

All this means that there is huge scope for adding variety to your units and no two units are ever going to look the same, all in all very impressive. The way the models are put together confers an additional benefit in that the equipment that is sculpted on to the separate posteriors looks like it forms an integral part of the model rather that than something that is just tagged on, which is often the case with these things.

There are only a couple of slight let downs with regards to pose-ability. Out of the box, the Sybarite’s close combat weapons offer very little scope for variety of pose, also the 2 heavy weapons are similarly locked in position through only being able to be used with one set of arms. These issues really are just minor grumbles however.

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warrior with Splinter Rifle

On to the build. All in all these models were pretty easy to put together, although the rifle arms were slightly tricky to attach, they were no more so than many other fiddly models when you have to bring 3 parts together simultaniously.

Just 2 specific issues arose. The first was while cutting the parts away from the sprue, the right “collar” of the front torsos often need to be cut away at an angle, upwards from front to back, to ensure you don’t accidentally trim a bit of the model off. Secondly, care needs to be taken when choosing which torso backs to use on which model, this is because two have been adapted to accept backpacks and these will not look too good if given to models without backpacks. I didn’t notice this myself while putting the models together for this review, I now plan to try to switch these parts or cover them up with some of the kits accessories.

Looking at the sculpts themselves, these are a massive step up from the old Dark Eldar Warriors models which were ridiculously spiky, so much so that the doorways on Commorragh would have had to be extra wide to allow them to walk through. The new Kabalite Warriors are much more realistic, I particularly like the Winged Greaves (shin armour). In general they look a lot more like regular Eldar, you can now tell that there is a connection between the two armies and that these are fallen Eldar.

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors Squad

The final point I’d like to make is that this kit represents pretty good value for money, 10 models for £15 RRP with lots of extras, not the cheapest models out there but certainly not expensive especially by Games Workshops standards…

Summary

I’ve not been as excited as this at the prospect of a Warhammer 40,000 release for a long time and the Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors do not disappoint.

The kit offers a huge number of modelling options and contains all the weapons and equipment available to Kabalite Warriors in the codex.

The sculpts are detailed and full of character, I particularly like the fact that they now look like Dark “Eldar”, the connection between the two armies is obvious in these new models.

Finally the kit is pretty good value for money, especially by Games Workshops standards.

All in all, near faultless.

Overall score: 9/10

Pick up the miniatures from this review at Total Wargamer and save 20% off RRP*.

Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors

*Accurate as of 25th October 2010

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Painting Bolt Action Plastic Germans

By admin | Published: October 18, 2010

The recently released Germans boxed set was the first plastic kit from the Bolt Action range and we’re great fans of these versatile miniatures.

This guide will demonstrate how to get your Germans ready for the battlefield in 5 easy steps, most of which just take a minute or two and involve minimal painting skill. This guide is also suitable for painting characters but you may wish to add extra detail during the basecoating stage.

Here’s the chap we are going to be painting:

Materials used in this guide:

Bolt Action Plastic Germans
Army Painter Uniform Grey Spray Paint
Citadel Codex Grey Paint
Citadel Fortress Grey Paint
Citadel Chaos Black Paint
Citadel Skull White Paint
Citadel Elf Flesh Paint
Citadel Boltgun Metal Paint
Citadel Scorched Brown Paint
Army Painter Quickshade Dip – Strong Tone
Army Painter Anti-Shine Matt Varnish
Citadel Static Grass
Citadel Modelling Sand
Filla-Glu Clear Superglue
Citadel PVA

Step 1: Undercoat

Using the Uniform Grey undercoat spray, apply a even undercoat using sweeping motions across the model or models. Note: Remember to shake the can for at least a minute.

Step 2: Basecoat

Using the various Citadel paints, paint the model using flat colours, i.e. using no shading or highlights.

For our German infantryman we used Codex Grey for the helmet, a mix of Chaos Black and Codex Grey for the boots straps and pouches, Fortress Grey for the gaiters, Elf Flesh for the face and hands, Scorched Brown for the rifle stock and shovel handle and finally Boltgun Metal for the metallic parts of the rifle and shovel.

The Uniform Grey undercoat is left as it is to represent the German’s er… uniform, a mixture of 80% Codex Grey & 20% Fortress Grey can be used to touch up any areas that are accidentally painted over.

The only real detail that was added were the eyes and stripes on the collar. The eyes are just Skull White with Chaos Black spots for the pupils, the collar detail was added using Skull White.

Step 3: Quickshade Dip

In this step we aim to get all the effects that would normally be achieved through highlighting and washing in one simple step.

Quickshade dip is a pigmented varnish so in this step you are adding shading and protecting your model at the same time. As this is a varnish it must be used after you have completely finished painting your model.

We are using “Strong Tone” Quickshade dip on our German, “Soft Tone” & “Dark Tone” are also available, strong is the medium tone dip.

When using Quickshade dip you should dip your model using a pair of pliers and shake it off 5-6 times and then leave for 24 hours (this is why this is an easy painting guide rather than a quick painting guide ).

You can also paint Quickshde on, you will need to be quite liberal with the amount used, also brushes will need to be cleaned thoroughly with washing up liquid when you have finished.

Step 4: Basing & Anti-shine Varnish

To base our German Infantryman we first painted the base Scorched Brown and then added some sand to the base using super glue. We finished off by applying PVA to those areas of the base not covered in sand and giving the base a dip in a tub of static grass.

Quickshade dip produces a gloss finish, which most gamers are not too keen on, so to achieve a matt finish we give our model a coat of anti-shine matt varnish. As with the undercoat you should apply a even coat by using sweeping motions across the model or models, once again remembering to shake the can for at least a minute before you start.

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