New Slayerbrotherhood - The Doom Seeker Issue #2 out now.

The second issue of The Doom Seeker has just been released. You can download it here or read it here.

While I am still a fan of the idea behind this webzine, and I applaud the New Slayer Brotherhood community for their continued efforts, the overall presentation of this new issue is still rather poor. A cluttered layout, mix-and-match font styles, and abundant use of clipart fail to impress visually while the content is a mixed bag with few standout pieces. My favorite thing featured in this latest issue is the awesome cover art. Very "Dwarf Slayer".

As a whole this issue seems to focus more on the entirety of Warhammer with very little Slayer-centric content (only 6 pages of 32 in total), and the presentation is lacking a unified vision. I hope future issues can maintain a more focused approach to the Slayer army while including some of the additional content featured in issue #2. Perhaps a longer duration between issues would help increase the quality of the articles used - I am sure there is not a ton of content readily available for any Storm of Chaos army (even the mighty Slayers).

What would a post about Slayers be if it did not feature at least one mention of beer!? Here is a brew I reviewed after my trip to Fort Collins, CO last winter.

Odell Brewing Company - 5 Barrel Pale Ale

Beer Type: English Pale Ale

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle featuring a red and beige Odell style label. Beer poured a clear amber-gold color with a thick off white head.

Smell: Some toasty malts, spicy hops, and caramel sweetness.

First Drink: Lots of earthy flavors and a little bit of the hops. Plenty of sweet malt, almost too much to make out the hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and well carbonated. No complaints here!

Last Drink: More of the hops flavor now, with a bit more mellow biscuit sweetness.

Drinkability: One of my favorite Odell brews so far. A nice little departure from the normal pale ale, but not too far out there.

Notes: This is my last beer from my trip to Fort Collins, Colorado last January. I need to go back and get more of Odell's excellent beers!

Verdict: 4 out of 5.

Links: Beer Advocate and Odell Brewing Company

New Beastmen release confirmed for Feburary!

BEASTS! Take a look at this sweet new cover for the new book. Pretty cool. Reminds me of the Ogre Kingdoms cover! The image is from the new Games Workshop newsletter along with this:

"In the dark places of the world, the Beastmen have been gathering in number and in February they will unleash their rage on the Warhammer world with renewed vigour. A feral army of twisted monsters, the Beastmen have inhabitant the dark forests and wild places of the world since such places existed. To lead a Beastmen army is to field vast herds of braying, brutish beasts who worship Chaos in all its forms, and who fight to level the civilised world.

This will be the first time ever that the Beastmen have had their own, completely stand-alone, army list. The forthcoming Warhammer Armies: Beastmen is full of twisted monsters old and new, and an all-new lore of magic. The Beastmen are the original inhabitants of the Old World: in February 2010 they come to reclaim it from the hands of Men.

Make sure you check out December’s White Dwarf for more on the Beastmen."

New Beasts in Feburary! I am very excited about this release but my wallet is less so. How about you? What are you hoping to see in the new Beastmen book?

New Dwarf FAQ/Errata released - Alas poor Thorek...

What the!? A new Dwarf FAQ?

Changes worth noting:

• Thorek may only use his re-roll once per game.
• Shooting attacks at the Anvil are not randomized on the warmachine - only on the crew.
  
• Dwarf Rangers do not count as Warriors once upgraded.
• Some clarification on Slayers from the Storm of Chaos book.
  

Well. Damn. So much for Thorek being overpowered! I wonder who else will be getting the "nerf stick" applied to them with new FAQ/Errata releases!?

UPDATE: My friend Thane Demolira pointed out that most of the GW tournaments have been playing Thorek this way for the past couple years so this isn't totally unexpected. Also, shooting attacks at the Anvil were never randomized and the Dwarf book already covers this.

Skaven - 2,250 Clan Moulder Freak Rat Romp!

I love monsters. The Skaven have their Clan Moulder who love monstrous rat creatures. Here is a monstrous rat creature list made with the new Skaven book that I hope to proxy and try out (perhaps collect, assemble, and paint):

LORDS: (225)
Throt the Unclean (225)

HEROES: (270)
Warlock Engineer(15) - Level 2, Shadow Magnet Trinket, Warp-Energy Condenser (150)
Warlock Engineer - Level 1, Dispel Scroll, Warpstone Token, Warpmusket (120)

CORE: (1255)
Rat Ogres x 10 - Master Moulder w/ Electro Whip, Packmasters x 3, Skweel Gnawtooth (580)
Rat Ogres x 10 - Master Moulder w/ Thingcatcher, Packmasters x 4 (485)
Giant Rats x 26 - Master Moulder w/ Thingcatcher, Packmasters x 3 (155)
Giant Rats x 9 - Packmaster (35)

RARE: (500)
Hellpit Abomination - Warpstone Spikes (250)
Hellpit Abomination - Warpstone Spikes (250)

Total Points: 2,250 (of 2,250)

Two big units of Rat Ogres w/ Packmasters and a big block of Giant Rats with Engineers. The smaller pack of Giant Rats is for harassing flanks or claiming table quarters. Giant monsters do what they do best - kill things! I have never played Skaven. Just looking for something fun to play with and model and huge mutant rats seem to be on my mind at the moment. Suggestions for the list are welcomed and encouraged!

It has been awhile since I featured a beer review on the site. I still have a huge backlog of beers I need to review but I thought this one was thematically appropriate.

Indian Wells Brewing Company - Lobotomy Bock

Beer Type: Doppelbock

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with a red "cartoony" label on it. Beer poured a dark reddish black color with a thick head.

Smell: Bready... a bit of sweet dark aroma (chocolate?).

First Drink: A little bit of chocolate but nothing that really sticks around.

Mouthfeel: Thin and a little flat feeling (more carbonation would be nice).

Last Drink: More malt and bread flavors but overall this is a very simple beer.

Drinkability: Seems a bit like Shiner Bock in taste and mouthfeel, but I feel like there should be more going on.

Notes: This beer is 10% alchohol but you can't really taste it. Not great, not bad, this one is just alright (and my brains are still intact).

Verdict: 3 out of 5

Links: Beer Advocate and Indian Wells Brewing Company.

New Skaven madness has been unleashed!

The new Skaven book is upon us! Run for your lives!!

I have only seen one game with the new book but it was a doozy - a classic Skaven SAD list vs a zombie spamming Vampire list. The Skaven won the game but blew up half their force in the process. Fun!

Today I will be playing a few games here at home with the new book. I will post my thoughts on the book as a whole after seeing a few more games in action.

I have already noticed a continuation of the trend started with the Warriors of Chaos book - I could probably make a better Ogre-type force from the Skaven book. Is it really a new trend or do I just really love armies with nothing but Monsters and 40mm troops? Double Hellpit Abomination and Rat Ogre madness lists ahoy!

*chitter-chitter*

A journey to the Maw - the making of Mawster Blaster.

The latest issue of The Word of Hashut was released last month and if you haven't taken a look at it yet I encourage you to do so now. It features a ton of great Chaos Dwarf material and this time around the mad Dawi from Chaos-Dwarfs Online have included a good deal of Ogre Kingdom related articles as well. One of the articles featured (on pages 76 and 77 for those keen to read it now) in the latest issue is a set of rules for a character known as "Mawster Blaster" which were developed by me.

If I am honest, this article did not turn out as I was expecting it to. I consider the content used as a "rough draft" for what I had hoped the final piece would be. As an example...

• The piece of art shown for the rules is amazing but it wasn't quite what I had in mind for the character (more on that below).
• The rules were written and revised several times but I did not have a chance to play test them.
• The name for the character was a placeholder to be changed once a proper back story had been written.
• I was not able to sculpt or paint an actual model for the character.

Although it doesn't meet my own standards I am pleased with the overall presentation of the rules and the great piece of art used in conjunction with my "rough draft". It was a good exercise in game design and I learned a bit about balance (at least on paper) in the process.

I started the creation of "Mawster Blaster" with an idea - I wanted to see a model which featured a Dwarf riding on the back of an Ogre (similar to Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). Pretty basic but the idea really makes me happy.

My original concept for a character was a Dwarf Slayer who had lost the use of his legs in his search for a worthy doom. Disabled but not dead the Slayer hired an Ogre mercenary to carry him to his glorious death (the Ogre didn't mind as he got lots of ale, food, fights, and a share of the gold).

About a year later Willmark approached the Ogre Stronghold looking for ideas for an Ogre Kingdom tie-in for the upcoming issue of The Word of Hashut. I immediately returned to the Ogre carrying a Dwarf and thus "Mawster Blaster" was born.

While the basic idea remained the same (a Dwarf which did not have the use of his legs to get him around) the character changed in several major ways. The simple merc was replaced by a twisted Ogre monster from deep within the Chaos Wastes. The boisterous Slayer became a Tyrannical Chaos Dwarf Sorcerer Lord with a calcified lower torso lost to his devotion of dark magic. As the ideas began to take shape I wrote the first draft of the rules with a few things in mind:

• Cost - I looked to monstrous mount options which already exist in WHFB to find a relevant example before settling on a Chaos Lord on Chaos Dragon as my basis.
  
• Power - as both a Close Combat and Magic threat I had to keep balance in mind while adding just the right amount of overall capability for the point cost.
• Unpredictability - I love flawed characters and I think they add a lot of fun and random chance to what can often be a very straight forward and boring game.
  

The first set of rules were far more complex and featured several "what if" type tables detailing the results of the Mutant Ogre's loss of sanity after visiting the Great Maw and what would happen should the Chaos Dwarf be knocked from his mount. While fun (and full of crazy Ogre flavor) these rules were too complex for the tabletop - although looking at the new Skaven book and some of the tables it features I have to wonder if I made the right choice.

I am currently working on some other "new" characters for inclusion in a TOP SECRET project already in the works but I hope to get back around to this character at some point in the future. I don't consider the rule included in The Word of Hashut to be final and I would love to hear some input from other players - especially if you have played with the published rules.

Nathan Long on writing the new Gotrek and Felix book "Shamanslayer".

Came across this video on the Black Library blog last month and I thought it would be good to share it with you my dear (and few) readers. In the video (which is somewhat campy and ridiculous... in a good way) Nathan Long outlines his basic approach for writing, specifically how it relates to his Gotrek and Felix novels. Check it out!

My copy of Shamanslayer is in the mail (somewhere in the Western US) , or so Amazon tells me. Be sure to keep one non-patched eye out for a review of the book once I finish it (and find time to write the review).