Christmas From GW

Some exciting news from games workshop a bunch of new things for Beastmen players, mangler squigs for orcs, a bunch of big new armies and a campaign book for warhammer fantasy. Before I start I'll let you know that my review of Tamurkhan is well underway and will be out shortly, it took nearly 3 weeks for the book to arrive but it was signed by Alan Bligh so that is at least some compensation.

Beastmen players and anyone with a scroll of binding will get a Ghorgon/Cygor Kit and the Jabberslythe. I think the Cygor is a cool looking model but I am dissapointed with the way the Ghorgon looks. Here is a picture of the original concept art for the Ghorgon,

 this is the model by the Miss Painting Group,

and here is the Games Workshop (GW) model.

The GW model lacks the mutant savagery of the concept and it has a ridiculous head. Gone are the huge bone scythes and instead we get some puny bladed nubs. The Miss Painting Group did a better job of GW's own model. In general I like the look of the Cygor but this is not really a model that beastmen players needed. A giant kit and a few pieces from a spawn kit makes a great Cygor that even a beginner modeler can make. The new kit however will work out cheaper and mixing the parts together (if you can) should result in some interesting models. Overall I am happy with the Jabberslythe model, it is weird and evil enough to fit the bill but at $102 AU it is very pricey. Also coming for Beastmen players is a citadel finecast version of the Doombull, I think this is great because it should make the model a lot easier to put together.


Orc & Goblin players get the Mangler Squigs finecast model which is pretty cool but at $96 AU the model seems overpriced. There are also two new army boxes for High Elves and Skaven players, these are part of the "while stocks last" crap that GW is doing at the moment.

Finally there is the Blood in the Badlands book, which looks pretty exciting with some cool rules for sieges shown on the website. I will have to order a copy of this for review, unfortunately it is also one of the "limited time only" things from GW.

One Sentence Reviews

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [PC] The greatest RPG ever made for PC, ruined by the fact that it's designed for console, is full of bugs and they make you pick up coins one at a time 9/10.


Roads of Rome [Mac, PC] Build roads, in Rome, pretty good for a casual game, not so good for anything else  7/10.


Extinct! Are You Smarter Than a Plant? [Flash Game] No you are not, plants would never play this game 4/10.

Heroes of Might and Magic VI

Heroes of Might and Magic VI (HMM6) is a fantasy turned based strategy game, which is amongst my favourite genres. You command heroes and their warrior unit subordinates across a map capturing territory and smiting your foes.

The main focus of gameplay for a turn based strategy really has to be tactics. It comes at a surprise that HMM6 lacks this, with most fights being about who has the biggest army. Most units can just move across the map freely with enemy units not creating a zone of control to stop you. Any terrain features that make it onto a battle map seem to have little influence and in the end you feel like you have fought the same battle over and over again.

There are loads of abilities your heroes can gain, from directly benefiting a battle to helping build your empire. There are also plenty of cool magic items out there for them to find. Whilst a hero does make a difference to the outcome of a battle, it seems to matter little compared to how big your overall army is. You see the biggest influence of your hero when you are fighting against lower level characters.

The graphics are great for this type of game with a rich amount of detail spread across large maps. When you zoom in on the world map you see the tiniest of details such as mushrooms and lily pads. The animations of your warriors fighting and dying are solid too. 

The game also suffers from poor dialogue and clichéd story lines, in fact the story of the first campaign reminded me a lot of Warcraft III. From time to time someone delivers a solid line and they even sound like they mean it but it can't replace the overall cheesiness of the rest of the story.

The game does have some bright points and there are plenty of reasons to play. However there are a tonne of other games out there that are begging for your attention and I just can't see Heroes of Might and Magic being at the top of that play list. I'd recommend Battle of Wesnoth instead, it is less pretty but it does a better take on turn based strategy and it's free. Heroes of Might and Magic VI gets 6.5/10.

One Sentence Review

Battlefield 3 Multiplayer [PC] This game is just like real war and just like in real war, you are in danger of losing your life 10/10.


Battlefield 3 Singleplayer [PC] Press space to enjoy cutscene 7.5/10.


iGun Pro [iOS] Shoot guns, feel like a pro, who shoots fake guns off of an iPhone and doesn't take the time to edit the wiki articles he rips off 6/10.

Squids [iOS]

Squids is a turn based RPG for the iPhone with versions for the iPad, Android, Mac & PC platforms planned. Squids is a little different from your average turn based RPG, as it incorporates an action element, in that you drag and fling your squids to attack.

There are four classes of squid: scouts, who have the ability to dash, healers who can heal, shooters who get to fire a long range shot and troopers who have a radius attack dealing damage to all foes in a circle. The classes are simple, yet varied enough to keep the game fun and interesting. You also earn bonus pearls (the in game currency) for doing things like bouncing off a wall then hitting an enemy and hitting multiple enemies etc.

Graphically the game looks great. It has a cutesy style that blends 2D and 3D together.  When your characters are not in the action they will watch little sprites (the magical kind) fly past them or perhaps yawn impatiently. Little animations are taking place all the time for example, the seaweed and starfish will sway lightly in the currents.

The game is currently selling for AU$0.99 and Game Bakers are claiming that this is 50% off. This is really the price point it should be at when you consider the game is also using micro-transactions. You can buy extra in game pearls which are used to level up your characters and purchase items. You can also pay to buy a fish that grants you a multiplier on the amount of pearls you get per level, which comes in at AU$0.99 on its own. As you can tell this means you are a little shorter on pearls than you would like to be. This is a little ridiculous and although it's not enough to detract from the rest of the game, it does bring it down a notch.

The game is still plenty of fun and with the extra halloween content that was brought in (some of which is quite difficult) it is a hard title to skip. It blends together turn based and action, beautiful graphics with great animation, silliness with an interesting (though clichéd) plot and really brings out a winner 9/10.

One Sentence Reviews

[iOS] Dragon Vale - Raising dragons requires a lot of weeding; weeding and unobtainable gems 6/10.


[iOS] Super Pirate - Apparently this game once cost money, anyone who payed for this instantly turned into a software pirate, hmm, I guess it works then 2/10.


[iOS] Paul the Octopus - Need a poorly drawn octopus to make all your decisions for you, of course you do 5/10.