Blood in the Badlands

Blood in the Badlands is a book laying out rules and ideas for you and your friends to start a campaign. It includes rules for seasons, siege warfare and battles, as well as a lot of battle reports and fluff like stuff. Like a lot of GW (Games Workshop) stuff these days it is a limited run release, however there are still plenty of copies available.

When I began flicking through this book I was pretty excited but then I noticed all the typos, this is something you expect from a seedy blog you found on the web, not a book that retails at $55. GW thought it would be a good idea to have a bunch of guys do a campaign and lazily create a book about it. Unfortunately that is exactly the feel it gives off. The errors in the book also make some of the rules ambiguous so look forward to adding that FAQ to your book. Stupid errors are a common feature in GW stuff and I was hoping after the high quality Tamurkhan release from their Forgeworld brand that maybe they had learnt their lesson but no this is not the case.

It is not all bad news though as there are some really cool rules included. The best of them being the siege rules. Now you can destroy your rivals castle using not only your army but also siege weaponry like battering rams and siege towers. The defenders get cool stuff too like boiling oil and upgrades to their towers. The game of course runs you through the basics of running your own campaign and adds a lot of special rules. Obviously this is not aimed at the beginner as you will need experience to run the campaign and play the battles. That is why it is a little confusing that the book is not aimed at a slightly more literate, older crowd.

Also included is the story of the campaign run by the GW staffers, which I found very hard to follow. It reads something like this, Simon fought a battle with Matt, whilst Warlord Fawsqueek was attacking Steve, whilst the Warlord Headchopper was out chopping heads. I don't care about Steve or Matt and it just confuses me when you refer to them by name, then by their general, then by their last name!

In general the book is very inspirational for running your own campaigns and includes a lot of high quality photography and art, to get you in the gaming mood. This is exactly the aim of the book but it just feels a little amateurish, especially at this price. I think there is enough content to warrant the purchase of this book especially if you are buying it with friends but it could have been a lot better 7/10.

Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos

Tamurkhan is the first book Forgeworld have released for Warhammer Fantasy Battle and with a lot of great titles out for Warhammer 40k it has a lot to live up to. The book tells the story of Tamurkhan, favoured of Nurgle, as he rampages across the Warhammer world. It includes rules for armies as well as rules and ideas for campaigns and battles.

It cost me $80 AU to get the book here which is quite expensive though still cheaper than buying from a Games Workshop store here. It took 22 days to arrive so you'll have to decide if you want to pay the approximately $22 more or wait the 22 days. For the most part the book is a beautiful piece of art, I'm no expert on the subject but most of the art at least looks like it was painstakingly hand-painted, which is gorgeous but some of the art looks like cheap CGI which takes away from the feel of the book. The book also saw the release of a lot of cool models to accompany it and one thing that is really disappointing is that there are no cool pics of these minis included. I understand that in 40k the battle images we see are supposed to be photos taken for records and in the fantasy world photography hasn't been invented but this is a magical world so surely there is a way around it.

The story is quite engaging and it definitely makes me want to participate in a large scale campaign. Where it goes in to detail it really shines however, sometimes it mentions events in passing in a really cheap way; mighty battle was fought, people died, etc., that and the far too often saying "battle was joined" get on my nerves. Overall though the story is great with all the bloody details you could crave and a compelling plot that involves most of the races to be found in the Warhammer world. Anybody who is a fan of any part of Chaos is bound to like it, unless of course you hate Nurgle. Maps are included to help you get an idea of where the story is taking place and how the mighty army flows across the land. The story is divided into six chapters and each of these chapters has a campaign battle idea included after the story.

The rules are the true crux of the book and they come in a range of varieties. The book has rules for a Tamurkhan led Warriors of Chaos army, a rival Empire army and making their reappearance in the Warhammer world a Chaos Dwarf army. I think all of the armies are very characterful and I am especially a fan of the Chaos Dwarf army rules. With such great models out for them I wouldn't be surprised if this marked the comeback of the dark Dwarves. The book also features some really cool rules for united Chaos armies mixing soldiers from, Chaos Warriors, Daemons, Beastmen and the new Chaos Dwarves. These 'Great Hosts of Chaos' are made up of sworn units and antagonistic units, with the possibility of the whole army coming undone if things do not go to plan. Great Hosts come in five varieties, one each for the gods of Chaos and the final for Chaos gods united. Beastmen heroes can only lead a Chaos united host, though their units can be included as part of any other host. There are also no new Beastmen units offered here despite every other chaos faction getting new units or  an entire army list in the case of Chaos Dwarves. Forgeworld will just have to do better next time. The campaign is fairly open to allow for a lot of different armies to battle it out across the included scenarios. There are also some scrolls of binding included at the back because hey, they might as well cram as much in as possible.

It is a cool book, with a lot of background, colourful art and tonnes of rules but there are a couple of things that stop it from being perfect, high cost, no pictures of models (poor Beastmen support) and the fact that some people may find it hard to read because of the worn look of each page. Accounting for all these things Tamrukhan: The Throne of Chaos gets 8.5.

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.

Tamurkhan the Throne of Chaos

Tamurkhan the Throne of Chaos is finally available for pre-order. You can check out some preview shots of it here. It will not only include a Warriors of Chaos army list for reenacting all the battles mentioned within the book but also a complete Chaos Dwarf army for those long suffering evil dwarf lovers. The Chaos Dwarf miniatures look absolutely stunning with fine runes and details carved into them.

There were a few delays in getting the book ready for production, here's hoping that Forge World used some of that time to edit the book, as Game Workshops books are notoriously riddled with typos and incorrect or ambiguous rules. I also sincerely hope they have managed to include some Beastmen units into the armies as well. I will give a full review when I receive my copy in the mail.

Forge World Releases

Forge World has released three new Nurgle models aimed at Warhammer fantasy battles. Plague Toads, and Bile Trolls include experimental rules for Daemons and Warriors collectors whilst the Plague Ogres have no rules currently available. It is a shame that Beastmen players don't get any rules here but it was announced that the upcoming expansion book Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos will include rules to make Chaos armies featuring all three branches of the dark gods! Also seen on the page is an upcoming model of Tamurkhan riding his plague beast and some art of a bearded centaur. This begs the question, will we see Chaos Dwarves included in this new series of Forge World Warhammer Fantasy releases? I'm betting on yes.

Warhammer Errata Updated

The Warhammer Errata or FAQ as they like to call it (they aren't fooling anyone) has been updated and is available here. There is also something about a new Grey Knights codex and models but that is boring. Where are the new Orc and Goblin releases I hear so many rumours about!!!?!?

Edit: Warhammer 40 Errata's have also been updated they are here.