End of the Year Wrap Up (2023)

Some thoughts about this year's hobby projects, Flesh Eater Courts, and the Old World...

 

2023 was a moderately productive year for me. I had some pretty fun commissions (one of which I'm in the middle of with a looming deadline, so I've been slacking on the blog and personal projects). I still managed to get a decent chunk of my hobby projects completed.

At the start of the year, I had listed out a bunch of projects I wanted to finish, and I got through a good amount of them (shown off in previous posts). A couple models that I had finished but forgot to post any photos of are the kitbashed Rat Ogres:

 

 

Some of the outstanding projects will likely come up in 2024, particularly as they relate to the Old World.

My favorite projects from the year were finishing up (almost) the Skaven Warp-Skryre Tower, and fleshing out the lore and model collection for Vampire Queen Olivia's fledgling army. In addition to the heroes and skeletons, I've got 10 of the Cursed City zombies added to the ranks (just waiting for photos).

 

 

Warhammer: The Old World

 

It's only weeks away now. Some of the podcasts I listen to are estimating January 20th for a release date, and I'm inclined to agree. I'm really looking forward to this game and the opportunity to play a larger scale rank-and-flank wargame again. I had always intended to build a Tomb Kings army, but was more focused on my Vampire Counts and Skaven.

The rules that GW have previewed so far look pretty solid, and very reminiscent of classic Warhammer. I'm not sure how I feel about not having a dedicated Magic Phase, but I appreciate the addition of a Strategy Phase. There were always special rules and abilities that happened "at the start of the turn" so it's nice to have a specific phase now for them to occur. It reminds me of the Hero Phase in Age of Sigmar. I just hope they can keep from subdividing it with timing bullshit ("You can't do that now because even though you're still in the hero phase, that was supposed to happen at the start of the hero phase...") The fewer cheat sheets needed to manage the rules, the better.

I'm so happy to see Skirmishing units return to a proper "blob" formation. I didn't like that they needed to be in loose ranks with a front, flanks, and rear in 8th Edition. The different formations are interesting, particularly the Marching column. I don't know how that's going to work– If reforming takes an entire move, it won't be of much benefit because two turns could be spent marching (for a x4 move) rather than a x3 move and a reform. Maybe musicians will allow the opportunity for a free reform? We'll see...

Shooting and combat look mostly the same with some tweaks. I like the idea of some missile units being able to "volly fire" which allows the rear ranks to shoot. That makes sense for archers who traditionally arced arrows across the field, while handgunners would have to fire at a flat trajectory. The combat resolution looks like a welcome change. One of the biggest gripes about previous additions was having a unit break and be caught and wiped out after a combat where only two models were killed. It looks like breaking units will be less common, but a unit that loses combat will always move back a little, either from Giving Ground or Falling Back in Good Order (assuming there's no special rule that allows them to remain stationary), so combats shouldn't stagnate in a single spot for most of the game. (Honestly, though, fleeing units is what prevents large games from taking forever as players grind through every single model in the unit.)

Without a Magic Phase, I guess there's no way to manage a pool of power dice as your wizards cast spells throughout the entire turn. The 6th Edition magic system was my favorite, as I felt it was balanced and scalable for larger games. And there weren't many unit-deleting spells in 6th. 8th Edition was the worst– unreliable power dice generation meant that you very often had nothing to do, or threw six dice at a horribly overpowered spell to get irresistible force (and a miscast). The new magic system is very similar to the Age of Sigmar magic system, which I found worked just fine. The shorter dispel range will be interesting– I'll be able to keep my unit-buffing necromancers behind the lines where they should be out of dispel range. But, I'll need to move someone forward to dispel enemy spells.

 

 

I'm really curious about the Army books and Arcane Journals. My hope is that the Arcane Journal contains all the core army unit profiles and rules and not just the additional material. It would be nice to only buy a softcover "army book" and not a big book with rules for armies I don't play and a separate army journal. Either way, The Old World looks like it will be a good time!

The Flesh-eater Courts

 

 

Yay, new Flesh-eater Courts models for the first time in ages! I basically skipped the entire 3rd Edition of Age of Sigmar due to a combination of the pandemic, and the overly complicated (yet utterly pedantic) rules of the 3rd Edition. I thought the 2nd Edition was fine, and the only problems arose when they introduced the "activation wars" in the various battletomes. The extra monster rules, additional command abilities (resurrections for everybody!), and grand strategies were just too much to bother with. (Do I really have to pick a new objective every turn? Can't I just fight over the giant, ugly, immersion-breaking circles covering 40% of the battlefield I spent countless hours building and painting?)

I haven't picked up any of the new models or the battletome, but I think everything looks fantastic. I'm a bit disappointed that the Varghulf isn't a winged bat-creature anymore, but it still a nice model. 4th Edition is due out in 2024, so we'll see if they tone down the rules a little. Otherwise, I'll just go all-in on The Old World. I definitely need to fill out my Ghoul contingent, so I'll pick up some of these guys eventually.

I hope all of you have a safe, healthy, and happy new year! Looks like there's some cool stuff coming down the pike!

'Til next time!