News: Mantic Newsletter

Hi all, Slick here. The latest Mantic newsletter is out! The Elf cavalry is ready for release and they look excellent! Mantic also still has their free shipping offer going so make use of that if you decide to order!

Welcome! Welcome to this weeks newsletter, especially those of you who are receiving it for the first time! We hope you like what you see, and that you'll supporting Mantic for a long time to come. On to the news... Only two weeks left of free Shipping - it ends in March, but all the advance orders will be shipped post free. Act now. With free shipping ending on the 31st March, now is the time to act, especially when it comes to big army deals. With the option to get your hands on soon-to-be-released figures and free miniatures, Malak's Legion of Death has risen alongside the two existing deals: Helikaeth's Undead Legion and Antonia the Dark's Vengeance Guard. Containing 5 limited edition metal Revenant Knights, Reapers, a free Death Kings Cabal and Malak, a Vampire Lord riding an Undead Pegasus, this deal combines the forthcoming metal sets with two Undead Warhosts – over 100 plastic figures and a total of 16 Mantic Points! Follow this link here to view all of the latest deals and offers, and make sure you use you FREEDELWW code at the checkout! Release the Cavalry! With all of the Undead releases recently, it'd be easy to forget about the Elves... except that there's still a whole plethora of new releases that's coming for them, starting with the Stormwind Cavalry, released this week! This metal boxset contains enough pieces to build five Elven cavalrymen complete with Champion, Standard Bearer and Musician. We're also offering a web only troop box that you can use to add to the cavalry command, and a deal that combines both sets for even greater value. Supplied with all of the usual gubbinz, and of course, Mantic Points, this new Elf release spearheads the way for the Palace Guard, Elf General on Battledragon, and the Drake Cavalry, all released in the next few months! These finely detailed models allow you to add to your existing Elven host or maybe they will inspire you to start a new one - regardless, no existing army is complete without them. Check out them out here.

Now recruiting We are currently looking to recruit two new sales executives to join our team of highly experienced salespeople. With a role of growing the number of accounts, exceeding targets and selling the right range to the right customer, you will be tasked with delivering excellent customer service, managing existing customers and developing trade accounts across the UK, assisting with the rapid growth of this exciting new company. For more information and contact details, view the full job description here. Events We will be attending many events this year, including: Winter Incursion at Maelstrom Games: 20th March West Midlands Military Show: 21st March AdeptiCon 2010: 26th-28th March We will be showcasing our latest miniatures, holding events and generally having a great time. Please do come over and visit us, we'd love to have a chat and who knows, maybe we'll have a few Mantic Points to give away! For all the information, view our events page here. Media Spotlight Beasts of War have taken a look over the Revenant Regiment box, reviewing the Troop and Command frames whilst building a few miniatures too. You can view their video here. Word on the street is that the Beasts of War guys are planning on taking part in the speed-building challenge we have up on the website. We're wondering if they're struggling to beat Ronnie's time of 12 minutes, because a video of there attempt hasn't surfaced yet – come on lads, bring the pain!

Tactica: Dogs of War Light Cavalry RoR

Hello all, Slick here. Continuing with the mercenary cavalry tacticas, we now move to a review of mthe various Light Cavalry Regiment of Renown units available.

Al Muktar's Desert Dogs
The minimum unit comes in at 245 points for 6 cavalry (technically 5). Extra riders may be purchased for an additional 13 points per model. The Desert Dogs actually feature three named characters, however Ibn the standard bearer actually does not have any attacks so you are actually losing some offensive punch with this unit. Although he is named, Ibn cannot be specifically targeted (read challenged). The other two named characters are Al Muktar himself and Sheikh Shufti. While Al Muktar is the unit's captain, Sheikh Shufti acts more like an overpowered champion. The Desert Dogs are also one of the few Regiments of Renown that come with magic items - the Scimitar of Dakisir and the Black Banner of the Muktarhin. You might think that the unit's captain would be the one to wield the magic weapon yet the Scimitar actually belongs to Sheikh Shufti. The Scimitar provides Sheikh with an additional 2 strength on the charge and +1 strength bonus at all other times. Having S6 attacks in a light cavalry unit does provide some serious offensive punch. Unfortunately, Sheikh is hampered by only having a measly 2 attacks. The other item is the Black Banner which adds D3 to the Desert Dog's combat resolution.

With two solid combat characters as well as two magic items one would think that taking the Desert Dogs would be a safe bet. Unfortunately, the Desert Dogs suffer from some serious flaws that make them a second rate unit and best left to casual games and/or themed armies. As mentioned above the Desert Dogs are expensive! You are paying a hefty price for the characters and magic items. The Desert Dogs also seem to have a bit of an identity crisis: Are they a combat unit or a fast cavalry unit? Aside from the characters the regular Desert Dogs riders have an average human statline and their equipment is also generic. They do count as fast cavalry and so are quite maneuverable. Like all other light/fast cavalry, the Desert Dogs are fragile. Generally speaking, expensive units that are extremely fragile are a gamble and rather difficult to use well. As discussed in the Light Cavalry Tactica, the role of such cavalry is generally to serve as flank units, march blockers, bait & redirection units, and on occasion to engage targets of opportunity. While the Desert Dogs can certainly fulfill this role, you certainly do not need to spend an exorbitant amount of points for such a unit. To really recoup your invest would require getting the Desert Dogs into combat. While they do have some offensive punch and should be able to break small and lightly armed units (many skirmishers, war machine crews, vulnerable non-elite infantry flanks etc.), they simply do not have the staying power for protracted combat. If you were to just take the minimum unit you could lose a total of three regular riders before you get to the named members of the unit and losing any of them will essentially spell certain doom for the Desert Dogs. The Black Banner should tip combats against weak units in your favor (on the charge) and between Al Muktar and Sheikh you should be able to wipe out a front rank. Unfortunately neither Al Muktar nor Sheikh have any better armor than the rest of the unit so you really want as few attacks coming back at the Desert Dogs as possible. Like similar units, the Desert Dogs also will not stand up to shooting or magic. Sadly, the Desert Dogs, like many Regiments of Renown, are a really cool concept with excellent minis, that are let down by mediocre rules. Taking enough Desert Dogs to ensure that you can deliver a solid charge will push the unit close to 300 points. Are you really going to invest that many points on a fast cavalry unit? Should you be unlucky and the Desert Dogs break from combat you will of course be handing your opponent a 100pt bonus for losing their banner. They are simply too much of a liability when you can accomplish more with generic mercenary Light Cavalry and for far fewer points.

Oglah Khan's WOlfboyz
The other Light Cavalry Regiment of Renown are the infamous Oglah Khan's Wolfboyz. This unit provides some interesting tactical wrinkles for the mercenary general. The basic unit comes in at an hefty 190 points with additional Hobgoblins costing 15 points per model, however you are also starting out with 6 models like the Desert Dogs sans the standard bearer who doesn't attack. Oglah Khan's unit is unique that you are actually fielding a unit of Greenskins but do not have to worry about that pesky Animosity rule. This is also the fasted Dogs of War cavalry unit as the Giant Wolves have Movement 9 which helps to close the speed gap against armies that also have access to M9 cavalry (see Elves). As far as stats go, the unit is average across the board, although their leadership is a paltry 6 (good for Greenskins though!). Oglah Khan essentially has Captain-level stats although he only has BS4, and is quite slow with I3, and his average leadership of 7. You certainly do not want to put these guys into situations where they have to take leadership tests! The Wolfboyz are also one of the few units that have a capped unit size. A unit of 20 would be rather unwieldy but it is nice to have that option for those crazy enough to try it! As for equipment, the Wolfboyz are loaded and come with spears, bows, light armor and shields! They also have the fast cavalry special rule. Their equipment provides them with an armor save of 4+ which does grant them some solid protection. The Wolfboyz also benefit from a rather cool magic item, the Pelt of Wulfag, which lets them pursue an additional D6 inches. Yes, that means they can pursue 4d6 for a potential total of 24 inches! You should be able to catch any fleeing unit.

On the tactical level, the Wolfboyz present some interesting options. They can fulfill all the roles of Light Cavalry while also having solid offensive punch (for Hobgoblins!). If the Wolfboyz can find a beatable enemy unit on the flanks, their pursuit roll should place them well within your opponent's deployment zone where they can wreak havoc. If an opponent is unlucky enough to have units along the Wolfboyz' pursuit route, they may face a dual threat - a potential panic check from the fleeing friendly unit (if the Wolfboyz do not catch them) and the Wolfboyz slamming into them off of the pursuit roll itself. The Wolfboyz would also seem to make an excellent flanking unit to support charges of your hammer units, as you can be fairly certain that the Wolfboyz will catch broken units while you can attempt to restrain pursuit with your hammer unit(s) if pursuing with everything would place the other units into vulnerable positions. I would certainly recommend trying Oghlah Khan's Wolfboyz. For those of you who do not want to shell out a large sum of money for the actual models, it is entirely possible to make the unit out of the plastic Goblin Wolfriders set. A little bit of conversion work to give the unit a more unique appearance would not require a great deal of work. The money you save by going this route will go a long way towards completing your army! Hopefully the above tactica has been helpful to you.

Tournament: Fantasy Team Tournament May 1st

Hey all, Slick here. Just a quick announcement for the local players. There will be a Warhammer Fantasy Team Tournament Saturday May 1st at the GP. It will be 1000 points per player - 2000 points per team. Full details for the tournament will follow in a day or so. Check back soon! Hope to see you there!

News: GW BLOOD ANGELS NEWSLETTER!!!

Hello all, Slick here. The coolest newsletter ever just arrived from GW - The Blood Angels Advance Orders are up! The new Blood Angels minis are nothing short of epic! April is going to be a very very expensive month! I'm going to have to pick up pretty much one of everything, maybe more!

The Games Workshop Newsletter 08.03.2010

In this issue: Blood Angels Advance Order; Web Exclusive Vanguard Veteran

Blood Angels - available to advance order today The Blood Angels are as vicious as they are noble, and prefer to smite their foes in deadly close combats. With a brand-new codex; three new plastic sets, each replete with options; and a host of new metal characters available to advance order from today, the Sons of Sanguinius have never been better equipped for the task. Codex: Blood AngelsThe Blood Angels are honoured Space Marines of the First Founding and excel at close quarter fighting. Codex: Blood Angels is the essential guide to these noble warriors, advance order yours here. Death CompanyThe Death Company are for the first time available as a multi-part plastic kit: not only can you assemble a unique looking squad, but you'll also have a host of components left-over to customise your other squads with. Sanguinary GuardThe Sanguinary Guard are the most elite warriors of the Blood Angels. These all-new plastic models are intricately detailed and embody the Artifice and angelic savagery of the Blood Angels. Take a closer look at what's in the set here. Baal PredatorThe Baal Predator is the Blood Angels signature tank. Available for the first time as a multi-part plastic kit, you can see more of the weapon and assembly options, including the deadly flamestorm cannon, here. The Sanguinor, ExemplarThe Sanguinor is an all-new Blood Angels character who represents all of the noble aims of the Chapter. With a ton of special rules and powerful abilities he's the ideal choice to lead your Blood Angels force. Astorath the GrimAstorath is another all-new Blood Angels character. He embodies the dark, cursed nature of the Chapter and makes for a characterful addition to a force resplendent with Death Company and Chaplains. Chapter Master Gabriel SethGabriel Seth is the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers, a Blood Angels successor Chapter. Armed with the mighty Blood Reaver, Seth has S8 Rending attacks and is a ferocious close combat opponent. Lemartes, Guardian of the LostChaplain Lemartes is the living embodiment of the Death Company - a Chaplain who has himself succumbed to the Black Rage. Yet he remains in control of his rage and continues to lead his brothers to a glorious end. Back to Top

Web exclusive miniature This model is the latest addition to the Available to Order range. These miniatures are available via in-store order points or the Games Workshop web site.
	Blood Angels Vanguard Veteran SergeantMembers of the Blood Angels 1st Company excel as elite assault troops, deep striking into the most intense parts of the battlefield. They perform acts of extreme heroism, cutting the heart from the enemy army and allowing the Blood Angels to triumph.

News: Games Workshop Newsletter

Hello all, Slick here. Time for another GW newsletter, and this one has quite a bit of info! Battle Missions, Venerable Dreadnaughts, Killa Kans, and Deff Dreads are all out now! For those Ork players out there the exclusive Flash Git is going to be of interest.

The Games Workshop Newsletter 05.03.2010

In this issue: Web Exclusive miniature; Brand-new Beastmen Battalion; Battle Missions launched this weekend

Web Exclusive The new Ork Flash Git is the latest addition to the Available to Order range. These miniatures are available via in-store order points, the Games Workshop web site or by calling Games Workshop Customer Services. Ork Flash Git with Targeting SquigFlash Gitz love to strut their stuff and vaporise their enemies with their kustom shootas. This characterful Ork model is available exclusively through games-workshop.com, order yours here. Back to Top

Out now: Battle Missions Battle Missions is a brand-new supplement for Warhammer 40,000 that contains more than thirty new missions for you to play. Each mission is designed to provide you with a battle that will really challenge your ability as a commander on the war-torn battlefields of the 41st Millennium. Warhammer 40,000 Expansion: Battle MissionsNo matter what Warhammer 40,000 army you collect, Battle Missions will add a new dimension to your games and expand your knowledge of the background and battle-tactics of the armies of the 41st Millennium. This is a must-have book for all Warhammer 40,000 collectors. Back to Top

New: Space Marines and Orks Released alongside Battle Missions, the all-new Ork Deff Dread and Space Marine Venerable Dreadnought are among our most impressive plastic kits to date. Take a look at them and the other new Warhammer 40,000 models available to order below. Venerable DreadnoughtVenerable Dreadnoughts are as lethal at range as in close assault. This new plastic kit is the most detailed Dreadnought to date and comes with dozens of optional extras. Deff DreadDeff Dreads epitomise three main ideals of Ork warfare: big, shooty and stompy. This new plastic kit comes with a host of optional components that enable you to assemble your own custom Deff Dread. Killa KansKilla Kans are for the first time available as a multi-part plastic kit, so you can assemble these ramshackle, Orky walkers in whatever manner you choose. Back to Top

New: Beastmen Battalion Battalion sets provide a good selection of Core units and are ideal sets to build an army around or bolster an existing force with.
	Beastmen BattalionFor the first time ever the Beastmen now have their very own Battalion set. Containing a selection of plastic miniatures that includes the new Bestigors, this is the ideal set to add to, or begin your Beastmen army.

News: Mantic Newsletter

Hello all, Slick here. Another Mantic Newsletter hit the inbox and again it's packed full of awesome new stuff. More Undead are being released and it looks like the Elves are getting a lord on a dragon soon as well! Also, Mantic is starting their points reward program which looks like it has some pretty cool prizes available. They are also apparently set to release their own paint range soon. It definitely looks like Mantic is doing well and doing things the right way --- making the customers happy. If you haven't checked their site yet, I would definitely recommend it!

FREE MINIATURES AND OTHER REWARDS!

You know we said keep those point stickers...

Mantic Games are proud to announce the launch of their reward scheme – Mantic Points - you can save your points to claim exclusive rewards.

In every box of Mantic product there is a number of Mantic Points (usually on the sticker sheet; you normally get 1 per 10 figures or per Warmachine), so a Warhost will get you 6 Mantic points (as well as already being fantastic value for a big box of fun!). We will also give them out at events and as competition prizes.

You stick the points on to a collector’s card, and send them in to us and we redeem them. Cards can be found in mail orders, packed in the product, at your local hobby store, and downloadable from the web (you can always use a piece of paper from home – just remember to add your name and address to it!)

You can now redeem your points and select some incredible gifts, including unit champions, Mantic mugs, signed artwork, key rings and free Mantic product. The top rewards are an Elven General planning his battle strategy over his (very Elven) wargames table, and Mhorgoth the Faceless - the Necromancer from the art of the new range of Mantic Undead, complete with burning orbs instead of hands. Both these models are redeemable for 50 Mantic points. They are totally free of charge (you don’t even pay P&P!) and will not be made available for sale – they will only be available as Mantic Points rewards and occasional prizes –so very rare and exclusive!

Click here to look at the rewards sheet.

The Undead Warhost is available for pre-order. –shipping 25th March
We are expecting the balefire catapult any day now (sorry again to those of you who have been waiting for this – I am sure you will get a few extra Mantic Points in the box when they arrive!) and when it does we can start sending out the Undead Warhost – which makes collecting a fantastic (and big) Undead army both easy, fun and affordable!

The set contains:

• A unit of 20 Skeleton Warriors including Command troops
• A unit of 20 Revenants – elite armoured Skeleton Warriors with Command
• 10 of the fantastic new Ghouls, and
• A Balefire Catapult, a war devastating machine with fully equipped crew!

To celebrate the launch of Mantic points and the Undead Warhost we are offering several new deals on the website, so make sure you check out the link in the sidebar to see more!

Click here to advance order your Warhost now (shipping on 25th March).

Tactica: Light Cavalry

Hello all, Slick here. Today I would like to continue the Dogs of War tactica series and finish up the core selection by discussing Light Cavalry. Mercenary Light Cavalry are one of the little gems in the Dogs of War list. At 11 points permodel these guys are a steal. Their stats are average across the board so if you are used to having units like Dark Riders you may be in for a bit of let down. Nevertheless, they do have a solid place in mercenary armies. What makes them a key piece in most armies is that it allows the mercenary general access to cheap and plentiful core fast cavalry.

Light Cavalry have several options to make them a very flexible unit in mercenary armies. There are essentially two builds with this unit: scout/light combat and scout/light missile. The missile variant equips Light Cavalry with a bow for an additional 4 points per model. Small units of missile armed cavalry can make solid flanking units for harassing lightly armored enemy flankers, flyers, war machines, and the occasional lone character. They are of course also useful as march blockers regardless of how you build them. With only average skill you should not expect too much from their shooting attacks unless you take a large unit. However, Dogs of War can field enough missile troops that makes going overboard on a fragile light missile unit inadvisable. Their primary targets should be small and lightly armored units or to try and get a kill or two on heavier units to take away 1pt of rank bonus (assuming a unit if 5 wide of course). It is not always possible to soften up all of your opponent's units before you meet in close combat, thus being able to pick off the odd trooper here and there can pay dividends later on in a battle.

The more common and in my opinion more useful build for Light Cavalry is to equip them with spears for just 1 additional point per model. You can also add shields for an additional 2 points per model. Thus equipped, a unit of Light Cavalry can provide a solid flank or even rear charge on occasion. It is fairly easy to field 2-3 units of Light Cavalry in a standard game (2000 points) so that you can lose a unit or two and still have options. These guys are the premier flanking unit available to mercenary generals unless of course you care to try the more hybrid medium (non-barded heavy cavalry) version of heavy cavalry. Command groups are an debatable for this unit, although I personally would advise against ever using a standard bearer in one of these units. Light cavalry are simply too fragile to include a potentially free 100 victory point bonus for your opponent. A champion and/or musician are more worthy options and I would tend towards just running a musician if you plan on hit and run tactics. You cannot and should not rely on these guys to take on anything tougher than other light cavalry or infantry (skirmishers). Avoiding ranked units and heavy cavalry are essential. Light Cavalry do make excellent bait units which you can use to redirect your opponents units. Just make sure to have a musician so that you are not relying on Ld 7 for rally tests.

Tactica: Dogs of War Heavy Cavalry

Hello all, Slick here. Today I would like to continue the tactica series on Dogs of War units. I have previously covered Pikemen, Crossbowmen, and Duellists. To finish off the review of our Core units it is now time to take a look at mercenary cavalry. First off, I will review Heavy Cavalry, one of the few 'hammer' units available to Dogs of War generals.

For a mere 19 points, Dogs of War have access to core heavy cavalry which come with a solid stat line. The heavy cavalry feature a Weapon Skill of 4 as well as Leadership 8, which is certainly above average for generic troops. The remaining stats for heavy cavalry are 3s. Their initial cost includes good equipment which gives them a 3+ armor save. Typically this still falls under the medium cavalry category. However, with rumored changes to cavalry in 8th edition, having access to both heavy and medium cavalry as core will certainly be beneficial to mercenary generals. Currently, rumors are that cavalry with a 2+ or better armor save will not be able to march. You can imagine how this will impact armies that feature heavy cavalry deathstar units. The only upgrade options for heavy cavalry aside from a command group are to add barding for an additional 2 points to bring the total to 21 points per model. In most cases this is the preferred route to go as you can field several 5 man units of heavy cavalry that will hit with Strength 5 on the charge. They lack the 1+ armor of Empire Knights or the pure skill of comparable elite cavalry units in other armies, but they are also fairly cheap.

Command groups for these units depend on which role you want them to fulfill on the battlefield. Small groups of 5 heavy cavalry do not need a full command and are typically best served by adding a musician and/or champion. If you intend the unit to be sacrificial then no command is needed at all of course. If you plan on building a hammer unit then a full command group becomes viable. A typical hammer unit would optimally run between 7-9 heavy cavalry with full command and would typically be joined by a Captain as well for extra punch.

Using heavy cavalry without barding does not seem to be too popular or widespread from what I have seen in Dogs of War builds. This seems to be more of an issue with the current state of Warhammer Fantasy than the Dogs of War rules. There are so many high strength units/spells/etc. currently in the game that any competitive Dogs of War build (DoW are competitive?!) is better off forgoing this option. Personally, I think it would be fun to try and make this variant work as you trade 1 point of armor for an additional 2 inches of movement. This can add some interesting tactical wrinkles to your battle plan and your opponent may be caught off guard if they are used to slower moving heavy cavalry. The extra movement afforded by not using barding should be enough to setup more advantageous charges or for getting up the flanks. Note, you are still Strength 5 when you charge with this variant.

A unit or two of heavy cavalry is always a welcome addition to a Dogs of War army and is one of the few units with good armor and high strength (on the charge) that mercenary generals have access to. Again, they are core, and have no other restrictions on them whatsoever. Take them! Hopefully you have found the above tactica helpful. Stay tuned for a review of Light Cavalry.