GMorts Chaotica

I did an unboxing of one of the starter sets for the Digger Corps faction for the Macrocosm game which can be found here, wrote up the latest of our Privateer Press Iron Kingdoms RPG's which can be located in here and mentioned a Scourge army for Dropzone Commander that I'll probably never finish...because I start many things but finish almost none of them...the beginnings can be found here should you wish to remind me about my failure to finish it at some point in the future...


I also failed completely to update several of the less popular blog tabs...hopefully no-one will notice due to the fact that they're not very popular, lol.

Early next week I'm expecting my long awaited Incursion Board Game Kickstarter to arrive so I'll do some features on that and I have some bits and pieces to put together in order to do a unboxing(ish) feature and review on the recently updated Wolsung Steampunk Skirmish Game.


The latest of our adventures in the Iron Kingdoms might also get written up if I can decipher my own notes from earlier today and I'm sure there will be much news from this years Gen Con also appearing...including quite a lot of Malifaux related products...


Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

More Scourge!!!!! and some other things that aren't Scourge...

TABLE OF CONTENTS • Newsletter #41 - 27/06/2015 • UCM Heavy Hazard Suits • Scourge Screamer and Raider Dropship • PHR Medusa and Triton-X • Shaltari Pungari Auxiliaries • Gen Con 2015 • RISE Gallery Exhibition - 2670 IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER New Releases Gen Con 2015 Autumn Invasion 2015 Newsletter #41 - 27/06/2015 Celebrating Summer The summer’s here, and to celebrate we’ve got a jam-packed newsletter full of good things to share. There are new releases (now available for pre-order) for the UCM, Scourge, PHR and Shaltari now available for pre-order.  We’ll also have the next wave of famous commanders from our Reconquest: Phase 1 book out soon too – look out for more details to come. A highlight of the season for us is Gen Con, Indianapolis (USA), where we will be giving introduction games, showing of our studio models – including, the Avenger – and offering a selection of upcoming releases slightly early for those who are at the show. We hope to see you there! Though we go to as many shows as possible, we know that not everyone can make it and therefore can’t get a few of the items that we mainly only take to shows. This summer we are intending to alter this very slightly by offering a few products that normally are only at our shows, through our website, (though the show only models will always be just that!). We are also in the process of creating a few web exclusive products that you can’t get anywhere else, such as add-on scenery packs and a few more accessories. We are also excited to be showcasing a small collection of our work, both images and models, in an exhibition at the RISEgallery in Croydon (UK) (Click here for the facebook event page). This will be another chance to see the spaceship on show too for anyone who is still keen to see it and hasn’t yet. But now, on to the new releases… UCM Heavy Hazard Suits Heavy Hazard Suits were developed for working in extreme conditions on frontier worlds and on the outside hulls of ships. Since 2653, many Heavy Hazard Suits have been used as pickets in areas where hostile aliens and fauna are frequent threats – militarising them was the next logical step. Removing the original civilian systems freed up space for the capacitors and hyper accelerators needed for a suit-portable railgun.  Scourge Screamer and Raider Dropship The Screamer is a chillingly familiar unit to Resistance fighters, but is only now being encountered by UCM troops. Unlike many enemy units, it is rare that the Screamer is visually identified. The Screamer is a consummate terror weapon, part of a second wave of any Scourge invasion to root out pockets of resistance and demoralise any survivors, breeding a miasmic sense of despair as is scuttles with chilling speed towards its prey. In addition to its already potent mental weapons, the Screamer is armed with sets of powerful, metal sheathed claws which in conjunction with its massive size and augmented musculature make it more than capable of ripping a heavy battle tank to shreds. The Raider is a dedicated insertion platform for esoteric and specialist Scourge units. It is designed to fully envelope bulky units that have highly specific mission parameters, often as outliers to the main Scourge force. Horrific weapon systems complete the package, supporting the elite troops it disgorges with lethal anti-personnel acid hoses comparable to those on a Tormentor heavy battle tank. PHR Medusa and Triton-X While little that is known of PHR Siren corps, one thing is very clear; these women are the elite, and exceptionally few in number. However even among the rarest individuals there are exceptional specimens – those whose innate affinity with their technological enhancements allow them to effortlessly control many hundreds of viewpoints with ease, and many thousands with dedicated training and further honing of their talents. These are the Medusa, the 0.0001 % of the PHR’s population capable of harnessing the power of thousands of slaved Familiars to their will with devastating effect. In battle, a Medusa will appear to ‘fly’, levitated on a swarming, seething pillar of nanomachines and Familiars, sowing destruction and aiding her allies in combat until the enemy is utterly destroyed. The Triton–X is a specially modified transport for Medusa units. The fact that the PHR has created a specific transport to carry these exceptional women into the fray reflects their immense power. It also has the capacity for additional nanomachines, which can replenish and repair any losses that the Medusa’s swarm might sustain from enemy fire. Shaltari Pungari Auxiliaries The discovery of the cradle worlds and very foundation of the UCM can be traced to the first contact with the Shaltari and their help in exploring the galaxy. However, the less than altruistic designs that the Shaltari apparently had for using humanity as cannon fodder quickly put paid to any thoughts of long term alliance. In the Pungari, it seems the Shaltari have found a much more pliant (if less capable) race to exploit. Despite their obvious mental and technological inferiority to their masters, they are slavishly devoted to the Shaltari and appear willing to die in large numbers for them should one be present to witness their sacrifice. Gen Con 2015 Gen Con has always been one of the many highlights in our events year, and 2015 is no different. We will be located on stand 1943, and will have the June releases and hopefully some of the new Famous Commanders, as well as pre-releases of July’s units. We’ll also have the Avenger on the stand, along with our show only models and limited edition show only spaceship models! RISE Gallery Exhibition - 2670 The new exhibition at the RISE Gallery called ‘2670’ will feature work from David J Lewis and Patrice Rameau. It will showcase a range of unseen and remastered artwork, along with the Avenger. The exhibition is open from Friday 3th July until Thursday 17th July from Tuesdays to Fridays 10am – 6pm and on Saturdays 10am – 4pm. For more information, check out the RISEGallery website here, or the facebook event page here > Alongside our artwork, will be works from a collection of famous artists, such as Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Banksy, to name a few.  We hope you can make it down to have a look at the show. We hope you’re as excited about this summer’s Dropzone Commander releases, exhibitions and shows as we are, and we look forward to seeing you soon at one of these events. – The Hawk Wargames Team

Several of my friends and acquaintances have started playing Drop Zone Commander and I've decided to give it a go.
Some time ago one of those friends bought a second one of the two player starter sets as he wanted more of the UCM units so I bought the rest of the set off him giving me the rulebook, tokens and other bits and pieces. It then got left in the box as it wasn't enough for an actual army and I had about a million other projects on the go...so in the box it stayed...

My interest has however been recently reawakened as another friend has bought a second set as well and I'm going to have the Scourge from that one also. With the purchase of a command unit and a transport for it that should give me enough models for an adequate (if not necessarily optimised) army...

Here's the first half assembled ready for painting. I haven't decided on a colour scheme yet but it's unlikely that I'll go with the generic purple...


...and more likely that I'll go with something more blue in tone...


The above is how the units are divided up as per the starter set reference sheet. From left to right that's a Scourge Warrior Cabal, a Scourge Vanguard and a Scourge Invasion Host together with their transports.

Here are some close-ups of the individual models...


This isn't going to be one of those games that I get too heavily involved in. Effectively I'll just invest a little in order to make the starter sets usable and stick with that for the occasional game with friends.

After the second starter set my next purchases will probably be these...The Oppressor and The Harbinger...


...unless there's any Scourge players out there with a better idea for a command unit and transport to compliment the models in a pair of Scourge starter sets.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

A moderately productive week this time around.


My change of shift pattern didn't mess me up quite as badly as I thought it would and I managed to get unboxings done of the latest Malifaux crew release of Ironsides 'Troubleshooters' starter set and one of the Johan model. I also did a feature on the female alternative model of Johan (inventively called Johana) and all of those can be found in the 'Unboxing Malifaux' tab at the top of the blog.


I also wrote up the seventh session of our Privateer Press Iron Kingdoms RPG that finished off my turn as GM before tagging in Tom to do a mission of his own (He foresees it lasting three sessions but sometimes these things overrun as the players do stupid things you weren't expecting, lol). Then our original GM Andrew will probably take a turn. Our various sessions as well as the background material for the campaign can be found in this section of the blog here.

I've also been working on an un-boxing of a starter set for a new game called Macrocosm as well as finally getting around to assembling my Drop Zone Commander Scourge and features on both these projects should appear Monday and Tuesday of next week respectively.


I have however fell behind on several of the tabs such as the 'Newsletter' one but as this information can also be found in the blog sidebar that's not particularly important though I will get around to it before next Sunday.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

A Newsflash from Hawk Wargames...

TABLE OF CONTENTS • Newsflash #1 - 11th February 2015 • UCM - Lieutenant-General Luciana M. Cato • Scourge - Eden's Dinosaur • Shaltari - Warchief Isis, the Clairvoyant • PHR - Marcus Barros, Grand Vizier • Resistance - Karl Foley, Prince of New Troy • Resistance - Salakahn, Tyrant of Atlantia • Our Next Events MORE IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER Newsflash #1 - 11th February 2015 The dice are down and the results are tallied from Invasion 2015! We’re very proud that this was our largest Tournament so far, with over 40 players and many people also coming to the open weekend. Dave was on hand to talk new commanders, army design and sneak peeks, which included up armoured UCM infantry prepping for re-conquest missions and new Scourge monsters determined to stop their advance. We also showcased some up and command units for both armies which will be hitting stores soon – keep your eyes peeled for more information and experimental rules coming soon. The fighting was fierce over in the tournament area itself; thankfully everyone involved was a great sport and kept the bloodshed to the tabletop. The friendly, lively atmosphere continued all weekend, with every single player received a vote for most sporting opponent. Even on the top tables – where the overall winner was decided by only 2 points – the camaraderie and enjoyment of the games was palpable. Every race was represented in the top ten, and the overall results were as follows: Tournament 1st place: Mike Burch - Shaltari Tournament 2nd place: David Bonner - Shaltari Tournament 3rd place: Dan Cates - Scourge Winning team: Orbital Bombardment Best painted: Dan Cates - Scourge Most sporting opponent: Al Pidwell For a more detailed breakdown of the scores, head over the Hawk forum, and take a look at our facebook page for more pictures of the event. P.S For those who missed the early access on the day... The first wave of special character commanders is now available for pre-order! We will also have a limited number available at the Las Vegas Open (20th – 22nd February), and Hammerhead (28th February). We hope to see you there! Patrice working on new art at Invasion 2015 over the weekend Fantastic Resistance diarama put together by one of the players UCM - Lieutenant-General Luciana M. Cato Scourge - Eden's Dinosaur Shaltari - Warchief Isis, the Clairvoyant PHR - Marcus Barros, Grand Vizier Resistance - Karl Foley, Prince of New Troy Resistance - Salakahn, Tyrant of Atlantia Special Commanders now available to pre-order here > Our Next Events In the UK: Hammerhead 28th February (Newark) In the USA: Las Vegas Open 20th - 22nd February (Las Vegas) There will also be a Tournament here Look out for our next Newsletter and Newsflash. See you soon! The Hawk Wargames Team

Some brand new 'Starter' armies, the 'Resistance' and some expansion news...

TABLE OF CONTENTS • Hawk Wargames Newsletter #35 • 1) Brand New Plastic Starter Armies • 2) The Resistance Goes Live! • 3) Reconquest: Phase 1 - The brand new Expansion Book for Dropzone Commander! • 4) Hawk Wargames at GenCon Indy 2014 • 5) DZC whole weekend special at Beasts of War IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER Add a title Enter your description Hawk Wargames Newsletter #35 It's been an incredibly busy year here at Hawk Wargames and at last we can reveal what we have been working on. Although our fans will know about the impending release of our brand new faction (The Resistance) and accompanying DZC expansion book, we have another exciting announcement to make today! 1) Brand New Plastic Starter Armies We have been working tirelessly on improving the accessibility of Dropzone Commander to new players in the last 18 months. This drive began with the release of our acclaimed 2 Player Starter Set and is now continued with the release of a full range of single race Starter Armies! The capricious Shaltari and the elite Post Human Republic (PHR) are now BOTH available to pre-order in injection moulded hard plastic! Each new set includes a Fastplay + Quick Reference sheet, along with a full set of assembly instructions. Also, the Shaltari set includes a spare Haven Terragate miniature + 6 spare warsuits, and the PHR set incorporates weapon options for the Menchit Battle Walker and Juno A2 IFV. New PHR Starter Army (Front) New Shaltari Starter Army (Front) New PHR Starter Army (Back) New Shaltari Starter Army (Back) These new boxed sets are accompanied by the UCM and the Scourge, also available to pre-order separately in matching single race boxed sets. All four of these fantastic products will be available at an RRP of just £35 (roughly $55 US), making it even easier to jump into the game, to start a new army or to expand an existing one!  New UCM Starter Army (Front) New Scourge Starter Army (Front) New UCM Starter Army (Back) New Scourge Starter Army (Back) The release dates for these new products are as follows: Core Shaltari and PHR Starter Armies: 13th September Core UCM and Scourge Starter Armies: 27th September We have limited stock of all four new sets for pre-release at Gen Con Indy 2014 (and Worldcon in London), available exclusively from the Hawk Wargames stand (see point 4). 2) The Resistance Goes Live! The Resistance section of the Hawk Wargames website is now live! Here you can find out much more about this exciting and colourful new faction. Every product in the launch range is now available to pre-order, including our 1500pt and 2500pt army deals. The new range will ship in waves, with the first at the end of this month. This includes the resin Resistance Starter Army, available at the improved price of £55 (aproximately $95 US). Starter Armies for the Resistance will also be available for pre-release at our Gen Con booth. The full list of release dates are as follows: 30th August: Resistance Starter Set Cyclone Attack Helicopter Rocket Technical Gun Technical M3 Alexander Command Tank Dual Resistance Command Cards Deck 13th September: Lifthawk Medium Dropship Breaching Drill Zhukov AA MBT Freeriders Occupation Veterans Berserkers 27th September: Kraken Medium Hovercraft Hellhog Figher Gun Wagon Storm Wagon Battlebus Resistance Fighters 18th October: Leviathan Heavy Hovercraft Barrel Bomber Fire Wagon Hannibal MBT Jackson APC  Be sure to check out the new Resistance section of the site, which includes background for all these new products! 3) Reconquest: Phase 1 - The brand new Expansion Book for Dropzone Commander! The release of the Resistance is accompanied by DZC's first expansion book: Reconquest: Phase 1. This 152 page full-colour book includes the complete Army List, background and gallery for the Resistance, detailing their history, unique fighting style and eclectic array of vehicles, infantry and aircraft. This new book includes far more than that though. Over a year in the making, it debuts over 100 art pieces to bring the visual and human elements of the DZC universe to life like never before! It includes over 30,000 words of new background, detailing the current progress of the UCM's Reconquest campaign and the titanic battles and intrigue that have unfolded in the 251 days since the first shots were fired. The book introduces new rules mechanics, 10 scenarios and the customary lavishings of full-colour photography of all our finely detailed miniatures. The book also debuts 12 playable characters, with artwork, background and rules, with representatives from all five races. Reconquest: Phase 1 is an essential addition to any DZC collection,and is available for pre-order at just £15 (around $23 US) from our site. The full release date of Reconquest: Phase 1 is the 30th August. It will also be available for pre-release at our Gen Con and Worldcon booths. 4) Hawk Wargames at GenCon Indy 2014 We will shortly be crossing the pond to Indianapolis for Gen Con Indy 2014 - a mammoth gaming show - and this year we are returning with a bigger and better stand! You will be able to grab many of these exciting releases before anyone else, view all our painted studio models (including the entire Resistance range) and meet some of the team. We will be running demo games throughout the show, as well as running a tournament on the Friday. We can be found at booth number 2617 and a link to the Gen Con Indy 2014 map is here > 5) DZC whole weekend special at Beasts of War Beasts of War are running a Dropzone Commander special throughout this weekend! If you'd like to see all our new products unboxed on video, hear some more about the Resistance, the new book or the new plastics then check out the first video here > Keep an eye out today and tomorrow, as content will be released throughout the weekend! We look forward to hearing your thoughts on our Facebook page and our Forum... Thanks, and hopefully see you at Gen Con Indy or Worldcon soon. - David J. Lewis   Hawk Wargames