Napoleon Total War

I have always been a fan of the Total War franchise, but in my opinion none of them have been all that great.  Good and fun in most cases, sure.. but great?  Eh not really..  All of them have had their share of issues of which Napoleon TW shares some of them.. NTW is by far the most refined version so far and a lot of fun but, I’m not quite sure it peeks the “great” meter just yet.. I will say its pretty darn good and a lot of fun though..

Totally worth the price as it’s clear to me that Creative Assembly (the developers) are getting better at their craft but the game has one staggering short fall that it shares with all it’s siblings;  Horrible AI.

This is the 6th iteration of the game core concept and the AI is still just dreadful..  I’m pretty sure we could train a monkey to play the game better..  I know AI is very complex and as a programmer myself I’m not sure how to solve this problem, but dang..  The computer is down right bad.   Given enough time you probably could beat any army with just about any force..  It’s actually fun trying to do just that.. heh

In comparison to Empire Total War, it’s immediate predecessor, Napoleon is the clear winner.  The game is much more polished and refined than ETW ever was and it makes me feel like ETW was what NTW was supposed to be, but they ran out of time and money..  I will say that the AI in NTW is better than ETW, but when up is the only possible direction….

I will say this, NTW is beautiful.. There is nothing cooler than watching your line of infantry slowly disappear in a hazy cloud of black powder smoke as a line of enemy advance forward.. Or the small skip gashes that are cut into the scenery as a cannon ball goes whizzing by.. Great stuff..  The level of care and detail there is pretty high..

But the AI is so dumb that the enemy unit of 120 line infantry will happily walk into a line of cannon..  Or horse melee units that charge into the barriers (only to die immediately in droves)..  Or how the diplomacy system is completely pointless..etc..

The AI is the killer.. It’s just not good..

One way they got around that was to introduce the notion of “drop in battles” in which you can, during your single player campaign, enlist a friend (or complete stranger even) to play the part of the enemy during some of the battles.   I will admit.. This was a damn good and innovative idea.. Well done guys..  I love this..

Whats nice about it is that the other player when he’s playing your enemy, or when you’re playing his enemy in his campaign, isn’t really invested in the same way..  So if he loses it’s almost like it’s not a personal loss.. after all its not like you chose the force..etc..   I like it.. this was a good addition to the game..

For the next iteration of the game I hope they go more into the trading, and economy aspects of the game.   I want to be able to set individual tax rates for a single province.. or define whats being traded where..etc..  Right now its fairly limited.. you’re either trading or not.. etc..  I know this game is more about the killin and less about things like trade and diplomacy but I still would like a more rounded game experience in these areas..

All in all… Not “great”.. but pretty damn good and a lot of fun against like minded friends..

Additional;

I really think Games Workshop should get with Creative Assembly and make Warhammer Total War.. Dear god.. talk about two franchises that absolutely belong together..  This engine, plus GW’s IP?!  WIN!!  It would be like chocolate and peanut butter man..

How cool would it be to see a pack of Skaven march into a pack of Witchelves (dead Skaven)..  Or see a bunch of Jezzails take out some Coldone Knights.. etc..  Hot..

I think this is such a good idea I’m going to send them a letter…

I also believe in having multiple armies for your game.. I have two 40k armies; Tau and Orks.  I like them both and am not really looking to change them..   But right now I only really have one fantasy army;  Skaven.  I love my rats, but I want to find another army to play and have been looking for a while..  I tried Ogre’s and I tried Tomb Kings but really didn’t get into them.  I have a lot of TK stuff painted up and I very much like the models and the lore, but for whatever reason the TK army just doesn’t excite me..  The Ogre’s never even got that far..

So I’m back on the hunt and I think I have settled on getting a Daemons of Chaos list going.

I think all of the models are pretty neat, and I like that that its sorta 4 armies in one; one list for each god.  Something that also appeals on a lesser level is the fact that they are the exact same models used in Fantasy and 40k.. So if you have them ready to go in Fantasy, its easy to use them in 40k.  (Just have to solve the bases problem which I’ll get to in a moment.. )

My number one reason for picking this army is because I dig the models.  I am most likely going to go an all Slaanesh army, or if that’s not viable I’ll fill in with Nurgle or Khorne..   I’m going to leave Tzeentch out because it seems it’s what ever one is doing and I like doing things others aren’t..

I really look forward to painting these guys (gals?) up.. I think the Slaanesh models all look pretty cool and should be quite fun to paint.. I know I wont get anywhere near as good results as the professional painters do, but still they look good and should come out okay..

The only issue at this point is that the new core rule book is coming out in July and is rumored to nurf the Daemons down something harsh..  If the current rumors hold true then the DoC army as a whole may be unplayable.. I find that unfortunate, but not enough to dissuade me from getting the army in the first place..

I have also heard tell that half the reason for the new rule book is to correct issues in the DoC army and a couple other newer armies that introduced issues into the game.. It’s really too bad they feel the need to completely rewrite the main rules, instead of just fixing the issue with the individual army..

Fantasy and 40k approved!

The Bases:  So, I listed above that these models can be used in both fantasy and 40k.. that’s pretty cool.. The only issue is that fantasy uses square bases, and 40k uses round bases.  That issue can be complicated further by the fact that 40k bases are one inch in diameter, and fantasy bases are typically 20mm or 25mm square..  So, if you want to use the same models in both games (as opposed to buying the same models twice.. ) then you have to get clever about your bases..

I solved it this way;

1.  I got some washers that are smaller around than both the 40k bases and the fantasy bases you’re going to use.  With the Daemonettes I was in luck, they use  25mm bases so I could get a slightly larger washer than if I was stuck with 20mm bases.  Also make sure the washers have as small a center hole as possible.  The washers I’m using are 7/8 (0.87″) with a 7/32 (0.20″) inner hole, got them at Lowes for $3 or $4 for a hand full..

2. I then assembled the model as I wanted it and glued it to the top of one of the washers — trying very hard not to foul the hole in the washer.

3. I then drilled 4 itty bitty holes in the base and stuck in some of the tiny magnets I have.   I mean it these things are small.. 0.05″ is small man..  4 of them hold the washer down nicely, and are small enough to not cause clustering.. (Where a bunch of magnets jump to one another.. )  Drill all the way through the base with a drill bit slightly smaller than the magnet, and then enlarge it a bit by in and out movements..  This is a tiny hobby drill bit.. Once that’s done, I glued the magnets in from the underside so they wont go anywhere.

4. I then got a dowel from Walmarts hobby area that was the exact fit for the washers..  You can get a bag of like 20 of them for $0.89..   I drilled a whole in the direct center of the base and pushed the dowel through.. I had to be very careful not to split the base.. And I made sure to push the down through the hole a bit so that it touches the table the same time the edges of the base does.  It helps with gluing later.

5.  I then took the thinnest washer I had ( they are varying thicknesses for some odd reason ) and slid it down the dowel until to stuck to the magnets..  Put the dowel in a vice, and used a coping saw to cut the dowel at the washer.  Once that was done I applied glue to the underside, again ensuring that nothing goes anywhere.

6.  And that’s it..  Paint and flock it up.. When you flock the square base you want to make sure that you use an extra washer because it gets kinda nasty.. And when it dries you might have to do some minor surgery to get that washer off.. I had to carefully Xacto around the edges to free it from its flocky jail..

Click the image to see the results.. it works out nicely..  The 40k round bases snaps up in there and only requires a touch of flocking on the top of the dowel.. the fantasy base you see snaps down nicely too almost 100% hiding the washer..

Skaven

I have been a Skaven player since the early 1990′s.  They were the second fantasy army I got into after Orcs & Goblins.  Once I found the blessing of the horned rat however, my love of all things green didn’t last very long..   The Skaven were here to stay!  I love these little guys.. Primarily because back then they were as damaging and deadly to themselves as they were to anyone else..

Later revisions of the Skaven codex very much removed a good portion of the wild and whacky from the army entirely and they sort of became boring.. I stuck with them through all these years but eventually ventured into Tomb Kings just to try something new..  Well with the new Skaven, I’m back baby..

And my opponents are doomed!

Or, well I might be doomed.. It all depends on the dice I suppose..   Either way it promises to be fun!

I really like where they are going with the army.. I mean I know the army is bound to be more powerful than the current armies are simply because it’s the latest army..   That’s just the way of things.. Games Workshop is a company in the business to make money and the way to do that is to make the lastest revision just a smidge better than previous ones so folks will flock to it.. But having said that, I like that they army is back to being quite self destructive..

New Doomwheel

Firstly, they have added the doomwheel back to the roster.. Something they completely omitted from the last book entirely.. Not only did they bring it back in the new book but they released a new model for it and its great!

I still have my old doomwheel model on the shelf where its sat for the last 10 years or so not getting played.. and when I read that the new book would have a doomwheel I blew off the dust getting it ready for play..  Then I saw the new model.. Holy crap.. Yeah okay.. back on the shelf you go.. I’m getting the new on and painting it.. (See image)

Plus it’s all plastic!  Yay!

I remember the day when the metal models were all way more detailed than anything they could come up with in plastic, but those days are long gone.. Give me plastic all the way..  Well it appears GW has heard our pleas and is intending to release all new models for the Skaven..   They have already put out a number of them, with a few more in the wings to come out.

Plus the codex has a bunch of new units that they will have to produce models for sooner or later so I expect even more..

Stormvermin Before and After

The new stormvermin plastic kit is fantastic.. Gone are the days of having to purchase a buttload of individually packed blisters at$15 each just to have a 20 model unit.. The new stormvermin box comes with everything you need to have a fully functional unit of 20 models..

They paint up nicely and the dip method works perfectly on Skaven.  Click the before and after picture to see what I’m talking about.  That model was painted in about 15 minutes.. I did what I can only call a slap/dash job of painting him with basic colors and then performed the magical “dip” at which point he came out looking great.

Add to the mix the WAY over the top new characters and warmachines and you have one powerful army..  I look forward to building a force to play with..  The only down side is it looks like I will have to repurpose all my old models as they aren’t what I would build now..  The up side is, I now have more slaves than I know what to do with..

I love those little green bastards but I have a billion of them to paint.. (Okay, a billion might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.) Over the years I have had Necron, Tau and Orks as my 40K armies, and Orcs & Goblins, Skaven and Tomb Kings as my Fantasy armies. I played the role playing game for years and really preferred it to D&D or any of the other traditional role playing systems..

I tell you this so that you will come away with the understanding that I have a pretty good idea about the Warhammer universe and to convey to you how absolutely excited I was about Warhammer Online, Age of Reckoning. I had long thought this universe was ripe for computer games.

I was proven right when Blizzard pretty much raped the Warhammer universe for all of it’s games — but that’s for another post..

Needless to say, after doing a lot of looking, I’m a little disappointed in the direction the Warhammer Online game is taking. Firstly, it looks terrible. The graphics look extremely “Last Generation” in my mind. My first thought was, wow.. it looks like Dark Age of Camelot. I then learned it was being put out by the original DAOC creators.. that gave me a chuckle, and worried me. If their mark was to make a game that from launch looks 4 or 5 years old, then kudos boys, ya did it. If you’re intent was to make a modern looking game then you failed.

It has a wonderful Cinematic Trailer but that doesn’t tell you anything about the game play — and that trailer is over 2 years old at this point..

It really looks like they are trying to duplicate Blizzards World of Warcraft art style, all the while blizzard is basically using clones of their intellectual property.. It’s just sad. Especially considering one of the Q and A presenters when asked how they would deal with competition like World of Warcraft responded, “Kill them!” But.. you’re imitating them.. OH.. I see.. kill them, then you can say what you’re doing is original.. Got it.

More over in the modern era of dual and quad core machines they are intentionally keeping the system spec’s dreadfully low. They haven’t released the system requirements yet, but I bet you I could play it on my phone.. It doesn’t look any more advanced than Everquest 1 was.. To be honest, World of Warcraft actually looks a little better.. (I shun myself for saying that.. ) The Beta footage of Warhammer Online looks extremely lack-luster. They are talking about not wanting to make users need “liquid cooled super computers”, but from the looks of it don’t come anywhere near close to that. They may be very high poly count models, but they use the blizzard art style and thus they all look flat with sharp corners in an almost cartoon style.

During the Q and A session one of the devs was bragging about how he plays it on his old laptop and has zero problems.. *sigh* I can’t help but feel the game industry is going the wrong way here.. This is yet another case of “Blizzard did it so, it must be right!” I’m not saying go extreme high graphics like Crysis or Vanguard, just more than WoW cartoon blockiness.

They claim to be looking to the future, but it doesn’t appear that’s the case with regards to the LOOK of the game. Now I will be the first to stand up and say that game play ALWAYS comes first.. But why start with it looking old and outdated?

I do appreciate that they are looking to the future with content though.. they have 2 years of content planned to include the first 2 major patches, as well as being in planning and pre-production of the first expansion.. that’s nice.. That usually means they have budgeted it and that the game wont be here today, gone tomorrow. But, When do we get a graphics update? (Even World of Warcraft desperately needs one at this point and is my major sticking point with Wow. I hate the look.)

They are all proud about how their game doesn’t start until you have gotten to the end of your leveling. Meaning, you play the game from 1 to 50 and at 50 the game “really starts”. They tout that as being original and exciting when that’s EXACTLY what World of Warcraft does, the WoW game doesn’t start until you get to 70.. Period. All the grind to get there has nothing to do with WoW.. Its actually true of most games..

They are excited about all their “unique” advancement systems, but none of them sound unique. WoW gives you all the armor stuff, EQ1/EQ2/WoW gives you the alternate advancements and traits.. D&D Online gives you stat advancements.. City of Heroes gives you the badges, awards and trophies.. etc.. It’s been done. Move on.

And what the hell, if you want to customize the look of your character above the standard 2 or 3 sliders you have to buy the special copy of the game?! Fuck you! That’s just asinine and is the first HUGE red flag for me. Talk about nickel and diming the hell out of people.. I can’t think of anything that will make me not want to play the game more than being forced to play the same looking toon someone else plays simply because I didn’t want to fork over the extra $40 to get the “special” edition of the game. I want to be able to customize and I should be able to using the standard edition of the game.

It really seems the ONLY thing that Warhammer online has going for it is the realm versus realm, and player versus player game play. To be honest, I could give a crap about that. I didn’t enjoy it in DAOC, and I don’t know that I’ll enjoy it here. From what I can see, it doesn’t look like they have any end game PVE?! Are you kidding me? Of all the shit to NOT copy from WoW or EQ, you miss this one?

In the end, if I wanted to play world of warcraft, I’d play world of warcraft — if I wanted to play DAOC, I’d play DAOC. I have yet to see anything that makes this game stand apart from blizzards blatant IP theft of the Warhammer Universe or DAOC.

This game seems like nothing but DAOC 2 using the Warhammer IP. And that’s sad, it could have been so much more. Games Workshop, you should hang your head.