Author Archives: Chris

About Chris

Husband, father, procrastinator and record label mug. Living in Nottingham, but originally from Milford Haven. Back in the hobby after a decade of self-enforced exile, thanks to my fellow Corehammer punks. Sharp-minded, cynical, bitter and taken for granted. A true Iron Warrior

Gaming Board On A Budget

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Thousand Sons facing down the Sons Of Fenris

With limited space, I wanted to sort a gaming board for the kitchen. Something for me and the lad to play on, but also for entertaining mates. The dining table can extend, but a 6*4 would take over the room, so I decided to stick 3*3 with a focus on smaller points games, and things like Blood Bowl, Shadespire, Frostgrave and X-wing. With that in mind I wanted a mat and scenery to cover all games, so went with a snow mat and decided on generic gothic ruins that would work in both fantasy and sci-fi. The bonus of the snow mat is that it works as Hoth for X-Wing games. Continue reading →

Corehammer Fest 2016

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Things may have been a bit quiet on the blog front, but we’re still rolling dice, chatting shit and having a laugh, but it’s time we all got together for some fun, so we are proud to announce Corehammer Fest 2016. This will be at the newly refurbished Element Games NWGC and we have plenty of activities planned. Tickets are just £5.00 and limited to 40 places, so grab one asap from the Corehammer Munitorium . Details below the poster, but all will be revealed over the coming weeks

Corehammer Fest Flyer

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40K Battle Report: Iron Warriors v Craftworld Iyanden

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IMAG0587Who misses the battle reports in White Dwarf? You know, actual hobby content. I’ve always enjoyed typing up a rough after action report for the email list, but wanted to do something better for the blog. So, when Brinton announced he was travelling overseas, and making a pilgrimage to Nottingham, the shout went up and a game was arranged at Warhammer World with Matt. Yes, Warhammer World, the location of *that* Apocalypse game, and the 40K spiritual depantsing for a good handful of the Corehammer crew. Hopefully a good game would get us back into it, so I wrote a narrative, we chose our armies, decided to play an objective game with the mission cards, and rolled some dice. A gallery of all photos taken can be found here

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Rage Of Sigmar or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

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5 months down the line after the great sundering of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and the reverberations are still being keenly felt. The End Times was the herald of the new age, and the clue was in the name. Communities split, armies were shelved or even burned on Youtube, popular WHFB podcasts ground to a halt, and a torrent of rage was directed at GW. Some of the nonsense posted on forums and social media was so ridiculous a Facebook page was created to laugh at the sheer absurd nature of the finest comments, I give you the Rage Of Sigmar. So, where are we at now?

If you can look beyond the sheer negativity attached to it, and accusations of being GW apologists flung at anyone championing it, you will find that some people are actually enjoying the new game and setting. Games are more scenario-focused, with more emphasis on the narrative and scenery, and a better scope for alliances and mixed armies. These are things that I enjoy from the 40K side of things, with the tactical objective cards, and whilst kill points/push it forward were good for learning the game or a quick pick-up, they always lacked depth. Round bases and the loss of “rank and flank” has opened up modelling options with more room for elaborate poses and basing schemes, and a dynamic looking table. Simplified rules help avoid looking up endless charts and flipping back and forth through a telephone book. The depth and synergy can be found in the warscrolls though, and as you play more games you find there are tactics with things like order of combat, direction of pile-ins, retreating, and gambling on the double turn. If you don’t believe me, head over to Youtube to check out Ash Barker’s channel Guerrilla Miniature Gaming and you’ll witness some fun games Continue reading →

The Best Things Of 2015

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Star-Wars-IV-Throne-CeremonyDecember, month of the best albums of the year lists. Endless lists of pretty much the same thing, with no explanation beyond “it’s cool because I like it”. So, to mix things up, we’ve got a few of the crew to give us their top 5 picks of the year, but thrown it wide open and not limited it to any one thing. The notable exception from most of these, as we haven’t had time to gather our thoughts, will be The Force Awakens, which I’m guessing everyone will be losing their shit over right now. So, get comfy, grab a brew and find out what’s been getting us excited

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Just what the hell is Frostgrave anyway?

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Our boy Phil Millar, chief SJW, has written a  comprehensive piece on Frostgrave

Just what the hell is Frostgrave anyway?

It’s a Fantasy Skirmish Wargame, it’s also the name given to the now frozen ruins of the great city of Felstad, where a magical incident long ago left has left it empty and frozen over. The ice is thawing and so the great treasures and knowledge of the city is once more there for the taking. Most sensible people avoid the haunted ruins of Frostgrave, stalked as it is by monsters, demons and more. You, however, are not most people, you’re a wizard and wizards crave one thing above all else; power, something Frostgrave has in abundance, if you’re willing to risk it.

So, you gather your grimoires, bring your apprentice (if you have one) and hire a gang of misfits and thugs to join you in seeking out the treasures of Frostgrave. There, in packed and close confines of the city, you’ll fight off other wizards, wandering beasts roaming the city and all manner of other creatures and evils. As you fight, you’ll discover more spells and gain more power, find wondrous magic items and treasures beyond counting but that just means the stakes get higher.

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Hero Kids: Getting your kids into RPGs and gaming

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At 5 years old, my boy is showing interest in the “toy soldiers that Daddy paints”, that infest the kitchen shelves. Sure, I’ve let him drybrush a few Space Marines, but beyond that, I’m loathe to ram my interests down his neck, and happy to let him choose his own adventure. However, once we started messing about with minis and rolling dice, his interest was piqued, so I thought it’d be a good idea to try out a simple RPG or board game, and take it from there.

We’ve played Snakes & Ladders and Ludo, so he understands rolling dice to move x number of squares, with 1 or 2 more if he fancies cheating. So I just needed to go with something where I can be the GM, and I can slowly introduce ability tests and problem solving. After being bombarded with a million cool suggestions on the CH Facebook group, I checked out rpgKids and Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod.  Before finally plumping for Hero Kids, as it looked cool, and has loads of expansions for extra scope

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Band Of The Week: Allfather

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13413_474870599331274_322883935686994312_nHaving binned my label off, I still love to trawl Bandcamp for new music, so when Allfather bust out of the speakers I was into straight off the bat. So, why not use the blog to shout about new bands, and hear what they have to say? Have a listen, check out the little review, and read what they have to say.

What do I think of them? Basically, take the best Black Sabbath riffs, add in a crunchy metallic hardcore stomp, with a punk boot to the throat, and you’re somewhere there. A real melting pot of ideas. If you’re looking for that lazy pigeonhole, then I guess the easiest comparison to make would be Hang The Bastard, who like their peers Crowbar, easily cross the divide of metal and hardcore. Allfather wear their influences on their sleeves, they’re not re-inventing the wheel, it does what it says on the tin, but it does it really well. So head over to Bandcamp, and if you like what you hear, chuck a few quid in the pot and have one less spiced pumpkin latte or whatever bullshit people drink these days. Headbang, raise a fist or go wild and do a Bushwacker in the pit!

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