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 →
As part of our continued revamp we are bringing back some of the more popular regular monthly features from yesteryear. First amongst those is Corehammer Armies. Each month we’ll be shining the spotlight on the mighty forces fielded by our extended circle of heroic generals and warmongering tyrants. In this instalment Chief Chirpa has a nice chat with Joe Wilding about his very sick Treemen, Dryads and Wood Elves. Read on… Continue reading →
Solid roundabout skills. Jar of Mellow Birds just out of shot.
Battle mats, basically a grown up version of the old road/town carpet mat I was told to play on, during my first day of infant school. No idea why I remember that so clearly but there you go. I don’t even like cars. Anyway, they’re patterned to look like some sort of terrain of your choice, lava, steppes, snow, jungle, you get the idea, and roll up nice and neatly. None of that eternal “how do you store a realm of battle” rubbish. They’re usually made out of any one of a myriad of different polymer compounds to provide a flat colourful surface for you to play wargames on. Pretty much all the same eh?
Well not quite, I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing the full set of mats from playmats.eu and they’re a cut above the rest. Read on to find out why.
Despite the glut of (by my own admission) fascinating articles, reviews and interviews posted on Ye Olde Corehammer this past few months, it pains me to admit that we have been woefully bereft of hobby content.
‘Not enough painted moon men‘ was the cry from the peanut gallery, and who am I to deprive our readership of their bread and butter? So here we have the resurrected Single Figure Challenge.
It’s dead simple right, submit a single figure that you’ve been working on recently to be scrutinised by our readers. The miniature can be from any games system or manufacturer, just send some nice pictures alongside a bit off text telling us a bit about it. Sounds easy doesn’t it! Yeah well you’d be surprised at how hard some folk make this, anyway here’s our entrants. Vote for your favourite in the comments below, winner get’s a £20 Element Games voucher. Crack on. Continue reading →
Guys, we need to talk about Stevie Boxall. What has become of the former Corehammer webmaster and lapsed Warhammer tournament journeyman? Well since both our readers asked, I figured we’d shine a light on his activities beyond the tabletop…..allow me to introduce Stevie’s new squeeze. The Age Of Boredom….
I won’t pretend that I knew Let’s Play videos were a thing but after spending a few minutes scouring Youtube for comparable material, of which there is an abundance, turns out I’m the big idiot doesn’t it?
Anyway Stevie’s tossed his hat into the ring to provide dedicated play throughs of Indie and third party games for Nintendo Switch. Thankfully he’s a lot better at video games and surprisingly amusing commentary than he ever was at competitive Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I mean I once saw him get pulped by a fellow with a My Little Pony themed Dark Elf army. Imagine that!
There’s no danger of catching a Brony beatdowns here though as Stevie talks us through his progress in games like Nine Parchments from the safe solitude of his couch.
I don’t know shit about Nine Parchments but I do know that I used to enjoy Doom a lot when I was a bit more active with this type of gaming. Suffice to say Stevie’s series of Doom videos piqued my interest as I was more familiar with the IP than any of the other stuff he’s rattling on about. Once again the commentary is surprisingly entertaining given how exhausting the man is in real life.
If you’re a gamer and any of this appeals to you, go give Age Of Boredom a ‘follow’ on Instagram/Twitter at www.instagram.com/ageofboredom www.twitter.com/ageofboredom If you are on Facebook go chuck him a subscribe to stay up to date HERE. I don’t know what Stevie’s got lined up next for AOB, but my fingers are crossed for comprehensive play through videos of Double Dragon and Target:Renegade.
I’ve always had my reserves in regards to pen and paper roleplaying because of something that happened to me in the winter of 2009. I was working in the dismal council tax office of my local government at the time, surrounded by people that spent money voting on Big Brother and counting down the days to an all-inclusive binge in Shagaluf, or so I thought…
I had wanted to include something Fighting Fantasy related for our Seven Nights Of Samhain series but I simply couldn’t get it finished on time. Those books were so influential to me and frankly now that I’m running the show over here, I wanted to shine a spotlight on them. Admittedly there’s already loads of great blogs and fanzines dedicated to Fighting Fantasy and providing great coverage but I had plenty of questions of my own. I wanted to explore the inspiration behind the settings, the names behind the ideas and art, the spin offs and the future.
So where’s the best place to start? The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is the ground zero but it’s also been covered to death by just about anyone with an interest in the series. Play throughs have been similarly rinsed. So I decided to start where I left off in 1990 and investigate where Fighting Fantasy went after I disappeared into an abyss of teenage angst, alcoholism and punk rock.
“Human sacrifice, dwarves and elves living together, mass hysteria”
Once more the hour had come upon us for that finest of recent traditions,the Corehammer Christmas social. Typically plans were made, promises of attendance sworn in blood and games organised. In previous years we have held court at Warhammer World, Foundry and the Element Gaming Centre in Stockport. But I like to mix it up and visit new places so this year we gathered at Mantic HQ. Tucked away on the edge of a residential estate in Bullwell, Nottingham, it took Ager and I a few goes to try and find the place. After successfully navigating a gaggle of nightmarish traffic calming bollard children, we arrived. We were greeted by our host for the day Mantic’s very own perennially enthusiastic Scotsman, Andy Meechan, and ushered inside.
Yo, just a quickie. Our annual festive meet up is scheduled for November 18th at Mantic HQ in Nottingham. Games will be played, rips will be executed, snacks will be consumed. Much laughter and jackanapes to be sure. All are welcome. Fiver gets you in and you can get a ticket HERE
Organise some games, play some new ones, make new friends, raise some money, enjoy a little solidarity. No bullshit attitudes or nazi’s cheers. Stay the fuck home.
We are also running a charity raffle at our Christmas do to raise money for St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre. Thanks to some very generous and kind individuals and companies, the prizes for this are absolutely incredible, check out our Facebook and Instagram over the next few weeks for what’s going to be up for grabs.
You need to get a ticket to take the ride though, and while we will obviously be selling some on the day, we’ve got you covered if you can’t make it either. We will be selling them in packs of five (it doesn’t make sense to do less due to the Paypal fees etc, which is what the 40p is for), and will send you a photo of your tickets with your name written on them. They will be added to the draw on the day (which we stream live as it’s 2017), and you will have just as much chance of winning as anyone else. Anything you do win will be posted to you, wherever you live in the world.
People have been generous, you can be too. Link HERE
All money raised from entrance to the day and from the raffle will be donated to assist the good work that the folk over at St Mary’s Sexual Assault resource centre. Go have a read of their website HERE and get your head around exactly what they do.
To celebrate the season of the witch, we will be posting a series of themed articles every day for the next seven days. I have invited friends to contribute guest reviews for our Marked For Justice horror special alongside all the grim shit I am about to throw at you.
John Blanche’s Skeleton Horde
Margate. 1984. My mother was called into primary school for that most dreaded of events in a child’s young life.. Parents Evening. At this time in my academic career I was an ideal student. Punctual, attentive, polite, a voracious reader. Mother was satisfied that despite her claims to the contrary, she hadn’t actually shat into existence the Goat Of Mendes. She was however disturbed to discover that I had been given a nickname by my teachers in primary school. ‘He’s got quite the imagination hasn’t he?‘ Blood & Guts was the nom de plume they saw fit to bestow upon my cherubim brow. Where did this name come from I hear you sigh wearily? Glad you asked mate…. Continue reading →
