One person with a single army doesn't make for a very interesting wargame, so my son not only gave me an army for the game he is the lead designer for (Wyrd's The Other Side), but he also gave an army to his older brother. (One of the perks of working for a game company is you can get the product they sell really cheap!).
I first talked about the tentacled, watery army of gribblies he gave me, The Gibbering Horde. Now we'll take a look at one of the Earth Syndicate armies (i.e. the good guys) - Abyssinia.
Much like the allegiance box I got, this has a commander and three units (two of one type and one of another). Abyssinia is a very elite army (where the gibbering hordes are a horde army (duh)). As such a lot of these models are in general better than my troops - but I have more of them and I can bring mine back when they die.
However I have no shooting while Abyssinia is all about shooting - so the struggle is to actually get my units into combat.
Abyssinia also has some special - well not so much area terrain as area affects - they can generate clouds of poisonous gas. So they get markers for them.
The box comes with figures, cards and a tape measure again.
The cards are the same format - but they get Earth syndicate strategem cards instead of Malifaux syndicate ones.
The empire of Wakanda Abyssinia over most of Africa. They are more technologically advanced than any other culture on earth because they have had access to Vibranium Soulstones for over a hundred years before anyone else.
The 'grunts' for the allegiance box are the Crow Runners, and you get two units in the box.
It seems that Wyrd really likes to do five sculpts for a unit (even if it means that the number of sculpts does not evenly fit the number of models in a unit).
The more elite unit included is the Mehal Sefari, the bodyguards of the royal family.
The commander that comes in the box is next in line to the throne of the empire,T'Chala Prince Unathi. A generalist on the field, he is a an imposing figure, standing over 7' tall.
Another elite unit is the Electocutionioners. These have some of the most advanced weaponry of all the empire. Their proton packs lightning rifles are particularly effective.
Finally, he also got a second commander. TheBlack Panther Lord of Steel is a fast melee monster!
Abyssinia also has a faction specific fate deck, again with the face cards having artwork of the units.
We had a chance to play a single round. The Abyssinians took out three fire teams (from two different units), though the Gibbering Horde scored one more point by controlling an objective at the end of the turn. It was going to be interesting to see how well the hordes could heal and actually get into combat.
I am trying to keep an open mind about the game - but I have to acknowledge that the stories Wyrd has produced for Malifaux have been the best game oriented fiction I have ever read. I expect this to continue. In addition, all of Wyrd's models are simply fantastic (and they did and exemplary job of converting from metal to plastic a few years back). I'm also very interested to see where they go with this game (more units, allegiances and books).
The Other Side is also a fairly interesting scale - larger than a skirmish game, but with much smaller units than a full mass battle game. It seems to fall in the same size as Mantic's Firefight, with full size games having 6-8 units (this would be 2 commanders, and approximately 50 pts).
So check out the rules and armies - and maybe give it a try!
Because it is all fun and games . . .
I first talked about the tentacled, watery army of gribblies he gave me, The Gibbering Horde. Now we'll take a look at one of the Earth Syndicate armies (i.e. the good guys) - Abyssinia.
Much like the allegiance box I got, this has a commander and three units (two of one type and one of another). Abyssinia is a very elite army (where the gibbering hordes are a horde army (duh)). As such a lot of these models are in general better than my troops - but I have more of them and I can bring mine back when they die.
However I have no shooting while Abyssinia is all about shooting - so the struggle is to actually get my units into combat.
Abyssinia also has some special - well not so much area terrain as area affects - they can generate clouds of poisonous gas. So they get markers for them.
The box comes with figures, cards and a tape measure again.
The cards are the same format - but they get Earth syndicate strategem cards instead of Malifaux syndicate ones.
The 'grunts' for the allegiance box are the Crow Runners, and you get two units in the box.
It seems that Wyrd really likes to do five sculpts for a unit (even if it means that the number of sculpts does not evenly fit the number of models in a unit).
The more elite unit included is the Mehal Sefari, the bodyguards of the royal family.
The commander that comes in the box is next in line to the throne of the empire,
Another elite unit is the Electocutionioners. These have some of the most advanced weaponry of all the empire. Their
Finally, he also got a second commander. The
We had a chance to play a single round. The Abyssinians took out three fire teams (from two different units), though the Gibbering Horde scored one more point by controlling an objective at the end of the turn. It was going to be interesting to see how well the hordes could heal and actually get into combat.
I am trying to keep an open mind about the game - but I have to acknowledge that the stories Wyrd has produced for Malifaux have been the best game oriented fiction I have ever read. I expect this to continue. In addition, all of Wyrd's models are simply fantastic (and they did and exemplary job of converting from metal to plastic a few years back). I'm also very interested to see where they go with this game (more units, allegiances and books).
The Other Side is also a fairly interesting scale - larger than a skirmish game, but with much smaller units than a full mass battle game. It seems to fall in the same size as Mantic's Firefight, with full size games having 6-8 units (this would be 2 commanders, and approximately 50 pts).
So check out the rules and armies - and maybe give it a try!
Because it is all fun and games . . .
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