Sunday, 6 July 2025

Goodbye 2nd edition...I won't miss you!

Horus Heresy has always been my favourite setting and when it was first released by Forgeworld officially over a decade ago in 2012 with the Betrayal black book I quickly adopted it from 40k. It was basically the only tabletop war-game I played since then. The original was based on 7th edition 40k and while 7th wasn’t a good version of 40k it worked very well for 30k. After a good long while of using this ruleset we were gifted 1st edition Horus Heresy! It was glorious! The peak of the hobby for myself and many others that I know and played with regularly. I was playing every week at my club, I attended events consistently and had so much fun playing the game I loved! To go along with that I have met some incredible people along the way! 


Then came second edition, I was excited and hyped for it! The main range moving to plastic, is great for getting new players into the game and starting new armies myself! The buy in for a full Forgeworld army was substantial! I took the opportunity to get a shiny new army done in plastic and my Salamanders legion was born. My Sons of Horus that I had played for a decade had changed in both point cost and playability. The army increased in point cost by 800 or so and with the rule set changes it didn’t function as before. That was ok, I had more than had the use out of the army and fresh edition fresh army was the way to go! Early games were mixed but I figured that would improve as we gained familiarity with the rules. Unfortunately that was not the case. I attended my usual events but the games were not the same, I was enjoying it less as I felt the game had pivoted to a more competitive space and armies were being built to take advantage of the rules rather than for the love of a legion and the setting. Over the last 2 years I have gone from playing nearly every week at my club to playing a handful of games in last year. Opportunity to play hasn’t gone away but desire to has. Basically 2nd edition all but killed my love for the game! I’ve still had some fun games over the last 2 years but that has come from playing the right people with the same approach as to the games as myself. Something that I found in abundance in 1st ed. 



There is a big long list of issues that I don’t enjoy about 2nd edition that have ultimately lead to me moving away from the game. This is a list of stuff that has bothered me and I know others have different feelings around this stuff. 

  • Reactions not being limited. Getting intercepted, returned fire and overwatched is not fun to be on the receiving end of. 
  • Wargear that cost 5 points and gave you a free reaction. 
  • Dreads with wounds, no problem in principle but not fully thought out. 
  • Wound allocation, artificer armour tanking was not fun. 
  • Primarchs lost the feel they had in 1st, more beat sticks and less army buff. 
  • Tanks didn’t match dreads in output or survivability but the points were not dissimilar. 
  • Brutal seemed to be around for dreads but also lead to whoever had the best brutal won the fight, especially when it came to Primarch on Primarch. 
  • Nemises bolters, yes sniper rifles needed an upgrade but this took things too far! 
  • Charging from deep strike and outflank, lead to a lot of swing in games that lead to big wins and loses.


The lack of FAQ support has been frustrating too, even more so when Old World has just become a vastly different and better game via an FAQ so why not Horus Heresy? Seeing a lot of the previewed rules from Games Workshop over the last couple of weeks has lead me to believe that the lack of FAQ support was because they have been busy writing 3rd! 



I now feel hope has been rekindled! 3rd edition is coming and it is shaping up to be a big improvement and I am seriously hoping it gets me back to the 1st edition vibes! 


So for me it’s a very happy goodbye to 2nd edition and fingers crossed that 3rd is what I hope it be! 


Keep a look out lots of coverage on 3rd edition through the launch! 


Andy


Saturday, 21 June 2025

Old World Grand Cathay

Hello Bunnies, 

I used to say that I was not a fan of square bases and that Warhammer Fantasy, now the Old World, was not of interest to me. I never really looked at it, 40k is what pulled me into the hobby and then the Heresy came along and that consumed nearly all of my hobby time. By the time I looked at fantasy it had turned into AOS. I tried it, not a fan. So back to heresy it was! Then the Old World came along and I mocked my friends for being interested in stupid square bases and models older than time itself!! 

Then several things conspired to change my mind! Heresy, the love of my hobby life, had betrayed me and I was not enjoying playing the current version of the game. Then I offered to paint my friends High Elves. I enjoyed it and I started coming round to square bases! Then I tried the game, I have never played any version of fantasy, I really enjoyed it! There is a huge amount crunch and complexity that is just not in GWs other games and I found that refreshing. 

The next problem was what army! I knew Cathay were coming but they seemed far away and I figured they would be towards the end of the year. So I opted for Wood Elves...which were not out either. I knew they were coming and sooner than Cathay so I used proxies to tide me over and learn the game with. When they came out I picked up a bunch! Then barely no time later Cathay dropped and my god the models are really awesome! I tried to convince myself to stick to the wood elves and not get the Cathay, but GW kindly sent us a preview battalion box and I quickly volunteered to paint some up! That was a mistake! They are really good models and really fun to paint! Preorder day arrived I my wallet got a lot emptier! 

I love the cannon model and decided to start there, the ogre loader is really cool! So much character packed into 5 models, below are the pictures of the finished product! 












I will be working on the rest of the box in the coming months and will be sure to post up the units as I get them done. 

Happy gaming!

Andy 

Saturday, 14 June 2025

Night Lords Rapiers

Hello Bunnies, 

3rd edition heresy is on the way! I am very much looking forward to a new edition, and the first taster of this is was the Rapier kits. We were kindly sent a preview copy by Games Workshop and I had been waiting for the plastic version to add to my Night Lords so jumped at the chance to paint them up! 

The kit is the usual standard for GW, that is to say great detail and little option for posing. You should be able to magnetise the kit if you're so inclined and my suggestion would be to buy the other version of the kit with the heavy bolter and grav gun and magnetise all 4 options. This is because of the back box that is added to the heavy bolter and the quad gun versions and as such these 2 would go together for magnetising and these come in 2 different boxes. 

The crew for the guns come with a lot of options but no different posing options. You can add holstered bolt guns and bolt pistols, I didn't add as I felt they were a bit much for my taste and took up some of the open panel space for adding lightning. 











Stay tuned for more heresy content coming in the near future!

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Thursday, 17 October 2024

Kill Team Hivestorm: Tempestus Aquilons and video

 Hi all

The Viking Fish and The Gory Crow (Rob) took the new Kill Team Hivestorm for a ride, and learned the rules as all should "on the fly".

There will be another video this week we hope too, where you will get a great chance to see Rob's Vespids close up too!




Have a look at Fish's fantastic Tempestus Aquilons:








Those with a keen eye may notice that he has based the colours on the Characters from Resident Evil

Battle Bunnies.

#adwip #warhammercommunity #killteam


Saturday, 28 September 2024

Blood Bowl: Chaos Dwarf team!

 Hi all

This has been a really exciting release for us, especially Phil (@engine_phil) who has always had a soft spot for Dwarves with big hats.

So we were fortunate enough to receive most of the Chaos Dwarf team for review. Have a look below.

The Team look absolutely fantastic and up to date. The hats actually look good too! 


The markers look brilliant too. Phil has painted the lava effect fantastically well.




Zzharg Madeye looks brilliant too. His beard is really well textured, and we think the cannon firing effect is great.

The Blood Bowl pitch itself is brilliant. It is set on an active volcano! So as you can imagine, it can get quite hot tempered on the pitch.




The Choas Dwarf Bull Centaurs are fantastic kits too (cast in Forge World Resin for extra great detail). 






We hope to get a game in with them some time soon. so check back regularly!

Battle Bunnies

#AdWIP #BloodBowl #WarhammerCommunity


Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Space Marine VR - Defenders of Avarax review. WE PLAYED THE PRE-RELEASE PILOT!

 Hi all

Its one of those things that you have always wanted to do since you were a kid: Fight in the Warhammer 40K universe in a horde survival mode against Tyranids, whilst donned in the finest Space Marine Power Armour. . . . Now you can!


We were fortunate enough to get early access to the Space Marine 2 Defenders of Avarax free roaming VR Shooter yesterday, and it was incredible! Massive shout out to the Zero Latency VR company for doing such a good job.


Before we went in Rob lead us in a prayer to the God Emperor:

I have been to Zero Latency before and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The equipment is good and very reactive.



Unfortunately as it was Pre-Release we were not able to get any footage or stills of our experience, but it was phenomenal. The setting was great and as vast as any Warhammer Artwork you may see.

The Bolt Rifle was just perfect too. It fired at just the right rate to feel deadly, None of this 10 shots on full auto to down a Hybrid malarkey like in Deathwing. A single shell is enough to kill a Hormagaunt :)

There was even a train!

We won't spoil too much but lets just say it was a great experience and we sincerely hope they make a second part so you can play for another 30 minutes off the back of it.

We went to the Birmingham site which only allows 6 people to play instead of the 8 that you can have in London or Nottingham, but it was perfect. We went with some proper VR virgins too, as well as 2 people who often get migraines from sitting down whilst gaming in VR, but due to the freeroam nature no one was sick and the noobs quickly picked it up with no issues.

Just look at the happy faces below!!



The Graphics were great as you can expect, and the movement of the Space Marines as well as that of those you game with, was phenominal.

The Power Armour is not just standard factory stamped Power Armour either. Each Marine had extra detailing, from ropes on the chest, chains across armour sections, Purity seals and one even had a MK6 Studded shoulder pad.

We will be going back for a second visit asap!

Battle Bunnies

Friday, 20 September 2024

Kill Team: Hivestorm review and unboxing video

 Hi all

We were fortunate to get a copy of the new Kill Team Hivestorm game. Its a great new edition and I am very grateful to see the back of the Shapes which apprear on the measuring devices. Inches will do fine :)

The tokens themselves are also a lot more user friendly. You can leave the toke in place until the target model has finished its whole activation. If it can't complete the action for some reason, you can reset it back to where it was really easily this way.







The scenery in the box is probably the best content since Chalnath's box. It is all you would ever need to play through this new season of Kill Team and can be used on most other Warhammer 40K boards. Our terrain was painted by our contributor Fish (@the_viking_fish). 


There is tons in this new box. Have a look at the unboxing video here:



The new Universal assets are great bits of equipment too. My favourites are the Barbed wire and the Ladders which have been designed so well.

1" , 2,", 3" and good ol' 6". No more shapes!!


The tall barricade piece of cover and ladder in action.

We decided to also film a Necromunda game on the new board:



The Battle Bunnies

#AdWIP, #WarhammerCommunity #KillTeam