Some old, some new...

So what have I been up to in the world of Gaming since my last post? It's been long enough for dust to fall on these pages (huh?) so I'll get on with it:

Warhammer 40,000
Coinciding with a renewed interest in this old game is the release of the latest Blood Angels Codex. Usually I don't go for specific chapters, feeling that generic or standard Space Marines are sufficient, but alas I have been drawn away from my principles by the lure of... Deep Striking Land Raiders! I'm quite fond of tanks (as many of you are aware) so of course I love the heaviest armour available to Space Marines; the mighty Land Raider. The idea that Blood Angels are able to airdrop Land Raiders onto the battlefield is just too delicious for this tragic tread-head to resist ***drool***

Of course I have to be different so rather than going with the usual Blood Angels I have chosen to collect one of their successor chapters: Angels Sanguine. They have a striking half-red/half-black colour scheme that is a bit more fun to paint than the standard all-red scheme of Blood Angels.

Angels Sanguine

I have scavenged my unpainted marines and filled them out with bits from eBay to come up with two full size Assault units, two Land Raiders (wheee!) and a mess of unorganised Tactical models. I also have some unpainted bikers although I'll probably leave them alone as I anticipate using my Fast Attack slots for Baal Predators.

Land Raiders get a blast of paint while they're still on the sprue.
That's my little air-compressor in the background.

Land Raiders setting after basic construction, the weapons will go on later (I have tiny magnets for the weapons so I can swap the configuration between standard, Crusader and Redeemer variants without needing to buy a whole new model)

Did I mention I still have a bunch of my original purple marines too? Even they have two Land Raiders, although one of those is ready to be finished as a Prometheus variant from Forgeworld (if I ever get around to constructing it). I do feel that it's a bit redundant owning a 'generic' Space Marine force and a Blood Angel force too... but I couldn't bring myself to paint over the purple of my much-loved (if often-neglected) Dracomarines. C'est la vie!

iPhone: Carcassonne
A few days ago I was informed via a Facebook friend (thanks Mike!) that an iPhone version of Carcassonne had been released. As a fan of the boardgame I lament having so few opportunities to play the game, so the idea of a version I can play on my phone whenever I want was irresistible.

Sure enough, it's heaps of fun! The conversion is faithful with all the feel of the boardgame (even having a scuffed wooden tabletop as a background). In addition there is also a solitaire mode although I am happy enough playing against computer opponents. When a few more friends get it I'll organise a game amongst humans - being turn-based means that we don't all have to be online at once to play each other.

As the blue player I'm about to drop that corner tile into the top left of the screen to finish my cloister! Astute readers will note that the red computer player "Maid" is beating me again :(

iPhone: Pocket Legends
The other iPhone game I recently downloaded is Pocket Legends. This is a 3D rendered MMO that is (obviously) played on the iPhone, proof enough that the technology is far more powerful than what many assume. Granted, it doesn't compare to an MMO you'll play on your desktop or laptop, but it is rather addictive and quite pleasing to look at.

The character classes are Warrior (a bear-man), Archer (a bird-man) and an Enchantress (an elf with a rather large head). Players are limited to two characters although additional slots can be purchased if you feel you need one or more of each.

My Archer "Atog" prepares to shoot a few zombies and loot the chest they are guarding

The game is free although (as with the additional character slots mentioned above) extra content can be purchased. Characters can reach level 13 without players needing to open their wallets and the gear that drops from monsters tends to be as good as (if nor better than) what can be purchased with real money. Over a weekend I reached level 9 so it's quite possible I'll purchase the next dungeon so I can progress further. I like the idea of giving a few dollars to games companies that have given me something for free. They should be rewarded for a good game.