New Releases of the Week: Mantic Games

On Friday, Mantic Games released their newest faction: The Twilight Kin. They released several new kits: Spearmen, Assassins, Bolt Throwers, Shadows, and Crossbowmen. Along with this, they also released an army box set.

From their announcement:

It’s Friday afternoon and it’s gotten dark outside, which can mean only one thing – the naughty Elves are out to play! The Twilight Kin are the sixth race for Kings of War and launch with six new kits including a Mega Army right off the bat:

Just like the Abyssal Dwarfs these kits are not only great for army building but for people who enjoy modelling, converting or adding special units into their army. They are fantastic fun to build (I used my metal bits on the Revenant Cavalry bodies – should I get them on the blog?) and great to paint – we think the job by Golem is just stunning, one of our best painted armies!
NB: Naturally the Assassin is doing what Assassin’s do best – hiding. We’re hoping to have her to show off soon, but for now be rest assured that she is around, watching you… with knives. Oh, and she’s free in the first print run of the Twilight Kin Mega Army!

 In the Mega Army, it includes:

• 1 x FREE 56 page full colour 2nd Edition Rulebook
• 8 x FREE Army Lists including 3 new armies, 5 special characters and over 75 new units
• 1 x Metal Twilight Kin Sorceress
• 20 x Plastic/Metal Twilight Kin Spearmen
• 30 x Plastic/Metal Twilight Kin Crossbowmen
• 10 x Plastic/Metal Twilight Kin Scouts
• 1 x Plastic/Metal Twilight Bolt Thrower with Crew
• Mantic Guide
• Loads of Mantic Points

For a closer look at some of the new models:

Twilight Bolt Thrower

Twilight Crossbowmen

Twilight Shadows

Twilight Spearmen

If you're interested in the new kits, head on over to Mantic Games for more pictures and information.

New Releases of the Week: Dark Age

This week featured the release of some Dark Age miniatures.

From their site:

Please note some pictures are NSFW-

January sees the release of more Blood Cult miniatures, now Mayhem and Keepsake need no longer feel alone as they flay the skin from their victims. Blostering the Blood Cult ranks we have the sexy yet disturbing Blood Mistresses, the "Urban Legend" Red, and the Blood Reign, a Buzzblade Squad attachment to give your Buzzblades that Blood touch. Enjoy!

To see the original page, head on over to Dark Age Games.

New Releases of the Week: Privateer Press

This week, Privateer Press released an upgrade kit for the Black Dragon Iron Fang Pikemen.

From the website:

The Khador Black Dragon Iron Fang Pikemen Unit Upgrade is NOT a complete model. The upgrade contains:
-12 Black Dragon shields
-1 Black Dragon Banner
-1 Black Dragon UA stat card

Players will need a Khador Iron Fang Pikemen Unit (PIP 33018) and a Khador Iron Fang Pikemen Officer and Standard Bearer Unit Attachment (PIP 33027) in addition to this upgrade.

 Personally, I've always thought that upgrade kits were a scam, however, these guys do look pretty boss.

Previews of the Week: Mantic Games

Mantic Games released some new concept art this week for their Goblins and Twilight Kin. The Goblins seem pretty standard, with the exception of the heavy armor, and the Twilight Kin Assassin has a really standard Dark Elf feel to her. But, one thing I really like about this sketch: the cloak over her. You don't really see that much with assassins.

 From their description:

Most Goblins are too cowardly for proper fighting, generally taking to the field in a large, poorly armed rabble. Not all Goblins are quite so timid, and the larger ones will form into fighting units with some value. These Goblins ordinarily carry spears and shields though these items are of little use in the close tunnels of overrun Dwarf citadels where many goblins make their home, and a close second favourite is a curved knife, preferably wielded behind the backs of their enemies.

From her description:

The week continues with two new posts today and first up, we have the Twilight Kin Assassin Concept Art.
The Assassin is a new blister from Mantic Games and we’ll have the painted figure back from Golem Painting Studio in the next couple of days. For now, we have the concept art for the Twilight Assassin – a piece a few of you more eagle eyed viewers have seen by trawling our website (perhaps you guys could be Assassins too with these reflexes?)

Previews of the Week: Forgeworld

This week, Forgeworld made available for pre-order two new kits for 40k: the Canoptek Scarabs, and new Ork Vehicle Weapons.

Ork Mekboyz are unable to resist tinkering with their mechanical creations, in particular bolting on extra weapons until their vehicles bristle with gun barrels. It is debatable if this is to provide additional firepower or simply to give the Ork passengers something to shoot wildly into the air as the trukk, trakk or wagon careens toward the enemy.

The Ork Vehicle Weapons Set contains four weapons: a big shoota, twin-linked big shoota, rokkit launcha and skorcha. Models designed by Will Hayes. Each weapon is supplied with a set of optional gunner arms, and can be mounted on any of the vehicles in our Ork range, as well as on the plastic kits available from Games Workshop. This set is available to pre-order now for despatch from the 10th February.

You can head over to Forgeworld for more info and pricing.

Canoptek Scarabs can be found scurrying hither and yon through the vast and dusty halls of a Necron Tomb World. Seemingly mimicking the behaviour of organic invertebrates, a Scarab’s only purpose is to break matter down into energy. On the battlefield, swarms of Scarabs are unleashed both as expendable assault waves and to latch on to and destroy enemy armoured vehicles.
The Necron Scarab Swarms kit, contains 12 finely detailed multi-part resin Canoptek Scarabs – enough models to build three swarm bases. Models designed by Will Hayes. This kit is available to pre-order now for despatch from the 10th February.

 Forgeworld has more pictures and pricing info available on their product site.

Previews of the Week: Secret Weapon

Secret Weapon previewed their new rubble base this week on a Facebook post.

My favorite part of this, the first line from their description:

Dear competition, THIS is how you do Urban Rubble. Sincerely, Secret Weapon. 

Sharp edged rubble
Multiple sizes of brick and block
An exposed section of sidewalk
DAMAGED I-beams and supports
A broken sign - and the hollow pipe that supported it
Exposed cabling and rebar
Realistic texture

And a distinct lack of the smooth, often rounded corner broken brick you get from using plastic or resin to craft urban rubble.

Preview of the Week: Games Workshop

I saw this February release over on DakkaDakka this morning.

I'll be posting the rumors that came along with this post here.

Model Review: Ultraforge Pleasure Daemon

So, after giving it some thought, I finally figured out what I wanted to replace the MMO Friday News with: The Model Review. Here, I will be taking a miniature that I put together the previous week (or several weeks ago) and discuss it's pro's and con's. So, now that the explanation is done, let's talk about something I was working on this week, and still am, the Ultraforge Pleasure Daemon.

Here's the in package product

I first want to say that this miniature was really quite a treat. It's beautifully sculpted and has some really fine detail, adding to the overall feel of the miniature. The material it's made out of is a lightweight, hard plastic (I don't believe it's any sort of resin). It feels a lot like a toy action figure rather than a miniature. The set itself comes in 8 pieces:

Base, body and legs, 2 arms, cat tail, wings, and a head

I found that the actual construction of this figure was a bit difficult, as some of the holes and slots did not fit as I am used to. This was remedied by some exacto knife and filing work. I found the worse part being the arm slots, as the shoulder's opening was a bit smaller than the arm piece. This part takes a bit of trial and error to make match up.

The mold lines were not terrible at all. Most of them were incorporated with the armor it seems, however, there were a few that were on the flesh that took some quick file work to fix. It was actually easier to get rid of than most GW models, to give you a comparison.

Overall, this model was great. Everything is well thought out, so there's very little room to get it wrong, or to construct it in the wrong order. However, I feel that this sacrifices any ability to give your miniature a custom pose, at least, easily.

Sculpt: A
Construction: A
Prep Work: B-
Customization: C
Overall: A-

Possible Proxies: Gang War Miniatures to Necromunda

Hey all. This week's Possible Proxies is something I found off TGN earlier this week, and is focusing on something that I don't really talk about much here: Necromunda. Now, I know there is a plethora of miniatures out there that can be used, but, I think that these gals would be perfect for some additions to someone's House Escher gang.

Now, these are only two of the many load outs you can receive with these gals. Their dress fits in great with the Necromunda theme, their weapons seem to fit, and if you don't like the way the weapons look, they look pretty easy to take off.

Anyway, that's it for this week's Possible Proxies. This Saturday I'm going to be testing out my Daemons of Chaos, so, possibly expect a battle report!

Until next time, happy painting!

The Pirate Bay is Accused of infringing on GW IP

Saw this news over on TGN:

File-sharing website The Pirate Bay is for the first time hosting downloadable plans of 3D objects, which can be automatically printed at home with the right equipment.
But just hours after launching its new service the website was subject to claims of copyright infringement.
So-called 3D Printers have been available in some form for many years , and recently have begun to fall in cost – making them more easily and more readily available.
The way 3D printers work can vary widely. Some models use a soft plastic to build 3D objects – resin is laid down in thin layers by the printer, and gradually the strands are build up into a 3D form – while other more expensive printers use lasers to cut objects into shape and can make use of a mixture of materials.

In the past 3D printers have been heralded as providing a means for a new, legitimate and sustainable business model for small companies, and many communities of enthusiasts sharing designs and models have sprung up around the web on that basis.
The Pirate Bay is providing a new way for users to share 3D plans and objects, via Magnet Links and Torrents linked to straight from its website.
In a blog post The Pirate Bay said that physical objects (“physibles”) represent “the next step in copying”.
“We believe that things like three dimensional printers, scanners and such are just the first step,” the website said. “We believe that in the nearby future you will print your spare sparts for your vehicles. You will download your sneakers within 20 years.
“The benefit to society is huge. No more shipping huge amount of products around the world. No more shipping the broken products back. No more child labour.
“We’ll be able to print food for hungry people. We’ll be able to share not only a recipe, but the full meal. We’ll be able to actually copy that floppy, if we needed one.”
The dangers for businesses are obvious, however. At a time when the fight over copyright infringement of digital music and movies is still in full swing, fighting the piracy of physical objects via the Internet has the potential to open into a legal minefield.
And as soon as the Pirate Bay ‘physibles’ section launched, at least one company appeared to have been made a target.
A model listed by an anonymous user as a ‘Tabletop Wargaming Robot Model’ – but identifiable to the Huffington Post UK as the likeness of a Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Dreadnought, which is a trademarked design of the UK-based Games Workshop Group PLC – was freely available and had already been downloaded by at least 23 people as of press time.
The model, an official version of which costs £28 from Games Workshop, has been previously listed on a 3D printing community website , but the plans were reportedly pulled after a takedown notice was issued.
The Huffington Post UK was not independently able to test whether the available design was that of an actual Warhammer model, or a design ‘inspired’ by the official dreadnought.
In addition Games Workshop said they had no comment, and it was not possible to contact the creator of the design as the plans were listed anonymously.
But even though 3D printers remain a relatively niche interest for now, the prospect of widespread copyright infringement in even 5, 10 or 20 years must still be considered a worrying development. As the Pirate Bay themselves point out:
“We believe that things like three dimensional printers, scanners and such are just the first step. We believe that in the nearby future you will print your spare sparts for your vehicles. You will download your sneakers within 20 years.”
Music and movies may just be the start. Lawyers, start your engines.

While I don't think it's right for people to completely copy models, I'm still baffled how this whole hosting copyright infringement thing works. How I've understood it, especially how the Pirate Bay is set up, they are not legally responsible for files hosted on their site. However, this seems to be the first case of an actual item, something tangible, that can be 'downloaded'. Is this actually theft? I don't know. Without getting too political, I feel that laws need to be updated, especially in cases such as this.