How to Train your Dragon

Hello people,

Before reaching the weekend proper I dropped round to Rich's Friday night to try out his latest acquisition D&D Attack Wing. I'd seen a bit of blurb come up on the Wizkids site but hadn't paid too much attention other than wondering how different it would or wouldn't be to STAW.

In answer it's the same mechanic applied appropriately,  by which I mean that any necessary tweeks have been made. You still get a movement dial and an action but there are a number of necessary tweeks. 

- There are 3 flight levels and the ability to land with ground movement being a separate dial.
- Each dragon has a ranged Bite and Tail attack.
- Bumping doesn't loose you your action.
- Upgrades are primarily physical abilities, magic items and spells.
- Shields convert to Armour which isn't removed by damage but critical and breath attack damage ignores armour.

In the starter set you get one Red, Blue and Copper dragons. Reds are brawlers, Coppers agile tricksters and Blues mid level mages. 

We played through three games, the first being the tutorial and then a couple of 100 pointers, which is two beasties with various levels of upgrades. Rich's pair of Reds,  named and unnamed, didn't leave much spare and beasted my Copper and Blue souped up named pair first time out. Second time round with a better game plan they were the ones limping home.

After one evening's gaming my impression was solid if unspectacular with some nice, appropriate, twists on the mechanics that I know so well. 

What will be really interesting is when ground troops come into the mix. From the page count dedicated to them in the fair sized rule pamphlet their an integral part of the game rather than dragon feed on legs. It would also seem that scenario play will be just as integral.

Apprehension....up in smoke ;)

Showcase: Star Trek Attack Wing

Hello people,

It's been a bit "emotional" recently, involving a brief bit of unplanned surgery (in an uncomfortable place), but that's all dealt with now and I have a few recovery days at home which means a bit of bonus TOYS-time.

So far this has involved a fair bit of Red Dead Redemption - Undead Nightmare, which makes a lot more sense now having played the license in order. Being a bit between project I've also had a bit of a sort-out of the pile and a clean-up of the painting station. My Moria troll has turned up but a shortage of green stuff means that he isn't in one piece yet.

What I have been doing recently is playing a fair bit of STAW, Star Wars Attack Wing, which has been becoming one of my games of choice, and inspired what might become a semi regular Showcase set of posts. We'll see.

Showcase: Star Trek Attack Wing (Wizkids)

Star Trek: Attack Wing is a tactical space combat HeroClix miniatures game, featuring collectible pre-painted ships from the Star Trek Universe. Utilizing the FlightPath™ maneuver system, command your fleet in space combat & customize your ship with a Captain, crew, weapons and tech upgrades.

Players engage in exploration and combat, traversing sprawling Star Trek space maps made available via an in-store Organized Play program. As commander, players have the ability to customize, upgrade, and assign famous crewmembers to their fleets, which feature ships from the series' prominent empires and forces as well as special stats and abilities, and unique maneuvers on separate Combat Dials.


The Good;

-  FlightPath™ and the wider STAW mechanic is a strong, simple one qualifying for the "minutes to learn, a lifetime to master" stamp of approval.
- The IP is very well managed with the character of Star Wars and the respective factions coming through well. Klingons have flying guns, Feds are very adaptable, Romulans are stealth orientated.
- Wizkids are providing plenty of support with Organised Play events packed full of participation goodies as well as winner prizes.
- The release waves are fairly even and keeps the meta fresh with constantly evolving forces and tactics.
- Price point is pretty good. £100 will set you up very well and you can do it for less than that. At just over a £10 per ship it's decent value and something you can manage well.


The Bad;
- The meta tends to lean towards power combos and lists more than other games and tends to dominate the OP scene. The ease with which you can mix factions can inspire a fair bit of Nerd-Rage.
- The OP prize structure is nice but some of the stuff is a bit too good and creates something of an armss race via E-Bay which doesn't sit well with many.
- The release schedule and OP packs have been subject to regular delay and lack of availability with some territories favoured over others. Once again E-Bay types have taken advantage

My Ugly;
This is a game that I initially steered away from unconvinced by the game itself and not being the biggest Trek-head, much more a Star-gamer. However, playing a few games of both STAW and X-Wing changed my mind. As much as I might have preferred it the other way round I feel that STAW is by far the more rounded game, offering more variation of strategy and tactics across a number of levels.

Most of all it's a good fun game that has converted an anti-Trek sceptic in to regular OP play and owner of the "Kirk" films box set. I still don't like Next-Gen, no game's that good ;), but that's fun because I at least get to try and space Ol Slaphead and the Bearded Gitbag!

Happy days!