What's New: Gundam, Shadespire, and Arkham Horror!

Howdy friends,

It’s been a while! I’ve now moved to Toronto and am trying to figure out what to do with my life. Hobby has taken something of a backseat since my return to Canada and I haven’t been playing any systems at all. However I remain extremely interested in Gundam models and have built several Bandai kits. The engineering and plastic quality on these models is superb, particularly for anything released from 2012 onwards.

So far I’ve worked exclusively with “high grade” kits, which are the cheapest and most extensive scale for Gunpla kits. See this link for more detailed description of the different scales. They cost between $15-$35 Canadian, and produce a mech figure about six inches tall.

I was rather frustrated by my attempt to do a full paintjob on the Kotobukiya Frame-Arms model before I left the UK, even with the airbrush, and am now just painting small portions of kits using some paint-on surface primer to pick out mechanical details and the like. I’ve also started using enamel panel-liner to pick out etched on details in the plastic that help separate and distinguish parts. Currently I’ve built three such kits so here they are in order...

Frame Shiden – Gundam Iron-Blood Orphans

This was my “test” kit with Bandai and I haven’t done any detailing on it whatsoever, this is as it appears assembled directly out of the box. I just went with a design I liked knowing nothing about the product but was extremely impressed.

 As you can see the articulated poses these kits are capable of is uhhhhh... extensive.

Gundam Barbatos – Gundam Iron-Blood Orphans

As I’ve always been one to devour the ‘fluff’ behind whatever models I happen to be building at a given time I’ve started working my way through some of the Gundam anime series to get a better sense for the figures I have the choice of building. There’s a huge number of series taking place in various timelines (see this link for detailed descriptions) and while few of them are truly brilliant there is a lot of really enjoyable viewing throughout.

“Iron-Blood Orphans”, one of the most recent series, has been a personal favourite. This is a totally new story/setting focussed on a group of child soldiers who form a mercenary group. I liked the small-scale but brutal combat encounters, complex political manoeuvring in the background, and the focus on family bonds.

Naturally I wanted to make my first “proper” build the lead Gundam unit in the series. This is a very recently released kit and is a joy to build, although it does make relatively extensive use of stickers, which I opted to paint details for instead. I also painted some mechanical details on the inner frame that shows beneath the armor.

After a varnish I did some panel-lining enamel washes using Tamiya panel liner, which is essentially a pre-thinned enamel paint that runs into the recesses of the details on the kit very easily, and can be cleaned up neatly with some enamel thinner afterwards. I’m quite impressed with the product and it definitely felt a lot easier than any of my previous attempts to tidy up detail-work with acrylic.

Gundam Barbatos before the use of Tamiya Weathering Powder

Another varnish layer and I added some weathering by sponging Vallejo ‘heavy charcoal’ on areas that would see a lot of wear, and then added some Tamiya Weathering Powder ‘Gunsmoke’ in the same areas to further dirty it up a bit. The weathering powder acts a bit like a pigment with a mild adhesive in it so it doesn’t get removed as easily. I’m relatively pleased with the overall effect!

Zaku II – Gundam "The Origin"

 For my second kit I wanted something that was a little less time intensive and closer to a straight assembly. I loved the retro-futurist look of the original Zaku’s from the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam animation and there were some new high-grade kits recently released to coincide with the “Gundam the Origin” movies that act as prequels to the original animation.

The kit went together really nicely, the only details I added outside of its included sticker sheet is some panel lining. The level of the detail etched into the plastic was extraordinary and the panel lining process really made the kit pop. Overall it was an extremely pleasant build experience!

Currently I’m building another Iron-Blood Orphans kit that will include some detailing and customization, and then probably another Origins one. I’m really enjoying the process of gradually figuring out what to do with these model kits rather than jumping in the deep-end as I attempted to with the Frame Arms kit. I’m also trying to get figures of various colors so that they will look great together on display!

While I haven’t been playing stuff very much I did get a chance to play a few games of the following! So here are some impressions after spending a few hours with some new collectible systems!

Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire

This is a really elegant little system that feels fun and competitive. It’s balanced in quite an interesting way by introducing small amounts of luck along multiple axes. Between drawing from a customized deck, rolling dice, and randomized objectives it feels like you always have some degree of flexibility/control even if you get unlucky in one of these areas. Games are also wonderfully quick and efficient as they never last more than three rounds. So even if you get stomped it won’t last more than 30 minutes and doesn’t leave one feeling too salty.

The miniatures are superb and I like the way the game is costed. Overall I’m really impressed and feel like it’s the best skirmish game Games Workshop has put out so far, with obvious potential for continued support and development.

While I don’t feel like I’m making it out to a hobby shop often enough to justify diving into it quite yet, the next (inevitable) instance that I feel the itch to pick up a GW system this will definitely be what I go with.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

This is the latest Living Card Game (LCG) from Fantasy Flight games, although it has a couple major differences from my previous experience with their Game of Thrones LCG. It is a co-operative game in which each player takes part in an extended campaign with a strong narrative focus as you attempt to stop eldritch horrors in various settings/scenarios. It includes a campaign book for each scenario and you build customisable decks for your chosen investigator.

If that sounds like a lot for a card game to handle that’s because it is, but I am extremely impressed with AH’s ruleset and system. The way in which the game is organized means that you are always have a lot of control over your choices and the co-operative nature of the game is executed extremely well. The narrative elements are incorporated very and do actually make the game feel like a focussed story. Outside of the scenario itself each card drips with flavour text and mechanics that appropriately reflect their use. Each of the investigators plays really differently, and it also offers a pretty solid solo play experience. For more details you can check out the Shut Up & Sit Down review that sold me on the game here. The replayability of these scenarios/campaigns isn’t too much of an issue, as I’ve run through the base set campaign about 3 times in quick succession without feeling bored. Although I do feel like to continue enjoying play I’ll need to either take a break for a while or start to purchase expansions.

A scenario set up and ready to play!

That leads me to the only significant drawback to the game, which is the amount of potential money involve. As with all Fantasy Flight ongoing games there is an aggressive expansion schedule that will provide new campaigns and scenarios, but it will cost you to keep up with everything. This has stopped me from purchasing more than the base set so far but I’ll mull it over more and see how I feel down the line. Additionally the game can sometimes feel very punishing, although in almost all cases the narrative/scenario can proceed from failure and therefore failure simply becomes part of the ongoing game rather than an end condition.

Overall I’m extremely impressed with the design work that went into the Arkham Horror card game and I will likely end up picking up some expansions down the line.