5 on Friday 16/12/22

It’s Friday, and here on No Rerolls that means it’s time for an all-new 5 on Friday. We’re going to start with 5 exciting releases for this week before moving on to our usual digest of some of our favourite articles from the past week. Of course, we’re slow readers, so don’t be surprised if there are some articles that are a little older – these are just some of the great articles we happen to have actually read in the past week.

Releases & Previews

Every week there are many games and miniatures released. This will probably be a mix of previews, preorders, and releases, and with release dates being the way they are in this industry, it’s always pretty approximate. Excuses out of the way, here are 5 of the releases that caught our attention this week:

Games Workshop releases Grinkrak’s Looncourt for Warhammer Underworlds – My Looncourt has been dispatched! I just had to order these guys. Having finished up around 4,000 points of Gloomspite Gitz this year:

The models in this new Underworld warband are so cool and characterful. The timing is pretty good for me as well, as our local club is talking about running an Underworlds event in the new year. I’ll definitely be taking these guys along to that!

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The Outpost
Element Games

One Dollar One Shots launches Kickstarter campaign for their adventure, The Case of Norntolk – it’s a common complaint from me that Kickstarter campaigns can lead to sprawling, overproduced games that are just way bigger than they need to be. It’s nice to see a project that purposefully bucks this trend:

This is a simple campaign for a single one-shot adventure, priced at $1. The campaign says that this will take almost a year to be delivered, listing the delivery date as November 2023. That has been confirmed to be a mistake, and it’s actually going to be delivered very shortly after the end of the campaign. The campaign seems to have a few such mistakes, and it initially lacked some other basic information. That said, it’s still appealing. I get the impression we’re going to see a lot of campaigns from On Dollar One Shots.

Osprey Wargames releases their newest skirmish game, Pulp! – I’d really like 2023 to be a year when I’m able to get some new skirmish games on the go. I’m not sure what games these will be yet, but Osprey has a lot of really cool, unique, little games that might just fit the bill. The latest such title is the pulp adventure game which is, rather aptly, names Pulp!

I sometimes think Osprey will throw a lot of games at the wall to see what sticks. They do put out lots of different systems and then get the occasional hit, like Frostgrave, Gaslands, Oathmark, and the like. I wonder where Pulp! will end up. Hit, or miss?

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Wargame Vault (PDF version)

Turnip 28: Forlorn Hope currently fundraising on Kickstarter – For some time, I have had a morbid curiosity about Turnip 28. I love the aesthetic. Grimy! Napoleonic! Veggies! The people who have found their way to this game, and who have shared their experiences online have, without exception, been very creative in their approach to their miniatures. Now, with the Forlorn Hope Kickstarter, this will hopefully be opened to the masses.

This is a campaign for 3D-printable miniatures. They’re gorgeous. The thing is, it’s not the miniatures themselves that really excite me, but rather the fact that they are modular, giving lots of potential bits for conversions and customisation. I took a closer look at this campaign earlier in the week.

Keith Baker releases Chronicles of Eberron on DM’s Guild – if there were anyone that I’d be looking to for an Eberron book on the DM’s Guild, I suppose it would have to be Keith Baker. It was Baker, after all, who created the setting. The slower rate of releases in the main 5E line is a bit of a double edged sword. Yes, it stops the glut of books and oversaturation of the range, but settings like Eberron never quite feel as fleshed out as they should. That’s why I’m glad that Baker is doing his bit to expand on it via the DM’s Guild.

The print-on-demand option is really tempting for Baker’s Eberron books. These are good quality, and they come from the authority on the setting. This is a weighty tome with a ton of new content and some really fantastic artwork.

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DM’s Guild

Blog Posts & Articles

The meat of 5 on Friday, the articles are listed in no particular order, so let’s get into some recommendations:

Hobby Update: Loonsmasha Fanatics @ Woehammer – The Fanatics have long been an iconic Goblin unit. They’re just, conceptually, so cool. Shroom-addled goblins swinging massive, crushing, iron balls to strike at whatever they run into. The author has finished up a unit of the wee blighters, and they look resplendent in blue. I was actually just writing in one Discord channel that I need to get some core Moonclan mini done for my Gitz. I’ll need to include some of these chaps in that force.

How to Write a Backstory for a DnD Character @ The Bardic Inquiry – This is a fun, useful, and interesting post. There’s some really solid advice, but also a really important acknowledgment that, actually, a wee bit of flexibility is needed as an overly detailed and rigid backstory can limit opportuities. Worth a read, definitely.

Help the Aged @ TT Gaming – Oh, this is cool! The old GW Orcs & Goblins range is full of absolute classic miniatures. This is a really nice selection of classic minis. A total nostalgia-fest!

Realm of Warcry; Chapter 2, Part 5 @ LeadBalloony – Gorgeous, beautiful, Nurgle models! Fecula is a fantastic mini, and I really love the Rotmire Creed. I’m intending to paint up some of them, myself. These ones look great, though. I like the mix of yellow and green robes. Thanks for sharing!

New Warhammer Underworlds Warband – Grinkrak’s Looncourt and Fearsome Fortress Review @ Sprues & Brews – Well, with my Looncourt ordered, I didn’t need this review to persuade me to purchase them. It’s helped me get hyped for their arrival, though! As always, this a solid review from Sprues & Brews.

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Since my last 5 on Friday, I’ve published the following posts: