5 on Friday 24/11/23

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, books, 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 starter set for Legions Imperialis – Following on from re-releases for Blood Bowl and Necromunda, Games Workshop is returning to another old hit in the form of Epic. Unfortunately, they’re also tying it in with The Horus Heresy, so we’re likely so see a whole lot of Imperium and not much else. Still, it’s a nice set:

The game seems a lot of fun, too. I had a Tyranid army for Epic back in the day, but that’s long-gone, now. If this comes back to 40K with actual, interesting armies, I’ll be all over it. In the meantime, there’s a lot here for fans of power armour! 

Affiliate Links:

• Element Games

Bézier Games releases the 2nd edition of Castles of Mad King Ludwig –  I never really took to this game, but it certainly turned out to be popular. It’s a tile-laying game that sees you building elaborate palaces.

The game is pretty solid, and the artwork is lovely. The act of building a sprawling palace is also pretty satisfying when you sit back and survey your finished project. This is also a solo-friendly game for the burgeoning solo-play community.

Kobold Press releases a new edition of their Tome of Beasts –  Kobold Press makes some pretty fantastic books, and their bestiaries are the best of them. The Tome of Beasts was their big, original release and it seems that they are now revisiting and revising it. I previously covered this when the PDF came out, but now the physical copies are also arriving in shops.

This is a reprint of the original book with a few additions and enhancements:

• Full errata and streamlined mechanics to make monsters even more playable
• 11 all-new creatures like the ashwalker, planewatcher, and the ancient cave dragon
• Expanded tables by creature type and terrain
• New monster art—and much more!

It’s always interesting to see companies circling back to their classic releases and revising them, rather than just constantly churning through new content.

Affiliate Links:

• DriveThruRPG

GMT Games releases the third reprint of Liberty or Death – This is the fifth entry in GMT’s COIN (Counter-Insurgency) series.  This is a hugely successful and beloved series of strategy games.  They usually feature a government faction and one or more insurgent factions that wage asymmetrical warfare.  In this case, it’s the British, Patriots, Indians, and French.

I love games that give asymmetrical play, and I’m hoping that my local group’s love of Root will help to drum up some interest for my COIN games. They’ve just proven so hard to get to the table.

Affiliate Links:

• Element Games

Osprey releases Urban Decay, their beat ’em up roleplaying game –  As much as I’ve enjoyed exploring Osprey’s wargames, I’ve never really taken anything but a cursory look at their roleplaying games. They just haven’t appealed in the same way. I do love specific most of their games are, though.

This one is based on the beat ’em up genre of video games. The game seems focused on some neighbourhood-level vigilante justice. In terms of tone, think Streets of Rage. It promises streamlines character creation and collaborative city building. I like it when the setting is built this way; it’s one of my favourite parts of both Dresden Files and Mutant: Year Zero.

Affiliate Links:

• DriveThruRPG (PDF edition)

Blog Posts & Articles

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

Leviathan Carapace @ A Loft Full of Lead – I forgot this model was a thing! It was everywhere a few years back. This looks great, and I agree that the light-up eyes are really cool! Good work.

Half-Life retrospective @ Scent of a Gamer – A couple of interesting videos about one of the defining video games of its genre. I can’t claim to be the biggest fan of Half-Life, but I can’t deny that I enjoy many of the games it influenced.

Prime Minister Storage Solution with Rails on Boards @ Dude! Take Your Turn! – This game seems a lot less intimidating than Mr President! There’s just fewer pieces to manage. The storage solution seems pretty solid, too.

REVIEW: Cthulhu Britannica: Avalon – County of Somerset @ Taskerland – Taskerland’s reviews are always very thorough. This is an in-depth (and very positive) review of a Cthulhu Britannica supplement. It feels like a really meaty, substantive book.

Necrons for 10th Edition @ Prot’s War in the Warp – Fantastic models! These are some really cool Necrons done in a classic scheme with a green that really pops.

*  *  *

There have been a few posts since my last 5 on Friday:

• Some thoughts on how I’ll approach the new FEC units
• A Kickstarter-Watch featuring Forbidden Psalm
• A map-themed Humble Bundle
• A finished One Piece miniature
• Some finished Kairic Acolyte miniatures
• A Throwback Thursday featuring a whole bunch of hobbying

This week, I’m hoping to finish up some more painting, and I have a couple of reviews that I am trying to finish. I really need to get this year’s Top 50 lis going, too!

Catch y’all soon!