Tabletop Accessories!

Once again those awesome buggers at Battlekiwi have come out with a product I just couldn't do without! Tabletop accessories are a must have these days and the latest offerings from BK really fill a couple of holes without putting massive holes in your wallet and/or bank account and/or marriage.

And the best part about them... they're healthy for you!! What, you don't believe me? It's right on the packet!

So three new products today for you to take a gander at and then you can head on over to battlekiwi.com and get your own. 

Tactical Combat Ruler

First up, a neat little widget for your 40k games and would also fit into others as well. The long edge has a 6 inch length with each inch marked out.

There is also a 1/2 inch, 1 inch and 3 inch widget sides as well which is super handy for measuring things like pile in for assaults and distances for being in combat. Very useful and it looks the business as well.

I've ordered mine in opaque red but you can also order this bad boy in Smoke Grey, Fluoro Pink or Fluoro Green. It'll set you back a mere NZ$10.00.

Objective Markers

How often have you turned up to a game and gone "Damn it, I forgot my objective markers!"? Yep, me too.... all the time! Well, no more! With these awesome BK markers you'll WANT to bring them!

You get 6 in the pack for NZ$10.00, all engraved with wicked skulls and ready to be fought over! They come in a choice of Blood Red....

Wound Trackers

Lots of things have many wounds. Don't be that guy that marks the with a D6, picks it up by accident to roll it and forgets how many wounds the damned thing had. No-one likes that guy....

These rotatable counters will do the job for you and look awesome at the same time! Simple to put together and they just looks awesome! I do recommend hitting the number dial with some paint or an ink wash before using them though, just to see the numbers a bit better.

You can get these in either 12 wound or 20 wound varieties, either in MDF or red acrylic. They're priced from between NZ$3.50 and NZ$5.00 each and at the time of writing, if you buy 5 you only pay for 4!

What a deal!!!


So there you have it guys, head on over to Battlekiwi and order yours now! Remember, orders over NZ$75 in NZ ship free and those over NZ$175 will ship free to 'Straya. If you use the code BEL5 at check out, you'll also get a sweet 5% discount!




- Reviewed by Greg on products purchased from Battlekiwi. No freebies here!

Review: Codex Space Marines

- with Greg 

When I decided to get back into playing 40k, I knew that I wanted to get another Space Marine force up and running. Many moons ago, I had a heap of Space Marines. They'd originally been painted as Blood Angels, and then they became Ultramarines. I can't remember how they ended up, but they were awesome!

It's pretty fitting that the first new Codex we see from Games Workshop covers off the mighty warriors of the Adeptus Astartes.

So, let's get the nitty-gritty out of the way first. Ordering the book via GW here in New Zealand is gonna set you back $99 but if you head on over to our good mates at Mighty Ape, they'll hook you up for just $85. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me!

The book itself is gorgeous. If you remember some of the old codexes from GW, they were very much to look at. This thing is amazing. It's glossy and the pictures are really vivid, which really helps with painting. It clocks in a 208 pages which in itself is huge, but you don't actually get to any of the lists or force information until you're 130 pages in. That's right, the first 129 pages are all fluff, pictures and more awesome story stuff! It's a great read!

There is information on individual chapters in here as well. The following chapters are covered off, each with their own characters and history in the book.

Ultramarines: The Sons of Guilliman are well represented with information and the chronicles of Ultramar held here.

White Scars: The savage followers of Jaghatai Khan feature here which is awesome to see!

Imperial Fists: The holders of the Legacy of Dorn.

Crimson Fists: Successors of the mighty Imperial Fists.

Black Templars: Devotees of the Emperor.

Salamanders: Fire and blood, the Sons of Vulkan.

Raven Guard: The stealth masters.

Iron Hands: The mechanical Marines.

Conspicuously missing are the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Deathwatch which can only lead me to surmise that they'll be getting their own tomes at some point in the near future.

Next up, we have the details of the weaponry and the troop types at the disposal of the Space Marines in these times, including the new Primaris developments such as the Intercessors, Inceptors and Hellblasters.

Characters for each of the Chapters listed are also included for you to field in your force. Famous names such a Marneus Calgar, Captain Lysander and High Marshal Helbrecht all have their own data sheets here for you.

From there, pretty much every Marine unit and weapon ever created has its own datasheet, filled with info on how you can take them in your force. The power levels are all included here as well. Tables for point values are listed in the back of the book.

Also included are new Chapter Tactics abilities for you to use in your forces. These are special abilities that only units with the <CHAPTER> keyword can use, for example, the Ultramarines have "Codex Discipline" which allows them to add 1 to their Leadership value and also allows them to fire after they've fallen back but at a -1 to hit. Pretty cool little ability there!

There are also new Stratagems, Warlord Traits and also new Chapter Relics which you can use in your force as well.





The Codex Space Marines is a must-have for any Marine player in my opinion. While you can still carry on using the Index: Imperium I, this book just gives you access to so much more strategic choice and also the extra fluff is awesome!

Friday Night Games

Friday nights are the perfect chance for the guys to get together and get some gaming in so we decided to just that last night! Initially, the Nooblair had been slated for the events, but unfortunately sick little person put the kibosh on that...so off to Dan's we went!

And with all the hype, why the hell wouldn't we play some 8th Ed 40k?!

You'll have to exclude the unpainted models, we are working our way through them, honest!

So we played a couple of games. In the first, Monkey and I played The Relic. About 1,000 points each side. 

My list was Primaris Space Marines:

HQ -  Captain in Gravis Armour
HQ - Primaris Lieutenant
HQ - Primaris Lieutenant
Troop - Intercessor Squad
Troop - Intercessor Squad
Troop - Intercessor Squad
Heavy - Hellblaster Squad
Heavy - Hellblaster Squad
Elite - Primaris Ancient

Monkey took his DKK:

Lord Commissar
Company Commander
Infantry Squad x 2
MT Scions x 2
Command Squad
Special Weapons Squad 
Master of Ordinance
Platoon Commander
Heavy Weapons Squad
Leman Russ w/ Vanquisher
Basilisk x 2

Lots of stuff on table for the Marines to shoot at!

This is how the game ended. The itty-bitty remote controlled Rhino is the Relic we were after and as my Ancient was the closest, I secured a minor victory.

Monkey and I are teaming up for GuardCon in September and these are the forces we'll have matched as a team! Should be a hoot!

Then Dan and I had a rematch with his Tyranids coming at me...

Having played this army before, I know what I need to do. Kill as much of it before it gets to me as possible! 

The Sons of Guilliman await the Xenos onslaught...

This one was a bloody affair.

At the end of the game, I had 2 marines left and Dan had 6 Genestealers, his Broodlord, 4 Hormogaunts and 3 Biovores left.

So there you have it, Friday night gaming....40k style.

I've had 6 games of the new edition now and GW definitely have a winner here...as long as they don't do something to seriously mess it up!

Why Has 40k Drawn Us Back?

- with Greg

If you've been listening to Behind Enemy Lines for any length of time you'll know that we haven't been the biggest fans of Games Workshop and their recent works in the gaming area, with possibly the exception of the new release of Blood Bowl.

So why, all of a sudden, have we all gone bat-shit crazy for the new edition of 40k? It's the same company that makes it? Have they really done something completely different or is it something else entirely? Have Dan, Damo and I just gone nucking futs?

It would appear that this time, GW have actually done something really bloody awesome. They have built the hype around this new edition of 40k through a great use of their, previously defunct, social media channels and they've offered what would appear to be a significant amount of value in the new Dark Imperium starter box for a reasonable price!

And that takes all of us back to the heady days of 1993 when the 40k 2nd Edition boxed set came out....remember this bad boy?

And do you remember all the kit you got in the damned thing?!

Now, I remember getting this thing for either my birthday or Christmas in 1993 and thinking that there was just SO MUCH STUFF to play with! It was amazing!

And now, they've gone and done it again...

Essentially, what they've done is appealed to the 13 year old wargamer in me and said "remember that joy....its back!". The amount of toy soldiers in here is phenomenal considering the price you're paying for it.

We've ordered ours through Mighty Ape here in NZ for PP199.90 (Pacific Pesos)...UNDER 200.00!! Now, that may not seem like a lot of value but consider this. Were I to simply buy the rules on their own, I would pay PP99.99 from the same excellent retailer.

That means, for the measly sum of PP100.00, I am getting:

- 22 Primaris Space Marines of all shapes and sizes.
- 31 Death Guard minis, including a freaking Bloat Drone!
- Dice, ruler, decals and basic Codex/Index rules for the forces.

Holy shitballs Batman, that's like PP2.00 per mini with all the dice and stuff as added extras!!!

NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE HYPE-TRAIN WE'RE ON!!!?

Never mind that the rules themselves hearken back to the good old days of 2nd Edition which was bloody amazing. Never mind the fact that GW seems to be taking its player base seriously again.

What they have done here is sheer marketing genius! They have the potential here to take a group of gamers with existing models who have been disenfranchised with the recent bullshit of the last few years and entice them back into the fold....

And worse....make them spend money with the company again! THE (PINK) HORROR!!!!

You evil bastards....

Well played.