Development Update: Albion

Look like this might be a pretty quick one, have already got the main part of it done. Will update this post with further progress.

Current Progress:

Contents/credits - done
Society - done
History - done
Timeline - done
Geography - done
Bestiary - done
Special characters - done
Spell Lore - done
Magic Items - done
Army list - done
Summary - done

Edit: most of the book can probably be finished during this week, but I will need to wait until I receive my newly bought copy of WD262 to finalize Albion's history (apparently I didn't have quite the whole collection). Hopefully this will take about 10 days at most.

New Dogs of War update out now!

This update takes care of a bunch of formatting errors and adds a lot of clarifications to multiple rules. I've also spruced up the army list section a bit with new frames, and aligned the intro pages to each chapter correctly. File size is now down to 9,14MB.

Details for upcoming Warhammer: Albion

While I'm waiting for Stefan Wolf to finish working on the fluff for the Amazons, I've started to work on Albion, a book sorely in need of an update. In terms of background, the book will be a lot longer; I've tracked down all the old material from the Dark Shadows campaign, so the book will have more info in both its history and geography departments. I've also changed the fluff for the tribes, and done quite a few changes to their society section.

For the rules, Furor Celtica will see some big changes. Albion will still be all about getting the charge, but you won't be seeing Woad Raiders with 4(!) attacks each any more. As far as new units go, I haven't added anything yet, and at the moment, I don't really plan to, since Albion is kind of a limited faction who also shares its mythology with both Fimir and Wood Elves already. All in all, the army will get a nice face-lift and be better balanced for 8th ed.

Edit: Actually, two new units will be added: some simple scouts in the form of Hunters, and some Monstrous Beasts in the form on Centaurs (which are different from Centigors, obviously).

New Araby update out now!

Pretty important update here. I've re-included Imams and Dibbukim as options for the Warriors, albeit in a slightly weaker form. More important however is the change in their army-wide special rule, which is completely new. Rather than just have a one-turn bonus to the army, I wanted to give them something that would reflect upon the real Saracens' religious focus and fearlessness in battle as well as their speed. As such, all models with Zealotry roll 3D6 for Psychology tests and Break tests (still not as good as Cold-Blooded!), and also re-roll 1's when charging. Of course, this means that there have been points increases almost across the board.

Among other rules changes, I've given the Desert Riders a pretty big boost. They now do not lose their Swiftstride rule when using Fire and Flee, and they also do not suffer movement penalties for moving and shooting, giving players a bigger incentive to use them in larger numbers like the Saracen armies did.

Unfortunately Issuu has some issues (pun not intended) with uploading again, so for now, please use the Scribd version instead.

Edit: Issuu version is now up, Scribd version has been patched with the correct strength for Janissaries.

New Norse update out now

A pretty small update, makes some changes yet again to Counter-charge, and also makes the Huscarls slightly cheaper with great weapons. I've also made it more printer friendly, with all intro pages being correctly aligned. File size is now also down to a much smaller 8,65MB.

New large Araby update out now!

There we go, finished the new version of Araby! No huge changes in terms of rules, but I've removed Dibbukim and Imams in order to streamline the basic warriors a bit and avoid having to deal with too many special rules, and some points costs have gone down along with some minor stat changes. Holy War also works a bit differently now.

The book has been given a new more dynamic cover which feels more in line with the 8th ed covers, and have new page background as well, along with plenty of new artwork. I've removed a couple of pages from "the Arabyans" chapter, but have increased the page count for their history and geography instead. I've also given them a new map which shows all of Araby, along with a lot more details.
File size is also down to less than 9MB.

Anway, enjoy!

Another Kislev update out now!

And this is why I shouldn't neglect my sleep... Rangers are now accurately priced and cannot be the army's General, Boyars can be BSB's, and some profile errors have been fixed.

New Estalia update out now!

Nothing major, just the usual Day 1 patch (except that it is much later). Only a few spelling errors and minor bugs, now taken care of, as well as a few minor changes to their timeline and background section. File size is also down to 9,5 MB from than 41, so it's also much easier to have on smartphones and the like if you use it.

New LARGE Kislev update out now!

Emphasis on large; I had to redo the entire layout (have been working on it almost 24 hours straight), but it was worth it! New backgrounds, new army list graphics, new artwork, no B&W pics (some are still tinted though). I also did a major revision on their background, I've scrapped about 30 pages of fluff (most notably religion, magic, and politics), but have extended the unit entries a bit instead. This was partly to get the book more in line with the other army books, and also because it is meant to be an army book rather than a source book; as such, it has more focus on their land and history, and less on their society.

As for new rules goodies, I've included a Ranger character (based on the Kislev ranger from Mordheim) and allowed Priests of Ursun to be taken as Lord choices as well as heroes. Nothing major in that department, but it sure looks a lot better now visually.

I have also decreased the file size to only 10MB and I'm now able to print directly to PDF from Word, which will really speed up the printing process in the future. 

Enjoy!

Edit: Uploaded a new small revision that fixes some layout issues for intro pages as well as flips page numbers and backgrounds the correct way.

Edit 2: uploaded yet another version that makes some minor changes to the "Kislevites" section. Man, I love being able to save directly to pdf, saves so much time with smaller updates!

Some good and some "bad" news

Starting with the "bad" news first; though these are not as much bad as they are just a change of form. I'm officially cancelling Cult of Slaanesh and Mercenaries of Tilea as stand-alone projects, as they will probably be made part of the Allied Contingents book down the road instead. This gives me more time to support the already existing books instead, which are already time-consuming enough as it is.

Speaking of supporting the already existing books, good news are that I have just recently upgraded to Word 2010 and increased my Photoshop skills, which will allow me to improve the graphic quality of the books even further. Kislev and Araby are both scheduled for makeovers now, which will greatly improve their layout as well as making a few rules changes. Cathay and Nippon will follow at a later date.

I have finished most of the work on the Amazon book now, with pretty much only half the army list left to go for myself (currently waiting for Stefan Wolf to finish his parts of the fluff, which will take a while (fortunately!). Having some trouble deciding on the power level of their artefacts, but I'll get around it soon. For now, you can look forward to seeing improved versions of Kislev (will also be considerably shorter) and Araby.

Development Update: Amazons

Been working on the Amazon list a bit (more than I should really!), and I'm making decent headway. Most of the bestiary is finished, and I'm getting help from Stefan Wolf to flesh out the fluff of what's left. Their main background section will have a bit more fluff in it as well, particularly their history section (which will also be fleshed out by Stefan Wolf), which only mentions their origin and myths at the moment. They will also have a real timeline this time around.

As far as units go, they will get 4 new ones in total (Beast Mistresses, Terradon Riders, Medusas and an Avatar of Rigg), and 2 new special characters (Lwaxana, a lvl 4 Voodoo caster, and a Lysippe, a mounted character). 2 of the old units (Pygmies, Handmaidens) are gone. High Age Artefacts will be available to most units as upgrades.

From the looks of it, I will probably be able to get it out at the end of the month, depending on how long it will take to finish the new fluff.

Current Progress:

Contents/credits - done.
Society - done.
History - done.
Timeline - done.
Geography - done.
Bestiary - done.
Special characters - done.
Spell Lore - done.
Magic Items - done.
Army list - done.
Summary - done.

Poll added: Which is your favourite army book?

Just for a little bit of statistical fun: which is your favorite army book(s) of those available here?
I have only included the "main" ones that can be used as stand-alone lists, and not the expansions. Feel free to pick several options if you want (but preferably no more than 3).

Edit: Apparently Blogspot have some issues when it comes to polls, making votes mysteriously disappear (as has been the case here already only 5 hours in!). I will be looking into replacing the current one with a better alternative.

Edit 2: New poll up and running! Never-closing, 3 answers max, no repeat voting - all better, in short! Sorry for the inconvenience, I hope you will take the extra 3 seconds required to vote again in the new poll ;)

Details for upcoming Warhammer: Amazons

Don't expect this update too soon (I mean it this time!), I'm only letting you know of what to expect when I get there. I might finish Pirates of Sartosa first, but that won't be until June at least.

The Amazon list will see some large changes in how they play, but there won't be ton of new units to choose from. Instead, the army will be reworked into much more of an elite glass-cannon force, with better troops, better weapons and better protection. This is a throwback to the original GW Amazons from the 80's, where they actually had 40k weapons like Bolt Pistols and Needlers (of course such silliness won't appear here!), and as such, the new Amazon army will rely much more on Old One technology than the current list. Expect magical attacks, wards as well as poisons to become much more common.
Most of these changes will probably be in the form of upgrades however, so those who prefer the simpler Amazons with just spears and bows will be able to field just that, and those who want an elite force with magic items for everything will be able to play that as well.

New units will be featured in the form of Medusas (MI), Beastmasters and an Avatar of Rigg, their Goddess. Handmaidens will likely disappear, as will Pygmies. If there are any other potential units you would like to see in the list, let me know in the comments.

Warhammer Estalia: Proper 8th ed Update out now!

Well that was done a lot faster than expected, and I didn't even need to call for "backup" on this one! Looking back at the old version, I really have to say I did a rather poor job with it, both balance and editing-wise. There was a ton of inconsistent parts, like the Inquisition being started by nothing less than 3 different people and all at different points in history, in addition to poorly translated Spanish-to-English text (my bad) and plenty of grammar issues throughout, as well as poorly put together backgrounds for the units themselves.
Fortunately, this new version fixes all of that, and everything should now be much, much more cohesive and easier to read, not to mention looking a lot nicer too!

I would also like to give proper credit to Steven Lewis and Steve Darlington, whose names I completely missed to include the first time around. Steven wrote a significant part of Estalia's original history section, and Steve wrote parts of their geography and society.

Balance-wise the book is likely weaker now, with points increases almost across the board, and many special rules have been nerfed and tweaked, though it will still require play-testing to know if anything else needs changing of course!

A summary of the new things in Warhammer: Estalia:

• Almost completely revised history section, including the timeline.
• New army-wide special rules: Tercio Formation, Estalian Steel, and revised Tactical Supremacy.
• New units: Almogavars, War Dogs, Mountain Guns. Missionaries, Serfs, Inquisitorial Henchmen are no more.
• Revised units: Diestro are now characters, Handgunners are a core choice, and Royal Guard replaces Arqubusiers, among several other changes.
• New Special Characters: Isabella Giovanna Luccelli, Grand Inquistor de Hojeda and Maria de Salvo. King Miraz is no more.
• 9 new magic items replacing the old ones.
• Full colour layout: I don't consider it my best work, but it sure is prettier than the last version, and some of the new artwork is absolutely fantastic!

Enjoy, time for me to turn back the sleeping rhythm once again, followed by a short but needed break!

Download:
http://issuu.com/m4cr1ii3n/docs/warhammer-armies---estalia_20100908_225012
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36852581/Warhammer-Armies-Estalia

New updates for DoW, RoR and CRoR out now!

A rather overdue update that takes care of some bugs and updates a few things in these books, namely the following:

Dogs of War:

• The text for Mighty Athlete is now left aligned.
• Text for the paychest is no longer cut off on the last row.
• Some new artwork for the units.

Regiments of Renown:

• The Manflayers's repeater crossbows now has range 24".
• Asarnil updated for HE 8th ed.

 Classic Regiments of Renown:

•  Elfwing cavalry updated for HE 8th ed.

Development update: Estalia

Been working on Estalia little by little, and have just finished the Bestiary so far, along with most of the special characters. The book might be a few pages shorter than the last version as I intend to trim down a few sections for better pacing, and remove the many mentions of the Empire currently in it. I will also put more time into editing the text to get rid of any Spanish artifacts that are still in the book from the first time I translated the text, so the grammar should see plenty of improvement as well.

Current Progress:

Contents/credits - done.
Society - done.
History - done.
Cult of Myrmidia - done.
The Inquisition - done.
Timeline - done.
Geography - done.
Bestiary - done.
Special characters - done.
Magic Items - done.
Army list - done.
Summary - done.


Update 1: Finished the special characters (3 new ones, and 1 old one removed) and the magic items (almost all new), as well as finished editing their history section. I have trimmed it down considerably, but the grammar is improved and all previous inconsistencies should be gone now. The Inquisition and Society sections will also be shorter, but more cohesive.

Update 2: Once again I manage to surprise myself in how fast I can work when I put my mind to it! Everything except for the army list, credits and summary is now finished. If possible, I will try to finish the book tomorrow and have it uploaded by night.

Cancelling Wood Elves

A bit of unfortunate news here, but quite important ones. Apparently GW has been on the war path lately and been shutting down blogs that contain images of their own products (example: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/524002.page), and since this blog is practically doing that with some of their older material (though they mostly seem to be caring about the new stuff) I don't want to put more fuel on what might be an ensuing fire.

I have not yet received any C&D letters from GW, and I might not get that either, but I want to stay on the safe side and not venture further into their IP territory. As such, I will not be continuing work on the Wood Elf book for the time being, and might take down or at least redo large parts of the Chaos Dwarf book to remove a lot of the features from Tamurkhan.

If rumors are true though, the official Wood Elf book is not too far off, so you might not even need my version for more than a few months anyway.

In any case, the other army books will still be supported as normal, with Estalia making decent progress at the moment.