This week's Frontline News brings you twisted firestarters, nightmare sports teams and imposing dragons, with a sprinkling of gorgeous fantasy warriors. Let's get cracking and admire some superb new minis!
If you're living in a galaxy far, far away and you have the irresistible urge to put the rebellion to the torch, then Inferno Squad is for you. FFG have let these elite killers loose and they're about to lay down some serious firepower in games of Star Wars Legion. In Star Wars, the larger your helmet, the more villainous your intentions, and Inferno Squad are sporting some pretty beefy headgear. With access to T-21 and E-11 blaster rifles and two special characters, the team can infiltrate the battlefield, ensuring that you can take the battle to the enemy from the first moment. With accurate ranged attacks and durability, Inferno Squad even provides access to vehicle repair and buffs to nearby units.
If a battlefield full of excoriating laser blasts and murderous light sabers isn't violent enough for you, then maybe Blood Bowl will scratch the itch. Games Workshop's sports game is coming back with a new edition, promising to be honed to perfection with crisper rules, and a variety of in-depth options that the community has known and loved for decades.
Just in time for things to get really interesting in the Blood Bowl universe, the dead have returned to maul the living! Scarier than a Paul Scholes challenge, the teaser pics for the Wolfenburg Crypt-Stealers have to be seen to be believed. What sort of vile malcontent would steal a crypt, I hear you cry? The sort that's commanded by a Necromancer Football Coach and shares a locker room with werewolves and flesh-golems. This is one team that will teach you to be afraid of the dark!
There's some big, red, flame-spewing news coming from Steamforged Games. Their new Epic Encounters project will provide roleplayers with everything they need to enjoy rich, deep adventures supported by a range of miniatures. According to the keynote livestream from Gen Con 2020, the miniatures will not require assembly, and will come with maps and statistics so you can bring them straight into your roleplaying adventures.
The Steamforged team also unveiled new Champions for Godtear, including Jeen the Wandering Warrior. She's fleet of foot and defeats her foes with lots of swift strikes, while her Golden Shrike followers confound the foe's plans, offering you a whole new way to play.
Veterans of CMON's A Song of Ice and Fire: The Miniatures Game that are aligned to Team Renly have reason to rejoice, with the introduction of the Rose Knights. Heavily laden with armour, these great warriors may be slow but their armour is robust and their morale will keep them in the fight. Each time the unit attacks, it regains a wound and inflicts a wound on the foe, weighting the combat in the knights' favour even before the dice have been rolled. If you're commanding a force from House Baratheon and want to ruin your opponent's day, grab some Rose Knights. Not only are they gorgeous (just look at them!) they're also lethal.
If you're on Team Stannis, don't panic. The R'hllor Faithful will be raising their burning blades in service of your cause. But how do they compare to the Rose Knights? At 7 points, they cost the same. They're a little faster, but also a little less resilient, but their morale is excellent. Players can use Faith tokens to force enemies to make panic tests, or to allow R'hllor units to fight immediately after a friendly R'hllor unit is vanquished. The burning blades inflict brutal penalties to enemy panic tests, enabling the unit to punch beyond its class, making it a threat to any enemy. So whomever you see as the next ruler, you'll be able to pick from a wider range of elite units!
That's all for this week. Let us know what you think of these new Epic Encounters sets, and whether you'll be sprinting out onto the pitch come the new Blood Bowl season!