Marvel Crisis Protocol – Elsa Bloodstone and Man-Thing
After Star Wars Legion and Star Wars Shatterpoint we jump to Marvel Crisis Protocol, who had their own roadmap introduced at Adepticon by Asmodee / Atomic Mass Games. In this case we have a double-feature and cover Yondu & Nova as well as Elsa Bloodstone & Man-Thing. But each in their own review, continuing with Elsa and Man-Thing.
The second character pack, CP186 Elsa Bloodstone & Man-Thing, is available for a RRP of 44.99 USD. Slightly more expensive than CP126, but we have larger miniatures and more content in here, which justifies this decision, but more on that within this review.
The set includes the following items:
Limes fortlet and watch tower Pohl
Last weekend, we took a short trip to the Taunus mountains in glorious weather to visit Pohl and the Limeskastell. This is a replica of a Roman wooden fort with a watchtower, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for 20 years.
Here, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes (ORL) around 100 AD is recreated on the border with the Germanic tribal areas. The site was built in 2011 according to the latest research and is located near the site of a small fort.
The fort is open during the main season (March to October) from Friday to Sunday, usually from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please check before your visit to see if there are any special closing days or other events taking place there. Admission is €5 for adults/young people and €2.50 for children aged 7 to 14. Younger children are admitted free of charge.
Parking is available directly at the fort, which is located on the B260 between Nassau and Naststätten. We encountered a colourful mix of visitors, and the taverna, which offers reasonably priced drinks and food (including hot meals and cakes), makes it a great place to stop off as part of a day trip.
Marvel Crisis Protocol – Yondu and Nova
For the next Marvel Crisis Protocol reviews, we have a double feature of character duos, starting with Yondu Udonta and Nova/Richard Rider. Elsa Bloodstone and Man-Thing will receive their own unboxing and build review.
This character pack, CP126 Yondu & Nova, is available for a RRP of 39.99 USD. Both heroes are probably best known for their appearances in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but more on that below.
The set includes the following items:
Warhammer The Old World – Grand Cathay Battalion
We are pleased to welcome a brand new army to the Warhammer The Old World tabletop - the forces of Grand Cathay. Those of you who play the Total War: Warhammer Series know more about this than those who have stuck with the miniature game, which is why we are going to cover the battalion in a slightly different way.
Games Workshop sent us the Grand Cathay Battalion boxed set, which is available for pre-order from June 21st and will officially be released on July 5th, with an RRP of 145 EUR or 110 GBP.
But before we unbox the battalion and take a closer look at its contents, we want to introduce Cathay in a similar way to how we did it with the first two Old World factions:
Legions Imperialis – Mustering the Imperial Fists
I did an initial draft of the theme of my Epic scale Imperial Fists, long before the rules of Legions Imperialis (or even the game itself) were announced. And now with access to the various formations and detachments, I want to create a proper scope for this project.
Initially, they are meant to be Defenders of Terra, the Imperial Fists forces of the Third Sphere. We made an example army list, using the content of the starter boxes and first wave. This is somewhat limited, but gave us around 2.000 points to work with.
The access to the Sicarans, Predators and Kratos will give us the option to use a proper armoured company, as well as solid transports within a Demi-Company using the Rhinos.
Mortal Gods – Defenders of Plataiai
Now that the Thebans have been expanded for larger demo games as part of club presentations, it's the Plataians' turn today. These have now also reached their standard size of 300 points.
As before, the challenge was to design the two armies on an equal footing for demo games. While the Thebans had been given more of the same, I opted for a more defensive character for the Plataians due to their historical background.
The Plataians were enhanced with a hero and a few archers. The veteran archer was supposed to ensure that the Plataians could rather hold off, which underlined the overall concept.
Black Seas – Master & Commander Starter Set
Warlord Games is establishing itself as a major player in the world of naval wargaming. It started with Cruel Seas, which covers the coastal battles of World War II at a scale of 1:300, and has expanded to include the Age of Sail with Black Seas, which is also at a scale of 1:700 and accompanies Black Powder.
What better way to introduce someone to these new systems than with a proper starter set? They did just that with Strike Fast, Strike Hard! for Cruel Seas, and have now done the same with Master & Commander for Black Seas.
This box can be used as a two-player starter kit or as a large starter fleet for one player, as the ships are generic and can be used by any nation. The set includes the 96-page rulebook, nine vessels and lots of gaming material, which we will take a closer look at below. The Master & Commander starter set has an RRP of £59.
Star Wars Shatterpoint – Wisdom of the Council Squad Pack
As mentioned in the Outer Rims Terrain Battles Pack, we received several items from Asmodee from the Adepticon Roadmap for 2025. Among them were two Shatterpoint sets, Wisdom of the Council and Requesting Your Surrender. Today's review will cover the Council Squad Pack, which includes Jedi Masters and Padawan.
The SWP 50 Wisdom of the Council Squad Pack has an RRP of 49,99 USD and contains four miniatures for the game.
- Jedi Master Shaak Ti, Togruta
- Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, Cerean
- Ithorian Padawan Learner
- and a female Padawan Learner who can be built either as a Human, Zabrak, Nautolan, or Rodian
This squad pack is set in the Clone Wars era of the game.
The miniatures are all inside a single sprue, as well as the four 40mm bases. And we get a lot of game material in five (!) different languages - English, French, German, Polish and Spanish. This will be streamlined in upcoming products.
May 2025 review
Wow, okay, I felt like I just had written the April review and now I'm already writing the next recap.
Another busy but very entertaining month. In May we've been to CONflict Rhineland, and had a blast! I played multiple games, had fun in ancient greece as well as on the high seas, and of course with Deth Wizards.
It was great to see everybody again and it is sad, that it'll probably take at least until September for the next gaming meetup.
Deth Wizards – The Town Part 5
With only a few days to go, I had to get the terrain ready for the CONflict event and our Deth Wizards table - and the next step was a terrain wash.
As I didn't intend to drown them with Army Painter Washes (and drain my hobby budget by buying 17 ml pots), I went online to look for a proper terrain wash recipe and came across the one by Seb Makes Stuff. So I bought these two special ingredients and mixed them with a bit of brown paint.
Give it a good shake and I went with one of these foam brushes, as they work quite well with large(r) surfaces and give you quite a bit of control over the amount of wash you apply. Yet - depending on the structure of your model, you get quite a bit of wear and tear in no time, so make sure you have replacement on hand.
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