Stargrave – The Last Prospector
With Quarantine 37 covered, we move on to the second full supplement for Stargrave: The Last Prospector, released in 2022. Where Quarantine 37 leaned into science-fiction horror, The Last Prospector takes the game somewhere different entirely – the space western.
What is it about?
The setup arrives as an intercepted message. An old contact, known only as the Prospector, has found something big in the Honereb System – a run-down cluster of asteroid mining operations near the edge of a forgotten galactic arm. He wants to cut you in. By the time your crew arrives, the Prospector is nowhere to be found.
What follows is a ten-scenario campaign built around tracking down your missing contact while navigating the politics of a system that nobody with options would choose to visit. The Honereb System is populated by five factions, each with their own agenda: Pa, the mysterious authority running the decaying Penthalia Station – nobody is sure if Pa is a person, a council, or a computer; the Honera Collective, a semi-socialist operation on a jungle planet with strict border controls; The Gliders, a pirate gang operating out of a scuttled ore hauler called Saint Mollia; United Minerals Incorporated, a pre-war corporation that is now functionally a dictatorship; the Freeholders League, independent asteroid miners who pool resources for mutual survival; and the Darksiders, a secretive, robe-clad group in the third asteroid belt that nobody quite understands but most people leave alone.
Joseph A. McCullough is upfront about his inspirations. The space western as a genre has a long history. George Lucas built the Mos Eisley cantina on it, Joss Whedon ran with it for a single glorious television season, and the British film Outland put Sean Connery in a mining colony and filmed a remake of High Noon. For tabletop hobbyists, the reference points extend further: Marshal BraveStarr, The Mandalorian, the whole visual grammar of the frontier in space. The Honereb System is built from these materials, and the supplement wears its influences without apology.
Stargrave – Quarantine 37
We covered Stargrave extensively over the years on this blog, starting with the core rulebook and the several plastic kits for Crew, Troopers, Mercenaries, Scavengers and Automatons. The last supplement we took a look at was Dead or Alive, the solo supplement that started as a free PDF and received a major overhaul in 2024. Now it is time to work through the remaining supplements – and that means going back to where it all started: Quarantine 37, the first full supplement for Stargrave, released back in 2021.
What is it about?
Imperial Research Station 37 once housed nearly ten thousand scientists working on biological and chemical research. Six months before the Last War, it went dark – no distress signals, no escape pods, just a single repeating broadcast: This station is under quarantine. Do not approach. Now, with the war over and independent crews picking through the ruins of the galaxy, the station has been rediscovered. Whatever happened there, the technology inside is worth a fortune.
That is the setup for Quarantine 37, and it is a good one. Joseph A. McCullough freely admits in the introduction that he could not decide between two classic sci-fi horror archetypes for this supplement, zombies or alien bugs, and in the end simply chose both. The station is big enough for both threats, depending on which airlock you enter through.
The result is two separate mini-campaigns of four scenarios each. The first, The Shuffling Dead, sends the crews deep into the zombie-infested sections of the station before they are surrounded and have to fight their way back to the ship. The second, Strike from the Shadows, pits the crews against a swarm of alien bugs that herd them steadily deeper into the hive, culminating in a face-to-face encounter with the alien queen. Beyond the scenarios, the book adds two new captain backgrounds (Aristocrat and Hunter), eight new powers, six new soldier types, a table of advanced technology to loot from the station, and a bestiary covering zombies, bugs, and everything in between.
Warhammer 40,000 – 2nd Edition Dark Millenium Expansion Set
A year later after the release of Warhammer 40k's 2nd edition, in 1994, a large boxed expansion was released, as was common for Games Workshop systems in the '90s, to add more gear, psychics and vehicles to the game. Just as we did with the starter set, we want to include this unboxing in our coverage as a guideline or checklist for your collection.
These supplements usually covered card decks and advanced rules, but never miniatures. Dark Millenium did the same for Warhammer 40,000, adding almost 100 cards for the sci-fi magic called psi, 24 vehicle datasheets, and lots of new gear for all kinds of armies. It also came with a 48-page rulebook.
Stargrave – Dead or Alive
We gave you an overview on the initial release of Stargrave. Covering the rules themself along with the first three plastic kits of the Crew, Troopers and Mercenaries. But where has Stargrave moved to in the mean time?
The first small supplement was released along side the Nickstarter in March 2021. With the first lockdown a lot of games, and especially Osprey Games, received single player add-ons and so did Stargave with Dead or Alive initially a free mini-campaign for solo-gaming of 21 pages - which was in 2024 re-released as a full 96 page paperback supplement with further content for Stargrave. So due to this fact - this was the first and the most recent supplement for Stargrave, with quite a few releases in between.
Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team – Blood and Zeal
Today a new Kill Team supplement goes on pre-order - Blood and Zeal - introducing two new Kill Teams of Zealots, one following Khorne and the other the Adeptus Ministorum.
After the release of the starter set of Hivestorm and the first supplement Brutal and Cunning, we follow with Blood and Zeal the "regular" setup with two Kill Teams, a dossier and some terrain. Pre-Order starts today with the launch set for April 5th, the RRP is 82,50 GBP or 105 EUR.
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal contains two completely new kill teams. The Sanctifiers are nine Imperial zealots, including the likes of the Conflagrator, the Death Cult Assassin, the Drill Abbot and the Miraculist, who have been stoked into action by the rabid oration of the Confessor (a priestly figure attended by a Cherub). The Goremongers are a cohort of seven cybernetically enhanced operatives like the Impaler, the Skullclaimer and the Stalker who follow the commands of the towering Goremonger Blood Herald.
As pointed out, this is a supplement and you need at least the Core Rulebook to play. Never the less, the lite rules are free to download on Warhammer Community. It is a heavy boxed set and is another 5 EUR cheaper than Brutal and Cunning (which was already 5 EUR cheaper than Kill Team Termination). Maybe nature is healing or they count in, that the terrain is not new but a re-release from 2020.
Bolt Action Campaign Case Blue
The next supplement for Bolt Action is on our table - Campaign Case Blue, covering the summer offensive into the southern region of the Ostfront.
Campaign Case Blue was released in late October 2023, much early than initially anticipated. As the communicated release date was January 9th of 2024. Along with Campaign Stalingrad and Road to Berlin this book completes the coverage on the Eastern Front even further.
Bolt Action Campaign Italy – Tough Gut
We cover the second part of the Italian campaign today and move on from the Soft Underbelly towards the Tough Guts.
Almost a year after the first book, Campaign Italy: Tough Gut was released in August 2023, expanding the possibilities for the Italian forces even more. The first book covered the activities until Ortena in December 1943 and we pick it up again in the second supplement in January 1944 with their move further towards Rome through Cassino, until June 1944.
Warcry – Hunter and Hunted
This weekend WarCry receives a larger update, covering a terrain set Ravaged Lands: Scales of Talaxis, two warbands and a new supplement Hunter and Hunted. And this supplement will be covered today.
With Hunter and Hunted we move within the Gnarlwoods into a part, where we find new Seraphon relics, and two new warbands, Gorger Mawpack and Wildercorps Hunters, fight each other. Please note, this is not a stand-alone, you need either one of the starter boxes (or at least the rulebook) to be able to make use of this boxed set.
This boxed set has a RRP of 105 EURs, covers a thin campaign booklet, instructions, a card deck, a large sprue for the terrain and two sets of a pair of medium sprues for each of the warbands.
Adeptus Titanicus – Campaign Compendium
After the latest addition to the game, including Gravation Beamer weaponry for various titan classes, a "new" book is up for pre-order - the Adeptus Titanicus Campaign Compendium.
A quick heads up. This is a book review. We don't do meta-discussion on Chaosbunker. We will cover what is covered in the campaign supplement and what is not. Games Workshop offers this proper 224-page hardcover for 50 EURs with the following description.
Bolt Action Campaign Italy – Soft Underbelly
The Bolt Action campaign content about Italy was spread across two campaign books, Soft Underbelly, which we will cover today and Tough Gut, which will be available in the next months.
Campaign Italy: Soft Underbelly was released in autumn 2022, accompanied with a first wave of updated miniatures (incl. plastics) for the Italian forces. The 176 pages cover the first major operation of the Western Allies, moving forward from North Africa towards South Europe / Italy, with Operation Husky via Sicily onto the Italian Peninsula towards Rome. As for the Mediterranean campaign, this is chronologically the book after The Western Desert.
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