Tell me about the GW Specialty Games

Okay folks, I got some money to fool around with for the holidays, and I'm thinking about grabbing one of the GW specialty games after the holidays and my birthday have passed. But I could use some guidance.

My GW background is mostly wrapped up in Space Hulk, which I love. I've also played a little bit of Blood Bowl and Lost Patrol. I like Blood Bowl, but I didn't think I'd be able to get much time to play it and it was shifted away. Lost Patrol has frankly been a bit of a bust for me, though I like parts of it.

So here's what I'm looking for in one of these games...

- The game itself is really good. (Seems obvious, but I didn't love Lost Patrol, so it's no guarantee.)
- Not many further purchases. I'm okay with buying some stuff now and then, but I don't really want a treadmill to hop onto.
- Preferably support for multiple players

So far I'm most interested in Warhammer Quest: The Silver Tower, but I'm not altogether sure what is with the other products for that game. I'm a bit confused as to what the other products do, I mean. Gorechosen looks cool, though the whole "Blood for the blood god" thing is a bit dark for my tastes. (That's why I never bought Chaos in the Old World.) I find myself kind of interested in the new Blood Bowl as a standalone purchase, maybe with other teams as it goes, but I remember it being more complex and two-player only games are hard to get played for me, especially now that I'm adjusting to a new location. A lot of the other ones that came out earlier this year look cool, but I don't know anything about any of them.

If I ever wanted to try my hand at painting (not at all a guarantee) which would be good for a first-time painter? Do the minis mostly look good even when unpainted?

So since we are now Fortress: GW what guidance can people give me?

I recently got to play Gorechosen and Silver Tower.

Gorechosen: Metal as hell. Dark and violent, this is the ultimate arena combat game. Two to four vicious gladiators slug it out in an arena that includes lethal lava pits. There is a cool initiative system, where each player adds multiple initiative cards to a small deck that is shuffled each turn. Each time an initiative card is drawn, that player gets to play an action card from their hand. Each action card offers a move option, an attack option, and a special option, apparently for dirty tricks or attack/move combos. There is also a chart that tracks who is more or less aggressive at any given time, with particularly offensive or defensive actions causing people to move up or down the chart. It's pretty cool, however, my character got decapitated on the first turn of the game, so I didn't pay close attention to most of the game. I did feel that my character (the one with the huge axe) was difficult to play, as he had very specific limitations on which nearby hexes he could attack, and the restrictiveness of my move cards that one turn made it too hard for me to get in even one attack before I was killed. The other three players got to enjoy a game that ran at least 45 more minutes. There are four characters in the box, and there are also stats for several more characters that you might choose to buy as additional minis.

Silver Tower: Excellent minis, and lovely cardboard tiles. This might be the best dungeoncrawl boardgame that I have ever played. It's co-op, and each player runs one hero. There is a short deck of room cards for each scenario, such that players will encounter specific rooms in a random order, with somewhat random contents in each room. The opposing monsters roll on d6 chart each turn for their combat tactics, and the chart is different for each type of monster. At the start of each turn, the players each roll 4d6, and another 5d6 are rolled for a dice pool shared by the players. Dice are spent to purchase movement, attacks, and usage of special powers on your character sheet. Additional dice can be taken from the shared pool, though there is a nice mechanism for keeping anybody from hogging all the extra dice. There are some tactical challenges, but usually the decisions are fairly obvious. There are also some odd puzzles and challenges that come up in the scenarios. So far, the only expansion threat is the deck of 44 extra heroes, in that one might also purchase up to 44 additional minis for the game. There is supposedly going to be an expansion coming up that emphasizes undead.

I own Betrayal at Calth, and can't say enough good things about it. It is easy to set up, plays quickly, and is a blast. It is only two players, however. I also think it behooves you to paint it or at least mark up the bases so you can easily tell who is who. You will build / paint a lot of space marines. This can be tedious. I'm still chipping away at my set; everything is mostly done but I'm slowly doing detail / highlight work. There is no need for additional purchases since this is a one and done product.

I don't have Gorechosen yet, but I suspect I'll have it after Christmas. The notion of only having to assemble / paint 4 minis appeals to me. The game seems very cool.

I have looked at Burning of Prospero, and frankly it doesn't interest me in the way that Calth does. Mechanics are completely different and to me they seem fiddly.

The best of the best are Gorechosen (which I think is the best design to come out of this GW renewal, but it is TOTALLY METAL AS HELL) and Silver Tower, which is the best dungeoncrawl on the market today. Note that Silver Tower does not actually require you to buy anything else. It is 100% complete, although it does have stats for some monsters that you can buy separately (not that important) and there are some hero packs you can buy. There are also a number of other WHFB/AOS miniatures that have cards in the app that you can use. Note that some of those are in Gorechosen, so there is crossover action going on there. I've seen Silver Tower for around $100 and that is a good deal for it. If you really don't want to paint the figures, they still look a hell of a lot better than most board games minis.

Betrayal at Calth and Burning of Prospero are a little different because they are closer to turning 40k into a board game. A lot of what you want from 40k is there, but in a board game format. Both are STUFFED with Space Marine miniatures, so if that's not your thing...maybe this is a non-starter. But be aware that both of these sets are Heresy-era, which means that both sides are SMs. I think both of these games are EXCELLENT, I've been playing Prospero all week and it is freaking great. The only thing I'm a bit iffy on is how most melee weapons do pretty much the same thing. Prospero is a simpler (and really less fiddly) game than Calth, Calth has a little more depth. I would easily rank both games among the top of the "board game skirmish" pile. Each are very easy to play, and NEITHER require any additional purchases beyond what is in the box.

Assasinorium: Execution Force is the one that tends to get left out of the discussion, but it is freakin' great too. Metal Gear Solid as a board game. 4 assassins co-op against a Chaos Sorceror Lord, some CSMs, and cultists. Really fun game with lots of cool touches. The only knock on it is that the Cultist figures blow, and there's a lot of them. I hated painting them. But the assassins are fantastic (and are usually like $30 a piece separately), as is the Sorceror Lord.

Deathwatch: Overkill is the Expendables/Dirty Dozen version of 40k. One player spawns Genestealer Cults units all over the place, the Deathwatch player controls super-elite SMs. It's a total bloodbath, nonstop action and shooting. I love it too, it has some awesome scenarios that are lots of fun to play. Very cool area movement system, custom range rulers, and a White Scars dude on a bike with a freakin' EAGLE following him around.

So get 'em all. Seriously. But there is a downside for MP gaming. Only half of these support more than two players. Gorechosen does (and demands) 4. Execution Force is 1-4 players, and it is really fun solo. I've stretched that to five with some jimmied up fifth player "overlord" rules. Silver Tower accommodates up to six, and also plays solo well. You can do multiple characters easily if you only have two or three players at the table.

I hope to stumble upon a deal for Assasinorium some day. I'll snag it in an instant.

What kind of deal are you looking for on Assassinorum? I would consider parting with mine with or without the minis (game is complete, unassembled, box is damaged). I do kind of want the Assassins, but I'm not super stuck on it.

Well I can currently get a brand new one shipped to me for $105. Since I need another game like I need a hole in my head, it would have to be a good discount over that, and I'd want a complete copy. PM me if you want to make me an offer I can't refuse.

Still not quite sure how I managed to get it for $65 shipped in shrink on eBay...

Im obviously love struck by Gorechosen, with all this work done to give it a kaiju retheme.

It's the first game by GW in a very long time that has given me the same joy during gameplay and memories of that gameplay that Wiz-War consistently bestows upon those that are intelligent and dapper enough to play it.

It's the cream of GW's new generation of boardgames. It should win the 2016 Ameritrash of the year award, since it is a solid design in that genre which should not be overlooked.
+ Besides lost patrol, its the cheapest option they offer.
+ Low model assembly/painting threshold, so you'll be up and playing in no time, even if you decide to paint.
+ Supports a mid sized amount of players. Best at 4, but have found that 2 players running two fighters to be a great variant when the inevitable itch to play arises.
+ Clean design from top to bottom. Smooth as your wife's fine ass. Trust me, I know.
+ Excellent production values. For a company that denied the existence of boardgames for so long, they sure did remember how to do it right in this case.

+ or - Already expanded in the rulebook (+) and white dwarf (-), though white dwarf issue in question is not easy to find (- -) and the models range from cheap to the usual obnoxiously expensive.

Failing this, silver tower should be your second choice. The others are quite competent, but a long shadow is cast over them by the above two choices.
If the other games made gamers reconsider GW as a potential leisure destination, Gorechosen ensured it a solid place on the ameritrash map.

This is all really good, thanks everyone. Still not sure if this is the direction I'll go, but I feel a lot more informed now.