Gangs of Commorragh - GW 40K boardgame

Came here to post that...I'm kind of wondering if two copies is worth getting.

If you do, I'd be interested in the second copy's printed material.

I have plenty of Reavers and Hellions from a Dark Eldar army that never got off the ground (ba dum tiss...), so I have been agonizing over whether to get a full copy and flipping the sprues or waiting for a good deal on the rules and card.

I played this a few times over the weekend and I love it. The whole "Necromunda plus X-Wing" thing is kind of right, but kind of not. This is a much simpler, direct game than either of those. And unlike X-Wing, it doesn't get bogged down in cards and tokens.

Me and a couple of friends just ran some basic games at first using the "suggested" Murder Packs where one side gets four Reavers, the other six Hellions. Stock weapons and experienced pilots all around. After the first games we did some building (750 pts) to try some of the other weapons.

It's REALLY fun and low maintenance even though you can play it as a campaign. Pretty much everything you need to reference during the game is on the player aids and there's only like three or four pages of rules anyway.

It's cool that the game sort of sets up a default scenario- you roll to see who is getting ambushed and from where. Then the ambushee might get to make an emergency turn before the game starts, which can be crucial if the opponent has got the drop on you from behind or your flank.

First phase, all of the hunters and targets move. Basically, if you are in an opponent's rear arc you are hunting them. So the prey moves, then the hunters. So there's kind of a preliminary move based on these status. Then everything else moves in turn. There's a neat idea in the movement in addition to the simple template-based turning...everything has a MINIMUM move in addition to a maximum, so you kind of set your speed but you never stop...unless you make a roll to perform a maneuver and use the Hellion's brakes or another trick to slow down or turn more. The Hellions can whip their chains around the spires and get kind of a slingshot boost from it. Very fun...but not nearly as fun as the Hellion maneuver where you can grab an opponent, draw them closer to you, and then force them to make a 45 degree turn...presumably right toward a spire. The Reavers can fly past opponents and cut them with their bladevanes. All of the special moves are a roll against pilot skill and the agility of your vehicle. And you can "do a barrel roll".

After moving, stuff shoots. You roll versus the agility of the target, if you hit you make a kill roll. Beat it, and the other vehicle is destroyed. Miss, and it just gets a point of damage. This is a neat thing too- there is no maximum cap to damage. Every damage point takes agility away and also increases the kill rolls against you. So you get damaged and it affects your vehicles but you can get lucky and hang out long enough to take somebody else. Damage makes it harder to do maneuvers too. It's a simple way to apply wear and tear without a bunch of rules or cards.

That's pretty much all there is to it, but like GW's best games it's all very vibrant, ridiculous and violent. We didn't really do any of the campaign stuff, but looking over the content it looks GREAT. This is my kind of campaign- its more like Blood Bowl where you have a roster, your gang members get better over time or die, and you spend money to upgrade your equipment. The only thing is that if you are playing WYSIWYG, then it's kind of impossible. If you want three Reavers with Heat Lances and Caltrop Droppers...too bad, not enough in the box.

The models are really fun, especially the Hellions. Lots of mohawks and bad attitudes. Tons of posability. The Reavers look great and some of the dudes (and gals!) have Daft Punk-like helmets. I'm really torn on painting these, I think I've settled on doing a Stegadon Scale Green base on one team with Thunderhawk Blue accents but I can't decide what color to do the pilot outfits. The other side I think is going to be Teclis Blue and Screamer Pink- very "hot" Miami Vice type colors.

It's a really, really good game but I have a feeling that it won't find much traction. It's way simpler and less competitive than X-Wing. It isn't particularly deep or anything, it's really more of a classic "Ameritrash" type game despite it straddling the lines between that and a miniatures game. It almost could be a Milton Bradley style game from the late 1980s.

I already got the Harlequin stuff that White Dwarf adds...should be cool to have a larger ship out there (Voidweaver).

Now I'm disappointed that my FLGS sold out of their copies before I could grab one at a discount.

It's a HUGE value. I got it for $46 at Doc's and I was quite surprised at how much you get in it. The cardboard spires are a bit naff, but so it goes. Terrain isn't a HUGE deal in this one. It just kills you instantly.

I might buy another copy just to have some different gang pieces/colors. I had painted most of a Reaver but I kept changing my mind about it, experimented around with some things. But then I hated it, so I thought it was going into Simple Green for a while. But in my frustration, I scratched at the paint with my fingernail and there was SO MUCH on it I was able to just peel it right off. Ha!

What I think you'd REALLY want to do is to do every Hellion/Reaver DIFFERENT. That would be a huge task, but it would look awesome. Especially if you can freehand some custom filigree/runes/designs on them.

"Circus Imperiumish" is what I see, and that would be fucking rad.

Oh yes, it definitely has that kind of vibe. I didn't really draw that connection but it is there now that you mention it.

One thing that really needs to be promoted here is that this is OPEN VEHICLE combat. Which is why you have things like the Hellions being able to reach out with their glaives and jerk enemies around. The Reaver pilots can carry pistols. Some have knives. The Harlequin ships have dudes with bolos and some of the ones in the box you can outfit with grappling hooks and whips. I can't really think of any other game out currently that has this going on.

Painting this stuff is giving me FITS. I just can not commit to a color scheme for either side. One poor Reaver, I've painted that thing like six times. And then I wind up painting over it or scratching it all off. I realized my "Miami Vice" colors would be better suited for the Harlequins so now I'm looking for something else there. One team is going to be Incubi Darkness but then I have no idea what color to do the pilots. Really frustrating for some reason, I am just not good at custom color schemes I guess.

This sounds right up my alley. Does it look awful unpainted? I kind of enjoy assembling, but I have no interest in painting.