The Tide is High

Could it be? A Warhammer 40,000 equivalent of Vermintide?

Original video located here. Accessed 29th July 2020

Apparently so. 

of course this is a trailer so it's too soon to have any concrete details but it would seem that the players would be controlling a group of Guardsmen - a far cry from what I thought would work in doing a Vermintide-esque setting (that being an Inquisitor and their retinue). 

Still, call me excited.

Death on Black Wings

Recently I had a crack at Deathwing.

Given a long-standing interest in the Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 universe(s), perhaps it was fitting that I should come across this iteration to the computer game adaptation library. That and it was on sale.

At first glance, one would think that this is another adaptation of the Space Hulk game. One may also think that this may owe a debt to Vermintide, in that you are one person against a whole horde of bad guys, fighting to an achieve an objective and leaving, and some moments of near panic.

That may be the case but for me, the opportunity to stomp around in Terminator class armor isn't one to be overlooked.

As this is undoubtedly based on the Space Hulk board game, the game is clearly playing to that strength: Enclosed areas inspiring claustrophobia, tensions arising from being swarmed by genestealers, and battling it out in Terminator class armour. Of course, I wouldn't know any of this having never played the original board game (you try getting a copy!).

And it's a lot of fun, what with fighting a swarm of xenos, moments where things get frantic, using the greatest weaponry allowed to the Adeptus Astartes and the desperation coming in when your guys start falling.

Also pleasing is the presence of additions in the form of Space Marine Librarians & Chaplains and Genestealer hybrids - all of which, if memory serves me correctly, have not been seen since the first edition of the original board game.

Of course, I am irate that you can't choose the space marine chapter you play as but you can't have everything.

Ratting it out

Recently I completed a second run-through of Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (FC). No reasoning beyond a) it's a great game and b) achievement hunting.
However in playing this game again I am reminded of one of the grips I have with it: I am following a very rigid path with little opportunity to deviate from. Thus it makes achievement hunting quite a challenge with so much stuff having the potential to be missed and the game becoming something of a battle between a player who wants to do their own thing and a DM who is furious that the player isn't going where they should be.

More recently however, I have been playing Vermintide 2 with the intention of leveling up so I can keep the pace with my gaming buddies. And in order to level up quickly, it seems that I need to grab so many collectables in each mission (ie tomes). And it suits me fine as I take a methodical approach to game playing and am willing to take the time to pick up certain details - which is subsequently at odds with the design of Vermintide which demands the player act fast and not hang around. As sch, Vermintide comes across as a battle who between a player who wants to do their own thing and a DM who is furious that the player isn't going where they should be.

Personally, finding similarities between Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and Vermintide 2 is absolutely hilarious to me.

We're Rat-rat-ratties

Recently I have been having a shot at Vermintide 2.

I've never played any of the Vermintide games - I barely knew anything about them beyond the name and the Warhammer connection - but a friend of mine gave me it as a present last Christmas. So I gave it a shot. After all, with a name like Vermintide, it would be a given that you would end up fighting a horde of Skaven right?

So we have a cooperative game where four people choose a character from a selection of five and go kill Skaven. And, as befitting the setting, they will attack en masse will bring along both Beastmen and Chaos Warriors along for the ride.
This may not be the first co-op game I've played with some buds but this is of particular note as there is a horde, and I mean a horde, of baddies coming in to be carved up - and in a variety of ways at that. As this is largely unfamiliar territory, I feel compelled to ask: are all co-op games like this?

At time of writing, I am currently seeing some success with the fire mage. I am also observing how closely the game is tied to the Warhammer universe (although I do have issues with the voice of the witch hunter).
But as this a co-op game, the game is dominated by the one guy who has played it a lot and is several levels ahead of the rest of us....