AT-43: Operation Damocles

So Rackham has infected me again. DAMN YOU KHAN!!!!!!... uh RACKHAM!!!!!! Got my AT-43 box set delivered to my house late last night, really just enough time for me to open it up, inspect miniatures and glance through the rules.

Miniatures: Most of you have probably heard the Tyrant bitching about the miniatures in his set, Nucleus Cannon broken off the Wraith and one of the UNA troopers missing his upper half. Luckily I had no such problems with my box set. Everything was in good order until I picked up the Wraith and fiddled with it a bit. I’d read on forums that some parts moved on the figs so of course I had to test this out on my own figs. One little test and the Wraith was in two pieces. The upper half and the legs were now separate. Inspecting the joint there appears to be no damage to the plastic only an issue with too little adhesive, particularly in combination with twisting it. No problem a spot of glue and he’ll be in good working order again.

Overall I’m impressed with sculpt quality and paint jobs. Personally I’m more interested in a solid sculpt underneath the paint and decent starting point on the paint jobs. The UNA troopers essentially have three colors on them with a wash and a touch of dry brushing. (plus a few small details like green lenses on the night vision goggles) I am flat out impressed by the Fire Toad. This could be due to my complete inability to paint a mech but the paint lines are clean with decent details. I’ll probably alter the strider with bit more free hand detail but I don’t feel like I have to.

The Therian Storm Golems look like a solid base coat then washed in red. Honestly these look to be on par with most table top quality paint jobs I see at Dream Wizards. The Wraith strider looks to have a similar painting quality. Chances are I’ll be completely re-working the Therians into a new paint scheme they are workable as is but I feel they could be much more developed.

The Game: Operation Damocles is not a whole game. It is an introductory set that provides a starter force for two armies and introduces players to the game mechanics. The intro rule book provides very little fluff. Only that the humans are fighting back against the would be Therian conquers. Indicating two human factions are fighting back as well as other alien races chiming in, beginning with an assault on a mostly inactive Therian planet sized factory ship. The game rules section does not really lay out all the rules for how to play the game. All of the combat rules are described in 2 of the 6 scenarios included with the game. There are no point values included in the game and really the only way to play it right now is with Rackham supported scenarios. So in Operation Damocles you can really play 4 games (the first two really giving you a learning curve. The website has another two scenarios and supposedly Cry Havoc has some more, pretty limited game play out of the box and this is actually my biggest gripe for the game. I have not had a chance to actually try out the game play but it looks more streamlined than confrontation. Should even be suitable to Mass combat and not strictly skirmish

Final thoughts: AT-43 has got some potential. The miniatures show a lot promise, despite being pre-painted. (Yeah I’m a paint purist what’s your point? I don’t care if you don’t want to repaint them) I’m not overjoyed with the playability of the box set only but I think AT-43 has got a chance to offer up some fun games. Price point is kind a steep upfront I managed to get it for $60 through CCG Armory (+10 for more rapid shipping) And that price point for these figures I’m not disappointed as I’m considering both a Therian and UNA force. Should you get it? Well that depend son a couple factors. Are you interested in a UNA and/or a Therian Force for AT-43? If you want both it’s not a bad initial buy to start trying it out and getting the figs in hand (Although there are at least two Disorderlies with the box set now if you want try it out) If you want to wait for the Soviet style force or the aliens you should definitely wait for the main rule book to come out and those figures to start coming out. No reason to buy AT-43 Operation Damocles