Greetings fellow Crusaders, and it's time for another look into the world of Eternal Crusade. Actually, this week we are going to look, not only at Eternal Crusade, but at some other Games Workshop titles that are currently in production that have piqued my interest.
First, let's look at how the Eldar fifth faction vote is coming along. The only way to really do this is to look at the Eternal Crusade forums, where a poll has been set up, sort of like an exit poll. As of this writing, Sunday night, the 15th of March, the votes stand as follows: Altansar is in the lead with 38 votes, followed by Mymeara with 24 votes, and Yme Loc is bringing up the rear with 22 votes. The thing you will note that the total number of votes is not even one hundred, and we know that there are hundreds, even possible thousands, of Founders, so this exit poll is not exactly what one would call accurate. I do think, however, that the percentages might be pretty accurate, based on forum comments, so I think it's safe to say, at least for now, that Altansar is in the lead. There is still quite a long time until the vote is over, which means this race is too early to call.
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Another hot topic of late has been the Rogue Trader Store (RTS). The stream of new items has slowed to a trickle, and fans have been vocal about wanting to see the RTS start moving again, with new and improved item illustration and definition, so that they might have a better understanding of exactly what they are spending their points and/or dollars on. Even better, a wardrobe system that would let you see exactly what the items look like when equipped would be really appreciated by the more stylish denizens of the 41st Millennium.
As some of you might remember, I went to PAX East a couple of weeks ago, and while I didn't run into any of Eternal Crusade team while I was there, I did get a few minutes with another 40K based game, the upcoming 40K MOBA Dark Nexus Arena, being developed by Whitebox. The game is very early in development, and I only saw four characters thus far: Space Marine Terminator, Space Marine Scout, Ork Stormboy and Tau Fire Warrior, but there are lots more characters to come. Each one plays as you would expect, the Termie is slow, tough and melee based, the Scout is ranged and quick, the Fire Warrior the same and the Stormboy is largely melee, but has several movement based attacks as well. The game world looks pretty good, and the game ran very smoothly while I was playing. My biggest concerns about this one are, first, does the world need or want another MOBA at this point? Is using the 40K intellectual property enough to give this game some legs? And the big one: The premise is that the characters are all prisoners of the Dark Eldar and are being forced to battle for their very survival in a Dark Eldar arena. The lore in this game is going to be severely bent, if not broken. Warhammer fans are notoriously vocal and inflexible when it comes to their lore, and any fan will tell you that there is no way on earth that a Space Marine would ever fight side-by-side with most of these xenos scum. Will fans enjoy the game enough that they will be able to suspend their lore-infatuation? I guess only the Emperor knows.
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Part of the map in Dark Nexus Arena.
Another up-and-comer is Mordheim: City of the Damned, already in early release on Steam. I got to try this game at last year's E3, and it was so good a port of the table-top rules to the PC medium that I promised myself I would not play it again until it was ready for release, because I want to experience the whole thing as a finished product, with all the bells and whistles in place. Well, that day draws ever nearer, and I have peeked in at my roommate while he was playing it, and I have to say it looks pretty damned good. I have always thought that Games Workshops best games were Mordheim and Necromunda, because they are small-scale skirmish games that allow for experience and character advancement, which really lets the players connect with their warbands, so if that sort of tactical wargame appeals to you, then keep an eye on this one.
That's going to bring us to the end of this week's article, as always, if you want to keep a close eye on the development of Eternal Crusade, head over to the official website and join the forums. There are always lots of interesting development conversations going on there, and you too can be a part of the development process, simply by voicing your opinion and being heard.
