Thursday, 1 October 2015

Beyond the Gates of Antares Newsletter

I'm English and therefore find anything with the word 'Fart' in it hilarious...Therefore the preview in this newsletter pleased me greatly...

++Welcome to IMTel*++

(*integrated machine intelligence)

By integrating yourself with the machine you will be the first to find out everything there is to know about Beyond the Gates of Antares by Rick Priestley.

PRE-ORDER NOW: BEYOND THE GATES OF ANTARES LAUNCH EDITION STARTER SET

Pre-order Now

Beyond the Gates of Antares is the new science-fiction skirmish wargame written by Rick Priestley (the creator of Warhammer 40,000) that pitches technologically advanced human civilizations into a conflict that no one can afford to lose.

The game is rich in detail and extremely ambitious in scope with initial rules and army lists that describe six different Antarean factions: the PanHuman Concord, the Ghar Empire, the Isorian Senatex, the Algoryn Prosperate, the Freeborn Vardos, and the Boromite Guilds. Beyond the Gates of Antares game play makes use of the successful and exciting dice activation system first pioneered in Warlord’s popular Bolt Action WW2 wargame – ensuring that both sides remain active and engaged throughout every game. Resolution is by ten-sided dice offering considerable expansion and great range of detail compared to traditional six-sided dice.

Strike Vector One: The Xilos Horizon is the battle starter set for Beyond the Gates of Antares.

Launch Edition Box Contents
All beings connected via IMTel are granted first access to the Launch Edition starter boxed game.

Full colour 260-page hardback rulebook.
Quick reference sheet.
Getting started booklet.
3 multi-pose plastic Ghar Battle Squad walkers.
3 multi pose plastic Ghar Assault Squad walkers.
20 multi-pose plastic Concord Strike Troopers.
4 plastic Concord support drones.
8 plastic spotter drones.
Strike Leader Kai Lek Atastrin metal figure.
12 order dice.
Ghar distort dice.
13 Polyhedral dice.
Launch Edition plastic templates and tokens.
12 red plastic pin markers.

As a special thank you for pre-ordering from Warlord Games you will also receive the following absolutely free...

A print of the box cover artwork personally signed by the games creator Rick Priestley
Free PDF downloads of the Ghar and Concord Army lists from the book
The exclusive pre-order miniature Fartok, Leader of Battle Group Nine - this figure will not be available again after launch day!

SPECIAL PREVIEW: FARTOK, LEADER OF BATTLE GROUP NINE

Ghar outcasts are snivelling, whining and cowardly creatures that wouldn’t hesitate to betray their comrades on the slightest chance of better treatment or remission of their punishment. Such is the general nature of the Ghar who, as a race, have little sense of individual worth beyond the bosom of their cruel and uncaring society. Fartok – however – was different. Fartok was the Ghar who refused to kneel before his masters!

Available for pre-order customers only Fartok, the veteran leader of the legendary Battle Group Nine and Leader of the Outcast Revolt!

Fartok Escapes!

Fartok knew he had been hit hard – the retort of the shot echoed inside his battle armour like an exploding comet as he span out of control. The warning lights of his combat array blazed red and the stench of leaking plasma began to fill the tiny capsule. The armoured machine collapsed into a tangled heap on the ground. Seconds before he had been an invincible warrior of the Ghar: Fartok Commander of Battle Group Nine. Now he was trapped inside the wreckage of his battle armour, held fast by a web of tangled feedlines and neuro-plugs.

Dizzy with pain he instinctively scrabbled for the emergency release catch beneath his harness, jerked it free from its housing and pulled with all his strength. The stricken machine wheezed uncertainly as pneumatic valves popped open and chemical propellants began to react with a reluctant fizz and a gurgle. And a bang! The explosion shot him and a chunk of his supporting harness straight out of the battle armour, tearing away the neural linkages through which the machine was controlled like a second skin. It was like being flayed alive and for an instant he was consumed by the unimaginable agony of it.

Fartok lay on the stony ground shivering, racked with pain such, as he had never thought possible. The world outside the battle suit was agonisingly bright and the noise of gun fire felt like a thousand hammer blows upon his senses. Everywhere there were Ghar machines lying broken and smouldering amongst pools of bubbling plasma. A few Ghar troopers were still standing, gallantly directing their Scourer cannons upon the enemy. But Fartok could see they were fighting a losing battle. Even as he watched another armoured suit exploded as the shot from an Algoryn Mag Cannon shattered the machine’s casing into a thousand pieces.

‘Curse those scum of Battle Group Ten!’ Fartok thought to himself once the pain began to subside and he came to his proper senses. His old rival and brood mate Karg, Commander of Battle Group Ten, had been responsible for reconnoitring the line of attack ahead of the assault. How could they possibly have failed to notice the build up in enemy forces? Surely Karg must have spotted the new Algoryn defences and seen the numerous emplacements. It was a death trap. Had Karg led him into a trap deliberately? It seemed more than likely Fartok thought with a sour grimace.

‘Commander… you are alive!’ squeaked a terrified Ghar voice from amongst the rubble. It was Drok one of the Battle Squad leaders. He had managed to escape too. His face was pale and he was covered in blood. The ragged remnants of his armour’s feed lines hung from his tattered pilots suit.

‘Yes Drok I am alive,’ he snarled, ‘ now let’s get out of here’. Fartok looked around but all he could see were Algoryn in every direction. They would be lucky to make it back to their own lines alive. But he had been lucky already. Lucky to have survived a fatal hit to his battle armour and luckier still that the clumsy escape mechanism had actually worked. In any case, he had to live, because one thing was for sure: someone was going to pay. And that someone was Karg!

Beyond the Gates of Antares on Facebook

There is a community for Beyond the Gates of Antares on Facebook by joining the group you are granted exclusive previews like the C3 Interceptor below. Warlord Games also have an official Beyond the Gates of Antares Facebook page which is worth liking too. Rick Priestley the games author is known to lurk on both answering questions...