And now for something not zombie related, Paradiso

 
  

finally.

I know not everyone will be enamoured with the prospect of a week full of zombie stuff, so here's something a bit different. Yep that's right the Infinity Campaign / Mission / new faction / it's bigger than it was meant to be book, has finally arrived. This Saturday with the Cursed we trekked down the Tabletop Nation, part of Wayland Games, to have a look at the product, and to have a look around. They were having a launch party for Campaign: Paradiso and some of the chaps from Corvus Belli were there to run some people through a campaign. We were there to take it all in, look at some of Angel's handy work and get our rulebooks signed. Sadly in a cruel twist of fate our Paradiso books were shipped out literally the day before we were due to head down to Tabletop Nation... d'oh! This meant we didn't have our books with us as they were in the post. Oh the irony. Still we were able to buy books when we were there and we can send our other books back once they arrive for a refund so it worked out well in the end. Here's some pictures from the day:

Carlos explaining things to everyone.

There was a small, but dedicated crowd.

Some of the boards were great, but others seemed too sparsely populated with terrain.

The main three boards were linked together by a high way... it looked pretty cool.

The real show stopper though was seeing some of Angel's work in the flesh...

...most shocking of all is that they look better than they do in the official shots.

Annie looked so good I think the cursed may have wet himself!

The Aleph Chandra spec-op looked awesome... but I've got my own rendition...

...ta da!!! Carlos drew me my very own in my campaign book.

All in all I think everyone who attended had a fantastic day, and it was nice to meet some of the guys from Corvus Belli in person. Carlos was a real gent and was more than willing to sign books, draw pictures and just have a good chinwag with fellow gamers. Angel Giraldez's paint jobs look even better in the flesh if that's at all possible, and it made me feel even more depressed about my own abilities. But hey, I'm glad I got to see the mini's I did up close and personal. As for the Campaign book? It's not exactly what many Infinity gamers were calling for. I think we'd have been happy with a number of missions and scenarios, some new troops choices and maybe a bit more fluff. What we got was an extremely comprehensive campaign system, with lots of missions that can be played independently if you so choose, plenty of new options for those factions like Aleph that were under represented, a few nice toys for everyone else... AND... an entirely new alien race the Tohaa. Right now the book is getting a thumbs up from me, but you can expect a full review shortly.

What of the venue though? Table Top Nation? Well there's still clearly a hell of a lot of work still to be done to turn it into the venue that the guys at Wayland Games want it to be. But, if they pull it off I'm sure it will be worth all the effort. It is a really large space and the plans they have for it will make good use of that space. My only issue would be where it's located. The southeast isn't the easiest place to get to in the UK if you aren't in the southeast or in East London. Yeah there's Stansted airport nearby and a train station, but it's not on a direct mainline to any other major UK cities and I believe it terminates at Liverpool Street station in London, which itself isn't a major hub. It's also on an industrial estate, which isn't a surprise given that to have a similar sized venue actually in a town or city would cost a kings ransom. It's the same issue I had with Maelstrom Games really being an 'out of town' venue. I guess though it's the only way to make such venues work nowadays, and it is at least a modern clean building. I look forward to seeing what it's like as a venue. Peace out!