How to paint a Dark Angels Space Marine

Here is my entire process for painting a basic Dark Angels Space Marine. I tend to spend a bit more time per miniature than most people, so this method does take a bit of extra time. 

I apply all paints to my pallet using the following method: one drop on the end of a brush applied to pallet. One droplet of purified water placed on pallet (not mixed yet). Dip brush into water droplet and then mix with paint. Repeat until the paint is roughly the consistency of milk. You might need more or less depending on what you're painting but that's the basic mixture for all the basic stuff below.The brushes I use are the Citadel Detail Brush (yellow end), the Citadel Wash Brush (dark purple end) and the Citadel Small Drybrush (light blue end). Cost about $8 each.

The only 'techniques' I really use are a bit of drybrushing here and there. However, all of my paints are applied using multiple coats. This is time consuming but I believe it produces a much cleaner and more even looking paint job. Basically, you apply the first coat of paint, wait a few minutes and apply a second. A third might be needed if it still looks a little patchy or there are areas that need touching up.

Now, on with the processes:

Prepping:

Step 1: Prime with Chaos Black spray paint.

Step 2: Touch up missed areas with Abbadon Black. (Not needed if you don't fuck up the spray painting like I do).

Step 3: Base coat the basic armor panels and backpack in Caliban Green. Leave black showing in deep crevices in armour.

Step 4: Heavy wash with Biel-Tan Green. (This is optional. I like the shade of green it produces when it's all dried.)

Base Marine now prepped for detailing.

Prepped and ready to go.

Detailing: 

I consider anything after the above initial steps as detailing work.

Chest-plate:

1: Base in Zandri Dust

2: Heavy wash of Seraphim Sepia, and allow to dry upside down. This allows the wash to run into the gaps and cracks where it would naturally look darker.

3: Highlight with Ushabti Bone. Cover almost everything but leave some Zandri Dust showing in the recesses.

4: Highlight again with Screaming Skull. Only on the raised edges and the very tips of the 'feathers'.

5: Final light wash with Sepia. For this wash only load the tip of the brush and try to cover the flat surfaces instead of letting it build up in the crevices. Leave it to dry upright, so the wash runs down towards the models feet. 

Bone breastplates. The colour is a bit washed out in this picture. They have more depth under normal light.

Heraldry/Squad/Chapter Markings: 

1: Winged Sword on left pauldron painted Ceramite White. Thinned paint applied in multiple coats works best to get a solid, consistent look.

2: Tactical markings on right pauldron painted Mephiston Red.

3: Iconography on weapons/pack painted Balthzar Gold over a thin coat of brown. The brown helps the gold to pop a bit better. Thin yellow also works but looks a bit cartoony for me.

4: Left kneepad company marks freehanded. White base for the checks built up to screaming skull for an off-white bone tinge.

Freehand company markings on the kneepad. A bitch to paint but worth it.

Fine Detailing:

1. Eye lenses painted Mephiston Red. I really need to work out a better technique for eyes.

2. Purity Scroll wax painted a shade of red.

3. Parchment painted white.

4. Black lines (representing text) painted on parchment in Abaddon Black.

5. Rivets on gun/backpack/anywhere else painted Leadbelcher.

6. Gun casing painted Mephiston Red.

7. Gun metal based in Leadbelcher. 

8. Joint tubing painted in Leadbelcher, but just lightly over the raised surfaces.

8. All Leadbelcher parts washed with Nuln Oil. 

All major detailing done. Time to move onto the highlighting.

Highlighting:

1: 50:50 Caliban Green, Warpstone Glow - all edges. Pretty un-noticeable once applied.

2: Add another 25% Warpstone Glow to the mixture already in use - all corners and far out onto edges.

3: 50:50 Warpstone Glow and Moot Green. Quite bright. Only on most corners and a little bit out onto the edges.

4: 100% Moot green. Only on the very corners/very hard edges where light would catch sharply.

5. All leadbelcher parts highlighted with Ironbreaker.

The corners are where light catches the most. The edges slowly fade out to give the appearance of 'shine'.

That is essentially the marine himself done. Now it's just the base. Some bases are works of art in and of themselves but I prefer a reasonably simple approach because I hate doing the bases, lol.

Basing:

Glue the model to the base first. It's a fucking pain in the ass trying to do this later. Just do it. It will save so much hassle and look better in the end.

1. Paint base Zandri Dust all over.

2. Glue sand to top.

3. Once dried, brush sand with 50:50 PVC Glue / Water solution. This will harden and provide protection and make it much easier to paint.

4. Heavy wash with Seraphim Sepia. Make sure all glue is very very dry first. I usually let it dry over night just to be safe. Allow the wash to sink into the sand. If the glue is not dry this will fuck up all the sand.

5. Good drybrush with Zandri dust. Drybrushing just catches the top of the sand, leaving the sepia showing through underneath and looks quite good I think.

Base prepping done.

Details:

1. Cut up wine corks into acceptable rock shapes. Should be fairly random looking/rough. You can really use any rocks you like, but I enjoy making my own.

2. Paint cork black.

3. Drybrush cork as follows: Heavy brush of Administratum Gray > Light brush of Celstra Grey > Extremelly extremelly light brush of Ceramite White and only over the very hard edges. You now have rocks.

4. PVC Glue rocks to sand base in random patterns. Apply 50:50 PVC/Water to solution again once rocks are dried to base. This will harden everything up and provide protection.

5. Smear PVC Glue on the base where you want grass to be. Can be over, around, under rocks but should not cover whole base.

6. Use tweezers to apply flock grass. Shake gently to remove excess. Use tweezers to get things looking the way you want. Make sure to brush all traces of flock from the edge of your base and feet/legs of marine. Hard to get them off later. 

Allow to dry and you have a finished Dark Angels Space Marine.  

Repent! For tomorrow you die!

Crimson Slaughter Test Models

As promised an update! All of the pics should be clickable for larger versions.

Here are the first two test models, primed and ready to rock:

I then gave both the models a heavy wash in Nuln Oil to bring out the depth and shadows:

After that I moved onto working on the black based model only. I started by buffing up the armour plates with the same red I used for the base coat and then doing the trim in gold.

Once that was done I dry brushed the bolter a metallic colour but left some of the red showing through. I think it gives it an older, corroded look which I like. I moved onto the highlights, buffed the red with a mix of the original base colour and a lighter red to really bring out the armour sections and I went over the gold with a lighter gold. Then I highlighted the very edges with silver to make the gold 'pop'. This needs to be redone with a mix of silver and gold as they're too silver at the moment. Finally, I did the breastplate eye and the eyes in turquoise  I used a black wash to get the darkened effect around the eye on the chest.

And that is where I am at as of now. Next up all the detail work and the power pack will get done and then the base, finishing this guy off. I haven't decided how I am  going to base these guys yet, so they might remain incomplete for a little while. Then the second model will get the same treatment so that I can compare whether a black or white prime looks better. Then, it's on to the Helbrute!

Thanks for reading. If you'd like to check out any of my other models or photos you can find them in my Dakka gallery here.

Monstrous Painting Competition

My friendly local Games Workshop is holding a painting competition which I have decided to enter. This one is for big models and I have decided to paint the Helbrute Dreadnought, Mortis Metalikus from the Dark Vengeance starter set. It will be the first model I've entered into a competition and I will be keeping a progress log here and also on the Dakka forums.

Here's the beast, ready for priming:
     

I will be going with the default Crimson Slaughter paint job as I quite enjoy the fluff surrounding the Dark Vengeance kit. Firstly, I'll be painting up two of the Chosen that came with the kit so that I get a bit of practice on the overall colour scheme that I'll be going with:

Here are the steps I'm going to use on my first test model:

1) Prime with Citadel Chaos Black spray paint
2) Base entire model in Mephiston Red
3) Heavy black wash
4) Paint all metallics
5) Block red back in with Mephiston Red
6) Highlight red with either Evil Sunz Scarlet or Wazdakka Red.

I haven't yet decided how I am going to do the detail work such as the horns or the flesh tones on the Hellbrute itself. I am looking for a reasonably bright arterial look for the red on the armour  like fresh blood and so I was thinking of a paler, deader looking skin to contrast.

I have also made myself a wet pallette using the tutorial I found on Dakka. It works great!

Stay tuned as I will try and post at least one update a week on how this is going. 

Warhammer Obsession

Greetings Brothers and Sisters. May the guiding light of the Emperor illuminate your lives on this day. I thought that it might be fun to throw together a post detailing some of my current Warhammer obsession.

I have been into Warhammer as a hobby since I was about 13. I started collecting a Tyranid army back then and still have a soft spot for the gribbly little guys, however the Emperor's Finest have always been my inspiration. I enjoy the Super Solider and Trancended Humanity/Loss of Humanity themes that always run through Space Marine narratives and plus... Bolters. So, after much cajoling (I asked nicely) Suzanne Rogers bought me a Dark Vengeance box set and a Citadel Starter Paint kit for my birthday last year. She also went as far as to buy me a huge desk on which to model too!  

Dark Vengeance, Paint kit and some old Space Marine sprues from years ago.

Da big desk!

 Gleefully I started to practice on a few old Space Marine models that I still had.  Since I wasn't planning on actually playing these models, I posed them with whatever weapons I felt like. 

I think I did a pretty good job on these guys, considering that I didn't have the right paints, brushes or any real idea of a colour scheme other than 'Dark Angels'.

My first attempt at a 'tricky' base.

 These initial models were painted using the colour Waagh! Flesh which I darkened with Imperial Primer. I think the colour is quite good and is really close to the Caliban Green I use on all my models now. For my first painting attempt in 10 years I was really happy with how these guys turned out. 

My first attempt at drybrushing an entire model. I don't use this technique on my good models, but I thought it looked cool here.

Once I was reasonably happy with how my practice models were coming along I switched over to the new Dark Vengeance models. For anyone considering Dark Vengeance, I would highly recommend it. The models are top quality, full of detail and while the new Snap Fit design does mean you lose all the posability, it didn't bother me. By now I had hit up my local game store and picked up a bunch of new brushes and paints, including all the ones I'd be using for my colour scheme: Caliban Green for the base. Beil-Tan Green and Nuln Oil for the washes. Warpstone Glow for the highlights and Moot Green for the extreme highlights. Mephiston Red for the weapon covers (although I need a different red for highlights which I still haven't gotten yet).   Leadbelcher and Ironbreaker for the metalics like the Bolter and Balthazar Gold and Griffon Gold for the... gold bitz.

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The Eldar in the background are Suzanne's. For her first ever painted models I think they look epic!

Plain Vs. Highlighted

After a week of painting nothing but tactical models I got a bit bored of highlighting and decided to start on my Bikers:

So that is where I currently am with my obsession. All of my models have been cleaned up (mold lines, contact points etc) and snapped together in the last few days and Suzanne and I have had our first few Skirmishes with the DV models (Dark Angels Vs Chaos) with the Dark Angels winning both matches easily so far. The armies do seem to be a bit weighted in the Angels favour though as they have 3 HQ choices to Chaos's 1 and their Infantry choice is a 10 Man Tac squad with a Plasma Gun and Plasma Cannon vs Chaos' 2x 10 man Cultist Squads with Autoguns who basically just get chewed up in the first few turns. Even the addition of the Hellbrute Dreadnaught can't seem to turn the battle in Chaos' favour.

And finally here is my to-do list:

Dark Angels:

Finish 10 man Tactical Squad

Finish Ravenwing Bikers

4x Deathwing Terminators and Seargent

Librarian Turmiel

Interregator-Chaplain Seraphicus

Company Master Balthazar 

Chaos:

20x Cultists and Cultist Champions

5x Draznicht's Chosen Chaos Space Marines and Draznicht

1x Hellbrute Dreadnaught

1x Chaos Lord 

HTC makes you The One.

This is the first review I have ever done for something other than a video game. I would appreciate any feedback in the form of comments below. Also, if you enjoyed reading this review and you know others who might enjoy it too please share it via the panel on the right --->

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I can blog from my phone! It's pretty crazy when you think about it. The piece of technology that I am holding in my hand is more than 1000 times more powerful than my first real PC! In ten short years computer's have gone from huge towers that sit under your desk to a thin piece of metal resting in your palm with the power to do everything and more.

I must admit I am biased; I love smartphones. They interest me like no other piece of technology. They provide a portable gateway to the rest of the world, hold a suite of impressive tools and they are fast becoming capable of some pretty amazing things. No longer do you need to carry a phone, mp3 player, GPS, torch, camera etc and as technology progresses they will begin replacing things like car keys, credit cards and soon will even be diagnosing diseases like cancer! HTC has long been a favourite brand of mine and their latest offering firmly cements them on the top of the smartphone pack.

Introducing the HTC One X:

For the tech heads, the HTC One X features a 1.5 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor, 1GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce ULP graphics and 32 GB of internal memory which puts it on the top shelf when discussing current generation smartphones. All the standard features (Wi-Fi, portable hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, Micro USB 2.0) make an appearance. The One X is basically a small tablet computer. Weighing in at only 130g it is also surprisingly light for it's size. Full specifications can be found here. What all that means in layman terms is that this phone is a beast and at the time of writing boasts probably the most impressive hardware specifications on the market.

It has minimal buttons on the outside, featuring only a power/lock button on top and a volume rocker on the right side of the phone. The left side has the Micro USB connector while the top of the phone also has the 3.5mm headphone jack and the SIM card tray. HTC have gone the way of the iPhone with this handset, making it impossible to remove the battery or add memory and have changed the SIM to a MicroSIM.

Some people may find this a problem but overall I think it's a necessary change.

I have had a few days to play with the handset now and the first thing that stuck out for me is that the speed is incredible. Streaming HD video and running a graphically intensive game (Dead Trigger) at the same time caused barely any slowdown and the main cause was switching between CPU intensive processes. The quad core processor spreads the load remarkably well and I am glad I decided to go with this version rather than Telstra's dual core 4g XL version.

The second thing I noticed about the One X was the sound quality. The HTC Desire HD (my previous phone) was notoriously bad on loud speaker and when playing music and HTC have obviously paid attention in this area. Music sounds crisp and clean and is as loud as my laptop when the phone is placed face down. The addition of Beats Audio enhancements across all applications is a welcome feature, meaning that regardless of what you're doing it's going to sound great.

The free Beats Audio headphones HTC throw in don't go astray either!

Similarly, browsing the Internet is a joy with the 720x1280 312 ppi display providing a huge amount of screen real estate for a phone. A 4.7" screen might be off putting for some people but if you are looking for a device to handle Internet/e-mails comfortably, it is a fantastic size. It's also very snappy, even on a 3G connection. I haven't found any 'squaring' issues while scrolling through web pages with a decent HSDPA connection.

The One X is shipped with a Super LCD2 screen, covered in scratch resistant Gorilla Glass and it rivals S-AMOLED for quality. Put this phone next to a Samsung Galaxy SIII (one of which I have had the pleasure of playing with recently) and you will see that they are both visually excellent. The slightly convex screen on the One X also gives the handset a wide range of viewing angles and even from 45 degrees it looks great.

Even from the side the screen performs admirably.*

Samsung's flagship is another great phone but the One X's power is hard to beat.

Obviously all of this draws a lot of energy and HTC have included a non-removable 1800 mAh battery. Unfortunately this seems to be the only drawback with the phone as it sucks power very quickly when using the full features. I manage about 5 - 6 hours of solid use including Wi-Fi/3G Internet, video, light gaming, calls and texts. The One X will last all day with moderate usage however and power saving techniques (turn off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, dim screen etc) will make sure you get home before the battery dies. It's really only those instances when you can't get to a power point where you'll have a problem.

HTC have made a number of fundamental changes with their new flagship. Most noticeable are the missing 'Menu' and 'Search' buttons featured on most Android handsets. These buttons have been integrated into Sense 4.0 and replaced with a 'Recent Apps' button, which brings up your last few applications and allows you seamless switching between them. It's as easy and flawless as Alt+Tab on a computer and probably my favourite new feature. What this does is tie your whole device together and allow you to very simply switch tasks on the fly. From playing a game to taking a call, it's just a simple matter of hitting the Recent Apps button to get back into the action.

This feature streamlines the whole feeling of the phone. I love it.

The HTC Sense platform has also undergone a strip down. Gone are a lot of the frivolous features and animations, replaced with sleek user friendly options that are more akin to stock Android than Sense's previous iterations. Widgets and apps can be placed via the same menu, resized and even grouped into easily re-nameable folders. It's a welcome change as some of the HTC Sense platform on previous handsets could be intrusive and annoying at times.  

Finally, I am not much of a photographer but I will mention that the One X boasts a pretty impressive 8MP camera, capable of recording video in full 1080p HD. It is the first smartphone camera to be able to record and take still pictures at the same time, a feature that will undoubtedly be very welcome to some. The camera interface has been stripped back to bare bones, making it simple and easy to use and quick to load at 0.7 of a second and it boasts the fastest capture time of current gen smartphones at 0.2 sec delay between shots.

To state things quite simply, HTC have hit the nail on the head with this handset. It's a beautiful piece of technology that works as it should; flawlessly. It's nice to use a device that feels so seamless that you forget you're on a phone and not your PC or Laptop. If you are looking for a new phone, the HTC One X will not disappoint.

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This post was typed using the Blogger app on my HTC One X. Formatting and pictures were added afterwards.

Credits go to www.anandtech.com www.engadget.com www.gsmarena.com and www.htc.com for pictures and information.

* Not actually a picture of my phone!

The Wrath of the Space Marines

This review was originally posted on my Facebook page. I have a few more I will be moving over here in the next few days. I added the trailer to the bottom which I will be doing with all my reviews from now on. Apologies if you've read this before.

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In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. For more than ten thousand years the Emperor of Mankind has sat in His deathless state upon the Golden Throne. Not alive, but never truly dead, He is master of man by the will of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of His inexhaustible armies. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium to whom a thousand souls are sacrificed each day so that He may never truly die. Billions give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst His soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, His Space Marines. Bio-engineered super warriors formed from the genetic material of His sons, the Primarchs. 

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine puts you into the Power Armoured boots of one of the Emperor's finest as you battle to save the Forge World Graia from a deadly Ork invasion. The planet is a main production hub of one of the Imperium's most important and powerful weapons, Warlord battle class Titans, monstrous humanoid machines capable of leveling entire cities. The beginning of the game centres around Captain Titus and his squad mates, the grizzled veteran Sergeant Sidonus and the recently promoted initiate Leandros as they drop to the surface of Graia and move to secure the Titan production facility. Millions of Orks have swarmed across the world, decimating the planet's defense forces and burning and looting everything in their path. Your squad must cut a hole through their ranks and move to take the production facility before the counter-invasion can begin. 

Typically, someone lost the keys to the giant murderbot.

Combat is bloody and ferociously fast passed, seamlessly slipping from dealing death with your boltgun to slicing greenskins into bloody chunks with your chainsword. Enemies range from sniveling, shrieking Grots right through to huge, hulking Nobz who take a fearsome amount of punishment before being put down. Your Power Armour will give you protection in the form of a rechargeable armour bar but your health can only be replenished by performing executions; special power moves you can perform on a stunned opponent which will cause a gory, satisfying kill animation. There is a slight problem here however, as enemies can still hurt you while the animation plays out, leaving you vulnerable for a few moments. Luckily your health bar will almost totally recharge after every execution, meaning that you're only in trouble if you have really low health.

The games controls are well done, making it easy to pick off targets and maneuver Titus across the battlefield. Your character has an appropriately heavy feel, being the power armoured super-human that he is. Surprisingly cover is a no show in this game. The Space Marines of the Warhammer universe are typically described as being able to shrug off all but the highest powered attacks, your power armour and the lack of a cover system gives you that slight feeling of invincibility as you stride through a storm of gunfire. As you slaughter your way through wave after wave of Orks you will slowly build your Fury meter. When activated Fury acts as a kind of bullet-time mechanic, slowing time and making your attacks much more powerful. Entire waves of enemies can be mowed down with your bolter or chopped into pieces with your chainsword in a few short moments, making Fury a useful when you're almost down and out. Fans of 40k will be happy to know that the game pays homage to a sizable portion of the Adeptus Astartes arsenal. Your main weapons are of course a bolter and chainsword, but plenty more make an appearance including Plasma Cannons and the Thunder Hammer.

Relic and THQ have done a good job capturing the grandiose scale of the Warhammer universe in the scenery and locations throughout the game. Towering manufactories dominate the landscape and your first target on landing is a huge orbital defense gun. Dark, gothic architecture features heavily and is rendered expertly. Warhammer aficionado’s will recognize the many and varied symbols dotted throughout the world such as the Aquila and the Cog symbol of the Cult Mechanicus as well as the haphazard Ork banners and towers. Warhammer has always been about scale. Everything is bigger in this universe, from the super human Space Marines and the mighty ape like Orks to the planet-wide cityscape you battle in and the game delivers no less on this scale. It is a pity however that the graphics occasionally give everything a cartoony look that feels out of place amidst the blood and gore. 

Ha har! Jokez on you space marine. Oi ate me muthaa!

Unfortunately there are some problems with this game that drag it from being a truly epic struggle, worthy of a place in the Imperial Archives, down to a standard battle that threatens to be lost to antiquity. Space Marine is a very linear game, forcing you along tight corridors and throwing wave after wave of cannon fodder onto your guns. Exploration is occasionally rewarded with pickups like extra ammo or a Servo-Skull (which provide some back story in the form of audio clips) but these are rarely a challenge to find. Melee fights become repetitive as you only have a small repertoire of melee moves which are all activated by the same button combo regardless of weapon and after the thousandth time you hear an Ork scream, "Waaaaaaaargh!" you'll want to tear your ears off. As mentioned the graphics are sometimes a bit on the cartoony side, detracting from the overall feel of the game. The lack of a co-op mode, either online or split-screen is also a glaring omission in a game that should be about squad based combat. It's also disappointing that such a small amount of unit classes made it into this game. There are unfortunately no controllable vehicles and only standard Space Marines make an appearance. No Terminators or Dreadnaughts or Killa Kans this time around.

However none of that should stop you playing this game. Space Marine delivers in the fun department and that's what it's really all about in the end. It has an engaging story that will hook old veterans and new recruits alike and the combat is appropriately gory and fast paced. The multi-player modes are also a great way to kill some time with friends. Classic team deathmatch makes an appearance as well as a 'horde' mode called Exterminatus where four friends can battle wave after wave of Orks for experience to unlock upgrades. This is a fun addition to the game and the ability to use the fantastic Assault Marine jetpack more (it is fairly limited in the campaign) is very welcome.

"Hey Bob, you hear a whining noise?" "Nah, it's prob'ly your imagination."

The enemies of the Emperor fear many things.
They fear discovery, defeat, despair and death.
Yet there is one thing they fear, above all others.
The wrath of the Space Marines.

This gamer gives Space Marine a 7.5/10

FTL: Faster Than Light

FTL: Faster Than Light is a game from new start up Subset Studios. It is a graphical roguelike game focusing heavily on space combat and micromanagement of your star ship's crew and systems. 

Unlike most space games FTL puts you in direct control of your crew, which you will use to man systems aboard your ship such as Helm, Weapons, Shields and Engines. Each crew member is capable of gaining experience depending on how they're used and more experience translates to more proficiency at any given task. Man the weapons system for long enough and your weapons will charge faster etc.

FTL focuses on controlling your ships systems through power allocation. Your ship has a reactor, which provides a number of 'power bars' which can be allocated to power up a system. Systems without power cease to function and at half power will only function at half capacity. The reactor and systems can be upgraded, providing and requiring more power respectively. The exception to this rule are the subsystems Helm (piloting), Sensors and Doors. These subsystems do not draw power from the reactor.

Divert all power to FUN.

The objective of the game is to reach the final sector. Your ship is carrying information vital to the success of your political faction (The Federation) in your war against your opponents (The Rebellion) and you must explore and fight through 7 randomly generated sectors to get to the 8th and final goal.

As with most Roguelike games FTL features random map and loot generation. This can make for some very frustrating play throughs if the RNG doesn't throw up a good weapon or forces you to face off against too many tough enemies early. All in all though in my many runs through this game I have found the randomness to be very consistent and well implemented. 

Each dot represents an FTL beacon. All of them have events of some type.

FTL has two difficulty modes. Easy will be accessible to most players, even those who are not familiar with the roguelike genre. Increased resource gathering and decreased enemy strength really make Easy feel quite breezy (sorry but The Robot Overlords demanded I work one rhyme into this post) while Normal ups the difficulty quite sharply. You will die and die often in FTL.

She's breakin' up Cap'n! I cannae hold 'er together!

FTL will set you back a measly $10 which is an awesome price for a game with this much 
replay value. There is a lot more that I could write on this game and I will probably do up a tips/game-play guide sometime in the near future, so keep your eyes open for that.