My First Painted Miniature

Vintage Ral Partha #01-012 Archangel

I managed to somehow hang on to this after all these years. As the title says, this was the first painted miniature I ever did. It was 1980, and this Tom Meier sculpt made its way into my hands. It came from my folks, who never played roleplaying games or the like, in fact they displayed hardly any gamer tendencies at all, but they had bought miniatures from time to time nonetheless. These were unicorns, dragons, and other critters.

The lead range of Ral Partha was just amazing, and there was a store in town called the Yankee Peddler which was basically your proto-gaming store. It had rotating metal racks full of blister packs and I would slowly spin through them, mesmerized at all the figures. At this point in my life I was only six, but still dug Star Wars, loved Star Blazers on television, and adored my Rankin-Bass Tolkien read-along albums. So to see figs of Orcs, Elves, and the like was just the next step for me in the natural progression of things.

I don't know when the concept of actually painting the figures came into the picture, but since my folks are also somewhat artistically inclined, they took to it, especially my Mom. She can still crank out a paint job that is pretty good to this day when she's inclined to do so, mostly she paints large pieces and dioramas that usually involve dragons. You can (sort of) see some of her work here with an older GW Wood Elf Dragon I still need to put back together. It took a bad tumble one day off a bookshelf. Always pin your metal models!

I don't remember a lot of details about my Archangel, but I do remember thinking how cool it looked even way back then. I also remember the wings and sword arm which are obviously no more. The red on the figure on the face and hair was actually a brush-on primer if I recall correctly, and I want to say it was Testors.


I can tell there was something of a plan going on here. It looks like dark blue robes underneath, and no that's not elaborate shading, it's dust, haha. The Roman-style skirt was going to be leather and it looks like there was gold metallic on the torso. The shoulder plates look like they were once a steel blue, and the shield obviously is gold. The colors have held up rather well considering!


It's funny that even back then I put my figures on bases! If you're wondering just how strong superglue is in the long run, well look no further. This lead figure was superglued on a plain ole 1961 nickel a whopping twenty-nine years ago and it's still good to go.

There's not a whole lot to see here overall, really, but this figure is kind of special to me just for what it represents. It's fun to look back at this, and I'll be putting this on my shelf in its own little spot. In searching for reference material for my fig, I found the same sculpt for sale still today over at Iron Wind Metals! I think I definitely owe it to myself to pick up (another) one and get cracking. And yeah, I'll be basing the new one on a nickel too...

Super Soviets: Reinforcements

The Super Soviets received additional reinforcements today in the form of a twin brother and sister duo, as well as a Soviet supers icon. Each of the three are formidable in their own right and bring with them their powers to an already impressive lineup.


The Siberian Arrow (aka Deadeye)

The Siberian Arrow is quick to temper and never backs down from a fight. His quiver of arrows include many 'gadget' arrows that give him the right tool for any job, while his standard combat arrows are flint-knapped from a razor sharp obsidian. He has unerring accuracy with his bow, an ancient weapon from days past made of the bones of a Wooly Mammoth. He is a highly resilient individual, and spy satellite photos show him training in the frozen tundra, in the dead of winter, without any sleeves or additional clothing.


The Grand Duchess (aka Shield Maiden)

The Grand Duchess was the Soviet Union's first super to wear a costume, making her debut close to one hundred years ago in the summer of 1918. She has been an unwavering symbol of her country ever since then. Other than her superhuman longevity and health, the Grand Duchess wields an indestructible shield made of an undetermined metal alloy. Not only is she able to use the shield in the more practical manner, she can also hurl it with great force, ricocheting off multiple enemies before returning to her waiting hand. It is affectionately named the "Tsar". She also displays superhuman agility and balance and superb hand-to-hand combat ability, there seems to be no slowing her down.


Medusa (aka Lady Blade)

Medusa is the twin sister to the Siberian Arrow, most easily recognizable by their hair. Medusa's hair, however, is more than just long locks, she is able to control her hair to ensnare, entangle, and even to strangle her foes. One grainy security camera footage from the French Embassy building even shows what looks like her hair wielding a small, bladed weapon, as if it were a hand. This is but one weapon in the living arsenal that is Medusa. Were there any targets left alive after dealing with Medusa they would surely tell you that no, not all ninjas hail from Asia. She is the master of the sword, and hers is a wickedly sharp blade made from meteoric iron. Footage from the 1980's shows her sword slicing through the armored hulls of Afghan tanks with ease, suggesting she possesses super strength as well. Although slight in build, she shrugs off the greatest of blows time and time again.


The complete team of the Super Soviets

The Super Soviet team is complete. Although you can battle with as little as three (or fewer, although I haven't done it) figs per side, I like a full six so you can pick and choose as needed (as I did with Monster Squad). Plus, as far as teams of Superheroes go, six is a nice round number and gives you plenty of options to spread power archetypes around. I like the cohesive look of the team and their colors, but I need to get some white sickle and hammer decals to add to their uniforms. I figure with all the Flames of War stuff out there I should be able to pick some up, and they should be the perfect size too. The team's not quite done, I do have one more rather large pièce de résistance to add when I get the chance.

Monster Squad is Go!

Monster Squad

After yesterday's post with my freshly painted Super Soviets, I thought I'd post up these guys, the Monster Squad. I painted these guys a while back, by about a couple of years, and looking at them now, I know I'd change a couple of things, but I'm still happy with how they look. So, here they are for posterity in all their monster glory.

Monster Squad is a loose band of misfit supers who have no nation or team to call their own. The media has dubbed them 'monsters' as such, and even though the group is aligned to helping humanity above all else, their exploits are always condemned. They find solidarity in the company of one another, and even though they are painted as villains by the media at large, and seen as vigilantes at best, they continue to help humanity nonetheless.


Leviathan (aka Megladon)

Leviathan hails from the ruins of Atlantis itself. He had left Earth eons ago with his race on a quest of dire importance and has only recently returned. He did to find his home realm in ruins, swallowed up by the ocean. He wields an Atlantean artifact blade, and with his great strength he certainly uses it to great effect. He has a tremendous bite as well, though he rarely uses it, preferring to not cause permanent harm to his foes. He is able to survive underwater indefinitely, and can communicate with aquatic life.


The Scarlet Scarab (aka Glockroach)

The Scarlet Scarab is a horrible lab accident gone wrong. When two entities were accidentally combined, those of mild mannered scientist and common household pest, the result was miraculous...and tragic. Possessed of a human mind, uncanny reflexes, insectoid strength, and four polymer handguns, the Scarlet Scarab hunts crime through the back alleys of the largest of cities. Recently he has become more involved in environmental matters and is suspected in a string of eco-terrorism cases throughout the Northwest.


Lady Midnight (aka Ms. Nightmare)

Lady Midnight is a complete mystery, even to her teammates. She is never seen outside of her costume, and during periods of sleep she dematerializes in a wisp of smoke, only to return again in the morning. Once, when knocked unconscious, fellow teammate Wrecking Ball tried to remove her mask to revive her and found that he could not. She doesn't speak aloud, only through mental empathy and suggestion, and only to a single team member in a period of about a week, at the end of which she will begin communicating to a new team member. Her powers consist of altering the physical laws around her and impacting the rules of probability in her and her team's favor. She can also project the worst fears of her enemy into their minds, rendering them helpless in a matter of moments.


Jack o' Lantern (aka Devil's Night)

Jack o' Lantern is sometimes known as the Pumpkin King, sometimes he goes by the moniker of the Ripe Lord, and has even referred to himself as the Gourd Lord. One thing is certain whatever he goes by, he is far from sane. He often cackles incessantly in battle, swinging his razor sharp blades while reciting limericks about how he and his team are besting their current foes. He has also been known to be rather reckless when throwing his explosive pumpkin bombs from his seemingly inexhaustible bandoleer. There's more to Jack o' Lantern than his sanity that just seems not quite "right". He has an ethereal, otherworldly menace to him that chills you to your core when in his presence, as if someone walked over your grave.


Doc Inferno (aka Fireflight)

Doc Inferno leads the Monster Squad and he is the most "human" looking of the bunch, with a slight exception being the giant Wrecking Ball. Doc Inferno is very well educated (having once been an actual doctor of metaphysics) and he's well spoken to boot. It is only because of his charismatic dealings with authorities that the Monster Squad is as tolerated as they are. His talents come to the fore when tackling sensitive and technological obstacles and often his knowledge of history helps unravel mysteries for the team. In battle he can fly first and foremost, but his main strength comes from his pyrokinetic ability. He is able to hurl balls of flame, streams of searing light, and make it rain hot brimstone on a whim. His skin is constantly ablaze and as he flies, a trail of smoke and fire follow. From a thick chain around his neck he wears the mysterious (and alien) Theta Device.


Wrecking Ball (aka Squat)

Wrecking Ball lives up to his name as his job on Monster Squad is a simple one; smash things. Until Leviathan came along, he was, by far, the largest member of the team. Wrecking Ball's strength is matched only by his near indestructibility. He has been filmed on more than one occasion having apartment buildings collapse on top of him, thrown through the air several hundred feet, and even being clipped by a speeding train. He has a simple outlook on life, and all too often willingly plays into the "dumb brick" stereotype just for the fun of it, though he is capable of much more eloquent thought.

The Super Soviets

The Super Soviets

Just the other day our buddy was lamenting how he didn't want to paint another army anytime soon. He jokingly said, "Just give me a game where all I need is three minis." Well, we already have said game, it's Scott Pyle's Supersystem. The figs are inexpensive, and look great, plus, they paint up fast. I did the three above just this morning. If you click the Supersystem tag below, you'll see just one battle report last year, which is too bad, this game really is a blast to play. I'd really like to play it more, ahem.


Captain Kremlin (aka Dark Templar)

Captain Kremlin leads the nefarious Russian team known only as the Super Soviets. His age is undetermined and he appears as powerful today as he did when the team first made themselves aware to the world at large. The Super Soviets are one of Earth's oldest known groups of supers, making their debut years well before the start of World War II. Their goals often run counter to that of other nations. They find themselves fighting other supers as often as they do protecting their own citizens. They are known for keeping within their own borders and consistently turn down invitations to join the Global Super Alliance. Once, during the Terrax alien invasion of Earth in 2002, the Super Soviets refused to assist smaller Eastern European countries that did not boast supers of their own.


The Antagonista (aka Mindhawk)

The Antagonista is powerful telepath able to subdue and assault her victims through mental blasts and concussive force waves. She is also able to produce force barriers that shield her allies. She was identified at the tender young age of five by the KGB and whisked away to government test labs where her powers were explored and refined by scientists, it is theorized that experimental augmentation was performed as well. She has faithfully served Mother Russia for the last fifteen years.


Colossus (aka Ox)

Piotr "Peter" Rasputin was born on a Soviet collective farm called the Ust-Ordynski Collective near Lake Baikal in Siberia. He lived there with his mother Alexandra, father Nikolai, and sister, Illyana. Peter's superhuman powers manifested during his adolescence while saving his sister from a runaway tractor. At first, Peter was content simply to use these powers to aid the other people of the collective; however he was soon contacted by Captain Kremlin and persuaded to become a member of the team.

(Yes, this is the same Colossus as the X-Men hero of the same name. I was going for a kind of "what-if" alternate history if Peter had been found and recruited by the Kremlin first before Charles Xavier ever came into the picture. Being the on the cutting edge of supers science that they are, they've also enhanced his size and strength even further beyond his already impressive superhuman parameters.)

Evolution

Evolution (2001)

You've got a couple of community college professors, toting shotguns that still have the price tags attached, running around the beautiful Arizona desert dodging government cover up and they're saving humanity from rapidly evolving aliens which landed on Earth via a crashed meteor while shouting lines like, "Let's go shampoo us some aliens!". How can you not love this film?

Orlando Jones and David Duchovny are a great team up in this and the delivery of their lines and subtle (or not so subtle) character nuances are top notch. Julianne Moore is awesome, as always, just not on the same level of sheer zaniness as the other two. Seann Scott isn't too bad and gives us offbeat and quirky humor. Dan Akroyd has a small role where he's over the top as the governor, which is funny, but like I said, a small role.

The script is solid, the action ain't bad, the story is fun if simple, and the special effects (for being eight years old) really aren't that bad. The other thing is that you can really tell that there was a lot of fun to be had on set while they were filming this, and it shows through when the cameras are rolling as well.


The critters range from tapeworms to dragons to man-apes to giant blobs

The Army of Shadowdale

The liberators of Shadowdale, toppling the Zhentarim network.


Nine, Ghostwise Halfling Mystic Theurge


Rhystell, Wood Elf Fighter


Eö Starfall, Star Elf Bard


Nonamé, Moon Elf Rogue


Meti Kumawatti, Human Cleric of Mulhorand


Thorik, Shield Dwarf Barbarian


Collect all six!

Man, err, Gnome Down! Medic, err, Cleric!

Saturday's 3.5 DnD game started off with a big ole tavern brawl.

So we've been playing Dungeons and Dragons for...ever. I've sat at the table with no less than three guys of our current group on a regular basis since high school (going on nineteen years now). Everyone else I've known just about as long, and have gamed with them in one form or fashion almost as long, just not on the "regular" part. We don't have all the time in the world, but we still manage to get in a game a month and we're currently hammering through the Forgotten Realms Weave-Tearing trilogy.


It's not a bar fight unless the Dwarf Barbarian starts swinging a chair...


The Moon Elf Rogue shows off his amazing tumbleness.


No one expects the Ratinator! Although, we never really fought this guy anyway.


Squaring off against a Beholder in the Underdark.


Zap!

Well, I've already told you all about my character, a major geek faux pas I know. Since you've studied him I'm sure, you'll note those two little six level spells lurking down there at the bottom of his spell list. There's some cool stuff at six level, including the 22d6 damage spell called Disintegrate. Fun stuff, and I was eager to tag the giant floating eyeball of anti-magic death aberration arrayed against us.


Alor 'SPLODES!

Ahh, the ironies in life. Well, Beholders are pretty nasty, and we are an eleventh level party, so it's not like he was serving up cupcakes. Well, the round after I cast Disintegrate, it did the same back at me, to a little bit more devastating effect than I had hoped for, heh. So my character that I've invested a couple of years in 'crafting' died a quick and painless death, but died nonetheless. This vexes me, I'm terribly vexed.

Dark Angels: End in Sight

Twenty models to go!

After completing my last Dark Angels project, the end is in sight...for now anyway. Depending on the painter, the above pic could be cranked out in a three-day weekend. Unfortunately I can't move that fast. I've enjoyed rejuvenating the boys in dark green, but I gotta say, I think by the time I get the last brush stroke on the last model I will be ready for a change of pace. Just eyeballing what's on the shelf already I think I'm in the 1500-1800 point range painted, throw in the above slew o' figs and I'm easily in the 2000-2500 point range (I think). I don't have any tanks, that's my Achilles heel, but that may just to be the elephant in the room. The one tank up there I do have I'm going to try hard to trade off for a Pig Iron APC for another side project that hasn't surfaced on here just yet.


Judge Dread...nought!

Then we have this beast from way back. I went overboard on it, and it shows. Custom magnetized arms, every icon on the sprue in every nook and cranny, the list goes on and on. Well, now I have multiple gun arms to paint up, six in all (there's a twin-linked Heavy Bolter not shown). Since I crammed it full of iconic bling too, I'll have to give those their proper due as well, haha.


Speaking of bling...

Aha, my ten Sternguard, last of the models that resembles a plain ole "squad". I festooned these troopers with all manner of wargear and extras too, but if those Vanguard were any indication, the end result will pay off here as well. I also built them with two separate combat squads in mind; the front row are my more 'assault' type troopers with flamer, Storm Bolters, and the Sergeant wielding a Power Fist. The second row is a bit of a more static, stand-back-and-shoot type squad with regular Bolters (to take advantage of the special issue ammo) and of course the big, honkin' Plasma Cannon. I laud GW's new plastics with praise a lot, but this case is no different, these figures just look...cool, simply put. As with the Dread, they'll be a pain to paint, but well worth it.


Last call for HQ

Then there's these knuckleheads; a Chaplain and the Chapter Master himself. The cherub on the far left is really just a flavor text model, who will accompany the Chaplain around the battlefield kind of like Azrael's helmet bearer. In the cherub's case though, he's a Storm Bolter bearer, which was a very slight conversion. I may pop that old backpacj/cape combo off the Chaplain and replace it with a jump pack so he can accompany Squad Icarus into melee, I dunno. Taking a departure from Dark Angels canon, my Chapter Master will be Tracto, first mentioned in the opening line of the Trucidos campaign. I want to take my time and do a bang-up job with these, and being single models, even working at a snail's pace, they should paint up rather quickly.

Vanguard Squad Vindicta

Size: Five Man Squad
Leader: Veteran Sgt. Antaeus
Wargear: bolt pistols, frag grenades, chainswords
Special Equipment: Sgt. Antaeus' wargear; relic blade, storm shield, melta-bombs
Naming Convention: Vindicta is the Latin word for vengeance, which starts with the same letter as 'vanguard', so a little alliteration can go a long way. Plus, anytime you throw Latin in on top of some 40k models you're usually good to go. The sergeant's name comes from Dante's Inferno, and I always like the sound of it, plus I wanted him to sound hard as nails. By the way, there's a great web tour of Dante's Hell here!






I went with a few departures from my regular color schemes, mainly in the weapons and wargear. Instead of red casings with non-metallic greys, I went with blackened steel metal (with chainmail highlights) and jet black casings. The jump packs were largely black as well and as you can see, I'm still flaunting my twenty year old chapter icon decals, haha. I also used lots of copper, burnished gold, and silvers. I took a shortcut when it came to the leather pouches and braided rope belts, and wasn't too happy with the outcome, but I'm being picky, it's hardly noticeable...especailly for "tabletop quality".

The Game Room Hat Trick

The shelves, waiting to be crammed, err, stocked full

I was digging through my photo library the other day looking for pics of friends and family and ran across these. SInce I had just recently made two posts about my game room here and here, I thought I'd follow up and make the game room saga a trilogy.

We took pictures the day we built the shelves in the game room for posterity, which now in hindsight was a pretty good idea I guess. We're not carpenters I should point out, far from it, but in an about a day with only two trips to the hardware store and about a case of cheap beer we managed to crank out a functional addition to the game room. The only thing I don't have pics of are what the closets looked like before but there's not much to tell. A bunch of those coated white wire shelves and horrible tacky sliding doors.


A handful of RPG books and a Shadowrun Ogre Mage are the test subjects for some of the first shelves. On the right you can see the 'table shelf' which is now a sort of no-man's land. I was originally going to use this as my painting desk and use a bar stool to sit on, but that didn't pan out. On the left you can see my antique desk that we just slid right into the recess.


It's all drywall, so we used drywall screws drilled through the shelf supports. We used full length shelf supports to help distribute the weight as best as possible. We also used a lot of screws for maximum hold, one of these shelves coming out of the wall and crashing everything would be an absolute nightmare. Wood glue was also used. You can see from the spacing of the figure display shelves that they're not evenly spaced or anything, we eyeballed them and used a level, but that was about as fine tuned as we got.


Here's the right hand closet


Quite the contrast compared to this pic


Here they are, just before the real work began. The fellow on the left is the magnanimous Oz that I mention from time to time. Now he's famous, well, at leas this backside.

Voltron Goes Tabletop

It looks like the mighty, multi-part, giant robot defender of the universe is coming to the tabletop! Voltron will be the first (hopefully of many!) licensed property for Privateer Press' Monsterpocalypse game. There's a good press writeup of it here. Of particular note, and somewhat tantalyzing, is Matt Wilson's quote:

"Monsterpocalypse was created with the goal of being able to feature guest stars from our favorite films and TV shows that have done so much to inspire the creation of the game."

It's tantalyzing because if they're looking at other licenses to add to the MonPoc stable, then color me interested. Again. Obviously if they were to tap into the Gojira franchise, wow, that would just be the mother lode considering just how many giant critters are running around that franchise. King Kong is another obvious choice too. Looking through the excellent Giant Monster Movie Database you'll see a ton of great creatures waiting to smash buildings and one another. The Cloverfield Monster would be just plain cool to see (as an oversized model?), and really you can't have giant monsters running around without Insectosaurus! Not to mention you could get a little more serious and tackle the Lovecraft mythos too.

It's funny, I used to rave about Monsterpocalypse and now that it's here (and has been out for a while) I still haven't played it. Money kinda has something to do with it, I can only support so many hobbies at a time, and MonPoc would be one more new game to get into. Secondly, even though it's prepainted...it's also collectible, ugh. I don't mind collectible games so much by themselves, but I know I would feel obligated to buy lots of boosters, and that brings us back full circle to the whole 'money' thing.


The possibilities are endless!

NASA Unveils the C.O.L.B.E.R.T.

Here's a follow up to my post a couple of days back regarding NASA and their Node #3 module. Well, NASA did cheese out, but only slightly in naming their ISS Node #3. In the spirit of being good humored however, they managed to adhere to the spirit of the game, and give the overwhelming write-in vote of Colbert a real shot at outer space if not as the module name, but at least the name of something. According to NASA: "We don't typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception." Bummer, sure it makes total sense, but still. So what's the next best thing? Naming a piece of equipment inside of Node #3 after Colbert, haha! From the above patch off of NASA's webpage, and no this is not an April Fool's joke, the ISS's new treadmill will be named the acronym COLBERT.

Combined
Operational
Load
Bearing
External
Resistance
Treadmill

Good stuff and shows that NASA is being good sports about it in the end after all. Tranquility was the final name chosen for Node #3 and is in honor of the Apollo 11 mission's forty year anniversary.

Hordes Anyone?

Everyone should know Hordes by now, a rip-roaring, beast-infused testosterone smack 'em up by Privateer Press who broke onto the miniatures scene catering to the 18-24 year old, anti-GW demographic. Warmachine came first, and we played it...quite a bit actually, but it tanked locally, and fast. We also played the Iron Kingdoms RPG more than a few times too, suffice it to say we liked the genre as a whole.

Hordes was just being released near the end of the Iron Kingdoms hey-day here. It was cool, it was different, and in a lot of ways it seemed to tweak (and improve) a lot of the rules issues that we found in WM, but I think the timing was too little, too late for us.


The warbeasts of my first foray into Hordes, the Legion of Everblight. I got these thinking they could pull double duty as some horrid backworld Xenos to harass Colonial Marines or the like. The models were certainly cool looking.


Here's a couple of the Legion's Warlocks and a Minion Solo. I was going for an overall desert kind of look, and I was going to paint all of the Nyss (Winter Elves) as Drow. Something about the Legion didn't stick with me though, maybe it was the playstyle or whatever, but I soon traded them off for...the Skorne.


The Skorne were very cool in fluff, of which I only knew a little about, and their visual style was even cooler. They have a whole retro-fantasy Samurai thing going on with the Skorne themselves looking very much like a cross between Klingons and Cardassians. I liked this army even more, but again, it just didn't stick. It eventually ended up in Chris' hands, and unlike the shape they're in above on my shelf, he's done a knock-out paint job with them.

It's funny, because I even went with the Circle Orboros after I tried Skorne. I had bought up a large sized force from Plycon's Keep in the $150 dollar range and had plans to put it together from the ground up. It may work for some people, but buying up a large, unpainted army all at once was just too overwhelming in the long run for me and I sold it off. At this point I sold all of my rulebooks too, and kinda shelved any further Hordes notions.


Now, more than a couple of years later, Eric H. over at the Adept's Forge has this recent post about the above Bear and Dwarf team that really got me thinking. If I were a rational being, which when it comes to miniatures I don't think anyone is, I would just buy this two-fig box, paint it, and be done with it, because the two of these models side by side just look that cool.

We don't play Warmachine or Hordes anymore, but some part of me still would like to put together a small Trollbloods army just for the fun of it if nothing else. Plus, they're the only faction I haven't tried yet, heh. I've ebayed off all of my stuff, it's long gone, but I know a couple of folks in the group still have some semblance of armies, like Oz and Andy. Rucht is still pretty into it, but he moved away, so those games would be quarterly...at best, but I'd suspect closer to bi-annually. When we were playing, it was a blast.

Making a new army for a game we haven't played in a long time? Probably not a good idea, but for the fun of it I did put together a small army list of Trollbloods using the models that I absolutely love the look of and nothing but. They might not have the best stat-synergy or whatever, but I've always gone for ascetics first, then worry about tabletop effectiveness second. I'm not a huge figure painter, but these are the kinds of figs I would look forward to painting. If nothing else I'll get the above Minion Warlock Dwarf Cragback and his big ole bear, Lug. It might be fun to paint something other Dark Angels for a change...

Lego City: Public Service

Here's a follow-up to my previous Lego Police post. This time I'm looking at some of the lesser glorified, but equally important, servants to the community. Although it's just three sets we're looking at here, they're all great, and apparently have a lot of orange pieces.


#7991 Recycle Truck

I love this little truck. It's got some great 'fake' hydraulic pistons on the side, and a neat rear hatch. The rear hatch opens up, and the entire cargo bed tilts, as you can see. It has a happy, smiling (and bearded) minifig head and includes a couple of tools too.


"You're trash..."


#7737 Coast Guard 4WD and #7736 Coast Guard Quad Bike


Although these are two separate sets, I'm including them as one because they compliment each other so well. They're both part of the Coast Guard Rescue theme, and feature a couple of cool minifigs with nice torsos. The 4WD in particular comes with a neat SUV and a trailer towing a jet ski. It also comes with a lot of minifig accessories; scuba helmet, swim fins, air tank, life jacket, ball hat...the list goes on. The quadrunner comes with just a helmet and fig, but the quadrunner itself is a solid little build too.


Water rescue in full effect

Lego City: Police

I have pretty much never been interested in any Lego genre other than Space and Castle. Okay, a lot of their licensed products are cool too, like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Batman. All right, I like the Power Miners too...in fact, anything BUT city is good to go. However, very recently there's been a new Lego fan pop up in the household, and their interest fills this city0void niche nicely...and opened my eyes to how cool city sets really are.


#7743 Police Command Center

This is a great set and comes with plenty of pieces. It encompasses some neat build techniques, and although it requires a tad more time and skill than usual, it does a great job breaking it up into easily managed chunks. The trailer opens up and reveals a neat little command center, hence the name, ans it detaches from the cab as well. One of the side compartments slides out as well, and it includes a quadrunner to boot. It includes three officers and a hoodlum. The set also includes a small checkpoint building.


The aforementioned hoodlum


The boys in blue; Lego City's Finest


#7741 Police Helicopter

Aw!
Police helicopter shot the sky
Police helicopter landin' on my eye
Yeah!
Police helicopter takes a nose-dive
Police helicopter, he ain't shy
Yeah!
Aw! -Red Hot Chili Peppers

For a ten buck set, the Police Helicopter ain't too shabby. It includes a single pilot, and a nifty chopper. The chopper is interesting because it's obviously built for one, but styled on the outside to look like a much smaller scale Huey. I've got a bit of an issue with the cockpit; you have to remove the entire rotor blade section and roof just to access it, which isn't exactly convenient.


#7236 Police Car

If the chopper wasn't bad for ten bucks, then the Police Car at six bucks is a steal. It's a neat little build, and comes with an officer and speed radar station. It also sports that intangible 'swooshability' that makes an appearance every now and then. It is shown here with the checkpoint from the Command Center, and the dog comes from the #5612 Police Officer impulse set, a good little set as well.

200th Post!

A new milestone for the blog; we're two hundred posts old!

Looking at the category labels over on the left, it looks like sci-fi by far sees the most content on here, with both 40k specific posts and general fantasy being in a close running tie for second place. Sports, Rush, and Squats are coming in dead last.

Two hundred posts later and I feel pretty good about this whole blogging 'thing' in general, it fills in the gaps I was missing before from being a member on so many forums in. I've met some good people through the From the Warp hub and am now part of a nifty blog-ring of 40k enthusiasts that I'm getting a lot of inspiration from. People's comments on here go a long way, and I try to answer or comment on every last one of them, hearing from folk the world over is quite enjoyable for me, so keep 'em coming please.

I've fine tuned and tweaked the blog here and there to be a little leaner and meaner, and I added the 2009 Totals to the right hand column. It keeps me honest (and focused!) and looking at it keeps me on track. I'm sad to report the Trucidos Campaign looks all but extinct, but the good news is that it looks like there will be more roleplaying to report on in the near future. We also have a another mini-con coming up in early summer that will be fun to report on too. Lastly, I added a SiteMeter and am incredibly surprised that I'm getting close to a thousand page views a week! That kind of blows me away, so thanks to all the readers out there.

Dungeons and Diesel

Thanks to fellow blogger Mild Colonial Boy, Esquire I became privy to the fact that action sci-fi actor Vin Diesel has been coming out of the geek closet quite a bit lately. I gotta say, he'd be the last one I thought I'd see on a talk show speak so reverently about his character too. These clips are pretty nifty, check 'em out.

NASA's Node 3 is Named Tonight

To accompany the Internation Space Station, NASA whipped up Node 3. Obviously the name "Node 3" is rather lackluster, so NASA though tit would be clever and hold a "Name Node 3" contest online, of course they gave several perfectly good names to choose from. Apparently NASA wasn't thinking about Stephen Colbert.

Using his public forum and Comedy Central show of the same name, Colbert urged viewers to write in a new name for Node 3, the Colbert. Not only that, but support was overwhelming, and it looks like his name won out, ensuring his promise would be kept, "When the aliens come to Earth, they're going to get a taste of hardcore patriotism on their way in." NASA officials reserve the right in the end to pick the final name, but considering the new name is being announced on the Colbert Report tonight at 11:30est...

A while back I posted a couple of clips of my all-time favorite band, Rush, performing on the Colbert Report, who in turn gave a great interview. This, of course, was a very cool move in my opinion, and his latest Node 3 naming coup d’état helps immensely. Then I found the following painting just today. Check out the artist's signature, that would be longtime Dungeons and Dragons artist Todd Lockwood.

WIP: Assault Terminators

The more and more I tinker around with "completing" my Dark Angels army, the more I discover how much I really like Space Marines. Like it or not, they are the epitome of the 40k universe. A while back I thought I would just add a squad or two to my preexisting army and bring them up to a thousand points and then move on and concentrate on finishing up my Tau army (or even start a new Chaos Cultists army). Well, I seem to keep adding to my marines; scouts, a Dreadnought, Vanguard, Sternguard, command squad...the list goes on. Well, add one more, and that's some Assault Terminators.

If you recall my other Terminator squad you might have noticed that their composition was a tad off with that oddball Lightning Claw trooper in there. To balance everything out, I decided to make an assault squad of 'termies', use my oddball claw trooper as part of the new one, and with the new plastic box, make a new Storm Bolter trooper to go along with the old squad. Kind of a switcharoo if you will. To really add to the already impressiveness of these models I also used all the bare marine heads I had laying around instead of the more iconic Terminator helmets. There's a couple of scout heads thrown in for good measure as well.

I've heard complaints ad nauseum about GW, and first among them is the whole "fifty bucks for ten PLASTIC terminators is nuts!" diatribe. Frankly, sometimes people are just looking for something to complain about. Gaming is a hobby, it's a luxury. Be thankful you don't play golf where you pay hundreds of bucks for a single club, or bass fishing, where a boat costs more than a new car. Fifty bucks for a squad of Terminators? Sure.


I have nothing but good, no make that great things to say about these plastic Terminators. I was miffed about the plastic scouts, pleased about the plastic tactical squad, but these plastic Terminators are just plain awesome. The box comes with loads of extra bits to add or leave off, plus since it's plastic you can add bits from anything you've got in your box easily. Being plastic also means you can get to carving easy-cheesy with your knife.

Above I've modeled the squad leader. I've given him tons of character and equipped him with the great combo of Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield. These new termies (mind you, I keep saying "new" but I know they've been out for a while) come with these cool extra cod piece bits too, making these guys really look like they have mighty 2+ saves. One of the five Storm Shields in the box was a larger, tower-style size, so I equipped him with that. For even more character, I threw in the bare head that comes in the box.


Again, with a metal fig, there's no way I would've hacksawed off the helmet and then pin and epoxied it to the fig's waist in the back. With plastic, no problem. I've yet to add the outer shoulder pads, and although the box came with plenty, I've also got the leftovers from the boxes of DA veterans which came with Dark Angel specific Terminator shoulder plates.


Here's three of my new assault troopers, sans heads and shoulder plates. The makeup of the overall squad will be the four troopers equipped with Lightning Claws, led by a squad leader wielding the Thunder Hammer. Even modeled in just a basic stance, these figs have tons of dynamics.


Speaking of dynamics. Here's a new Storm Bolter trooper next to a vintage one. The old figs held their own for a while, but now seem wholly static and diminutive. I had to hack up a spare Lightning Claw for the new guy to try and make it a standard Power Fist, I also used a scout head here as well.


Another side-by-side. Here's the new Lightning Claw versus the old. Lots of extras and the options made available thanks to plastic, not to mention being able to pose at will make for some cool looking troops. Not only that, but no two Terminator squads will look exactly the same, even if they're equipped with the same options.


Speaking of plastics. I implore everyone out there to DRILL YOUR BOLTERS! I used to be in the realm of "Well they only do that in White Dwarf...", but it is so easy to do, and looks a thousand times better when you do it...so just do it! Seriously though, buy a pin vice, the one I bought at the hardware store came with the drill bits (which store in the handle) and was less than eight bucks. I've messed a couple of barrels up here and there, just go slow and take your time and they'll really look top notch.


Nugget break!

The Game Room, part deux

Yes, it's true, here at Mik's Minis I do requests! The only thing is, I never actually had a request, but thanks to a poignant observation by hetero-lifemate Osborn, I thought I'd follow up to yesterday's game room pics. Looking back through the post, it does indeed look pristine, but that's not always the case, in fact, since it is a game room, that's rarely the case! If you look back through my battle reports you'll find the table full of terrain and armies (most of the reports are at my house, but not all), but here's a look at the table in, err, transitional periods.


Here's Squad Terminus in the making with some bits laid out.


Here's some hot-wire and insulation board terrain making. It never really took off, I just didn't like the lightweight feel of it. If you look on the right though you can see the beginning pillars of my black basalt towers, which turned out not too shabby.


More terrain making in progress.


This is the typical mess when I paint something. As you can see I use mostly craft paints. I've got both phones nearby, and the notebook there is to take painting notes, so if I have to go back later and repeat a certain look, I can. It looks like I was finishing up Lady Talon and also putting the finishing touches on my magic mushrooms.


Most of the pics, like the above sprue-tacular shot of putting together some GW Dwarves have shown up here before, but now they're all in one place. Here's a great one that I left out, but shows just how crammed full of 'junk' an eight foot table can get.

The Game Room

When I'm on the various online game forums I always love the picture threads that show people's work tables and the desks. I figure since I've got some time on my hands today, big storm coming in, I'd post some pics of my own game room.

Shown above is my gaming table. It measures 8'x4' and is covered with green felt that has been stretched and stapled underneath. It is a constructed top that sits on top of a standard six foot banquet table with folding legs. The six matching chairs are kitchen chairs I picked up at a furniture store on clearance. The red armrest chair is an old swivel chair from a copy store.

On the walls are various maps from roleplaying sourcebooks that have been mounted and framed. The box on the far end of the table is our dice box. This table takes up a good half of the downstairs.


Here's the other half of the game room. I used to utilize the fireplace, but got complaints of the house smelling "smoky" from the spousal unit, so now it just kinda sits there. I've got some candles in it for ambiance, haha. On the mantle are some geek trophies from days past, a warhammer and a battleaxe, both from Museum Replicas...very typical geek room fair. Most of the framed art around the room consists of autographs from geek characters and actors who do the convention circuits. I've got Robin, Cat Woman, a lot of the Star Wars cast, and so on. On the left is my terrain shelf. Bunches of Legos are scattered about too.


Here's the futon I get most of my reading done at. Usual this means falling asleep and being woken up at three in the morning because the dog is trying to climb on top of me. The sixty year old footlocker belonged to my Grandfather who was in the Air Force, it's now my coffee table. You can see a copy of Singularity Sky on top of it, which will be the next book I review here.


There were two large closets with God-awful mirrored doors in the room. I promptly removed (and threw away) the doors and built some shelves in them. I'm no carpenter, so these "ain't no great shakes". For the closet on the left I fit my antique desk snugly inside it. The one on the right is for my figs. These closets are where the bulk of most of my stuff resides.


This is the left hand closet and it comprises my painting table and some book shelves, it also has a cork board on the wall. Up above the desk is another book shelf and above that even more storage. I'm seeing a whole 'storage' trend as I write this.


This is the left hand side of the upper shelves, here are most of my Salvatore books and a scattering of toys and figures. Note the blue Snaggletooth! Up top are three tool organizers that hold all of the game pieces for most of my board games. There's also a couple of mason jars full of pipe tobacco up on the top shelf as well.


Here's the right hand side of the upper shelves. Most of these books were the ones I kept from college 'cause I liked them too much to bring myself to sell them back to the bookstore. There's some various sci-fi and fantasy in there for good measure. Way up top are some 4th edition DnD books (they're not allowed to mingle with the rest just yet), and a couple o' Fantasy Flight games. More toys are on the shelf, check out that classic Mego Kirk! There's also a Bruce Campbell bobblehead.


This is the right hand side of the painting table. Some paperback books are on the shelf and above them (it's too dark to see) is where I keep all my model glues, flock, modeling sand, and the like. The stack of books on the desk are what's in my reading queue. Looks like: Sharpe's Rifles, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Pirate King, and another go at the Watchmen trade paperback. All the figs on the desk are what's in my painting queue, and it's a lot: x10 Space Marine Sternguard, x5 Space Marine Vanguard, x1 Marine Chaplain, x1 Marine Captain, x8 40mm Chocktaw scouts, x6 SuperSystem bad guys, a few pieces of objective markers, and the list goes on and on. It's kinda discouraging thinking about it, haha.


This is the left hand side of the painting desk. Lots more stuff in the queue, including that wooded terrain piece. Lots of pens, markers, brushes, and pencils too. More toys and paperbacks are here as well.


This is the middle of the right hand closet, which is mostly miniatures and more storage. Here's all of my figs that I have on display as well as all my storage up top. I've got a good amount of figs still in storage, but they are mostly Blood Bowl and Necromunda teams.


The left hand side of the display shelves. Up top are what's left of a fairly massive GI Joe collection I once had. The ones left are those that made the final cut.


The right hand side of the display shelves.


Below the figure display shelves is just more storage space. I've got a wide shelf top that just holds a bunch of items. Most of the stuff here is just overflow that hasn't found a home yet, or stuff that is so far back in the painting queue it's not even on the radar.


The left hand side of the wide storage shelf.


Underneath the storage shelf is where I keep all of my roleplaying and wargaming books. Well, not all of them, I have a lot in boxes in the garage, but these are the ones that see the most use. I've also got some boardgames under here too. On the floor I have mostly terrain in boxes and a whole bunch of Legos over on the left.


Here's where I do a lot of my button mashing on the Xbox, although it's been collecting dust lately. There's a dorm fridge too, which gets a lot of action during game nights. As you can see I've got Legos pretty much everywhere.


The fridge is in sad shape as we speak; a couple of Yuengling beers, a single diet Dr. Pepper, and a handful of sour cream donuts (curse you Andy!). All of it is gamer friendly, just not waistline friendly!


This was a cheap shelf I picked up from a office furniture store. I got it just to hold terrain. These are the nicer pieces that I couldn't just throw in a box, and I'm happy to see it already kinda full. Having nice terrain is so important for tabletop battles, but also so often ignored or left out altogther. Thanks to our (now defunct?) Trucidos 40k campaign, I've been able to crank a bunch more terrain out than I normally would have.


My footlocker is unceremoniously crammed full with Xbox gear.


This guy's the latest edition to the game room, although he doesn't have a name yet, he's got a lot of character, check out that pipe!

Well, that wraps it up, you've now been given a good view of more than just my painting table, but everything else as well. Next time you come over, bring some stuff to stock that fridge with! Enjoy!

A Fatal Chink in the Chainmail

Dave Arneson, from Rich Burlew's Order of the Stick

These last couple of days have been touch-and-go for Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson, and it looks like he failed his last saving throw. As crass as that may sound, I think he would not have minded. Were I to be part of the creative genius that helped create an entire universe of roleplaying goodness, it'd certainly be how I'd want to go out. As I did with the passing of Gary Gygax, I roll a twenty sided die for Dave for the last time. It came up an 18.

From Wired:

For the second time in just over a year, the dice are silent in the gaming world. News has reached us that Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away last night at the age of 61.

While not as famous as Gary Gygax, who passed away in March of last year, Arneson was a driving force behind D&D's creation and his contribution to the world of adventure gaming should not be underestimated. It was Arneson's spark that transformed Gygax's game Chainmail into the first edition of D&D, and begat everything that followed.

Arneson had to fight to get credit for his contributions, filing multiple lawsuits (later resolved out-of-court) against Gygax over crediting and royalties. He nonetheless did return to TSR in the mid-'80s to work with Gygax again. Following that, he began a second career as an educator, working in several schools with a particular focus on how to use gaming as an instructional tool.

Arneson suffered a stroke in 2002 and was soon after diagnosed with cancer. He finally lost his battle with cancer last night, surrounded by his family, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gamers everywhere owe him a certain debt of gratitude for his work. He will be sorely missed.

Eisenhorn

Deacon over at the Drunk Dwarves site recently reviewed Dan Abnett's book, Eisenhorn. Since I'm a big fan of that blog (and have been for a while) I will follow suit and do the same. I've been meaning to for some time, having read the book about six months back, but my lazybones couldn't get cracking for some reason. Having recently finished Horus Rising too, I can give some contrasts.

Of the two, Eisenhorn is far better, it's not fair to say really, since it's really an omnibus packed with the original trilogy of novels, as well as some great, interconnecting short stories in between them, but I liked the overall style of this one more. Horus Rising was good, mind you, but a totally different animal.

I was kicking around the idea of doing a Chaos Space Marine army, and in the planning stages was looking at painting up, conservatively, 20-30 troopers. Well in book one of Eisenhorn they encounter just ONE. A single Chaos Space Marine is a nightmare incarnate, driving mere mortals insane just by his presence, whole squads of Imperial Guard perished in combat against him. The Eisenhorn books do for the 40,000 universe what no one else has to date, and that's expand in ways I never thought possible...and I'm pretty solid on my geek 40k knowledge. He takes you from planet to planet, looks at the ins and outs of life in the Imperium on a much more personal scale and shows us what transpires on the other side of the usual "war torn future" curtain that has become 40k's staple for so long.

Eisenhorn is heavy on the creepy Lovecraftian feel, action sci-fi, a little bit of horror, and some some pulpy detective mystery tales thrown in for good measure. It follows Inquisitor Eisenhorn across the scope of a couple of hundred years of his career, across systems, from his beginning and throughout his evolution. Abnett does an admirable job of character development. He also goes into great detail about the men and women that make up the all-important retinue of the Inquisitor, and just when you get attached to one character, they end up dead. That's okay, because new inductees are always popping up. Life is cheap and fast in the 40k 'verse. This is a well-written trilogy of novels that reads fast. It delivers on all the high points, and is skimpy (if at all) on the low. You don't have to be a mega-40k geek to enjoy it either, but having some previous knowledge to use as points of reference wouldn't hurt. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

This book also really inspires one to go jump headlong into a full-throttle Dark Heresy campaign too. I would go as far to say it'd be required reading to all Dark Heresy players and GMs.

Komrade Gnomesky is Drunk at the Helm!

Red November!


Andy, Ray, and myself broke the wrapper on Fantasy Flight's Red November this evening and in no time we were up and running. Running around a sinking Gnomish sub that is. Red November has all the qualities that make a game great; easy-to-follow mechanics, great pieces, nice artwork, and an overall FUN factor that can't be beat. After reading multiple positive reviews I took the plunge.


The game can be played with anywhere between one and eight players, one of the reasons I picked it up. Not that I see myself playing it solo, but it's an option. Having it support a whopping eight players on the other hand, now that can make for some true chaos!

The setup, as the play on words suggests (think Red October) takes place on a submarine. This submarine however is going through a series of events, both minor and catastrophic that are dragging it, and its Gnomish crew, down to Davy Jones' Locker. As players take their turns, they move about the sub picking up items and attempting to fix the various problems cropping up. That's where the neat mechanic of the game kicks in too, in fixing things. Each action you take, from opening and entering a hatch to fixing the engine takes time in minutes. As each minute ticks past you move your turn counter along the outside of the board's track, along the way picking up random items and of course random events, none of which are ever a positive thing. You bid how many minutes fixing the problem will take, roll a die and add that number to it, if you're successful, great, problem solved. If you fail however, you've not only not fixed the problem, but wasted those precious minutes to boot.

Many random "issues" to crop up are things like flooded rooms and rooms catching on fire. More severe issues are things like the on board missiles launching, the engine room melting down, or the air running out. Of course there's also the Kraken, and that one's as ominous as it sounds. If you manage to run around like a chicken with your head cut off, put out all the fires, keep your 'ship vitals' tracks from skyrocketing, pump water out of flooded rooms, and clear jammed doors...you might just survive long enough to get rescued!

Oh wait, did I forget to mention the Grog?


On the BoardGameGeek link above there's plenty of great pics put up by gamers, but I couldn't find that perfect one that showed all of the box contents in one go. The one I've got above here doesn't do it any justice either. For such a small box, it comes absolutely crammed to the gills with pieces, counters, figures, and the like. The price, at around $20 bucks is amazing considering quality boardgame prices nowadays, but I wouldn't have minded paying a few extra bucks if it meant getting a larger board out of the deal.


This pic from the rulebook sums it up. Fun and frenetic. If you're looking for a good beer 'n pretzels game that delivers for you and your group, and you don't have time to learn a tome full of rules, then do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

30 Days of Night

Wow. I just caught this one on cable; I had heard about it but never paid any attention, I'm not the world's biggest horror fan and it didn't seem like my cup of tea. I'll say it again, wow. To begin with, I had know idea this was a comic book movie until I saw the IDW logo at the beginning. The series began as a simple three-issue run, but became rather successful spawning several more titles.

The movie takes place in the small town of Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost territory of the United States. It's geography also means that every year the place receives thirty days of night...perfect if you're a vampire. It sounds cheesy enough, sure, but it was solidly done on every level.

Josh Hartnett portrays his character flawlessly and handles his many layers without missing a beat. As the small town sheriff, he has his hands full as no less than 15-20 vampires begin to ransack, and subsequently slaughter, the helpless town. The gore is plentiful, but not overly done, about right for what you would imagine when vampires rip people apart. The scares aren't "pop out at ya and make you jump", but more just plain eerie. Several scenes with vampires, out of focus, stalking people from snow-covered rooftops were nice and spooky. One overhead pan of the town during full melee was simply breathtaking.

Much like the formula for a zombie film, the survivors of the town band together and try to stay hidden from the vampires while simultaneously trying to keep their own infighting down to boot. Tensions run high as survivors begin to lose their cool, and each other. The vampires themselves are of a European bent, speaking some form of ancient dialect which ended up being subtitled throughout. Their features were oddly deformed making for more pronounced brow ridges and noses, lending them an otherworldly and wholly unnatural look. Their leader spoke somewhat philosophically at times as well about his kind and their place in the world.

Seeing how the film came out two years ago, I don't feel the need to keep the ending secret, although for me it was a nice surprise not knowing going into it. As I mentioned, Hartnett did a great job with his character, especially his slow descent into despair and fatigue as the events kept wearing him down. In the end he willingly infects himself with tainted blood so he would have the power to take the vampires head on for the final confrontation. I'm a sucker for zombie formula movies (if not the zombies themselves), I like vampires if they're done right and not as aristocrats or rock stars, and anything in a polar setting is a step ahead in my book. This movie delivers in all the right places and is worth going out of your way to catch if you haven't so far.

Alor Frus, War Wizard

Frus, my character for our 3.5 Forgotten Realms campaign

Name: Alor Frus
Race: Rock Gnome
Class: Wizard (Evoker) 10, War Wizard of Cormyr 1

Stats:
STR: 13
DEX: 17
CON: 19
INT : 20
WIS: 12
CHA: 13
Armor Class: 19
Saves:
Fortitude save: 9
Reflex save: 6
Will save: 12 (+2 vs. Illusions)

Skills:
Concentration 20, Craft: Alchemy 12, Appraise 14*, Decipher Script 5, Hide 12*, Knowledge: Arcana 19, Knowledge: Waterdeep 7, Knowledge: Planes 18, Listen 4*, Profession: Arcane Instructor 2, Spellcraft 24, Spot 5*, Survival: Planes 5*, Use Magic Device 3*

*cross-class skill

Feats:
Alertness, Discipline, Enlarge Spell, Martial Weapon Proficiency: Gnome Hooked Hammer, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus: Spellcraft, Spell Focus: Evocation, Combat Casting, Widen Spell, Weapon Focus: Quarterstaff

Spells per Day:
0/0/0/0/0/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/2/2/2/2/2/2/3/3/3/3/3/3/4/4/4/4/4/5/5/5/5/6/6/

Items:
Ring of Protection +3, x2 Bags of Holding (small), Heward's Handy Haversack, Visoth's Ring of the Warmage, Staff of Fire, Wand of Aganazzar's Scorcher, Elven Cloak, Raven familiar

Snikt!

So I usually don't review a movie this far in advance, so I don't worry about spoilers or anything, but since X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn't due for release for about another month I should go ahead and give the official "spoiler" warning now. As for the advance copy, there's a lot of hubbub about it since it was leaked on the internet, even the FBI is investigating.

There's a lot of great things about the movie, coupled with a lot of not-so great things. Jokingly I heard it described as "better than the third one", which is, well not saying a whole heck of a lot now is it? It is indeed better than the third, which like the second Highlander movie, I don't consider as counting anyway. As the title suggests, it delves into the background and origin of Marvel's now iconic cash-cow, Wolverine.

As with the excellent first and second movies of the franchise, Huge Jackman's portrayal is just about as perfect as one could hope for. His hair and 'chops looked less Wolvie than they did in the first two movies, but everything else was good to go. There were a score of other characters too, but many of them left you kinda scratching you head a little wondering who the heck they were. I'm a pretty big comic geek, and lifelong fan of the X-Men titles, but even I was having a hard time spotting who was who.

Sabretooth was in there, and played the major antagonist of the film. Given how intertwined he and Wolverine were throughout the whole movie, being half-brothers and all, it is a bit odd that the connection was completely lost in the first X-Men movie, aside from Sabretooth grabbing the unconscious Wolvie's dogtags early on.

Deadpool, one of my all-time favorites of the 'newer' generation of characters was also in the movie, and at first he was about as dead-on as Jackman was as Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds hit the geek scene in Blade III, but as far as actors go, I kinda like him in whatever he's doing. He has a quick wit and natural delivery that made him perfect for the sarcastic ninja. His role was cut way too short in the film however, and a waste of what could be an awesome screen presence for him. He shows back up as the end villain, but in a funky, twisted kinda way that didn't make a whole lot of sense.

There were others as well, but only the Blob and Gambit were recognizable. The former was done very well, the latter I felt was pretty lacking. Both had pretty much bit parts anyway. The movie was fast paced and, as one might expect, full of many, many action sequences and fight scenes. A lot of the story alludes to what would come later in the movies and much of it drew from the comics as well. One realization that hit me was the brutal and straight-forward violence of it. Sure, it's comic book action and the like, but this film had a harder edge than that to it, much of it seemed like the gritty realistic violence of a cop drama, not the four-color world. There wasn't much in the way of levity to balance it out either, making its mood a dark one overall.

Going back to the beginning, the movie was certainly a lot better than the third one. Does it hold a candle to the first two? Well, it's hard to say, to be fair both of the first two X-Men movies were well above average. It was fun, end of story. It also added more depth, and another chapter to a character who, even if you hate him, you still kinda like him anyway. When it comes to the big screen I'll definitely go see it again.

Dan Abnett's Horus Rising

I'm actually a little behind on my book reviews, I've yet to weigh in on another Abnett book, Eisenhorn, but more on that later, for now I'll look at Horus Rising.

You've gotta be a fan of 40k, first and foremost. Whereas the Eisenhorn novel I mentioned could be appreciated by a wider fan base, this sci-fi tale is fairly insular and requires a good deal of prerequisite familiarity with the setting. Rogue Trader laid the groundwork of the period, the time of the Horus Heresy, when the mighty Space Marines tore Earth asunder in betrayal and brutal civil war, and although the tale was simple, little else was known. The Emperor of mankind was betrayed by his first 'son' who had become tainted by chaos. Good was to win out, but at a heavy cost, with evil retreating to the shadows of the Warp. It wasn't until the amazing illustrations and even more fluff and back story to come out in the Lost and the Damned sourcebook that the bigger picture of the Heresy took shape. Now, this new series of books of the Heresy itself, a bold endeavor, takes us through many chapters of the entire affair from before the beginning to (presumably) the bitter end.

To a fault, there are a host of characters, almost too many to keep up with throughout the book. At one point you have to just let go, enjoy the ride, and if someone's name pops up later on try to remember where they were mentioned previously. Aptly so, the concentration of characters and events revolve around the Luna Wolves, the chapter of space marines led by the primarch Horus himself. I expected a lot of military space marine action, but was pleasantly surprised that the book didn't rely on it. There were battles, and plenty of descriptive combats that were a joy to read, but the book itself looked at the behind-the-scenes life of the chapter, their captains, and their troopers. It also went into depth on the political machinations of the Imperium and just how a great, century-spanning crusade to reclaim the stars is undertaken by those working on the front lines.

A handful of other marine chapters make their appearance in the book as well, with many "ah ha!" moments along the way, especially in dealing with the primarchs. Not just primarchs either, Abaddon, well before his own turn to chaos has a significant role as one of Horus' captains. Being a Dark Angel player, I know it was always kinda cool when their own primarch, the Lion, was mentioned too, even if briefly. Garviel Loken, captain of the Lunar Wolves tenth company is clearly the protagonist of the book, and it is through his eyes and evolution that we are given all of these glimpses of life and turmoil amidst the stars. An interesting element to the book lies in the contingent of artists, poets, and teachers sent along with the fleet. These Remembrancers are there at the behest of Earth to document the progress of humanity's great crusade.

Unequivocally, the Lunar Wolves, Horus, Loken, et al are the good guys, tromping around the galaxy bringing their bolter justice and level-headed thinking to those wayward planets and systems needing to be reminded of their place in humanity's master plan. Along the way there are flair ups, or red flags, that could be interpreted as possible signs of the pending betrayal you know is coming, but nothing too damning. The characters are handled realistically in their superhuman forms and the development of them, Loken in particular, is refreshing.

It is a fairly long book, I'm a quick reader, but it still took me some time start to finish, in the end however it was well worth it. If you're looking to pick up an action packed, testosterone infused 'battle' book, this is definitely not it. Consequently, if you're looking for a little more information on the Heresy, I would say this is also not the book for you, although it does start you off on that path. If you are however looking for a little bit of all the above, as well as plopping down for the long haul and absorbing this series, then this first book of many will find you well.

Altarrock, the Lost Son

Altarrock, my character for our Spirit of the Century campaign

Name: Altarrok, the Lost Son
Archetype: Jungle Lord

Skill Pyramid:
Endurance 5+
Fists 4+, Athletics 4+
Survival 3+, Might 3+, Stealth 3+
Alertness 2+, Intimidation 2+, Empathy 2+, Leadership 2+
Mysteries 1+, Resolve 1+, Sleight of Hand 1+, Contacting 1+, Investigation 1+

Aspects:
Foreigner (Lost World)
Call of the Wild
Code of Jungle Justice
Gorilla Warfare
Veil of the Panther
Curse of Ixtab
Fire Water!
Mask of Naña Buluku
Leader of (Proto) Men
Tribal Protector

Background:
Raised from birth by a forgotten tribe of Ape-Men in the jungles of the Lost World, Altarrock learned the ways of his people. As he grew more feral, he was exiled to the wilds where he became a force of nature. Legends grew of the "White Lion" who stalked the darkness, saving those in need.

During an air battle with Dr. Methusalah's Dread Zeppelin, renowned Century Club member Sir Trenton Fairweather, and his single engine plane, were sucked into a rift seam caused by one of Methusalah's vortex cannons. Fairweather ended up reappearing over the skies in the Lost World and crash landed. Altarrock came to his aid and nursed him back to health. The two became lifelong friends and Fairweather brought Altarrock back to the civilized world, sponsoring his membership in the Century Club.

Novel:
Altarrock and the Slave Raiders of the Yucatan;
guest starring Johnny Snapshot
While searching for answers in the ancient temples of the Maya, Altarrok encounters a slave ring forcing indigenous people to dig for artifacts. Altarrock is able to liberate the slaves, but only by sacrificing himself, being buried alive in an ancient vault. If it wasn't for Snapshot discovering him days later, he would have perished.

Guest Starred in:
Petals McMurphy in the Orchids of Doom
Hypnotized and enslaved, using methods both mystical and domestic, Altarrock becomes a minion of doom in the arsenal of Gorilla Khan. Altarrock is forced to fight his own friends and allies and all would be lost had he not been saved by an African Spirit Mask.

John Smith and the Shadow League
W.G. Morggeustrom, governor of Borneo, is targetted by the Shadow League for clone replacement. Altarrok assisted special agent John Smith by reuniting and leading the native Dayaks against the forces of the Shadow League. The two heroes were triumphant and led the region into a new age of prosperity.

Troll Hag

This isn't exactly new, taken from BrickCon '08 back in October, but I just recently came across it. Thanks go to Lego guru Nannan Z for posting it. This shamanistic she-troll is a great addition to an already excellent lineup of the Lego Castle series. Several items about this fig are promising; first is the newly colored green 'force lightning', second is the brown hood...a very hard to come by piece. Overall the figure looks great, with lots of detailed printing on both the torso and dress, and the head piece with cartoony creepy stink eye / evil eye is pure win. Plus, it's female to boot, kinda rare in and of itself.