Thor's Day Hero: Sergeant Lincoln Osiris

"I know who I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!" -Kirk Lazarus

The first ten minutes of Tropic Thunder are too funny. The rest of the movie isn't bad, but it's hard to match the humor up front. In it, Robert Downey, jr. plays grizzled Vietnam veteran Lincoln Osiris. There's obviously a lot going on with the Lincoln character, considering in the movie within the movie aspect on top of everything else. Lincoln Osiris as character though? Great. Great lines, though none I can repeat here, great intensity, and great over-the-top action. If you haven't seen the movie, it's almost worth it just for Osiris alone. So forget that he's a character played by a character about a fake movie in a real movie, Lincoln Osiris is on the skids so "elevator up" for the Thor's Day Heroes.

Thor's Day Hero: Beach Head

As a kid 1986 was a pretty good year for toys. Being an avid GI Joe fan up until that point I was blown away (once again) by the new lineup in 1986. The Dreadnoks got a new member (who looked like half the friends my parents had), there was a really cool new sniper and even Cobra got a crazy android trooper. But Beach Head was by far the coolest that year.

He wasn't a ninja, but he had a cool mask sort of like one. He had a chest rig loaded with ammo mags, a cool sub-machinegun, and a backpack that had a crossbow on it. He had a few, brief shining moments in the comics, but he was very underplayed. Backyard action however was where Beach Head really cleaned house, often having to save the rest of team because they went and got captured or some such. For cool equipment and good childhood memories Beach Head is a welcome addition to the Thor's Day Heroes.

Thor's Day Hero: Jack Burton

Nothing says "Happy Valentine's Day" like...Jack Burton? When Big Trouble in Little China hit the big screen back in 1986 it wasn't a smash success but I think there was a large chunk of viewers who became instant fans, my twelve year old self at the time being one of them.

Jack Burton would certainly think he's the hero of the movie, but is he really? He gets the girl, sure, and gets the bad guy, all right, but for the most part he was just always in the right place at the right time. It was a whole host of other characters that did the heavy lifting, so why aren't they being admitted into the Thor's Day Heroes? Well, Burton has style, he's quick with the one-liners, and he's a decent shot with the throwing knife. It's all in the reflexes you know. Welcome aboard Jack Burton, truck parking is behind the building.

Thor's Day Hero: Police Chief Martin Brody

One might cry "foul" at the induction of lead characters from my personal favorite movies into the Thor's Day Heroes. Well, I don't think anyone would actually do that, but if they did I'd have to respond with a hearty "Neener-neener!"

I would put Jaws in my top five favorite movies of all time. I like a lot of things about the movie, chief (no pun intended!) of those however is the character Chief Brody. Tough New York City cop opts out and takes his family to island resort in New England. Handles small town affairs and misdemeanors until the mother of all great white sharks shows up and turns the small town into an all-you-can-eat buffet. Brody can't even swim, but he straps on his revolver and heads out to sea with an über-nerd oceanographer and a grizzled sociopath in a boat much too small. The rest is history, and with that history we welcome Chief Brody into the Thor's Day Heroes.

Friday Rucht Hour: No Easy Day

So, this book has made the rounds in the media. I have to admit that I was just too curious about the entire event of the hunting Osama Bin Laden to not pick this up.

The book supposedly relates the story of the SEAL team that took out Osama Bin Laden on that fateful mission last year.

Like most books under a ghost author, the novel is a quick read. It offers a detailed look into the life of a Navy SEAL, their training, what it was like to go on mission in Afghanistan, and the psychological make up of those who serve in this elite cadre of soldiers. The latter half of the book is on the planning, training, and finally the execution of the raid on the Abbottabad compound.

The book is well-paced, puts you reasonably into the pants of someone serving in one of the more distinguished divisions of our military. Military enthusiasts and military historians will certainly enjoy it. Especially because it is such a quick read. Not nearly as dense as the latest books on John Adams or George Washington, the book is something that you could finish in a few days or a week. The book goes into the camaraderie the SEALs engage in - from the pranks they play on each other to the continual cracks they make.

The great controversy surrounding the book, of course, is that it supposedly revealed detailed information about the raid that went on in Pakistan. From my completely pedestrian perspective, it seems to me that the book is vague on the exact details of SEAL training. Also, many of the stories about their missions into Afghanistan are broad enough on the specifics that it doesn't seem to be too revealing to me.

However, I was indeed surprised at how much detail was given about how the raid was planned out. The text goes into step-by-step detail on how the strike was planned, how the chain of command operated, and so-on. Does it constitute a security breach? Does it put soldiers in harms way? It's hard to say and probably can be discussed by people far more qualified than me.

As for the raid itself - that event has been already well-documented and retold a thousand times. Nothing revealing in what I read there. It's interesting to me because the mission to get Osama Bin Laden raid reminds me of gunfights in the Old West in that regard - moments of violence whose briefest of moments have been documented with exacting detail.

So - would I recommend it to you guys? Yes, I would, actually. Gimme your thoughts and happy Friday, all!

Defining Game #3: Twilight 2000

3. Twilight 2000, 1984

So by '84 I was a ten year old, full into GI Joe figures ('84 being the best year for them) and Star Wars. I had some RPG goodness behind me already, not to mention this was the same year Red Dawn came out.

That's when I found Twilight 2000, it was all the roleplaying I had experienced to this point, plus all the guns and paramilitary action that was prevalent at the time. It was kind of the perfect combination at the perfect time.

Twilight 2000 also marks a first in that this was the first roleplaying game I began playing with friends on a regular basis where your character one week was the same one you used the next. This is where the beauty of linked games, a campaign even, began to come to light to me for the first time.

Certified Zombie Ammunition

Zombies are hot right now, and not just in our gaming sphere, nor entertainment media...the firearms industry is taking notice as well. Welcome to Hornady's new line of Zombie Max bullets. As it says on the front of the box; these are not toys.


So you know what you're getting into, the box is clearly labeled "certified zombie ammunition". Not just your generic Zed-head 'sploders such as heavy hollow points, Z-Max are the pinnacle in Undead defense and come in a large variety of calibers.


I gotta say it is very refreshing to see a serious product, such as real life bullets which really aren't anything but serious, being given such a fanciful treatment. Especially this "Zombie 101" crash course posted on the back of the box!


These particular specimens come in the .40 cal variety, but there are all kinds of Zombie Max ammo available; two different assault rifle rounds in very common calibers, sniper rifle ammo, shotgun slugs, and three different types of pistol ammo. If you can find it in the rubble of a Zombpocalypse ravaged city, chances are there's a ZMax round for you.

Left to right; ZMax, target round, and defensive hollow point

As you can see above, the ZMax has a very pointy, ballistic tip to it, which is an interesting configuration for being a hollow point. In the middle is a standard "semi wadcutter" round that you would see for every day use like recreation shooting and target practice. Finally the right shows a heavier bullet packing a large cavity hollow point.


The green impact tip on the ZMax round is very unique in that it does some kinetic mumbo-jumbo that makes for lots of "boom" action. Frankly, it just looks cool and green is my favorite color.

The zombies that these rounds are designed for will never know what hit them. The large hollow point on the right would still be put to excellent use in defense of the undead (so will the middle round for that matter) so the bottom line is that in the case of Zombolocaust, you've got choices.

Everyone comes out a winner, and in zombie terms winner = survivor.

Shut 'em Down

Here's a sweet video made by my twelve year old nephew and his sister, my seven year old niece. This is the same nephew who starred in Main Versus Second that I showed here four years ago. If you haven't checked that one out you should. Enjoy!

LEGO Thursday: Party On!

This one's an old file indeed. These were going to go out on invitations printed up for a party. We ended up just calling people on the phone, but I think this would've been cool to get in the mail as a postcard. So, umm, party on!

Lion vs. Tuna

I saw The Other Guys the, ahem, other day. It was a clever buddy-cop movie, nothing spectacular, largely forgettable, but it did have its moments. Anyway, this scene was probably one of the funniest of the whole movie, so if you don't feel like sitting through the whole thing, I've just saved you the trouble! Enjoy!

Das Island ist Verboten!

Here's a quick look and rundown on Gamewright's Forbidden Island. Pretty much if you do any gaming, with adults or kids, you've got to own this own. Plus it's an absolute steal for under fourteen bucks. Most games with tile components, plastic pieces, and the like are going to run you at least double that.

Clicking on that first link will tell you specific box contents as well as give you PDF of the rules. This Boardgamegeek link will give you all the thorough reviews you could ever want. Me? I'm going to give you just the usual impressions and what-not.

It's a cooperative game where you and your fellow explorers, pilots, scientists, and the like are racing to uncover the lost treasures of a forgotten civilization on an uncharted island. Every specialist, like diver or helicopter pilot, has their own unique abilities, which is good because the island is sinking! Find the treasure, GET TO DA CHOPPA, and get out of there with your treasure intact before the island crumbles away. Having written that it sounds just like every Michael Crichton book I've ever read.

Gameplay is fast and so easy to pick up. There's a 'flood waters' mechanic that starts affecting the tiles laid out to represent the island. Once something floods twice, it's gone. You can, as part of your actions, go shore up flooding tiles. You're given cards each turn as well, and you're looking for four of a kind to pick up one of the four elemental treasures. Then you've got to be on a tile where treasure is available...just hope it didn't sink already.

It can be frenetic as everything is crumbling all around and it never loses its fun factor. I've played it now with my eight year old as well as adults. It can be a fun game to whip out while you're waiting on the rest of the gaming group to show up or one to play on the coffee table with newbie, non-gamer friends over for dinner.

Mechanics aside, there's a neat little story going on, and the tiles represent some pretty cool places on this island and tell a cool little story. It also goes a long way that its jam-packed with nothing but quality pieces. For being not 'just under twenty bucks', but closer on the side of twelve it's pretty amazing. You'll be happy with this one.

Mik's Moment of Zen, pt. 16

".40 cal happiness, at seven yards."

Secret Weapon Backpacks

I recently picked up a great selection of backpacks from Secret Weapon Miniatures and thought I'd share them here. There's three types up for grabs; the small backpacks, large backpacks, and communications backpack. To boot, it would seem all of these packs on sale right now too!

Compared to some Imperial Guard packs

If you've got a miniature needing a backpack, this is the way to go. The ruggedness of the packs lends itself across multiple genres and could be pulled off anywhere from WWII, to modern, to futuristic. Here's one of the communication packs next to one of the outlandish Cadian comm packs.

They're all white metal and arrived with very little mold lines needing hardly any clean up at all. The larger backpack is my favorite by far, and the one I plan on using the most of. The smaller "daypacks" are pretty cool as well, and with a little knife work, the comm-pack could double regular, slimmer pack.

Here's a look at all of the packs


I used some to outfit my Sons of Minos Space Marines

As you can see, the packs hold their own even on beefy troops

I should mention that Secret Weapon has more than just backpacks. Their main forté lies in custom bases. You can see one of them here on my Storm Wardens Veteran. They also have other nifty bits like Roman-style crests for helmet conversions, weathering pigments, and cool basing materials to name just a few.

4-Game Game Night

Last "Friday night" game night we set out to play Small World by Days of Wonder. Bob of Might of Arms had been curious about it so we put it on the agenda. We had a short crew that night, consisting of myself, Andy, Bob, and fellow gamer regular Ken.

I've spoken on Small World before ("almost" an actual review!) and this one is a keeper. It's a fun game that is light-hearted in scope and offers a lot of replay value. The main draw of the game is the combination of fantasy race/power choices that pop up. You populate a diverse map with your army, take over as much territory as you can while your race is still powerful enough to hold on to said territory, then let them decline (fall off the map) as you conquer new territories with a new race/power combo. The combos are going to be different every game. For a boardgame this one has excellent value packed under the hood and if you shop around (ahem, Amazon) you're not paying an arm or a leg for it. Is it a game you're playing week in, week out? Maybe not every week, but it's certainly worthy of a spot in your gaming stable.

One way to perhaps overcome this however lies in this deck of cards called "Tales and Legends" which is a new expansion that's just come out. I picked it up just today, err, as of this writing anyway. It looks to be a lot of fun, as it adds random events to each game turn from the small to the cataclysmic. I flipped through it in the parking lot, and at first glance it looks pretty good with great art and nice, large text. After our first game or two with it I'll let y'all know how it went.


Shadows Over Camelot is another Days of Wonder game, and about halfway through this game I was thinking to myself we should play it more, for sure. Its scope, unlike Small World, is more serious and grounded in the fantasy side of the King Arthur genre. Players work together cooperatively to bounce from quest to quest keeping threats to Camelot at bay. There is a catch, which makes this game so great, and that's the traitor factor. One of the knights may (or may not be) a traitor to the round table. As the traitor works through the quests with his fellow knights, they shift the balance in subtle ways towards the forces of shadow. If a loyal knight can ferret them out, they can accuse them and win honor for Camelot. If you accuse the wrong person however, darkness creeps in further. Each game will more than likely have a traitor, but not always, it's completely random. This one is much more involved than Small World, but its mechanics have you in the action in no time. Andy and I hadn't played Shadows Over Camleot in a couple of years at least, and both Bob and Ken were brand new to it, but still we rolled along at a good clip without missing a beat. Production value on this, as I'm finding is the case with most Days of Wonder games, is very high and again you can also find it on the cheap.


Sherlock is a great game, end of story. Go buy it, it's maybe ten bucks I think? It's a memory game and works for all ages and all levels of sobriety. I have played this game with middle school kids, elementary school kids, adults, and a mixture of the above and had a blast every time. It does seem a bit "kiddy" at first, but even the most stalwart gamer will be laughing and enjoying themselves within the first couple of turns. As for the mixed sobriety factor, this game is perfect to break out after the kids have all gone to bed as well, just make sure everyone is on an even playing field or someone will have an incredibly unfair advantage!


Such trigger discipline!

Ca$h 'n Gun$ is one of those "party games" that equally deserves a place in the boardgaming stable. It's a wacky concept, but executed well. You're playing bank robbers, post-heist, trying to split up the loot in your hideout. Often, as negotiations are bound to become tense, the "gats" come out. It is a game of bluffing, standing your ground, acquiring fat stacks o' cash, and fake foam pistols! There are lots of variant scenarios and rules built into the main set, but we've never messed with since the basic game is so much fun. Expansions for the game include a "Yakuza" set with foam throwing stars, tanto knives, and a sawn-off shotgun and the like. A pair of machine pistols recently popped up too in another expansion. As you may have guessed, this is not a cerebral game in the slightest, but it is fun, and that's exactly what it delivers.

Too Close for Missiles...err, Maybe Not!

During the Libyan-Egyptian War, there were some skirmishes between Libyan and Egyptian fighter jets. In one instnace, two LARAF MiG-23MS engaged two EAF MiG-21MF which had been upgraded to carry Western weaponry. The Libyan pilots made the mistake of trying to manoeuvre with the more nimble Egyptian fighters, and one MiG-23MS was shot down by Maj. Sal Mohammad, while the other used the speed advantage to escape. -WikiPedia


Andy's "claims" of being divinely protected saved him...even here!


Egyptian MIGs and two ground defense units


A near miss!



Missile contrails filled the middle-eastern skies



The orange trails denote hitting the afterburners



Two missiles fail miserably, missing their mark by a mile


Libyan bombing runs decimated ground units


Check Your 6! was one of the three "BrianCon" games we played, and as always it didn't disappoint. I hadn't had a chance to play with the jet rules yet, and man, they were cool. Speeds were off the charts, we had missiles, attack ranges were vast, and we had afterburners. Mind you, all of these extra mechanics didn't muddle up the rules or make them any harder to play. CY6! is a great game with tight rules that allow even brand new players to jump right into the action and pretty much know what they're doing by the second or third turn. I've played in a handful of games, and every one of them has been enjoyable, here they are.


...and now from the "what if" files, laser guns!

New Items at Brickarms

The always excellent, third-party Lego armorer Brickarms has added even more punch to its already considerable arsenal. Shown here are three of the many new releases, and they all work equally well in a modern, near-future, or even sci-fi setting. Up top is the massive Barrett M82A1, able to punch a hole in an armored car, or power armor. Below that on the left is the really cool looking P90, equally at home in SWAT teams or guarding "Egyptian star portals to other dimensions". Last we have a personal favorite of mine, and one I'll be picking up for sure. It's the classic longslide version of the 1911 with scope (or old school laser sight). Perfect if you're an assassin android sent from the future to eliminate a target in the past!

First Foray with Flying Lead

Ganesha Games' latest product, Flying Lead

"Flying Lead (written by Rich Jones and Andrea Sfiligoi, $8 pdf, 48 pages with two variant covers) can be used to play tabletop actions in a wide range of genres. From gang warfare to pulp action, from military operations to black-clad assassins, Flying Lead supplies furious fun at bullet speed! Lead a gang of mobsters, play cops vs crooks, or enter the brutal world of covert special operations and espionage. But will you have the guts to lead your force to glory in world where a street punk or an armed fanatic can blow you away as effectively as a trained soldier? Pick your force, roll those dice and find out!" -from the Ganesha Games website

We've had a blast playing Song of Blades and Heroes, admittedly though, we've only got three games under our belts, it's still one of those games that's fun to play and easy to grasp. Also, there is that sweet spot where you can use whatever the heck figs you want to. There's some good SBH reports to peruse here if you haven't already.

So now the same company comes out with Flying Lead, in the same vein as the Song of Blades, but applied to a gun-toting, modern genre. Many of the same mechanics apply, like quality of troops compared to what you need to roll on a d6 for actions. Hero activation and the like are also very similar. Instead of having a rune-axe toting Dwarf, you've got a 1920's mobster, or the like. With our first couple of games we went modern military.


The fictional desert town of Falujahstan

You know, I've actually got mixed feelings about doing modern military. I can't exactly pin it down, and I'm not adverse to it, but there's still a scratching at the back of my mind about it. Never thought about it before, but then again, I've never gamed "true modern military" before either. Maybe that's why I'm kinda adverse to Flames of War?

Anyway, we used Andy's collection of 20mm US troops and 'middle eastern' insurgents. The rule book has stats for Army Rangers, which is what we used here, and I'm not sure what the opposing force was statted out with. The figs looked great, the scale is a good mix between 'tiny' and 'heroic' and, as always, Andy has slapped good paint on 'em.


The "parking lot"


Insurgent forces

Chrispy and I played one another in the first game while Andy adjudicated the rules. After a couple of turns though, it all came back to me just from what exposure I had with SBH. There's some obvious big changes, namely the heavy reliance on ranged weaponry, but you can still use the range counters used in SBH. It was a disaster for my side. Bad rolls will spell your doom any day of the week on the tabletop, but using them as an excuse is equally bad. For whatever reason though, I had my left flank decimated. I couldn't pass any activation rolls, I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with full-auto rifles, it was sad.


The town center


Corporal McIntyre

We may have been testing the rules, but I was done and conceded the game, I guess about halfway through. Andy jumped out of his seat, bravado to the brim, accused me of being "outplayed" and valiantly took over. I say this all in jest of course, but he did take over. And accuse me of being outplayed. He fared better than I, consolidating troops and not taking as many risks with activation rolls. US troops had rolled up one flank already and were getting dug in for the long haul to hold the center of the table.


Opening fire at close range


Insurgents advance around an oil tower

In the second game I took Andy head on, he stuck with the insurgents and I commanded the US troops. I tried to move up the middle quickly and get some nice lanes of fire laid out while sticking to cover. One unit was able to storm a building and set up overwatch from a rooftop. The other unit though got chewed up pretty badly while taking cover behind the plaza's fountain. I learned from mistakes in the first game, but honestly, having better quality troops went a long way, it felt I was able to "do more stuff".


US troops hunker down on a rooftop


Troops advance down excellent hills from theTerrainGuy.com

The rules were fast and fun, I'll play them again. Having played SBH helped out a lot more than I thought it would, but it's not necessary, I think you'll pick it up in one game or less regardless. For a mere eight bucks you get the PDF and it's money well spent. We played squad-based military ops, but you can do pretty much anything that involves guns. There's rules for World War II, mobsters, pulp, near-future, and everything in between. There's even stats for Stargate type operations, cleverly titled "Star Portal". I tell you, there's something very appealing about running a modern A-Team type scenario...


"Get through that window trooper, pronto!"