Christmas treats and a preview...

So, Merry Christmas! I have put a link to my YouTube channel in the weblink bar on the right. There you will find some unboxing posts for a couple of games I got for Christmas - Dreadfleet and Legend Of Drizzt (D&D boardgame). These are added to the Lord of the Rings LCG I put on there last week. So, also up and coming for the end of this year and 2012 are - Warmachine's plastic Cygnar Battlegroup (plus painting posts). The Walking Dead up to volume 14. Hellboy volume 11 (and BPRD thrown in for good measure). A couple of MTG core sets for 2012. LA Noire, Portal 2, Skyrim for PS3. A Dance With Dragons by George RR Martin Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. If I ever have a chance to post about all of these - it'll be right here! Happy New Year t...

Read more »

Posted in: board games,books,CCG/TCG,graphic novels,Magic:The Gathering,PS3,stuff,Warmachine

Lord Of The Rings, Living Card Game - What's in it? What's it like?

Look over at the video bar on the right and you will see a link over to the Youtube video I made (Monkeyreado channel) about the contents of the box. There are three. I bought it for under £30, which I thought was pretty reasonable - compared to other similar games out there. What sets this apart (a little) is the fact it's able to be played solo. Not everyone in my house is really that bothered by this kind of stuff. So this is a real selling point for me. So here's a mini-review to go with it... Presentation quality is great - as I've come to expect from FFG. The art is quite traditional, but well executed. The card stock for all of the components is durable and sturdy. The box may be a little large given the number of items but I guess it can also store any expansion packs that you...

Read more »

Posted in: LCG

'The Amazing Screw-on Head and Other Curious Objects' versus 'Century:1969'.

Good evening fight-fans! Tonight it's a straight-down-the-middle-one submission fist fight between these two heavy-weights of the comic book world. In the blue corner Moore and O'Neill's 'Century' series gets to 1969, having followed on from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, via Century:1910 to London in the (very) swinging sixties. In the red corner, is Mike Mignola's collection of 'short stories' - more occult based mystery and mayhem from the pen of the creator of such acclaimed works as Hellboy and BPRD. Thwack!  Kludd!!  Let's get ready to rumble!!! Round 1 : The narratives. OK so to begin with both are very occult laden. Both are a bit odd to say the least, although both have one foot in a kind...

Read more »

Posted in: graphic novels

Are we nearly there yet? 'A Game of Thrones'... the story so far.

As it happens, I've just finished 'A Feast for Crows' - Book four of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin. The title itself is a tad obscure as I'm not sure it really illuminates the content, though it does hint at it. Here we have a post-war Westeros. A place for bandits, murderers and rapists. A place of recriminations, changed allegiances and revenge. It is struggling to piece itself together - with an equally disfunctional Cersei as regent Queen, ruling with bitterness and manipulation. The characters find no solace, nor peace, in the aftermath of the devastation that was unleashed. Brienne searches vainly to complete her deluded knightly quest for a Stark child. Jaime, less a sword-arm and changed from the man he was, also seems to seek some kind of salvation...

Read more »

Posted in: books

The Boys : Ennis /Robertson

FYI, just got through volumes 4 and 5 of this series and I have to say it's an improving experience. Like Preacher, it's blood, sex and guts - with bells on - however, there's enough politics and intrigue to make it not seem gratuitous  ... no hang on ... there are plenty of scenes that are completely gratuitous and that's another reason why it's fun to read! I'd argue that the premise of super heroes gone bad has been touched on before - and the idea that they are closely linked with international politics and power. Nevertheless, the way they need to be 'managed' by Butcher, Wee Hughie and co. with a real degree of black humour, does create an engaging and entertaining concept. The 'supes' too are comedic/nasty enough for us...

Read more »

Posted in: graphic novels

More night goblins...

Creeping along at a snail's pace, I have embarked upon a few Night Goblins to stave off the painting withdrawal symptoms. Orkhide Shade followed by increasingly lighter mixtures of Goblin Green and Rotting Flesh to be exact. Then a Thrakka Green wash before the final highlights. The different 'units' of Goblins have different colour clothing just to create some variety on the board so to speak, and to help with identification. Archers in Mordian Blue with a Badab Black wash and the spearmen with Mechrite Red then a Devlan Mud wash. Should get these finished in a bit, but, ahem, we'll s...

Read more »

Posted in: current projects,Warhammer Fantasy

D and D - Man, I laughed out loud! Does this make me a geek (or a nerd...)?

PAX Celebrity Game, Part 1 If ever you wanted a reason to get all geeky, this series of Youtube posts shows why. It really made me laugh and I only vaguely understand the rules of D and D. If only all games could be played in this spirit. A...

Read more »

Posted in: RPGs,stuff

The end of Preacher - by Ennis/Dillon

I thought I'd make sure that I rounded off the Preacher series with a mini-review, and then list some of the things that should be coming up. First off, let me say that Ennis and Dillon did a grand job on the series overall. I knew the work of these guys of old and it doesn't disappoint. The artwork is clear, confident and packs a punch. I adore the Fabry covers included in the trade paperbacks. There are also some great illustrations at the end too. The narrative is thoughtful, the interplay between he characters is interesting and, to an extent, very 'human', despite the storyline. The storyline itself progressed quite interestingly in the first half of the series. I enjoyed the oddities, the seediness and the gratuitous violence....

Read more »

Posted in: Dark Age Games,graphic novels,LCG,Malifaux,Warmachine

A Song of Ice and Fire - Four books in and so a review so far...

Having been extremely encouraged by Book 1: A Game of Thrones, I have embarked on a mini-mission of getting as much of this series read as possible. Consequently I am now on Book 4 : A Feast Of Crows. The others I was able to read here and there while basking in the sun on holiday. Weighty tomes they were too, each running over 600 pages or so. Book one dragged me in and (I hate this phrase) it was a real 'page-turner'.Though I still have reservations about the ages of some of the characters, especially the female ones (e.g.Daenerys), I can perhaps see that Martin was aiming at something more medieval in tone. Young girls being married off for political and economic expediency and life expectancy being shorter. Even so,...

Read more »

Posted in: books

This week : A Game of Thrones - the book and some other stuff.

So the other week , for Father's Day as it happens, I got a bit of stuff to play around with. A few more copies of the seriously dark and doomy graphic novel 'The Walking Dead', the last two volumes of the seriously cool Dillon/Ennis series 'Preacher' and a pack o' cards. (A WoW TCG starter deck, just because it wasn't very expensive at about £6. It was a random deck - a Mage set, not that this would normally thrill me, but it's good source of deck building cards for a relative noob like me.) More of all those later. But I'm going to start with a brief review of the opening of 'A Game of Thrones', the ubiquitous (?) novel by George R. R. Martin. I had already seen the first few episodes of the HBO series. I was impressed. Especially when I...

Read more »

Posted in: books,graphic novels,wow tcg

What have I done lately?

Not much as it turns out. Hmm...I seem to be forever apologising for what I haven't done. Here's something wot i bort then! Woo! (?) A core deck of MTG 2011 white/black called 'Blades of Victory'. Now, at this point, I must point out that I am a complete n00b. I know it's not nice to admit it, but I just don't play enough even to call myself intermediate standard. What I do know is that I played a couple of games with this deck and I didn't get pwned. A nice break from the usual, given that I normally play my 12 year old son who is as sharp as a very sharp thing. I can't be very analytical about this but the black deck I played against (a Liliana based swamp/black deck) was really strong early in the game and I was nearly...

Read more »

Posted in: CCG/TCG,Magic:The Gathering

Another Warhammer Fantasy effort...

Again I've come to realise that I, all to often, start things I know I can't finish in any kind of reasonable time span. I'm still on the Skull Pass set and the rules have changed in the meanwhile...pfft... But I'll persist. I like the idea of WFB game, though the rules 'do my head in'. I don't mind lots of rules per se. I just know that the number of 'rules lawyers' and pedantic divvys is in direct relation to the number of rules. I see this as only a game. Flawed, complex, engaging. You'd think that from the comments of some of the forum contributors that it was oh so much more than that. I digress... Here are the next offerings on my journey...  Yes, goblins.   The squig is beginning to look good and...

Read more »

Posted in: current projects,Warhammer Fantasy

Warhammer Invasion - first impressions.

So, to plead for mercy - given the inordinate amount of time it took to paint the Rune Priest - here's something I did earlier this week. I played through a couple of games of this LCG (Living Card Game) by Fantasy Flight Games.  ...the box...    What it looks like on the table.   ... And in fact, the games went really well. The rules are accessible and easy to use. The cards/tokens/counters are well made, as I have come to expect from FFG, and the art work on the cards was also pretty good overall (if not quite as 'artistic' as many Magic : The Gathering cards). Essentially you play as a race with a set of 50 cards against an enemy (or up to 3 in the core box). Cards are split into Units/Support/Tactics...

Read more »

Posted in: LCG,Warhammer Invasion

Rune Priest ... are we nearly there yet?

Hrrumph. After what seems like an eternity. No, it was an eternity. I think I'm finished. Started in January last year, got to this point at Christmas... Then just got to this point now...  This was taken in daylight, which is quite a flattering way of taking a picture. I added some flock, for deepish snow. Gave the face a thin GW Ogryn flesh wash to reduce some of the elf flesh pale qualities. Put the back pack on (see later pic). Added rune to knee and wolf head transfer to shoulder. Runes on other shoulder pad painted in same colours as power weapon. So you can compare pics here are a couple more, with base painted.  Added a skull to back pack for effect.    Done?   Well. Longer than I could...

Read more »

Posted in: 40k,Rune Priest,Space Wolves

New horizons and .... Tannhauser!!!!!!!!

And so, I know it's a long time since my last blog. And yes, I know that I've been a very naughty boy (and therefore not the messiah). And so, here goes... Here's what I've been up to. Painting, er well, I did a bit on the Rune Priest. He's nearly finished. Snow to add and backpack, then done. The never ending project I calls it. Graphic Novels - The Walking Dead is great! I've read volumes 1 - 4 and caught some of the TV programmes too. I like the thoughtful storytelling, the atmospheric art and the sense of tension that runs throughout. A good job done by all. It's a very 'now' concept...the end of the world as we know it. And it deals powerfully with all of the moral ambiguity that would entail. I've also read a couple more Preacher and enjoyed the stridently and unashamedly explicit...

Read more »

Posted in: board games,graphic novels,Tannhauser,Warmachine