... Jesus Christ Riding the Handlebars of a Pogostick while rocking out to Acca Dacca across the Red Sea.
Iron Man 2 is OORRRRRSUM.
That is all.
29 April 2010
28 April 2010
So here's a question for everyone.
What lines should I record for Jennys Blow up doll?
*With pressure sensitive voice box!
*With pressure sensitive voice box!
23 April 2010
I'd like a side of Cy-pork
Okay. I liked Chris before. He's a cool guy and when he released some prints of stuff, I dipped me funded in and shared them around to me mates who, afaik, still enjoy them to an extent.
I'm going to talk about my Hordes army, Hordes being the alter-ego of Warmachine for those not in the know). I initially decided to play Skorne. Skorne are cool, and they have Pseudo Pachyderms for their heavy Warbeasts, and their Light warbeasts are Cyclops'! Otherwise, they have a gender-combo of Basilisks and soon they will have a Wyrm-esque thing. All of them are enslaved to the will of the Skorne.
As for the Skorne race, they are a wonderfully created amalgamation of middle east and eastern cultures. Immortals and Ancestral Guardians are Terracotta warriors with Egyptian and Persian influences, that store souls of friendly Skorne dying around them to use against their enemies as extra attacks. Their warriors are wonderful crossbreeds of Chinese, Japanese and Arabic medieval troops. And I don't even know where to begin with their Paingiver sects.
They are a very interesting aesthetic to some of my old interests, some of which were medieval japanese stories. There is a series of books that I love to read occasionally, the Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn. I liked reading the Japanese culture, and about the “Singing Floor”.
The Skorne empire are very devoted to their beliefs and hold true to the prophecy of a great warrior coming and leading them. And so Vinter Raelthorne of the Cygnaran empire came around, made his stand and became the new leader of the Skorne Empire.
Now all of this is very cool. Very cool indeed. However, I've lost interest in them. My favourite caster for Flavour is Master Tormentor Morghoul, a dangerous assassin who likes to cosplay Edward Scissor Hands. He's just cool, an acrobat that just knows how to tear apart a person with a wave of a hand. Scissor Gloves or not.
I've lost interest in these guys though. As cool as they are, their flavour has died out like chewing gum to me. I still like the Cyclops' they have, along with their pachyderms, and the little campaign for the 'Agoniser' which arced up when the figure and fluff were originally released.
When their third expansion was released, they introduced something very cool to the Hordes Range: Minion Lesser Warlocks. Minions are easily described as the Mercenaries of Hordes, and to fit with the thematic difference between Warmachine and Hordes of “Metal vs Mongrel”, the Minions are alot more Monstrous.
Such as Farrow, the Pigmen of the Iron Kingdoms. Seriously, they looks like pigs and they act like Pigs. They were first revealed as “Farrow Brigands”, rooting about the place with their Pig Iron rifles and the Shaman with his staff giving simple passive bonuses to them by yelling at them to stop stumbling across the scrubs they're walking in, or to shoot before they charge at something.
Next expansion – Evolution – brought forth, a very useful boost unit called the Bone Grinders. Usually they give a Warlock a bonus their spells range. But when a Warbeast Dies, they gain two options: The first is to be able to cast a Warbeasts Animus by spending their action, this being one of their permanent effects. So if a Cyclops Savage dies, a friendly figure can be affects by Prescience which allows figures to increase their damage after a dice roll has been made.
The other was to take a stat, such as Speed, Strength, or Armour, and apply it to a friendly figure within 3” of a figure in the unit. So they pass arm in arm all the grimey bits of a Warbeast, like a Titans Femur which is probably big enough to take out a bus, grind it into a salve and then rub it on the local Warlock so that they can suddenly become as tough as a brick wall, toddle off as fast as an indy car, or hit like a brick shit house fired from an artillery cannon.
I used to do the latter with my Skorne army. Someone would get the strength of a Bronzeback Titan of 13, and then add the power of their own weapons, which would be 4 or more, giving them a chance to give someone the rough end of a pineapple.
And then the third expansion came – Metamorphosis. This is where Hordes stands now, and it gave everyone the coolest addition to the Farrow of the time: Rorsh and Brine. Rorsh is a Lesser Warlock with a large trenchcoat, a Pig Iron Rifle, and a small fetish for Dynomite. Yes, that's the name of the weapon. He even has an attack called “Diversionary Tactic” where he drops a stick of Acme at his feet and bolts off while everyone else is figuring out what the fuck just happened. And with him is Brine, his Gigantic Pig. Yes, a gigantic, bi-pedal pig. And not only does he smack things with his very meaty fists, but he headbutts them too.
And their abilities do them justice. Rorsh has only one spell, Pigpen, which causes the area around him to turn to mud, and enemies have trouble getting through the suddenly precarious terrain. And when Brine is too far away from Rorsh, all he has to do is call SOUIE! to bring him back into a comfortable distance. Brine is a very Pigheaded character, and when he normally would be destroyed he stays around for a bit longer so that friendly living warbeasts can feast on his regenerative Bacon. Seriously, he has an ability called Bacon that lets Warbeasts eat him to heal.
With the second edition (AKA: MKII) of Hordes rules coming just around the bend, Privateer Press have come to the decision to give the people what they want. And what they want is a Pig Army. While nothing really definitive has come out, they have given us a preview of a Farrow Warbeast.
Give me Cy-pork, or fry me up in lard and pass me onto the hungover teenagers who have been drinking enough goon to fill Lake Wivenhoe.
Alternative names Include
The list goes on.
I'm going to talk about my Hordes army, Hordes being the alter-ego of Warmachine for those not in the know). I initially decided to play Skorne. Skorne are cool, and they have Pseudo Pachyderms for their heavy Warbeasts, and their Light warbeasts are Cyclops'! Otherwise, they have a gender-combo of Basilisks and soon they will have a Wyrm-esque thing. All of them are enslaved to the will of the Skorne.
As for the Skorne race, they are a wonderfully created amalgamation of middle east and eastern cultures. Immortals and Ancestral Guardians are Terracotta warriors with Egyptian and Persian influences, that store souls of friendly Skorne dying around them to use against their enemies as extra attacks. Their warriors are wonderful crossbreeds of Chinese, Japanese and Arabic medieval troops. And I don't even know where to begin with their Paingiver sects.
They are a very interesting aesthetic to some of my old interests, some of which were medieval japanese stories. There is a series of books that I love to read occasionally, the Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn. I liked reading the Japanese culture, and about the “Singing Floor”.
The Skorne empire are very devoted to their beliefs and hold true to the prophecy of a great warrior coming and leading them. And so Vinter Raelthorne of the Cygnaran empire came around, made his stand and became the new leader of the Skorne Empire.
Now all of this is very cool. Very cool indeed. However, I've lost interest in them. My favourite caster for Flavour is Master Tormentor Morghoul, a dangerous assassin who likes to cosplay Edward Scissor Hands. He's just cool, an acrobat that just knows how to tear apart a person with a wave of a hand. Scissor Gloves or not.
I've lost interest in these guys though. As cool as they are, their flavour has died out like chewing gum to me. I still like the Cyclops' they have, along with their pachyderms, and the little campaign for the 'Agoniser' which arced up when the figure and fluff were originally released.
When their third expansion was released, they introduced something very cool to the Hordes Range: Minion Lesser Warlocks. Minions are easily described as the Mercenaries of Hordes, and to fit with the thematic difference between Warmachine and Hordes of “Metal vs Mongrel”, the Minions are alot more Monstrous.
Such as Farrow, the Pigmen of the Iron Kingdoms. Seriously, they looks like pigs and they act like Pigs. They were first revealed as “Farrow Brigands”, rooting about the place with their Pig Iron rifles and the Shaman with his staff giving simple passive bonuses to them by yelling at them to stop stumbling across the scrubs they're walking in, or to shoot before they charge at something.
Next expansion – Evolution – brought forth, a very useful boost unit called the Bone Grinders. Usually they give a Warlock a bonus their spells range. But when a Warbeast Dies, they gain two options: The first is to be able to cast a Warbeasts Animus by spending their action, this being one of their permanent effects. So if a Cyclops Savage dies, a friendly figure can be affects by Prescience which allows figures to increase their damage after a dice roll has been made.
The other was to take a stat, such as Speed, Strength, or Armour, and apply it to a friendly figure within 3” of a figure in the unit. So they pass arm in arm all the grimey bits of a Warbeast, like a Titans Femur which is probably big enough to take out a bus, grind it into a salve and then rub it on the local Warlock so that they can suddenly become as tough as a brick wall, toddle off as fast as an indy car, or hit like a brick shit house fired from an artillery cannon.
I used to do the latter with my Skorne army. Someone would get the strength of a Bronzeback Titan of 13, and then add the power of their own weapons, which would be 4 or more, giving them a chance to give someone the rough end of a pineapple.
And then the third expansion came – Metamorphosis. This is where Hordes stands now, and it gave everyone the coolest addition to the Farrow of the time: Rorsh and Brine. Rorsh is a Lesser Warlock with a large trenchcoat, a Pig Iron Rifle, and a small fetish for Dynomite. Yes, that's the name of the weapon. He even has an attack called “Diversionary Tactic” where he drops a stick of Acme at his feet and bolts off while everyone else is figuring out what the fuck just happened. And with him is Brine, his Gigantic Pig. Yes, a gigantic, bi-pedal pig. And not only does he smack things with his very meaty fists, but he headbutts them too.
And their abilities do them justice. Rorsh has only one spell, Pigpen, which causes the area around him to turn to mud, and enemies have trouble getting through the suddenly precarious terrain. And when Brine is too far away from Rorsh, all he has to do is call SOUIE! to bring him back into a comfortable distance. Brine is a very Pigheaded character, and when he normally would be destroyed he stays around for a bit longer so that friendly living warbeasts can feast on his regenerative Bacon. Seriously, he has an ability called Bacon that lets Warbeasts eat him to heal.
With the second edition (AKA: MKII) of Hordes rules coming just around the bend, Privateer Press have come to the decision to give the people what they want. And what they want is a Pig Army. While nothing really definitive has come out, they have given us a preview of a Farrow Warbeast.
It has always been my long-standing belief that everything in this world can be made better with the addition of bacon. Bacon is delicious. The only thing better than bacon is a larger helping of bacon. This was recognized early on in the creation of the Iron Kingdoms with the inclusion of the Farrow. What could be better than creatures that are essentially bacon wrapped in iron and carrying guns? Not much. I would even venture to guess that when a unit of Farrow is killed by Flameguard Cleansers or an Assault Kommando Flamethrower the smell is mind-numbingly delectable.
So far, each HORDES expansion has added new Farrow types in small amounts. Bacon bits, if you will. But the arrival of HORDES: Primal MK2 steps up the goodness in a big way. If the Farrow were just scatterings of succulent bacon before, they are now a BLT of awesome and epic proportions.
The new heavy Farrow Warbeast, the War Hog is a towering engine of destruction. A nightmare patchwork of the discarded materials left behind by the rest of the Iron Kingdoms, the War Hog is truly terrifying to behold. When I was designing the look of this guy, Creative Director Ed Bourelle suggested a mad scientist’s dream given form. A Franken-Pig if you will. That was an idea I could get behind pretty easily.
I think this guy will look awesome next to our previous Farrow heavy, Brine. Where Brine is nature gone wrong, this guy is science gone horribly awry. I also like the ironic touches of arming him with two meat cleavers. If there is turkey bacon, why not Trollkin bacon or Titan bacon? I’m sure the War Hog is aiming to find out how those’ll taste. I’ll bet they are delicious.
NOTE: Chris Walton’s opinions on bacon and its effects on your health and lifestyle are not necessarily those of Privateer Press Inc. , its employees, or affiliates. But damn, does bacon taste good.
Give me Cy-pork, or fry me up in lard and pass me onto the hungover teenagers who have been drinking enough goon to fill Lake Wivenhoe.
Alternative names Include
- Frankenpig
- Baconstein
- Hogzerker
- Hamjack
- Tony Stark (Due to the Clockwork Heart)
- Steampork
- Porkinator
The list goes on.
18 April 2010
The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco
 |
| I actually thought he signed it "Swanky" |
The Saturday was spent having the most wonderful conversations with Jenny, who was so totally jealous that she couldn't go to TBF, and playing Splinter Cell Conviction. I won't go into Splinter Cell because 1: “People think me talking about games is turning this site into rubbish” (Jubs and Michelle), 2: I'm saving that for a different post (haha suckers), and 3: This is about the Tasmanian Babes Fiasco.
Being the little technophile that I am, I keep up with things like Twitter, a website for Text-message sized Status Updates. And being friendly with some of the crew of Tasmanian Babes Fiasco, I saw this funny little gem.
“Hey guys, I'm just at the hospital, I was in a car crash but I'll be fine.”
Not an exact quote, but you get the idea. So she was instantly bombarded with Tweets and Facebook comments asking if she was alright. Turns out she just got whiplash and a dinged up car (Btw, awesome site makeover).
Come to the night, Scotty, Dee and I played passenger to Richard's Driving to the play. Already there was Kel, Aaron and Caryl, waiting for us to turn up, and Anna and Christian were down at Caxton Street having dinner before the show started at 8.
So in I walked, saying a quick hello to got my tickets and had a nice chat to the Ticket Booth lady about my awesome name: “Enjoy Medway”. She said “Oh, that's an interesting name” and we had a good laugh. I also picked up, at an additional $3, a Tassie Babes program. And, from kel's Idea, I went up to Shaun and said “Mister King, Mister King! Can you sign my Program?” This is funny because Shaun is a mate of Kel and I.
Afterward, we waited at the gate while Dee had her cigarettes outside the gate and I waited inside with my Jimmy and Coke and Nat came through the gates to say hi and to tell me that she was okay, and I gave her the hug from Jenny, and Nat also taught me something new: When you're suffering from Whiplash, you avoid bedrest. This really surprised me for some reason, but it makes sense. If you work your muscles they won't tense up, which sitting in bed will let them do and evidently prevent them from healing quickly. You learn something new every day.
The Play itself was great. I loved it all. I do think I ruined it for myself a little by reading the book about a month ago and having a fairly good memory for things, I laughed at some things that nobody else laughed at. Such as when they found the air tank.
“Kaboom” is all I'll say for those who understand.
After saying Good work to Shaun and Nat, and making a bit of an ass of myself and apologising for it (Sorry again!) my tribe of friends all toddled off to drink more. I came across a packet of Original Flavour Doritos, and I must say that something has to be said about mixing Rum with Doritos.
Don't.
15 April 2010
The Silver Hans has a ring to it...
Well call my mother a rodent and my daddy farm equipment. After a small hiatus on the topic of Monsterpocalypse, we return with an update on a new monster that I have picked up: Mega Drillcon-Vorionnik. This metallic monstrosity is probably going to be my prime choice of Subterran Monsters until the next series.
Following the tradition of the Subterran Monsters, Mega Drillnose has Burrow on his ability bar, giving him the manoeuvrability he always had with his Speed of 6, the same as his Ultra Form. While both his alpha and ultra forms offered blue support abilities, he's dropped that for a few triggers to his blast attack.
“What? Drillnose has triggers on his blast? What for? Doesn't he have a terrible blast stat?”
Why yes, yes he did. His Alpha and Ultra forms both have a blast stat of 5*1 at short range, and while it's better than Deimos-9's 4*0 at the same range, it's still not fantastic. The only use a player would receive from it is the Blast range for the Multishot Brawl Trigger, which is determined by the figures current blast range.
“So how does the Mega Differ?”
Mega Drillnose's blast attack stands out to be fantastic at 7*3 with long range. We have a Blastard of a Monster, Ladies and Gentlemen, and we haven't reached the next series yet which does feature our Star Blastard. But good range and a good stat are not all, There are two Triggers available to play with!
Explosion is a good alternative to Multi-shot, eliminating about the same number of units as Multi-shot and possibly even more, situation depending. And if a monster is screened by units? Well that was a silly move, wasn't it! Put a bucket load of dice into the attack and aim to hit the monsters Defence while targeting the unit, gaining a profit in Power Dice.
Demolish? Oh now that's a funny one. You destroy a building and deal 1 damage to an adjacent unit or monster. This can leave power bases in a shambles by not only taking out a building that's being secured, but taking out an adjacent unit which could be securing another building, or deal first blood to a monster! Targeting a Power Station next to a monster can deal 2 points of damage to a monster due to the Live Wire Reaction, which deals a point of damage to all adjacent monsters when it's destroyed!
Our series 1 Blastard is pretty cool. But that's not all!
When comparing what I've said to the Ultra, he doesn't seem to be that great. He attacks from range and does it pretty well. But does he do super damage? No. Not with his blast attacks.
But his Brawl attacks, however, are a different story. He totes another two triggers on his brawl attacks to match up with his playstyle.
So there's his Super Damage, and while there's a 1 in 6 chance per die to get a Super Strike, it's still Super Damage and chances are that you make a Super Attack so you can get the Super Strike for the Super Damage. That's just Super.
Following Fire is where the variation of a playstyle comes in. Alpha and Ultra Drillnose run up and punch something and then target whatever unit is in range of it's Blast stat to take a point of damage, the roll being based on the brawl attack. So overall, Drillnose has had a good Brawl Stat, but extremely lax blast stat because he doesn't actually use it.
However since Mega Drillnose actually uses his blast stat, with it's long range and good boost die bonus, and great blast triggers, he gets Following Fire so that he can keep on the variation of a style. The problem with it is that this is expensive if you're aiming to deal an extra point of damage to your opponent. The wording for Following Fire is that it's a completely different attack so instead of using the same dice in the roll, you use whatever dice are in your monster pool. And because it's a blast attack, the Blast Triggers are set off as well.
If everything goes right, a player can get up to 3 points of damage in an entire turn, while forfeiting double activations, unless you're against someone with low defence. The more expensive, and probably more recurrent, situation is to Knock the poor bugger on the nose, and then shoot a unit adjacent to the monster and deal damage with the explosion. The expensive part is having to roll above the monsters defence twice, making a juggling act using the 10 Action Die, and however many Power Die available at the time, between the two attacks, moving and the Power Up Roll.
The cheaper option, but less likely, is after the brawl an attack is made against a building adjacent to the target. If the target is something like a Music Producer or an Office building which have a Defence of 3, something really easy to hit, then there's a saving on Action Die because there's no need to match the monsters Defence again.
So I've been talking him up like he's the Lord Cthul himself. So what are his downsides?
Well, with the better Blast Score he does have some drawbacks, particularly his Defence of 5. History notes that monsters with a Defence of 5 are more vulnerable than a poor fellow dropping the soap in a prison shower... unless you have a rope. In Ulgoth's case, he garrottes people with his Volatile ability, and he can regenerate whatever health he can through Meat Slaves. Anyone else's case, well it's their own fault.
Unfortunately it's Mega Drillnose's own fault he's Defence 5. He does try to make it up with a health of 6 though, and obviously his offensive ability, but is that enough to justify a cost of 4 Power Die to enter Hyper Mode? Well frankly 4 P-die isn't a massive cost. It isn't cheap, but it's not so ridiculously expensive that you couldn't hold off from a massive assault against the opponent. So yes, yes it is justifiable.
But that pretty much amounts his downsides. He still accumulates Power Die as well, if not better, than his other incarnations and his damage output can fluctuate to being better or worse than his Ultra.
So the Silver Hans is definitely a good choice when available. And Soon our next expansion will come and I get get into the nitty gritty of the new Chaos that we bring to the table.
Following the tradition of the Subterran Monsters, Mega Drillnose has Burrow on his ability bar, giving him the manoeuvrability he always had with his Speed of 6, the same as his Ultra Form. While both his alpha and ultra forms offered blue support abilities, he's dropped that for a few triggers to his blast attack.
“What? Drillnose has triggers on his blast? What for? Doesn't he have a terrible blast stat?”
Why yes, yes he did. His Alpha and Ultra forms both have a blast stat of 5*1 at short range, and while it's better than Deimos-9's 4*0 at the same range, it's still not fantastic. The only use a player would receive from it is the Blast range for the Multishot Brawl Trigger, which is determined by the figures current blast range.
“So how does the Mega Differ?”
Mega Drillnose's blast attack stands out to be fantastic at 7*3 with long range. We have a Blastard of a Monster, Ladies and Gentlemen, and we haven't reached the next series yet which does feature our Star Blastard. But good range and a good stat are not all, There are two Triggers available to play with!
Explosion: All monsters and units adjacent to the target unit with a Defence equal or less than the number of strikes rolled take 1 damage.
Demolish: If target building is hit, choose 1 adjacent monster or unit to take 1 damage.
Explosion is a good alternative to Multi-shot, eliminating about the same number of units as Multi-shot and possibly even more, situation depending. And if a monster is screened by units? Well that was a silly move, wasn't it! Put a bucket load of dice into the attack and aim to hit the monsters Defence while targeting the unit, gaining a profit in Power Dice.
Demolish? Oh now that's a funny one. You destroy a building and deal 1 damage to an adjacent unit or monster. This can leave power bases in a shambles by not only taking out a building that's being secured, but taking out an adjacent unit which could be securing another building, or deal first blood to a monster! Targeting a Power Station next to a monster can deal 2 points of damage to a monster due to the Live Wire Reaction, which deals a point of damage to all adjacent monsters when it's destroyed!
Our series 1 Blastard is pretty cool. But that's not all!
When comparing what I've said to the Ultra, he doesn't seem to be that great. He attacks from range and does it pretty well. But does he do super damage? No. Not with his blast attacks.
But his Brawl attacks, however, are a different story. He totes another two triggers on his brawl attacks to match up with his playstyle.
Crunch: If this attack rolls at least 1 super strike, this attack deals Super Damage.
Following Fire: This figure may make a blast attack.
So there's his Super Damage, and while there's a 1 in 6 chance per die to get a Super Strike, it's still Super Damage and chances are that you make a Super Attack so you can get the Super Strike for the Super Damage. That's just Super.
Following Fire is where the variation of a playstyle comes in. Alpha and Ultra Drillnose run up and punch something and then target whatever unit is in range of it's Blast stat to take a point of damage, the roll being based on the brawl attack. So overall, Drillnose has had a good Brawl Stat, but extremely lax blast stat because he doesn't actually use it.
However since Mega Drillnose actually uses his blast stat, with it's long range and good boost die bonus, and great blast triggers, he gets Following Fire so that he can keep on the variation of a style. The problem with it is that this is expensive if you're aiming to deal an extra point of damage to your opponent. The wording for Following Fire is that it's a completely different attack so instead of using the same dice in the roll, you use whatever dice are in your monster pool. And because it's a blast attack, the Blast Triggers are set off as well.
If everything goes right, a player can get up to 3 points of damage in an entire turn, while forfeiting double activations, unless you're against someone with low defence. The more expensive, and probably more recurrent, situation is to Knock the poor bugger on the nose, and then shoot a unit adjacent to the monster and deal damage with the explosion. The expensive part is having to roll above the monsters defence twice, making a juggling act using the 10 Action Die, and however many Power Die available at the time, between the two attacks, moving and the Power Up Roll.
The cheaper option, but less likely, is after the brawl an attack is made against a building adjacent to the target. If the target is something like a Music Producer or an Office building which have a Defence of 3, something really easy to hit, then there's a saving on Action Die because there's no need to match the monsters Defence again.
So I've been talking him up like he's the Lord Cthul himself. So what are his downsides?
Well, with the better Blast Score he does have some drawbacks, particularly his Defence of 5. History notes that monsters with a Defence of 5 are more vulnerable than a poor fellow dropping the soap in a prison shower... unless you have a rope. In Ulgoth's case, he garrottes people with his Volatile ability, and he can regenerate whatever health he can through Meat Slaves. Anyone else's case, well it's their own fault.
Unfortunately it's Mega Drillnose's own fault he's Defence 5. He does try to make it up with a health of 6 though, and obviously his offensive ability, but is that enough to justify a cost of 4 Power Die to enter Hyper Mode? Well frankly 4 P-die isn't a massive cost. It isn't cheap, but it's not so ridiculously expensive that you couldn't hold off from a massive assault against the opponent. So yes, yes it is justifiable.
But that pretty much amounts his downsides. He still accumulates Power Die as well, if not better, than his other incarnations and his damage output can fluctuate to being better or worse than his Ultra.
So the Silver Hans is definitely a good choice when available. And Soon our next expansion will come and I get get into the nitty gritty of the new Chaos that we bring to the table.
11 April 2010
Happy Birthday to Dee (and you smell like one too)
Saturday I was only a little hung over. I spent the better part of the day snoozing and talking to Jenny, making the best of a Saturday day with a mouth like Velcro. Fortunately, that was all that was wrong so I brushed my teeth and came back to continue my day of chatting.
Tonight was going to be a blast. It was Dee's Birthday and she had this planned for months, since before December last year when she was offered our place to have her birthday. The plan was simple too, if a little expensive:
She got a few spotlights set up around the yard: A scattered light in the open area of the back yard; a turquoise spotlight going to a spiral that Mel drew up; and an oscillating multi-colour light that also reflects heatwaves to shine up into the very massive tree we have. Dee also ordered in a couple of weird banners, a fractal image on one that spiralled into oblivion, and a couple of mushrooms in weird colours and shapes. To boost the effect of something trippy, a blacklight was placed in front of it with a foil guard to block it from peoples eyes and brighten the banner slightly. On top of that, Dee and half of her guests were Fire Twirlers!
People were allowed to come on one condition: that they bring a mask. If they wanted to dress up, they're encouraged to do so but it wasn't necessary. Dee even had a $400 dress that she wore again.
And it was awesome. The Twirlers lit up their Staves and Poi's, and dancing about high and possibly a little drunk. Anna was awesome, she was going crazy with the Poi's, pulling off moves with no trouble and she was as tanked as she could get!
Anna is pretty cool. She brought her 10yo son Christian to the party, mostly because she couldn't find someone to babysit. But she introduced him to everyone and we parked him in my room for a little while to play my PS3, and I found another fan of Sonic the Hedgehog! But throughout the night, when he got a little too bored playing the PS3, he came out and was bolting all over the place in his starry cape. He even had an iPhone, probably Annas, and he was using the gun app to shake it up and shoot people down. Several times he capped his mum and went over to put the finishing bullet in only for her to tickle him to the ground pretending to be a zombie. He was a little legend.
It was a good night and I lasted until about 3/3:30 before I passed out on the futon into slumberous bliss, until about 5am when Dee poked me really hard several times and dragged me out onto my own bed. I'm not a morning person, by the way.
Saturday night/Sunday morning was pretty awesome. And while I was practising the hair of the dog from Friday night, I was somewhat impressed with myself to reach 3:30am before passing out. Everyone had a good time, and we have a few new friends.
Tonight was going to be a blast. It was Dee's Birthday and she had this planned for months, since before December last year when she was offered our place to have her birthday. The plan was simple too, if a little expensive:
She got a few spotlights set up around the yard: A scattered light in the open area of the back yard; a turquoise spotlight going to a spiral that Mel drew up; and an oscillating multi-colour light that also reflects heatwaves to shine up into the very massive tree we have. Dee also ordered in a couple of weird banners, a fractal image on one that spiralled into oblivion, and a couple of mushrooms in weird colours and shapes. To boost the effect of something trippy, a blacklight was placed in front of it with a foil guard to block it from peoples eyes and brighten the banner slightly. On top of that, Dee and half of her guests were Fire Twirlers!
People were allowed to come on one condition: that they bring a mask. If they wanted to dress up, they're encouraged to do so but it wasn't necessary. Dee even had a $400 dress that she wore again.
And it was awesome. The Twirlers lit up their Staves and Poi's, and dancing about high and possibly a little drunk. Anna was awesome, she was going crazy with the Poi's, pulling off moves with no trouble and she was as tanked as she could get!
Anna is pretty cool. She brought her 10yo son Christian to the party, mostly because she couldn't find someone to babysit. But she introduced him to everyone and we parked him in my room for a little while to play my PS3, and I found another fan of Sonic the Hedgehog! But throughout the night, when he got a little too bored playing the PS3, he came out and was bolting all over the place in his starry cape. He even had an iPhone, probably Annas, and he was using the gun app to shake it up and shoot people down. Several times he capped his mum and went over to put the finishing bullet in only for her to tickle him to the ground pretending to be a zombie. He was a little legend.
It was a good night and I lasted until about 3/3:30 before I passed out on the futon into slumberous bliss, until about 5am when Dee poked me really hard several times and dragged me out onto my own bed. I'm not a morning person, by the way.
Saturday night/Sunday morning was pretty awesome. And while I was practising the hair of the dog from Friday night, I was somewhat impressed with myself to reach 3:30am before passing out. Everyone had a good time, and we have a few new friends.
06 April 2010
05 April 2010
Brainfarting with Warmachine. Boy do I have some Gas.
Kommander Oleg Strakhov is our Assault Kommando Warcaster who does everything better than Captain Maxwell Finn.
Strakhov keeps with the Khadoran Playstyle of "I'm in your face, what are you going to do about it, bucko?" with a P+S 13 Sword with Brutal Charge, and his abilities "Sprint" and "Pathfinder".
This is great, as you can agitate your opponent by staring up his nostrils, telling him "I found nothing but fingerprints, ya nose picking bastard", and then dashing back amongst your army. If that doesn't work, you can always cast "Overrun" on a warjack and dash off again.
This spell gives you a Plan A and a Plan B. You cast it and have Strakhov charge and if he returns, then you can take advantage of moving another Warjack, or the attacking Warjack, or you can move Strakhov further back. A Decimator would love Overrun as it fires off, and it moves an inch because of its Beatback ability, and then moves from Overrun, and then fires it's second shot from ROF 2.
But any Warjack can love Overrun though. Berserker is another example. If he has fallen behind because a heavy target figure has caught him up, then he finishes it off (Maybe with some extra focus for attacks) and then piss bolts closer to the fray. And a Berserker is a choice figure for Strakhov's other spell, and a personal favourite, "Superiority".
With the additional bonus to melee attack, he's most likely going to kill whatever is in front of him and then the additional Speed will bolt him into somewhere more favourable so he can tear a new one out of whatever he touches next turn.
Moving on, we find another spell that greatly benefits a single model:
So the spell only sucks in that it affects one model. Okay. That's cool. So we cast it on a Warjack or a Solo. Cool. What are our best choices?
What can we cast it on to be funny?
This isn't to say that they aren't bad choices. A couple of them are pretty good choices, like a Drakhun can fire off his shield cannon before counter-charging. It's an unnecessary overkill. Heck, I'd have to check but AFAIK you can choose which ability triggers first, so you can charge and get the chance for the Critical Knockdown on the Impact Attack on the target and then fire the Power 14 shot straight into their face. That would be awesome.
Moving on, we check out his remaining 3 spells.
I'm going to start from the bottom. Rift is pretty good. Not a bad range, has a decent cost for what it does, and the bonus can deny so many opponents from charging your army. So no complaints about that. I don't exactly see me using it very often as the support spells are rather awesome, but it's an option.
Occultation I do see myself using quite a lot. You cast it on a unit that's taking a flank and let them do their business from Alaska way.
The only fault is that quite a lot of armies can ignore Stealth, so while it is a pretty substantial spell, it isn't the super-freakin-awesome spell that will win a game. But it can play a serious bonus on keeping a unit alive as they get into position of something.
So lastly is Battering Ram. Now, it's a good spell, but I have one problem with it. It's short range. If it were 10 or 12, I would be happy. But sadly it's only half that, meaning if there is a target that requires a magical weapon or magic attack to eliminate, and I haven't adjusted my army to substantiate that condition, I'm required to adjust my game play to that, putting my Warcaster at risk by using a cheap spell with a short range, or a better ranged spell with a higher cost, or kill it by hand. The melee is the best choice because I move 9" towards it, and if I kill it (which most likely I will) Strakhov is moved back 6".
Returning back to the spell, I'll grant it's still good. A target 6" away will move it back to 9". Were I in the midst of things about to take advantage of Sprint, I could see that working out well. Even better would be shifting a figure out of the way of a charge lane to a juicy target. But then I'd be vulnerable again unless Sprint was kicking in too, or it was a sure fire way of getting a target.
It's a tricky one. Now the lane-to-fruit-juice isn't a bad idea. Especially on his feat turn:
This is great. For one, a Warjack pretty much doubles his Speed which normally stands at 4, and then adds another 3" to his movement. Add in Superiority and you have 13" of movement in a Death-Toll-Sprint towards whatever poor soul would be on the wrong end of the stick. Speaking of Sticks, if a Warjack with Reach were charging, you can add another 2" to the threat range. 15 inches of "IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!" It's pretty amazing.
A very cool thing to note is that this affects warrior models too. So you can have those slow moving units of yours bolt across the field into someone's face. I like this idea. Man-O-War who have the same Speed as Warjacks? Yeah, they're going off like a Hare at the Dog Tracks.
Now a little twist that I noted in this which is a very VERY large benefit. Most beneficial feats require the friendly figures to be within the control area of the Warcaster for it to affect them. It may affect models individually, or i can affect a whole unit if a tiny sliver of a base is within the Warcasters Control area. The same thing goes for Negative effects with the enemy models required to be within the control area of the Warcaster.
Now, this is where I make my point. I consider this to be a beneficial Feat. It gives your friendly Faction figures a bonus to Speed and are able to ignore terrain during the movement. However, the only requirement is that the target of the charge or slam is within Strakhov's Control area. You could have a the Ironfang Uhlans, cavalry models with a Speed of 8, start on the other side of the board and tear 15" across the board, which is littered with Rough Terrain, to smack something that are another 2" away from their base because they have reach on their charge attacks.
That is rather impressive. I would say it's better than the Dark Princes Feat, but only for the reason that it makes a massive difference to your infantry. The Feat of Vladimir Tspesci, the Dark Prince, is "Double the base Speed of Warjacks in his control area and they don't spend focus to run or charge". But I would rather Strakhov's Feat.
So now we've come full circle back to Strakhov. What I haven't covered here is his self sufficiency. Strakhov stands with a good Stat line, with a decent Defence and a slightly better Armour stat. As mentioned he likes to be in the face of the enemies and it was proven by a few of his abilities and his Feat.
But that's not all he has to offer. Were he caught with his pants down in the midst of a battle, and surrounded by strange enemies, he can take solice in that he has Immunity to Corrosion and Fire. That's right, the Protectorate of Menoth's cleansing fires spewing forth from Warjacks kitted with Large Cannons do NO DAMAGE to him. Same thing with the waddling sacks of vomit from last weeks bender that Cryx have for Bile Thralls do no damage as well.
In return, he can fire off one of his two ranged weapons. He can drop a Cinder Bomb near his feet, cracking open a Power 13, AOE 3 Fire grenade on what poor souls would like to shake his hand. To boot, it leaves behind a smoke template to block sight to whatever he was staring at.
Or, he can fire off his Riot Gun. With a chance of 1-3 attacks each turn, he can pop off a shot with disregard for the results, or he can bang someone stupid. You can say that while you're making your attacks. "Bang. Someone. Stupid." With a decent Range of 10 and an Average Power of 12, he can Bang some pretty good Stupid. And no magicians smoke veil will stand in his way because his Alchemical Mask allows him to ignore it.
I'm rather excited, frankly. This guy looks cool, plays cool and with my Man-O-War army, he sounds like a prime contender.
Strakhov keeps with the Khadoran Playstyle of "I'm in your face, what are you going to do about it, bucko?" with a P+S 13 Sword with Brutal Charge, and his abilities "Sprint" and "Pathfinder".
Brutal Charge: This model gains +2 to charge attack damage rolls with this weapon.
Pathfinder: This figure ignores difficult terrain during any advancement it may make.
Sprint: At the end of this model's activation, if it destroyed one or more enemy models with melee attacks this activation it can make a full advance.
This is great, as you can agitate your opponent by staring up his nostrils, telling him "I found nothing but fingerprints, ya nose picking bastard", and then dashing back amongst your army. If that doesn't work, you can always cast "Overrun" on a warjack and dash off again.
Overrun: Cost 2, Range 6; When target model in this model's battlegroup destroys one or more enemy models with an attack, immediately after the attack is resolved one model in this model's battlegroup that is in its control area can make a full advance, then Overrun Expires. Overrun can be cast only once per turn and lasts for one turn.
This spell gives you a Plan A and a Plan B. You cast it and have Strakhov charge and if he returns, then you can take advantage of moving another Warjack, or the attacking Warjack, or you can move Strakhov further back. A Decimator would love Overrun as it fires off, and it moves an inch because of its Beatback ability, and then moves from Overrun, and then fires it's second shot from ROF 2.
But any Warjack can love Overrun though. Berserker is another example. If he has fallen behind because a heavy target figure has caught him up, then he finishes it off (Maybe with some extra focus for attacks) and then piss bolts closer to the fray. And a Berserker is a choice figure for Strakhov's other spell, and a personal favourite, "Superiority".
Superiority: Cost 3, Range 6, Upkeep; Target Friendly Faction Warjack gains +2 Speed, Melee Attack, Defence and this figure cannot be Knocked Down.
With the additional bonus to melee attack, he's most likely going to kill whatever is in front of him and then the additional Speed will bolt him into somewhere more favourable so he can tear a new one out of whatever he touches next turn.
Moving on, we find another spell that greatly benefits a single model:
Sentry: Cost 2, Range 6, Upkeep; When an enemy model advances and ends its movement in the LOS of a target friendly Faction model, the affected model can immediately make one normal ranged attack, then Sentry expires.
So the spell only sucks in that it affects one model. Okay. That's cool. So we cast it on a Warjack or a Solo. Cool. What are our best choices?
Behemoth
Destroyer
Decimator
Widowmaker Marksman or Unit Figure
Winterguard Field Gun
Winterguard Mortar
What can we cast it on to be funny?
Spriggan
Kovnik Joe
Assault Kommando Flame Thrower
Winterguard Rocketeer
Man-O-War Drakhun
Man-O-War Kovnik
This isn't to say that they aren't bad choices. A couple of them are pretty good choices, like a Drakhun can fire off his shield cannon before counter-charging. It's an unnecessary overkill. Heck, I'd have to check but AFAIK you can choose which ability triggers first, so you can charge and get the chance for the Critical Knockdown on the Impact Attack on the target and then fire the Power 14 shot straight into their face. That would be awesome.
Moving on, we check out his remaining 3 spells.
Battering Ram: Cost 2, Range 6, Power 12, Offensive; When an enemy model is hit by Battering Ram, it can be pushed 3" directly away from the spells point of origin.
Occultation: Cost 2, Range 6, Upkeep; Target friendly model/unit gains Stealth (attacks originating from more than 5" away from the target automatically miss. While more than 5" away, ignore this model when determining LOS.)
Rift: Cost 3, Range 8, AOE 4, Power 13; The AOE is a Rough Terrain and remains in play for one round.
I'm going to start from the bottom. Rift is pretty good. Not a bad range, has a decent cost for what it does, and the bonus can deny so many opponents from charging your army. So no complaints about that. I don't exactly see me using it very often as the support spells are rather awesome, but it's an option.
Occultation I do see myself using quite a lot. You cast it on a unit that's taking a flank and let them do their business from Alaska way.
I'll just explain my little joke there, when I first discovered that you can upkeep a spell on a figure who is outside of your control area, I imagined Irusk talking to a Warjack that he doesn't like, casting Superiority on him to get the job done faster, and telling him to walk to Alaska and the spell would still be upkeepable.
The only fault is that quite a lot of armies can ignore Stealth, so while it is a pretty substantial spell, it isn't the super-freakin-awesome spell that will win a game. But it can play a serious bonus on keeping a unit alive as they get into position of something.
So lastly is Battering Ram. Now, it's a good spell, but I have one problem with it. It's short range. If it were 10 or 12, I would be happy. But sadly it's only half that, meaning if there is a target that requires a magical weapon or magic attack to eliminate, and I haven't adjusted my army to substantiate that condition, I'm required to adjust my game play to that, putting my Warcaster at risk by using a cheap spell with a short range, or a better ranged spell with a higher cost, or kill it by hand. The melee is the best choice because I move 9" towards it, and if I kill it (which most likely I will) Strakhov is moved back 6".
Returning back to the spell, I'll grant it's still good. A target 6" away will move it back to 9". Were I in the midst of things about to take advantage of Sprint, I could see that working out well. Even better would be shifting a figure out of the way of a charge lane to a juicy target. But then I'd be vulnerable again unless Sprint was kicking in too, or it was a sure fire way of getting a target.
It's a tricky one. Now the lane-to-fruit-juice isn't a bad idea. Especially on his feat turn:
Feat - Iron Fist: Friendly Faction models that charge or Slam Power Attack an enemy model while that model is in Strakhov's control area gain +4" movement and Pathfinder. Warjacks in Strakhov's battlegroup can charge and Slam Power Attack an enemy model while the enemy model is in Strakhov's control area without spending focus. Iron Fist lasts for one turn.
This is great. For one, a Warjack pretty much doubles his Speed which normally stands at 4, and then adds another 3" to his movement. Add in Superiority and you have 13" of movement in a Death-Toll-Sprint towards whatever poor soul would be on the wrong end of the stick. Speaking of Sticks, if a Warjack with Reach were charging, you can add another 2" to the threat range. 15 inches of "IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!" It's pretty amazing.
A very cool thing to note is that this affects warrior models too. So you can have those slow moving units of yours bolt across the field into someone's face. I like this idea. Man-O-War who have the same Speed as Warjacks? Yeah, they're going off like a Hare at the Dog Tracks.
Now a little twist that I noted in this which is a very VERY large benefit. Most beneficial feats require the friendly figures to be within the control area of the Warcaster for it to affect them. It may affect models individually, or i can affect a whole unit if a tiny sliver of a base is within the Warcasters Control area. The same thing goes for Negative effects with the enemy models required to be within the control area of the Warcaster.
Now, this is where I make my point. I consider this to be a beneficial Feat. It gives your friendly Faction figures a bonus to Speed and are able to ignore terrain during the movement. However, the only requirement is that the target of the charge or slam is within Strakhov's Control area. You could have a the Ironfang Uhlans, cavalry models with a Speed of 8, start on the other side of the board and tear 15" across the board, which is littered with Rough Terrain, to smack something that are another 2" away from their base because they have reach on their charge attacks.
That is rather impressive. I would say it's better than the Dark Princes Feat, but only for the reason that it makes a massive difference to your infantry. The Feat of Vladimir Tspesci, the Dark Prince, is "Double the base Speed of Warjacks in his control area and they don't spend focus to run or charge". But I would rather Strakhov's Feat.
So now we've come full circle back to Strakhov. What I haven't covered here is his self sufficiency. Strakhov stands with a good Stat line, with a decent Defence and a slightly better Armour stat. As mentioned he likes to be in the face of the enemies and it was proven by a few of his abilities and his Feat.
But that's not all he has to offer. Were he caught with his pants down in the midst of a battle, and surrounded by strange enemies, he can take solice in that he has Immunity to Corrosion and Fire. That's right, the Protectorate of Menoth's cleansing fires spewing forth from Warjacks kitted with Large Cannons do NO DAMAGE to him. Same thing with the waddling sacks of vomit from last weeks bender that Cryx have for Bile Thralls do no damage as well.
In return, he can fire off one of his two ranged weapons. He can drop a Cinder Bomb near his feet, cracking open a Power 13, AOE 3 Fire grenade on what poor souls would like to shake his hand. To boot, it leaves behind a smoke template to block sight to whatever he was staring at.
Or, he can fire off his Riot Gun. With a chance of 1-3 attacks each turn, he can pop off a shot with disregard for the results, or he can bang someone stupid. You can say that while you're making your attacks. "Bang. Someone. Stupid." With a decent Range of 10 and an Average Power of 12, he can Bang some pretty good Stupid. And no magicians smoke veil will stand in his way because his Alchemical Mask allows him to ignore it.
I'm rather excited, frankly. This guy looks cool, plays cool and with my Man-O-War army, he sounds like a prime contender.
04 April 2010
Clash of the SHIT-ITS-COMING-RIGHT-FOR-US
"Back when I were a lad, I read me some Greek Miffologee, and deys had some fun back den!"
Seriously, I read the story to Perseus, and I can hardly remember anything about it except that he did defeat the Gorgon and he rode across the river Styx. But I was pretty sure he defeated the Minotaur at some stage, but apparently I got my information confused with another Greek fella called Jason and his Argonautian friends.
Well the year is 2010 and It's probably been a good 15 years since I last read about Perseus. Had I the book I read back then, I would read it and enjoy it in a gentleman's lounge with a wine glass and swilling about something that isn't wine. Possibly wearing an improvised Toga from a bed-sheet or quilt cover. Depends on how my mood swings.
And in all that time, I have never seen the Clash of the Titans. Not once. Never did I watch such classical Kaiju theatre as a child and act all googly eyed at the stop motion animation and stage-to-film acting.
So today, I went with mother dearest to see the new Clash of the Titans movie "IN THREE-DEEEEEEEE". I must say, the 3D didn't really do much for the sensations. I didn't notice it at all throughout the movie as I watched through my two pairs of glasses. Didn't get surprised at some of the objects that were flown across the screen; didn't go "OOO, AHH" at the rather impressive, and what I believed to be extremely random, creatures that he faced in his travels; and I didn't go head over heels over the retina burning sensation of Liam Neeson as Zeus, though he did remind me of a cartoon I used to watch.
The movie itself was good though. I came out thinking there were a few too many action poses, and I was sure that there were a few retcons here and there, but overall it was a good action flick with classical monsters everywhere with a smidgen more make-up than in the '81 classic.
How do I know this? Well when we got back, mum slotted in the DVD of that very film so that we could pass out to its theatrics. Yes, we passed out. I blame my mothers couch, that thing is poison. Nobody can lay down on it for more than a few seconds before conking out.
So yes. I do recommend the Clash of the Titans Remake.
Seriously, I read the story to Perseus, and I can hardly remember anything about it except that he did defeat the Gorgon and he rode across the river Styx. But I was pretty sure he defeated the Minotaur at some stage, but apparently I got my information confused with another Greek fella called Jason and his Argonautian friends.
Well the year is 2010 and It's probably been a good 15 years since I last read about Perseus. Had I the book I read back then, I would read it and enjoy it in a gentleman's lounge with a wine glass and swilling about something that isn't wine. Possibly wearing an improvised Toga from a bed-sheet or quilt cover. Depends on how my mood swings.
And in all that time, I have never seen the Clash of the Titans. Not once. Never did I watch such classical Kaiju theatre as a child and act all googly eyed at the stop motion animation and stage-to-film acting.
So today, I went with mother dearest to see the new Clash of the Titans movie "IN THREE-DEEEEEEEE". I must say, the 3D didn't really do much for the sensations. I didn't notice it at all throughout the movie as I watched through my two pairs of glasses. Didn't get surprised at some of the objects that were flown across the screen; didn't go "OOO, AHH" at the rather impressive, and what I believed to be extremely random, creatures that he faced in his travels; and I didn't go head over heels over the retina burning sensation of Liam Neeson as Zeus, though he did remind me of a cartoon I used to watch.
The movie itself was good though. I came out thinking there were a few too many action poses, and I was sure that there were a few retcons here and there, but overall it was a good action flick with classical monsters everywhere with a smidgen more make-up than in the '81 classic.
How do I know this? Well when we got back, mum slotted in the DVD of that very film so that we could pass out to its theatrics. Yes, we passed out. I blame my mothers couch, that thing is poison. Nobody can lay down on it for more than a few seconds before conking out.
So yes. I do recommend the Clash of the Titans Remake.
Happy Easter - Thanks to Suicide Bunnies
http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Bunny_Suicide_Comic_Pics_226_2007.php
(be warned, there's a lot of photos)
03 April 2010
Window shopping
Today as I was talking to Jenny about whatever came across our mind, such as how quickly Jenny can suck down a juice box, and how sniffing super glue at 3am isn't exactly the wisest idea.
At some point, we hit a Lull and I decided to check my Google-reader, which shows updates for blogs I follow. And I suddenly began laughing. "What's so funny?" She asks, and I tell her the story of "Sleep-talking Man".
Kel pointed me to him a few weeks back, and he read it because it gives him his morning giggle. The story is that this mild mannered guy talks in his sleep, and it's generally quite the opposite of his usual form of character. I started quoting some to Jenny and gave her a good giggle.
Later on, I browsed the Privateer Press Forum and checked out a thread about Wooters. It was a show and tell of a shirt the thread starter found and he wanted to show everyone else. I followed throught the link and scanned over the other shirts they had available and found a couple that I figured others would enjoy.
This one I found for Jenny, coz I'm a corny nerd
And these I figured Dirk, Jason and Kel would like
And a particular favourite that the boys would like
At some point, we hit a Lull and I decided to check my Google-reader, which shows updates for blogs I follow. And I suddenly began laughing. "What's so funny?" She asks, and I tell her the story of "Sleep-talking Man".
Kel pointed me to him a few weeks back, and he read it because it gives him his morning giggle. The story is that this mild mannered guy talks in his sleep, and it's generally quite the opposite of his usual form of character. I started quoting some to Jenny and gave her a good giggle.
Later on, I browsed the Privateer Press Forum and checked out a thread about Wooters. It was a show and tell of a shirt the thread starter found and he wanted to show everyone else. I followed throught the link and scanned over the other shirts they had available and found a couple that I figured others would enjoy.
This one I found for Jenny, coz I'm a corny nerd
And these I figured Dirk, Jason and Kel would like
And a particular favourite that the boys would like
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