Natural High July

It has recently been brought to my attention that there is this charity challenge going round called "Dry July", a month where people would stop drinking entirely to raise awareness for alcoholism and cancer (That's my understanding, I had a quick browse through).

Then Jennicki and Girl Clumsy both decided to match up with their own challenge called "Thigh July", and they're to take up the challenge of No Chocolate. Yes, a very difficult task for ladies such as these (Don't kill me).

But tonight as I sat in my bed and looked at my Southern Comfort and Coke, which I mixed a little too strongly and now I'm off put from the drink for now, I froze to death at 14*C and it came to me in a moment of thought. with no provocation to the thought.

Caffeine. I have waaay too much Caffeine. It's been giving me a bit of strife with the occasional heartburn I have of a morning and going to Harrys Diner and grabbing a Can of V from the little fridge is a daily ritual of mine. It's taboo to have caffeine on weekends, something I settled myself into looong ago. The only reason I drink it is due to being out in the Valley and having Jager bombs, or going to a 24 hour LAN party.

Sidenote: I want to say BAD JUJU and shake a stick with a skull and feathers on it, like a real witch doctor!

So all through July, I won't have caffeinated drinks. No Coke. No V. No Mother. No Rockstars. No Samedi. Nada. I'll have water because I need to rehydrate. I'll also start sleeping better. Go to bed at a reasonable time. Work will appreciate that, I'm sure.

But now I must sleep. Onwards to tomorrow... AND BEYOND!


No more morning V's from Harrys...


... No more sculling down half litres...


... and no mixing it up on the odd occasion.

Dustbunnies Beware!

For years they have tumbled across our carpets, pretending they exist in a good Cowboy Showdown film. They hide underneath your couch, confer within your cupboard, and flee to the corners of your living room. They were chased, searched for and interrogated by every house cleaner known to man.

But now... they're being Hunted.Wait, that doesn't look right. Is that... a Hoover? Or a Godfreys? I think we'll try this again.

But now... They're being Hunted.Much better. These are the Oppressors, cleaning carpets everywhere with the greatest efficiency and with their own two hands. But this is no Share House Apartment in the middle of Brisbane Suburbia. This is War. And everything is as dirty as a Lords of Cthul Joke.

What we know for certain so far is that they have 2 abilities.

Burrow: (Skill): This figure can move through figures and treats all terrain as open terrain. It is immune to hazards while advancing.
Abduct (Action): If this figure and another FAC figure with Abduct are adjacent to the same enemy unit, crush that unit. Do not gain a P-Die for crushing it.

If you don't know what Burrow is, then you've been playing the wrong faction. It's on par with Jump, in that it can stand on water but can't attack Flying Figures. Well fair enough, but Abduct doesn't restrict on whether a figure is flying or not. It needs two Oppressors adjacent to a unit and “POP” goes the Carnidon.

The images in my head of this change between figures and factions. The first appearance was from the Martian Menace, running from the classic “Flying Saucer Abducting Cattle” method where a bright shining light suddenly levitates the poor bovine into the confines of the saucer.

The other faction I can think of that has this ability is within Terrasaurs, specifically Pteradax. One of his Hyper forms has Blue Abduct. Now, it's not so much Abduct as tearing someone part as part of a feeding frenzy. Carnidons can do something! Now if they could only get adjacent to an enemy unit...

But now we have the Oppressors, fat people with hardware designer masks and suction fists. The image in my head isn't pretty. Its like a “Hoovers & Godfreys Tug-o-War Match!” using real people-slash--slash-machines-slash-animals-slash-alien vehicles-slash-spam-slash-alien beings-slash-tentacle demons-slash-fish-slash-spam-slash-etcetera. Winner has the largest intact piece.

I'm shuddering right now. Imagine hosing out the compartment...


Now that I've finished shuddering for the last couple of days and gotten my hands on the actual figure, I can now tell you about his last ability and his stats. Yes, the fella has a final ability which is actually really useful.

Tow: Choose 1 unit within 5 spaces of this figure and place that unit in a space it could legally occupy adjacent to this figure.

Ah, Tow. This is an awesome ability. Place a unit right next to you for a combined attack? This goes well for his 2*1 Brawl. And with such a long range, the figure can be on the opposite side of the board and so long as he gets close he can get suckered into doing something! (hehe, I made a Pun).

Using this, you can boost their Brawl Attacks even more! They start with a Brawl of 3*1 and if you get the trio, including 1 Elite, you get 9*6 to your attack. Tow in a Mollok Berserker to add in Berserk and you have a 9*9 attack. Most likely there will only be 3 Action Die in the attack, but that's Maths for you. I prefer my other option involving the boosting the towing and boosting of a HazMat Truck.

So there you have it. They Sucker punch whoever is in their way andnothing is going to stop them.

Next Week: Spray and Pray

Year of the Cancerous Puddy Tat

It began with waking up at 8 or 9 in the morning so I could chat with my Jenny. We talked about lots of things, like how she was surprised at how Australia's new Prime Minister (AKA: The Ranga Overlord) didn't make any news over in the US, Whereas Obama gets 2 page spreads in our local rag most days; how different Australia's houses are as I took her on a tour with my new laptop; and having our usual loving conversation while I woke and geared up for my day.

Humphs friends and I received a gift last Thursday. He had just finished a tour through Europe with his wife, taking lots of photos of anything and everything for people back home. I sat through some of it, particularly the tour through the Vatican where I was as blasphemous as possible (Me: “Look at em! They all have small willies! Oh Look, she's got like 50 tits!” Humph: “That's the deity of Fertility. And they're not boobs, they're bull testicles” Me: “Jeez, if you ever call your wife a ball breaker, just remember her!”).

The gift of blasphemy at some remarkably beautiful and amazing artwork wasn't quite intended. No, his actual gift was a nice little bottle of rum from Austria. Now we were all interested as this was something new to whet the whistle on and being a drink that was only made available outside of Austria within the past year or two, we were very interested and we had a good laugh at the content: 160 Proof. Yes, 80% alcohol. Kel mentioned that it was stronger than the disinfectant that the used at work. I was slightly afraid the hairs on my chest would go grey and fall off after I sniffed the bottle.

The Taste of Austria
I shared some on Friday night with Dee and Mel as a birthday drink because Dee was going away for the weekend and she's as good a guinea pig as anyone else. We mixed it with Coke as we would a regular rum, and it was absolutely delicious. We slowly drank it (Well I sculled it, I was on my way out the door to D&D) and enjoyed every part of it. I polished off the bottle the next morning as I chatted with Jenny, and it was still delicious.

So I geared up for my day. I got on my jeans, my Sonic and Knuckles shirt, and my Sonic and Tails Hoodie and headed to the Mana bar. It was closing in on 2pm, I had a shave and a shower, and I was actually rather tired and had a short nap that I really didn't want to climb out of, but I stirred myself out of that and trundled down to the train station.

Playing Raskulls with Scotty and Jarryd
Throughout the day people trickled through the Manabar that day, playing a game or two with me and before having to head for various reasons. It was great, though. Some of my friends I haven't seen in ages, like Erin and Jarryd, Ryan, and Sam from the Gold Coast, and some that I see regularly, like Scotty, Greg, Danika, Jarryd and Jo, Doc (Not Yobbo), and Greg.

(Me, Sam, Random)
Many different games were had, probably the most successful was Super Smash Bros Brawl (Guess who I played?) and possibly Halo. Halo was very fun because we were all green except for player 1, who was “The Pink Terror”. Yes, a Bright Pink Spartan versus three Camo Green Spartans. The funniest part was grabbing the Spartan Laser and getting it off more times than should normally occur in a killing spree. I still lost but it was good fun, even though Jo did kill me (Seriously, she got two kills in the entire match and they were probably both me). I had fun with Ryan playing Arcade Altered Beast. I think that's the only time I've ever finished that game. Ever. Last I remember, I had trouble getting through the second stage playing it on my Mega Drive. Oh and you should've seen me on Guitar Hero. I was going Spastic on the drums!


Told you I was going Spastic!
(Jo, Me, Danika, Ryan/Autrach)
Thanks everyone for coming, and I can't wait for next year. I probably won't do Mana Bar for my Bday again (don't want to be a Repetitive Ronald) but I hope just as many people turn up next year, and thanks to everyone who offered me well wishes Via Facebook and text. I do apologised if I haven't gotten around to you.


The Sunday morning, I began my morning at about 11ish (As one does on a Sunday) and immediately began texting Jenny and loaded up Skype to chat with her. She was excited for my birthday and had already sent me a physical present of whoever knows what, and on Sunday made several different attempts at sending me a very adorable Mix Tape. Well, MP3 Mix. 25 songs with their own reasons and thoughts attached. I'll probably load it up tonight to listen again.

For the rest of Sunday after talking with Jenny, I spent it watching 30 Rock and lazing in bed. Oh, and washing my clothes. I thought that was a good idea.

My milkshakes bring all the Spawn to the yard

Welcome to Part 2 of the Mecha/Cthugrosh debate, where we delve into the discussion of "Is Newer Better?" and our particular victims of argument are the Lords of Cthul and Ubercorp International, and their Fluorescent Monsterpieces.Now if there is one thing I've learnt, it's that only a 10,000 year old Demon lord slumming in the depths of the ocean, or a Pimp, can get away with wearing a Pink Suit and get away with it. And when you're both, you make that suit full-body-spandex and leave a bit for eyes.

The downside to being a 10,000 year old Demon is that the saying "Old Dogs can't learn new tricks" is actually rather apt. Sadly, the old Gerry can get a bit Senile as well and he forgets things along the way. Sacrifice, Telekinesis, Power Gorge (Brawl) and Fling (Blast) all remain the same, but Summon is completely missing.

Where did Summon go? What did get get in place of Summon? How will I get get a Meat Slave placed in front of me to prevent Power Attacks?

Well I don't know. He just stopped procreating for no reason. Oh, that's what the problem is: Menopause.

Now that I've gotten myself into trouble, we'll see what else has changed and what he has gained. Which applies to his last two abilities.

Jump: You really want me to type this out?
Terrify: Enemy units cannot advance adjacent to this figure. (Not an exact quote)

So Jump is a step down from Flight. Figures with flight can't be targeted by Brawl attacks unless they have Flight, Jump or Reach. As a penalty, figures with 'Anti-Air' have a bonus to hit against them. Jump however is exactly the same as flight but can be targeted with any kind of Brawl Attack but nobody has a bonus to hit. So Cthugrosh can still run about willy nilly ignoring figures so he can pimp slap from wherever he wants. The downside? A Carnidon can try and hit him.

But wait, what was that? He has Terrify? Meaning units, such as the Carnidon, can't advance to Brawl him? HA! No peon can go up to Cthugrosh and ask the going rate. He only deals with big clients who know no price.

And a good client is one that can understand, see from a business mans point of view, though has a different point of view because not everyone is the same.

Mechathugrosh understands Cthugrosh on his own level. But the question remaining is whether a new Generation of Neon Orange Coats can beat the Old Dogs in their Pink Suits.

The Men in White Coats, the UCI Scientists of Biological Emulation, thought to keep with their trends and rolled a few abilities over to Ultra Mechathugrosh. Tow, Transport and Motivator all remain as things that can not really be changed. He can always roll out a Mecha Task master whenever he wants, and give them a chance to reach something faster. if not, he pulls them towards him and lets whatever minions are already there deal with it.

The best part of using Tow?

Halt: Enemy units that begin their advancement adjacent to this figure can advance only 1 space.

So any figure that gets Towed adjacent to Mechathugrosh gets thrown into a Weakened Tractor. Ever heard the saying "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

Which leaves the poor Carnidon more impotent than he originally was. That's all nice and dandy. But how about some Smackdown? We'll start on the approach.

Now in the last post with Mechathugrosh, I mentioned that he can Pimp Slap a unit 7 spaces across the field. Particularly, I mentioned that he has to align with a unit to Power Attack Swat. This was Incorrect. You don't need to align with it, it just needs to be adjacent. For that I apologise. Now Ultra Mechathugrosh makes up for it by changing the way he pimp slaps.

Burrow: This figure can move through figures and treats all terrain as open terrain. It is immune to hazards while advancing.
Weapon Master: This monster’s attack does super damage.

So the image in my mind has Mechathugrosh Brawling someone as he jumps out of the ground. And this happy snappy is in a Motivational Poster with the lines:

SURPRISE PIMP SLAP!
Did you order a side of...

Ah Internet Pop Culture, how you amuse me.

I think the white coats of UCI are a little... well oblivious on the methods of the conventional pimp. A Conventional Pimp doesn't believe in "If you want the job done right, do it yourself". It's pretty much a level of blasphemy if you're a big time Pimp.

But if you're just starting out, only learning how to move your business around, you have to make an example. Instead of letting your lackeys take on the trash, you have to bring them in and say "What do you say to a man who owns a pig farm?"

Mechathugrosh does have to take matters into his own hand. And with that, his Pimp Slap has to make an impression. And to make an impression, it has to be a massive amount of damage as part of a sudden event. Popping out of the ground and slapping someone as hard as possible is a probably one of the best ways of putting someone in their place.

Now the debate remains of which is better? Well that depends on your perspective.

So each party takes a different style of play. Ultra Cthugrosh is much the same as his alpha, where he heals and throws everyone about from a distance. His Blast attack thriving at an effective 10 space range gives him little protection as he sits back amongst his units that he sacrifices to heal himself.

The downside? He has an average health of 5. The lowest and most common health there is in the game. With the commonality of Buildings with Hazards dealing extra damage, having the Sacrifice action isn't exactly going to save him from Power Attack Throws. His Defence 7 will make it difficult, but his survival still stands at 2 turns including a Ritual Sacrifice, three if a meat slave is used in between. If the scenario has no hazards you can take damage from as you collide with it, then he can last for about 4 turns, more with Meat Slaves.

Ultra Mechathugrosh is not the same. Their stats are exactly the same except Mechathugrosh's defence of 6, and his regeneration is nothing in comparison. Which is where he makes up for it in Super Damage.

So which is better? Full-Bodied Pink Spandex? or Neon Orange?

Next Friday: A Carnidon Walks into a Bar...

Big In Tokyo

Today is the day that Fastbreak gives my group and I our Big In Tokyo set. We'll tear open the boxes like kiddilywinks at Cthulmas. It's very exciting. We grab a case each and divide the winnings amongst ourselves, getting both of our Monsters for the series and a handful of units for everyone to play with.

I'm quite excited as from my bag of goodies, I finally get to see the Grinder Tank and the Oppressors. AKA: Cousins of Cranky, and the Bagless Vacuum Cleaners. Through spoilers released by Privateer Press, we know that they have some nifty rules.

Grinder Tank
Marker (Advantage): If this figure participated in an attack that missed, reroll the attack roll with dice in play.

Oppressors
Burrow (Skill): If you don't know it, you're in the wrong faction.
Abduct (Action): If this figure and another FAC figure with Abduct are adjacent to the same enemy unit, crush that unit. Do not gain a P-Die for crushing it.

That's all we know. No stats, no other abilities (though it's assumed the Grinder Tank has Burrow as well) and I have to wait until tonight when I open up the stuff and examine the gear. I may even talk about the new buildings in Big In Tokyo! instead of Jibber Jabbering about copycats.

So Next Tuesday: Dustbunnies Beware!

Voltron: Defender of the Universe

A little while ago I wrote about Lo-tron, a nemesis to Voltron who lives with a rather lame name, and I delved into the previews of their 5 piece morpher. Three figures and their Ultra have been previewed insofar, along with the two Maps featured in the Voltron Set.

So since Lo-tron has been previewed, lets move onto Voltron, the real star of the show. Only three lions have been previewed, just as Lo-tron was: Blue Lion, Green Lion and to form the head: Black Lion.. And as with Lo-trons Morphers, each figure is unique in it's own way by taking different roles.We begin with Blue Lion, disappearing into the sky with his wonderous colour, he takes on a support role with his abilities that aren't flight.

Power Gorge (Blast): You gain +1 P-Die.
Motivator: AGN figures that begin their advance adjacent to this figure gain +1 SPD.

While his blast attack isn't particularly special at 3*1, Power Gorge gives a great benefit. attacking a unit yields 2 Power Die. Considering the low defence of units, this is a good idea for attack alternatives.

Motivator is a nifty addition to the Morphers. With Green Lions Speed of 6 spaces, it can slingshot him into a scrum of units so he can support them.Green Lion is an interesting Morpher. He's not proficient in anything but moving. His Brawl is 3*1, which is only slightly weaker than the others at 4*1, but it's good enough to set off his Brawl Trigger.

Synchronized Move (Brawl): Choose 1 allied unit within 2 spaces of this figure and advance that unit up to its SPD, even if it has already advanced this turn.

Now on a normal Monster, I could see the benefits. You attack and you can shunt a unit in the way to prevent Power Attacks. In a scenario play, it can definitely be good. But Scenario play will be a topic for another blogpost. So there's plenty of movement. And to boot, he does it for free.

Quick: If this figure is the same FAC as your monster, this figure can advance without spending an A-Die.

So the movement of 6 spaces, 7 with Motivator, can mean you're thrown across the 13x13 square field without even thinking twice about it. And when he does realise he's on the other side of the field, he can decide if he wants to step and spend some action die.Players that I've encountered have been more keen on offensive power, though, and ability to disrupt as such. That's where we form The Head! Black Lion stands to offend with this two triggers.

Toss (Brawl): Place target monster in a new location up to 4 spaces away from its current location in a straight line in a direction chosen by the attacker. You can place the target only into unoccupied spaces or spaces occupied by buildings and/or units.
Crunch: If this monster’s attack rolled 1 or more super strikes, it does super damage.

Yes, he's more than a few harsh words. With his average attack stats of 4*1 each, all he really needs is to combine his attacks. Toss has always been a very annoying ability but that's because I like playing Ulgoth who can't be Power Attack Thrown normally.

That is our merry band of Morphers for Voltron: Defender of the universe. And as per tradition in Pop Culture, one must make a drinking game. Whenever someone Hypers up to Voltron, they have to say "And I'll form.. The Head" or they take a shot. And when they make a Brawl Attack with voltron, they have to say "Form Blazing Sword!" or they take a shot. And whenever Lo-Tron is destroyed, they have to say... dangit, I forgot the line. I'll take a shot.

We couldn't think of more at the time, but I'll be sure to post them all up when we've figured them out. Suggestions are welcome!But now we move onto the Robot Himself: Voltron. In all his Multi-Coloured Glory and Blazing sword formed, he stands proud amongst the field of battle to smite his enemies into oblivion. And because it's Blazing-freakin-Sword, he has to be good with it.

Weapon Master (Brawl): This attack deals Super Damage.
Reach: This figure can make brawl attacks against and participate in combined brawl attacks against target figures within 2 spaces and can attack figures that have Flight .

That's right. He can attack figures that have Flight. Why? Well frankly it's because he's big. And swinging about his Blazing Sword at 8*4, he's bound to hit something sooner or later. So why not do it in a very large area of attack space?

Now Voltron isn't just going to use his Blazing Sword. That just gets predictable. If someone's waving their sword around in your face, you don't just let it, do you? No. you grab a hold of it and surprise them with a different manoeuvre.

So why not try a Power Attack?

Synchronised Move (Power): Cannot be squixed re-typing it.
Super Smash: This monster’s smash power attacks do super damage.

I mentioned before the Sync-Move (Yes, I am getting Lazy) is good for normal monsters. It can line up a unit to prevent Power Attacks against the monster in the following turn. Unless they have something to get them out of the way, like Telekinesis or Tow.

With Blazing Sword Formed and a small need to barrel into people as hard as possible, Voltron makes for a simple but good monster. He won't exactly take over the Universe, but that's because he's too busy defending it from others, like Lo-Tron and the Lords of Cthul.

It'll be interesting if they release the vehicle Voltron. Who wants to play a 15 figure Morpher?

Next Friday: "My Milkshakes bring all the Spawn the Yard"

Hiatus

Alright Lads and Lassies. I'm on Hiatus. After some words poorly chosen just recently that were torn down by what little sense I have left, I've decided to go on Hiatus from the world of Blogeranians. I'll still read the handful that I follow, but I won't be posting anything up for a little while until I get my head wrapped around where the fuck my good words have gone.

Worst case, I won't post anything until I go to the US, which is 5-6 weeks away. I start posting from the plane what the hip-haps are as I touch down and drive into whatever locale I end up in on the first night. I'll see if there's an open connection and Bam. First post for USA.

Must find an Adaptor bit for the laptop cord, first. One thing I found interesting about the Netbook I grabbed last Thurs was the power cord didn't have a set Region port for it. You could change the male parts to suit what country you're in. Pretty sweet, I reckon.

So that's the only thing that'll be stopping me from Bloginating during my 3 weeks in Indy/K-Zoo. Until then, I may work on my writing. I mentioned monday that I picked up two books that talk about method of writing. And while sometimes Skinning a Cat comes down to intuition, I haven't been able to write anything more than the funny overviews on my Monpoc Blog. Jenny gets a good laugh, and the few other followers admit to giggling to themselves as well. But it's not a story.

I'm thinking of returning to my Claine story. I enjoyed the story I had so far. A group of "Assassin Hunters" in a "It was almost an apocalypse" future. It was...

Okay, Dee just took me on a Macca's run. Oh sweet and disgusting quarter pounder with medium chips and a hot chocolate sundae.

Where was I. Ah, the Claine story. It was inspired by a piece a semi-webcomic artist did - linky. He's a simple minded sort of guy who doesn't get messed up with the semantics on what he uses. He's a "Point and Pull the Trigger" kind of guy, who does some risky adrenaline work.

Okay, so I'm distracted again. I'm watching 30 Rock and I'm loving it. It's been recommended by everyone and their mothers. I swear, if I put up an address for people to send me postcards and say "Tell me why I would like 30 Rock", I'd have to bind them into a booklet and send them to Tina Fey with a little love note from Jenny saying "I only date guys who drink Snapple".

So Claine is an idea. Sci-fi, post "not quite as apocalyptic as a night spent in a house with nerds" future, with my own play on character.

BUT FIRST! Must finish reading the book about writing.

Oh and sleep. It's late and my beauty is fading.

Got Felafel for $2.50

I woke up today to talk to Jenny in a mood that cannot be expressed without getting in trouble with someone somewhere along the grape vine. After a few hours of talking, I received a message. "Wanna go to the lifeline book festival at the convention centre with me today?"

Now this sounded great. Going book hunting through the collection of tossed out books? I just wish Jenny could join me. We'd grab a trolley and I'd let her clothesline the display tables until she was happy. She might have a problem with the hundreds of copies and variations of the story of Hey-zeus, and the... oh probably 50 copies of "Dragon Quest 3" that we found at the childrens table, along with a particular Murder-Mystery book that I've forgotten the name of that seemed a bit too adult for a childrens able, but overall Jenny would've had a small library that she could call her own at a very cheap price.

PS: Holy crap why does my Magnum taste like sultanas?
PPS: for all the seppos floating about, Magnum in Australia is actually a chocolate ice cream that isn't meant to taste like sultanas.

And I mean cheap. I got a total of 7 books (Well 6 and a half if you consider the size of one of them) for about $30. Two of them were for my writing, being an instructional guide to help with me writing an actual novel. I would like the help and when Danika found one she liked, I picked that up too. She wants to write too, and I figured that she can borrow it and I'll read it too. There's never just one way to skin a cat after all.

Two more books were for Jenny. Now I'm not sure how she'll appreciate them. One is the Fictional works of Henry Lawson, lots of short stories of his. The other is a history of Queensland, with photographs and stuff. I really want to get something better, but I'm really not sure what she's into. I know she reads anything and everything, but there was just too many "Womens romance adventure" books there. And frankly I can write my own Corny Romance for her.

Lastly, I got 3 fiction books. The first is a mini-book for the Tales of the Otori. I picked up the first three tales of the Otori books years ago, and I loved them. I know there are about 2-3 more but I just haven't bothered going to pick them up. So a mini-book in the same setting of Medieval Japan sounds like a good short read for me.

The next is a Volume 2 of the Mission Earth Series. It's a random Science Fiction book that I saw and actually got rather keen on. It's got a rather old school style of cover which kinda hooked me in. yes, yes, i know, "Never Judge a book by it's cover" but with a title like "Black Genesis, Fortress of Evil", L. Ron Hubbard sounds like an interesting read.

And lastly, because I wanted to read it so long ago, I found "He Died With a Felafel In His Hand". I wanted to read it ages ago after I saw the play, it was an interesting insight into the psychology of the share house habitat and the creatures stirring within. Now that I've given some people a good giggle, I'll give you the honest truth and say that I just wanted to have a laugh while I'm parked on the home throne.

And to boot, it was actually a birthday gift to someone back in 1995. Ah the things you'll find at Book Festivals.

Lack of Title

Today I write from the Train where some of Brisbanes Northsiders commute to a day more interesting than wondering when that schoolgirl will finish plastering makeup on.

Yes, ladies and Gentlemen. I have a netbook. I bought it for a few reasons.

1: I've always wanted one because I'm a technophile. And also for those moments when I want to write. I've always wanted to grab a laptop and sit down in the middle of the park and write about what's happening around me, and just see where my mind rolls. I know there's imagination in there, else I wouldn't have fucked up dreams that I wake up from in a jolt at 3am and slowly forget what happened as I realise I'm in my Bedroom and I haven't been drooling teeth.
2: I figured going to the US soon would require blogging. And according to Adela, I must blog and tweet almost every second of it. There can be a few seconds where I can scoff down my breakfast or lunch, but I shouldn't take that leniency too far.
3: Photos do require a little more storage than just the memory cards I have for the digital camera I got for $50 from Jeremy. And since jay and tim have so humbly requested that I take a photo of each and every cosplayer at Gencon, I'm thinking this will be great for storing the hundreds of photos that I wil be taking over the four days.
4: My Ikea chair has started to give me the shits. I'm tired of sitting there as I try and figure out something to write, or while I'm talking to Jen (No offence to Jen of course). I think I'm starting to wear out the seat of the Ikea chair. So now that I can do it from my bed, I can be so extremely lazy now. So VERY VERY lazy. Next Purchase: Bedpan.

“Northgate station. Platform on the right.”
Great, more school kiddies. Corpus Christie Girls too. You know what I mean, Erin.

So I think number 1 has started to kick in. I have a bunch of words I've kicked in between Geebung station and Wooloowin station, and I'm rather impressed. It's not what I want to write about right now, no I want to write about what's happening on Monday, and only a few people will know what Monday means.

Albion, Albion station, Platform on the Left.
Farewell, Love Den. Hello deceivingly long stretch of train ride to “Next station is Bowen Hills. Anyone for the Ferny Grove Line, please change at Bowen Hills.”

Fuck it is cold today. It was possibly colder yesterday, but I don't give s hit abut yesterday now. It's just cold today. That fucking ghostly wind that dances across your bones when it billows gives me frostbite as I just think about it. Seriously, I'm a pussy when it comes to the cold. We probably haven't even knocked on single digit temperatures yet, and here I am freezing my South Australians off.

I'm somewhat frightened to think of the repercussions of going to kalamazoo (I still think it's a made up city when I hear the name) for a White Xmas. I'm going to have to fight for my rights to stay in the room we're sleeping in! I know I'll have to go out and talk with people and have dinner at a restaurant and actually leave the heated house that they live in, but I know I really won't want to.

My phone is a Nokia. Nokias are Swiss? I think. I know it's around that region. And Nokias are also expendable. They're not the most expensive on the market, and they're durable phones. The phone I use, however, has died in the arse after texting more than the phone can withstand, and also being dropped a few times too many.


So where was I. I'm at harrys diner now having lunch, a savoury mince baked potato and watching the reflection of myself typing in the screen. Were there a connnection available to me, I would be talking to Jenny and introducing her to Harrys Diner, a restaurant she has found no end of pleasure in.

I haven't blogged in two weeks. Not sure what's going on there, I just haven't found anything to talk about that is more appropriately placed on my Monsterpocalypse website, http://ih8mogroth.blogspot.com, another site that Jenny has had no end of pleasure in. She adores my rambles of various Fiendish figures of the game.

But no rambles on the Nerd Hole. Twitter even seems to be disappearing. Facebook? That's started to run down the shitter. Haven't posted a status in months, and the last major thing I've done aside from replying to comments and 'Liking' things is set an event up for my Birthday to go to the Manabar. 26 June from after midday for those interested. But yes, I'm slowly disconnecting myself. Haven't disconnected from Jenny at all, though I'm yet to "Connect" if you catch my drift, hur hur hur.

But you know what, that's only a few weeks from now I'll be travelling to the USA to play games and then have a wonderful 10-ish days with Jenny and Co. It's very exciting, and I will be blogging most of it to the world of my fantastical adventures with Waggles, Scott, Aaron and Caryl.

Speaking of which, I should probably warn Waggles about Aaron and Caryl and see if we're able to squeeze them into the Hotel. That is, if he doesn't catch this before then. That almost sounded like this is a disease or something.

Man, i'm loving this computer. If only there was an open connection around here, then I could have 'lunch dates' with Jenny. In the mean time, I blog. And maybe write if I find the inspiration. Could always just do my D&D Campaign.


Tonight was a gaming night. Usually reserved for playing D&D with the fellas, but due to lack of interest with the guys and the DM's exhaustion from being a Sparky and having to travel back and forth from Melbourne at least once every week (Seriously) it was a good time to offer the guys a bit of a break.

A new gaming group for Warmachine had started up in Caboolture, and Kel had already been up as he kept track of it on the Wargaming website that's locally used. He wanted a few more experienced players to attend so that a few more demo games could be tossed in amongst the night and basically introduce themselves as reps for the rest of the city players.

It began with Richard, Aaron, Scotty and I, with Kel leading the V formation into the community hall. However, Mel got sick so Richard was booted which caused the lift for Aaron and I to turn to Kel, who was more than happy to pick us up from my place and move on.

Then Aaron realised that he was certainly not going to last the night as he had just gotten off the plane when he got to my place, so on the way there we made a slight detour to drop him off at his parents.

Scotty was already there. He decided that instead of catching a lift with Richard and I, he decided to get ahead and take the train there with his gear. Fair enough, I tried to speak him into it but he just talked over and affirmed his own plans of getting there. Sadly, he forgot the directions from the station to the community hall, and so I got a call every 10/15 minutes asking where I was or reminding me that he was still lost.

But we got there eventually at 7:20 and we had a good time. We met up with a bunch of guys and I got two battlebox games in with one guy who was behind on the times and hadn't played in about 2-3 years, and another guy who was keen on the game but was still debating his choice of faction, whether to go the Zealous Protectorate of Menoth, or the Undying Cryx.

He was good fun to play, however there was another fella. He's a nice guy and his heart is in the right place, which means he's annoying. He acted at the new guys guide to strategy, and frankly strategy isn't needed for battlebox games.

Battlebox games are games that pit two factions with minimal models against each other. I chose Khador because they're my favourite faction, and because nobody else was particularly interested in them. My opponent took up the Protectorate of Menoth as his first demo game, to teach him basic rules of the game, and give him an idea on the way Protectorate work. He had me outnumbered on figures, however I had him outmatched on toughness. My two heavy warjacks can take and deal a significant amount of damage, but offer no utility and receive next to no benefits from the warcaster other than one of 2 spells and a few very expensive combos.

His army however offered more utility. He has one Heavy warjack, and two light warjacks. The Heavy Warjack is simple, and offers a heavy beatstick for the army. The two light warjacks take on the utlity by acting as a conductor for spells and an annoying little bastard.

Our man of the match was the Repenter, a warjack equipped with a Napalm Thrower and a flail who set fire to my Juggernaut early in the game, and the fire remained in play to deal more and more damage over the next 2 turns. He died almost immediately after that turn, but he did his job. The only way he could've acted better was if he caught my warcaster.

Anyway considering the lack of models for a serious army and the fact that it was a first game for the fellow, it was kinda annoying to see old mate reaching across the table and getting finukey about each action and reaction and what spells he could've used, giving situation after situation after situation, etc etc etc.

Like I said. He's a nice guy, and his heart is in the right place. But that doesn't make it more annoying.

I think I'm getting better at demoing games, actually. I explained the rules as best I could and tried as much as possible to prevent confusion, I tried to list 1 alternative and let the figure out others for themselves, and tried to speak as clearly as possible, and I didn't speak over Old Mate so that I prevented even more confusion happening.

So I treid, but I think the guy I played wasn't too overloaded with the rules and such. A bit more practice for him and he'll get a good grip on it.

Now I'm going to listen to recordings of Jenny as I go to sleep now. Call me a sap, but she is absolutely adorable. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to put up a post for monday. Worst case, friday.

Don't you wish your monster was Hot like Mine

Ubercorp International are a company that takes the pages out of others books. Their first productions, Cyber Khan and Gorghadratron, were interesting developments of their team.

But when all of these nerds in white coats who thought “scientists get all the chicks” studied the Lords of Cthul, they figured they would emulate it using their own technology.

Admit it. Cthul gets all the girls. And Cthugrosh, Lord of Bad Hentai High, is no exception. He pimps out, moves hoes around, tosses out the bad trash and he makes sacrifices to his own benefit. And occasionally he might gorge himself on a building. There's no surprise that there would be those who want be him, to do what he does, to be a Lord of Cthul.This is where Mechathugrosh has entered the Monsterpocalypse Arena, sporting an impressive pair of Shoulder Mounted Boom Boxes and a face mounted Gatling Schnozzle, he flies onto the field with his Imitation Cthul forces to wreak havoc for profit likePimp-Lord Cthugrosh.

However nothing is perfect and trying to insert Psychokinetic abilities into a machine is much more difficult than previously assumed, while most others are somewhat easy to imitate. To start, lets look at Cthugrosh's abilities.

Sacrifice: Crush 1 adjacent AGN unit to restore +1 Health to this monster.
Summon: Put 1 FAC unit from your reserves into play adjacent to this figure.
Telekinesis: Choose 1 unit within 2 spaces of this figure and move that unit 1 space in any direction, including diagonally.
Fling (Blast): Choose a building or enemy figure within 5 spaces of target unit and roll dice in play. If the chosen figure’s DEF is equal to or less than the number of strikes rolled, it takes 1 damage.
Power Gorge (Brawl): You gain +1 P-Die.
Flight: (Too long to give a squix.)

It's not a bad layout. You give birth to a Unit. You shoot an enemy unit and then kill another unit. You move a unit and you smash a monster. You punch something and you get extra Power Die. You drop one of your own units and heal yourself. You can Fly!

So where does this leave Mechathugrosh? He can't quite give birth. He can't think nasty thoughts of a ninja flying into a building and come out with results. He can't exactly get some sort of enthusiasm out of tearing down an apartment complex. And I don't think he can snack on a friendly unit, since production costs would fly through the roof for the UCI, and that would just make a mess of the décor inside him.

Time for some Human Ingenuity. Starting from the top:

Restoration: If this monster occupies a space with a power zone, restore +1 Health to it.

I can see little cables reaching down underneath and sucking juice from a Power Zone. Because I reckon that by poetic license, Mechathugrosh doesn't actually get destroyed in the Monpoc world. He just runs out of Juice and then sits there staring at his treads. However, give him a few minutes on a power zone and BOOM! He's back up and running like crazy! Only a fool would leave him on a Power Zone for too long.

So that's our Pseudo Sacrifice. That topped with a UCI Repair Vehicle makes for a regeneration rate that is more cost efficient than Cthugrosh's “Sacrifice + Meat Slave” combo. So he's got a 1 up on Cthugrosh.

Moving on to the next ability, we have Summon. Summon drops a Lords of Cthul Unit next to Cthugrosh for him to play willy nilly with. Cthulubites to Weaken and Distract; Meat Slaves to Incubate and hatch when they take one for the team; Snatchers to prepare for a Murderous Reproduction Cycle next turn; Spitters to give a Red Radar for his Blast Attack; Tanglix to stop units next to him from getting away; Task Masters to be motivational to nearby units next turn; Corruptors for Overload and Flank. There's a variety of different uses. What does Mechathugrosh have to match up?

Transport: Put 1 AGN unit with Cargo from your reserves into play adjacent to this figure.

Ooo, interesting. It's a good imitation. Now it says figures that have the “Cargo” ability. How many figures in UCI have Cargo? Well... Thats limited to the Mecha Task Master. It's a good thing it's not limited to Faction then, but to Agenda.

Ah, Shadow Sun Syndicate. Giant Nano-bot Ninjas coupled with smaller Ninjas that Karate Kick, Fire Laser Rifles, or drive unique fighter and bomber planes or super fast Hover Vehicles firing Powerful Turrets or Transporting their own Cargo. Cargo like the Sun Drone, the Shadow Gate and C-Type Shinobi. Ah choices choices. Sun Drone to secure Buildings and gain extra Power Die. C-Type Shinobi or Mecha Task Master to plonk down on a Power Zone, and prepare for Blasting next unit turn. Or drop a Sun Gate and gain the red ability of...

Cloak: This figure cannot be targeted by blast attacks from 3 or more spaces away.

Each have their own uses, though I think the Shadow Gate is a Winnah! Having your monster suddenly disappear out of sight? That's pretty sweet. It shows Mogroth the rough end of the Pineapple. Well anyone can show that to Mogroth, but that's not the point. The Point is that Mechathugrosh has a Nifty trick to use against Blastards.

Moving on, we have Telekinesis. I remember previously discussing Telekinesis being a Blue ability on other monsters and how a regular tactic is to shift a screening unit out of the way to get into position for a Power Attack. That's fair enough. But what does Mechathugrosh have to Compensate?

Tow: Choose 1 unit within 5 spaces of this figure and place that unit in a space it could legally occupy adjacent to this figure.

Okay. So you can pick a unit within 5 spaces and shunt it anywhere adjacent to you, rather than pick a figure within 2 spaces and shunt it 1 space any direction. I'll put that as Mechathugrosh's Positive.

That completes our tour of Mechathugrosh's Actions list. So far, I've claimed Mechathugrosh to be at the advantage, with Tow and Restoration being more efficient than Sacrifice and Telekinesis, and Summon and Cargo being on equal terms due to unit availability.

Now we move onto style of Attack. Cthugrosh has two attack Triggers and only one of them really defines his style of destruction: Fling. Being a Blast Trigger he can target a figure within 3 spaces, 5 if he summons an Elite Spitter or a building with Radar has been secured. Then he targets another figure within 5 spaces of that unit, whether it be Unit, Building or Monster, and makes the same attack again. In the minds eye, I just see him waving his tentacles in the direction of a Carnidon (It's always a Carnidon) and thinking thoughts of how useful it would be if it demolished a Music Producers Building, so that a Hellfont would rise allowing more of his minions to be released.

So how does Mechathugrosh match up? Well being unable to insert Telekinetic powers into the mind of a super-computer, and "Tractor Beams" only attracts, hence the Tow Action, and usually bullets are better at making Swiss cheese than anything else.

Well the Scientists of UCI Labs took down this note and thought for a little while until someone realised that Task Masters are Mini-Cthugrosh's, and what do they do? They also have a Fling, but on their Brawl. Adding Two to a Pineapple with Hydraulics and there we have it:

Super Swat: When this figure makes a swat power attack or uses the Fling trigger, the second target of the attack can be up to 7 spaces away instead of 5.

And so Telekinesis was tossed out as an Idea along with Reverse Tractors, and the Gigantic Hand of Mechathugrosh was Born. Given the effective range mostly matches a Cthugrosh without Radar, I think we're on a good roll. Where's the fault? Oh, right. Need to be aligned with a unit. Not too much of a problem, except that it leaves you open to retaliation due to possibly being in your opponents Power Base. I'll place this as a point to Cthugrosh.

Now there's one final ability, then flight. Flight I've already said that I couldn't give a Squix about. We all know it, so there's nothing to really explain about it.

However, the last two abilities of Cthugrosh and Mechathugrosh diverge in different directions. Cthugrosh has on his Brawl the Power Gorge Trigger. This, I find, is great for first turn where he revs up his Power Base with a massive boost for turn 2. You Brawl an Office Building, a figure REALLY easy to take out, and instead of the normal 3 you gain 4. With Cranky in the position you have 5 Power Die from the Rage Advantage, and a secured Insurance HQ wouldn't hurt as that would increase it to 6 Power Die. It's like you destroyed the Imperial state, but you'd get 9 under the same Brawling Conditions.

But Mechathugrosh can't do that. The Scientists gave up on that idea, figuring that borrowed technology such as the Sun Drone from the Shadow Sun Syndicate would cover a Power Base. So they looked back at the Task Master and said "Yeah, why not."

Motivator: AGN figures that begin their advance adjacent to this figure gain +1 SPD.

So summoned units and Adjacent Monsters can be happy to know that they will get a nice little Speed boost when they travel out into the world to Wreak Havoc for Profit.

So that's Part 1 of the MC-Thugrosh figures. Next Friday: Voltron Preview!

“This way” “NO THIS WAY!”

The saying two heads are better than one is a very true statement. If you put two heads together, then you have two different perspectives on something and you can both come to a conclusion and agreement of the best course of action.

This doesn't always work, as brothers of like mind consider one smarter than the other. Twins usually end up conspiring. And Siamese twins tend to get on each others nerves after a while. That leaves us with Blastik-Rukivall, the Subterran Uprising's Blastard Monster. I just want to call him “Not Mogroth”. But that would be silly. So I'm going to nickname him Noggins.

Fiends in previous history haven't been the most impressive Blastards, *cough* Mogroth *cough*, but Noggins stands out like a guy with two heads in neon lights amongst an Awkward of Emos. Thats my definition of a group of Emo Kids, btw: An Awkward of Emos.

Lets examine him.

He starts with a modest speed of 5. While it's not the greatest of movement scores, he makes up for it being a blastard and he has Burrow anyway.

Excuse me.
…
He what? But isn't he...
…
Right. I see. Thank you.

On behalf of the staff of I Hate Mogroth, I would like to sincerely apologise for the lack of proper inspection into the figures abilities column. Blastik-Rukivall does not, I repeat NOT, have the ability Burrow. The staff here are deeply embarrassed at this misinformation.

Moving on. He has a Defence of 6. This isn't great... but it isn't bad. It's just out of reach of 2 units making a combined attack and hitting, but just easy enough for a monster to hit. Unless you're fighting another Blastard, you won't have to worry about Power Attacks in a hurry. A sensible player would put himself into a box that prevents a Power Attack, while gives a good position to fire from.

As part of the change to the Fiends Agenda, the Subterran Uprising have brought forth Blue Abilities, and so far they have been good defensive bonuses along with Ultra Drillnose's Dubious blue bonus to the Black Out Factory, a rumoured Series 6 Agenda Building. With series 5 standing underneath our feet and waiting for release, Noggins has a nice Blue ability to share across his forces.

Shelter: This unit gains +1 DEF against brawl attacks.

Now admittedly, it isn't game changing. At least, not in my opinion. I can't complain about a Defence 5 Mollok Brutes can I. But the only fault is that the armies I face don't usually brawl my units. *Shrug * C'est la vie. If I do face a force with lots of brawlers, then I have an edge.

Moving on we have three more stats and abilities to look at. We'll begin with Brawl and Power. They're not bad stat scores, with 6*1 and 7*1 respectively. The 6*1 is good enough to take out the Office Building at the start of the game to give you a Power Die boost, or for the emergency Power Die you need when you're coming close to the end. And the Power Stat is good enough for the Super... excuse me a moment.

There's no Super “Insert Power Attack” here!
…
Really? This guy is really out of the loop.
…
Righto.

Ahem. Sorry. The Power Stat is good enough for that one Body Slam, Smash, or Throw needed to take out a target for 3 damage. The only benefit that either of these attacks have is the Advantage Energy Cycle.

Energy Cycle: If this figure participated in an attack of 2 or more A-Dice, you can return 1 A-Die that rolled a miss to the active pool.

So you save on a dice as you go and with the mid-range number of action dice available to each stat, you can make for double activations with ease. Throw a secured Insurance HQ or Office Building for the Shuffle Ability and you can go Activation after Activation after Activation.

That's the theory, at least.

Conveniently, the Energy Cycle Advantage applies to Blast Attacks, and this is where Noggins really excells. To start, he has a decent Blast score of 6*3, giving a very nice bonus to the attack to begin. And then, he gets his triggers. That's right Ladies and Gentlemen, we've finally come to the Blast Triggers.

Behind door number 1...

Siphon: If target monster is hit, gain +1 P-Die. That monster’s controller loses 1 P- die.

With this trigger ability, you can regenerate your power base continually making for a good double activation bonus, while draining your opponent of their own power base!

But that's not all! Behind door number 2...

A BRAND NEW CAR!

What now?
…
Seriously?

The Staff of I Hate Mogroth would actually like to apologise for false advertisement. If you look through that door, that would actually be my roommates car, which is not for sale or being released as a door prize.

Behind Door number 3 had best be something awesome...

Blitz: Once each turn, advance this figure up to 2 spaces even if it has advanced this turn. You can roll another attack of the same type against a different target with dice in play.

This is actually on him? Yeah? Cool bananas.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Blitz. You make two attacks using the same dice against two different targets, and move two squares at the same time! Double activations get better! You shoot a Monster, gain a power die, move two squares, shoot a building and gain another Power Die! Two if you destroy a monument!

So Alpha Noggins thinking power is defined in two statements:

“Shoot dis one” “NO DAT ONE!”

Now we move on to Ultra Noggins (I really like this nickname) and everything except his health gains a boost for the lovely Hyper cost of 4! Speed 6, Defence 7, Brawl 6*2, Power 8*2 and, most impressively, Blast 9*4. His Ability bar also gets a rehash and changes to three different Blast triggers and a different blue ability.

Force Field: This unit gains +1 DEF against blast attacks.

So I mentioned before that Shelter wasn't too fantastic an ability due to my opponents units being Predominantly blasters anyway. Well now I have Defence 5, maybe even 6 with cover, against units, monsters and even buildings who want to target my Mollok Brutes with Blast attacks. Game on!

Remember that thinking power I mentioned before? Where they wanted to shoot everyone and everything? Well Ultra Noggins puts his Noggins together and focus on one thing: The destruction and submission of one target.

Bumping up to 3 Blast Triggers, and the new title of MR Noggins, he starts off with a classic Trigger.

Beat Back—Move target monster 3 spaces in a straight line in a direction chosen by the attacker. That monster moves through and collides with buildings, units, and hazards in its path. It stops moving if it collides with another monster.

This is a classic trigger from the Series 1 days, when Ultra Rozgor and Mega Zor-Maxim were the most formidable on the field (And Mega Zor-Maxim is still a terror to behold). And with maps that have a metric butt-tonne of buildings on them, you either have to consider where you're standing, or you take a pineapple where the sun don't shine.

Traditional to most monsters, there's a similarity between their alpha and ultra version. Or at least something you can claim is similar. On alpha noggins you'll find siphon, where they lose dice as you gain dice. Mr Noggins pushes the subject in one direction: Badly for the opponent.

Power Strike: Target monster’s controller loses a number of P-Dice equal to the number of super strikes you rolled in the attack.

The potential for a super strike in an attack is 1 in 6. All dice have a super strike, and the more dice you put into an attack, the more chance you have of rolling at least one super strike. With a Blast Stat of 9*4, you have a good chance for a few super strikes. And on that lucky day when you hit and get 10 super strikes, your opponent bows his hat and reconsiders the entirety of his monsters limited existence. On the unlucky chance that you roll no Super Strikes, you can take solace in that you've just beat him back into a building or two. Lastly on his list of triggers is...

Demolish: Choose 1 enemy figure adjacent to target building. The chosen figure takes 1 damage.

Consider Double Activations for a moment, theorising your situation as the upper hand. You've Blasted your opponent into a cluster of buildings with a large number of super strikes, and he is forced to taking a unit activation to re-establish the power base that he lost. It comes back around to your turn, and he's secured one of the remaining buildings on the adjacent corner of the monster. Now, you have two choices. You can beatback the monster and destroy his current form, situation depending. Or you can get rid of part of his power base and still deal 1 point of damage while aiming for a smaller defence.

Okay, so it's a silly thory. But it's something that Mogroth Can't Do. And that just makes me giddy.

Friday: Don't you wish your Monster was Hot like Mine

Not the Defender of the Universe

So the Voltron, Defender of the Universe set is coming out. Eventually, but more likely sooner than later. Monsterpocalypse.com has released the details for a handful of the figures available from the Voltron set so more experienced players can learn what their favourite childhood giant robot can do against his great nemesis, Lotron. So where do we start?

So what do they all have in common?
Flight. Defence 5. 5 Morphers. That's all. As it should be, each figure has a uniqueness to them. The three figures previewed show a proficiency in one, the other, or both. Lotors Command ship, a large dinosaur skull retrofitted to have rose tinted windows, stands as a good Blastard, with two triggers and a passive ability called Motivator that obviously Lotor in the command seat and ordering "GO my minions". To help with movements of minions and to benefit himself, his Blast attack activates two triggers.

Siphon: If target monster is hit, gain +1 P-Die. That monster’s controller loses 1 P-Die.
Synchronised Move: Choose 1 allied unit within 2 spaces of this figure and advance that unit up to its SPD, even if it has already advanced this turn.

So he leads a good Flight of the Valkyries, basically slingshotting his minions into their deaths. Pity he can't do it to friendly Morphers, because that would mean firing off the Armadillo Robeast into the midst of everything.The Armadillo Robeast is a good little figure and plays as the Predominant Brawler. With only two rules, Flight and Radial Attack Brawl Trigger, he bolts in and goes crazy with his Brawl of 4*2 in a whirling fury of destruction.

Radial Attack: If target figure is hit, other monsters and units adjacent to the attacking figure with a DEF equal to or less than the number of strikes rolled take 1 damage.

Cool Bananas I say. So far, these are looking pretty good. Looking lastly at the Rhino Robeast, we have our Monster Hunter. He's a Jack of Trades, being proficient in both Brawl and Blast, he claims his position as Monster Hunter by way of his Triggers.

Toss: Place target monster in a new location up to 4 spaces away from its current location in a straight line in a direction chosen by the attacker. You can place the target only into unoccupied spaces or spaces occupied by buildings and/or units.
Lightning Attack: Once each turn, this monster can roll a second attack of the same type with dice in play against the same target monster.

Toss, by my own history, is a good trigger ability. It's a Pseudo Power Attack Throw that doesn't require you to align with the target, making it very nifty indeed. Especially since one with Toss can get around Ulgoth's “Massive” Ability.

Massive: this figure cannot be thrown.

So the Armadillo and Rhino Robeasts can combine and do one of either trigger, giving a good overall brawl stat of 8*3 and causing havoc as an Armadillo and Rhino can do.

When they combine (with the remaining two morphers of course) they get Lo-Tron, a funny looking guy with a pair of wings he stole from Batfink. But I look at the abilities on him, and I consider him to be more of a soccer player who occasionally does the whipping sound as he flicks someone with his flail.Why? Ignoring flight, his abilities are divided into his two primary attacks, Brawl and Power, both of which have good scores to work with. First is his Brawl, which I imagine him throwing the ball of his flail about and making the whipping noise with his mouth, and surprising himself when it makes the sound itself. By this I mean Crunch.

Crunch: If this monster’s attack rolled 1 or more super strikes, it does super damage.

On top of that he has Reach, which shouldn't surprise many as being a chain weapon gives anyone the ability to attack an extra space away and as far up into the air as they like.

Then we look at his Power Attacks. It's his better stat at 8*4, to more easily assume it to be his better attack type, and his two abilities shape up the English Football hooligan image I have.

Hit & Run: Advance this figure up to 3 spaces, even if it has advanced this turn.
Adaptable: When this monster’s swat or ram power attack does damage to another monster, it does super damage.

So now I have Lo-Tron bolting forward on his Speed of 7 and playing “Bend it like Beckham” (Cos he's cool like that) in his head as he puts the boot into an enemy unit and scores a super goal into Voltron, before quickly jumping back out of range. For a cost of 4, that's not a bad deal. He's got good range of Super damage abilities, along with a reasonable hyper cost of 4, I quite like his Villainous ways.

But before I start drivelling on about how cool Voltron is, and how so many people are having cubs and making an impressive pride in his Honour, I'm going to stop and leave you waiting.

Next Tuesday: “This way” “NO THIS WAY!”