On the Painting Desk 249

 This week has seen some awesome progress on the warriors, as I`m over the halfway mark with the second layer finished.

This means that hopefully by next update, one of the two main colours, the blue, will be totally done.

After that, it is time to do the smaller area colours, and then varnish and base them, so I have high hopes that will all be done in about two weeks time, meaning only the movement trays will need tackling.  Though it might be best if I order them first...

Also in this video, a short overview of some small things to come!

So see you back next week and how far I managed to get on the regiment.

Adieu September: entering the last quarter for the 2023 goals

 Well, summer is gone, and that means only 3 months remain to try and reach all the hobby objectives I placed for myself this year.

And in very few cases, a little sprint might be required to achieve those as well this year...

 

Well, not for the beer counter at least, I broke that goal already in june, and now it has amounted to an impressive 102 new beers discovered this year out of the planned 50.

 

 

The tattoo part though might not be achievable anymore, I stand at 1 and even though I'll might get 1 or 2 extra at the Brussels Tattoo Convention in november, I doubt I'll make it.

 

On the GunPla and Gachapon level, currently standing at 3 out of 5 and 4 out of 10 respectively, I still have some hope.  I am in the process of finishing off the Chaos Dwarf force for a 9th Age tournament end of october, but after that I might get some of those sorted.

 

Watching anime will be done for certain this year, the tally now standing at 43 out of 50 planned to watch, and the alphabet challenge is at the letter S / Z, so those I estimate will "pop" around the same time, maybe even already in the coming weeks.

 

Reading books and manga won't be an issue either, now standing at 49 out of the planned 50, that is going really smoothly, so these will also be obtained pretty soon.

 

Movies and series, those are going excellent.  I completed the series goal of 20 to watch, with the counter now standing at 28.  Watching during paint time does work wonders I must say, and the same goes for the movies goal.  Out of the 20 I wanted to see this year, I'm now at 18 so that should pass the counter very soon.

But then there is that goal of getting fit again... and that goes very, very slowly, the aimed 80kg nowhere in sight as I still struggle currently at the 94ish mark.

Unboxing Taito Kurumi Tokisada bunny version

 Hailing from the Revival line by Taito, this Kurumi is the latest addition to the collection, another win from TokyoCatch.

And she is in a bunny suit, making it extra he-he...

So let's open this figure in the following video clip

All in all, even though I like her more in red, not to bad a figure at all.  And a welcome collection addition for my series of waifu's.

Warhammer Underworlds: Hexbane Hunters unboxing

 So, as I am planning to get more games in during the final stint of the year, I picked Warhammer Underworlds as the go-to game.

And to that end, I picked up one of the recent warbands, as I`ll do the whole card studying thing at a later date, once I get going in earnest.

But let's see what this little expansion box is all about then...

 

 

So, the models do look nice, though I keep wondering how insane the designers of modern GW sprues are... 

 

Now to actually try and get a few games in during the remainder of the year for Underworlds...

Soft Scores at tournaments

 In today's Opinion piece, I`m looking back at the time tournaments had something called soft scores.

Back then, not only was your tournament total the result of your games, but it also included various other factors.

Things like having your army painted, the wow-factor, sending in army lists on time,... they all added to your tally.  And while this wasn`t often the decider for the final top spot classifications, it did reward lower table players to not end last often.  Somewhere down the line between when I played my last really big tournaments (we are talking around 2005ísh, and the 6th edition of Warhammer) and current days this changed, and it became seperate categories no longer included in the grand total.

Which in a way, I find a pity, as it did motivate to paint up that extra unit and gave events with most of the armies present painted though.

Any thoughts on this?

On the Painting Desk 248

 The clock is ticking!

Only 4 more weeks to go and then these warriors HAVE to be finished, based and varnished, as they will be drafted to march to the field of battle.

So, with work continueing on them as we speak, for now it still looks like I will be able to make it, though with not much leeway.  Hopefully I can get in one or two solid sessions on them, weather and real-life permitting, so that by the end of the month I will be nearing their final layer.

 

 

And then it's time to start some other project, while in between expanding on this force to 4500 points.  I did assemble Hexbane, but for starters I might take one of my older warbands out to play.  But the next big project will be painting up a force for AoS using official GW models for some events.

 

I decided on Kruleboyz, as 1. they have Hobgoblins and 2. with the right trays I can incorporate them into a regular fantasy square based army as extra regiments as well.

 

But first, more work on those warriors!

The Haul Report 374: Burn the Witch!

 Well, once the tournament force for 9th Age is painted, I`m going to toss myself in some Underworlds gaming I guess at a local gaming place.

And I armed myself for that by getting a fresh warband from the more recent expansions.

Mainly, because it's simpler for the cards with all that I missed out the past years.  So Hexbane Hunters will take to the field of battle as a result.  Well, once they get painted at least, got some other bands I never brought to the table to fill in first...

I`ll see how those formats and legal cards and all work afterwards, should I actually get more games set up.  But for now, I already filtered out all the "Rivals parts" of the cards.  

 

 

I`ll just need to grab one of those recent universal decks for the older warbands in our collection one of these weeks...

The 9th Age: Infernal Dwarves Overlord

 Every army needs a leader, so the next unit for the tournament, now merely a month away, is the general.

Pretty basically equipped, he will go into the warriors unit I`m now painting.

 

The model is from Avatars of War, and still one of the metal versions.  I believe it is set for rerelease in resin / STL, but don`t take my word for it, this little guy has been in my collection for a long time already.

 

 

I opted for the regular scheme of my force, blue and gold, going with a red cloak for contrast.

 

 

For the army list itself, he adds a serious amount to the total being both an Overlord, as well as carrying magical items, and brings the total points completed into the final 5th.

 

 

So now it's time to move on to the big block of warriors and the movement trays, and then this army is ready for battle and hopefully not be tabled every game by turn 3 hehehe...

Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On

 The follow-up series from Hot Girls Wanted (which I still have to see btw), this series is now streaming on Netflix.

And I must say, it went more dramatically as the episodes progressed.

While the first episode is about how women want to make adult content for women, to break the industires taboo of abuse, the second one is about a Tinder addicted C-grade celebrity (he was in Big Brother once) that used women's feelings as a fast food throw-away good.

It then gets up a notch, as it follows someone that gives advice to novice actrices into the industry, and how one of them derails on a life of partying and drugs so they cut the ties (though the actress is still active today).  Episode four sees through the eyes of a budding producer and the work that goes with it, this was actually a pretty intresting and "human side" episode, perhaps even the most honest one of the series.

 

The next episode follows a friendship between a camgirl and one of her best viewers, but as she goes over to visit him it does end in the expected heartbreak.

My one issue with the 5th episode is that her boyfriend is "just a photographer" in the industry and painted the picture of the innocent bloke, but he is an actor that worked for more extremer labels like Kink and the likes.

The last episode however goes far beyond the previous ones, as in a hunt for more likes on social media, a young girl films the rape of her friend, without calling the police or trying to stop it.  This leads to a huge media fall-out, and even though the truth was more nuanced, she has been burned on the online stake.

These where intresting mini-documentaries, and worth the watch.

Sakugan

 So, it is only normal I took this mecha anime as the letter S, because in the Super Mecha Champions videogame I have both the mecha as well as the main characters skins active.

But let's actually view this series, that was a bit of a break-out hit when it came out.

It takes place in the far future, where humanity lives in an underground world called Labyrinth, and with several colonies that have severe circumstances to live in.  Memempu is a curious 9-year old that lives with her father, a digger called Gagumber.  

But when they set out to look for her mother, they meet a huge creature, but the map her father has is worth an awful lot due to the dangers of making it outside the colonies.  But they go on the journey none-the-less of the dangers involved.  On board their mecha, Little Tony, they set out beyond the colonies borders, exploring the surrounding area.

 

She learns as how markers like her dad travel from base camp to base camp to recharge and how to read maps. Stubborn as she is to follow her own map, she jumps in a chasm and is soon attacked by monsters, but Gagumber arrives to save her in Little Tony.  They escape, but are greeted by the excentric Merooro of the Control Agency.

As they stay at his base, Gagumber goes out to the bar, ending up flirting with a beautiful lady when he is stopped and reprimanded by Memempu.  But a heist suddenly takes place on the bar, and Gagumber faces the crooks, before being knocked out and taken along by them.  In captivity, he learns the girls name is Zackletu, a wanted criminal.  She helps him escape, before saying her goodbyes.

Merooro takes them along to an old machine created by the ancerstors, revered as the God of Wind, while showing sights of the landscapes nearby the other colonies.  Memempu figures out the machine on the map she has, and they start crossing the landscape.  They encounter Yuri and his men, who thinks they are villains.  They want to take out the corrupt ruler of the colony, and Yuri wants to do it harshly but is stopped thanks to Gagumber.  But they had infiltrated the videospread, bringing him down that way.  Yuri decides to join them in their journey through the Underworld.  

 

 

Memempu saves them from poisonous flowers they had unknowingly picked up along the way, as Memempu sees it in a dream.  Gagumber learns that Zackletu is actually the younger sister of his former partner Rufus, "Zack" whom he always though was a boy, and she blames him for what happened to her older sibling.  This leads to a serious confrontation, Gagumber being gravely injured. They manage to set their differences though and move on together on their adventure.

 

Merooro returns, saving them from a plant induced stupor, and expunges the criminal records of Yuri and Zackletu.  He tries to bring forth his own agenda, but Gagumber doesn't like him, opposing his request.   But the base is being attacked all of a sudden, Memempu being the target as she is referred to as the Rainbow Child.  Together, Merooro and Gagumber manage to bring her into safety though, the former getting injured in the process causing Gagumber to be grateful to him.

They meet Sina, the diva of Dream Colony who flees from her rigorous life with Memempu, doing misschief in the colony before she must return to her former life, thankfull she could live a day without her obligations, just doing what she wanted.  But Shibito has followed them here, attacking during the concert of Sina and abducting Memempu to show her her real father.  She is told she isn`t really Gagumber's daughter, nor that she is human.  But Gagumber sticks with her, and together they face their peril and escape.  

So this was an enjoyable series, even though it's story hasn`t finished for a long time.  I hope there will be a second season, because this was fun stuff to watch...

 

 

Liar, Liar

 Okay, the "cover" for this series gave off a No Game No Life vibe, so I started watching it as soon as it came out.

And put in on my Summer Fantasy Anime League...

Reading the synopsis, I guess I can expect a love child between NGNL and Kakegurui, with a school where games decides the rankings of the students.  Except Hiroto Shinohara isn't that skilled, and by sheer accident defeats the "Empress", the Seven Star of the 3rd District, Sarasa.

His District 4 headmistress decides to make an elaborate rouse, putting him in place as a Seven Star himself, even though it is all build around a big lie, and he discovers the Empress was actually a double for her.  He is supported by The Company, who help him out to win his games and retain his position, by picking out his games and influencing them.

The headmistress reveals her plan to have Hiroto defeat the owners of Unique Stars, that way he can raise his level never the less, while being actually maxed out as part of the lie.  And as such become the first multi-coloured Seven Star.  But for his next challenge, he must face not only his servant Himeji, but in a game that is seriously stacked against him, a game created by Akizuki, one of the Six Stars on campus.  But his faith in Himeji is absolute, so the game ends a draw.

He soon faces his next challenge, a tabletop treasure hunt.  Akizuki is a tough opponent though, but using his cheat skill abilities, and the help of his team, he manages to swiftly catch her thanks to a ruse using the airconditioning system.  But she uses the Alter Fate skill to make the answer never happen, but thanks to Pinch hitter he had changed the conditions of who she'd beat, and infected her with curses on her device instead.  

He realises the girl was forced, and goes to the office of her headmaster, confronting him.  He and Akizuki are the last ones standing for the event, and the final game is one between teams of each division that they are still a member off, meaning that Hiroto not only has to deceive his enemies, but his allies as well.  But then the true Empress turns up again, challenging her placeholder to defeat Hiroto to keep the name and the position.  

At the gathering of the finalists of each dorm house, he meets a variety of opponents, all with their known strentghs.  But he is challenged by the "real" Empress in a virtual reality game.  He faces Kurugumi, and when he corners her, she uses a special skill to escape though.  But for some scheme, he eliminates himself from the game, telling his team this will work for them to obtain victory.  During a pokemon like game, he needs to square of against Shiina, a young playful girl he met earlier.  

But he has managed to gather more players to his alliance to face off "miss Hundred Faces", as he develops a plan to bring her down once and for all.  To that end, he needs to add the Demon Maiden to his list of allies.  But facing off her final champions, top stars from other academies, he also loses some of his friends down the line.  So on the final day, he and Saionji need to face her by themselves.  He concocts a plan forcing the other's to protect him in a game of Crossboards together with Shiina.  

 

He corners Kurahashi as a result, tracking him down and sending Himeji and all the others to confront him in his office and taking the victory.

To be honest, while I thought this series started fun, it rapidly dwindled to a rather average affair unfortunatly.  So while it has it's moments, it won't be a series I'll be remembering for a long time I fear.

Unboxing Saint Cosmo Memoir Seiya

 The latest addition to my Saint Seiya collection, this was another figure won over at the TokyoCatch crane game app.

So when it arrived, I went to unbox it of course, so let's have a look at the little video clip.

I love his uniform, albeit it only featured briefly in the series (basically, only in the first half of the first episode) before he changed to his traditional blue jeans and red shirt outfit, yet that training styled figure has something, I don`t know how to say it, powerfull about it.

 

So, probably one of the last figures of the year to be honest, as I have nothing lined up beyond him in pre-orders for now.  Though you never know what the gacha gods might throw in my lap...

On the Painting Desk 247

 Onwards we go, as we tackle the final stretches of the tournament army.

Well, final is perhaps a bit of an understatement...

 

But with the Lord nearly done we can start on the warriors, the last unit to round out the army for now.

 

 

After that?  More Chaos Dwarfs of course, but I will also be tackling a warband for Underworlds in order to get out and play on a friday evening for example. 

But that is far off music, let's get some good progress in on those warriors first now, shan't we.

Prepare for Orktober with Wayland Games

 With the arrival of the new book, Wayland is running it's usual pre-order promotions with up to 20% discount.

And as it is all about Orruks and big beasties, this is right on time for Orktober!

So take a peek, and if you want to be so gentle, do so by going there with the banner on top of this blog and help this little affiliate out a little!

The Haul Report 373

 Last sunday, in a blistering heat, there was a garage sale market near my mother's house.

So together with Thorin and his grandmother, we did a tour (quickly, as it was already 31 degrees at 10 o' clock), scoring some good things for the little man like two boxes of Duplo and some V-Tech cars.

But I also found something nice for myself, namely a Big Zam prize figure, which over time I`ll be repainting and basing for MechaTop!

And finally, a little Etsy order came in with two printed Chaos Dwarf Merchants, who will become crew for the Naptha Cannon...

So an excellent week all round for certain, but now we are going to dwindle back because the holiday season is slowly approaching, and I don't want to buy up my christmas list beforehand...

Huzzaaah, the 100th beer discovery of 2023

 Okay, so I had set the bar at 50 new discoveries to make this year, but some trips abroad and a beerfestival smashed that number already by july.

And now, I have officially "tapped" my 100th new beer on Untapped for this year.

The honour goes to:

 

 

Let's call this one a tribute to Noshi! 

 

And not only is this a year goal milestone, it is also the 5000th post on this blog!!!!

Money Shot: The Pornhub Story

 Announced as a sensational investigation documentary into that one site nobody knows but pops up in your browser as soon as you type the letter P, what you get is what feels like a corporate video.

A dull one to boot as well...

The thing is, there are two red lines through this documentary.  On the one hand, how both adult stars and amateurs alike make now gazillions of dollars by uploading content to digital platforms... and the fact that since Donald Trump signed the FOSTA / SESTA law, Pornhub, and it's parent company MindGeek, cannot be held responsible for the content that is uploaded.

First of all, the money thing is very relative, because not everyone makes the millions as the adult stars that are brought to the fore like Siri Dahl.  Secondly, when they come to the tale of an exploitation from a young girl when her ex uploaded a nude video of her, it gets painfull.  Even more painfull if you google Serena Fleites and the parts of the story that aren't shown in this "promotional documentary".

The rest of the documentary follows the regular pattern of these days: interviews, snippets of social media articles, and comments on those without really going in any deeper on given subject.  It also follows the rise of MindGeek / Pornhub, and the fallout for the executives when some christian organisations out to ban porn alltogether from the internet come into the mix, including the burning down of a mansion from one of the CEO's.

It also follows how an article written by Pulitzer price winning journalist Nicholas Kristoff set the ball in motion on how Mastercard and Visa withdrew from the platform, and the panic it brought as OnlyFans also declared (for a whole week before coming back on it) that they would ban adult content of the site.  But the incomes of the site come from banner adds, so it missed the ball and hit mostly the content creators instead of the platform.

All in all, it was a documentary that said a lot without actually saying anything, and I can imagine it got watched so much and talked about so much due to the subject, and not the content.  Like it tricked me into watching this, and it won`t be remembered for long...

Unboxing Chaos Dwarf Warmaster warriors

 Think of this as an Etsy "try-out" to have a look at the quality and service.

So I ordered some Chaos Dwarf 10mm strips for Warmaster, enough to form a full 3 base unit, from Etsy store RealmOf3dPrints, based in Poland.

Because somehow, Poland is the new promised land it seems for wargame printed figures...  

The sculpts are from the Ankylo line, of whom I have read some good reviews, so with the plan to build a 10mm force in 2024 I went in and ordered the first models for that project.  It was shipped about a week after ordering, and arrived about another week later.

Now, let's unbox the little parcel and have a look:

 

 

Truly clean and crisp little models, this is one store to definetly order from in the future to expand the whole army by a factor of a lot!

 

 

Moonfall

 When I saw the first trailer back in 2022 of what seemed a disaster movie, I wanted to see it.

When I saw the second one, and it involved aliens... not so much anymore.

Because the premesis of the Moon being knocked out of orbit, and the images of it scrapping against earth looked awesome on the trailer for sure.  But heck, in the end I decided to watch it anyways.  So let's sit down for 2 hours of mixed feelings on what to expect...

It all begins when three astronauts are on a sattelite repair mission back in 2011, as they are attacked by an alien swarm, killing one of them before burrowing into the surface of the moon.  Ten years later, a conspiracy theorist, KC Houseman, believes the moon is actually a megastructure, and when he secretly accesses a research telescope, he discovers that the moon is veering away from it's orbit.  He tries to share this with Brian, at the time NASA also discovers the phenomena.

A global panic breaks out when the news goes viral on social media, and NASA sends a manned vessel to see what is happening.  But the same swarm attacks it, killing all astronauts and dropping the probe in a shaft that opens on the moon.  Natural disasters start occuring as the moon comes closer and closer to Earth, and Jo meets an old employee of NASA who tells her NASA covered things up as far back as Apollo 11 and 12, and they knew something was on the moon.

They want to bring an EMP to the moon, being forced to bring the retired Endeavour out of the museum, launching together with Brian and KC as a tsunami destroys the base they launched from.  They find out the moon is indeed a Dyson Sphere with a white dwarf at the center, and Brian comes into contact with the moon's AI.  It reveals to him that the moon is an old Interstellar Ark, which carried their ancestors who where running from the swarm, an awakened, malevolent AI system.

They manage to lure the AI away as Earth suffers more and more dramatic events, and KC sacrifices himself to make sure they are destroyed as the others return to Earth.  The moon's systems are restored, returning it to it's normal orbit, but now shed of it's rocky exterior.  KC is reconstructed in the system's AI environment, and is told things must now get started...

So yeah, beuh I guess.  This looked way cooler as I said in the beginning in it's first trailer, but soon I got a feel this was another attempt to do the second Independance Day movie "right", yet fails in this horribly.  Some special effects where nice, the tension of the Earth closing was fine, and it was a good movie up to and about when Endeavour launched.  After that, it quickly became a mess with goldike AI consciousnesses, morale lessons, and a total lack of doom lurking for a disaster / sci-fi movie.  You even just knew that even when KC died, he would return in some form of the other, so thick was the plotarmour of the main characters.

So nope, this was a huge let down for me.

The Witcher season 3

 So sadly is is time to watch Henry Cavill, aka Geek-lord, do his last dance as Geralt of Rivia.

Because unless you have been living under a rock, you know he will be recast for season 4 sadly.

Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri are on the run and hiding, with Yennefer trying to teach Ciri magic and how to control it.  But the evil forces are on the hunt for them, causing them to relocate often.  Never the less, Ciri gets a break going to a festival, but even their they are tracked as Rience, the firemage, has her bloodsample.  Forced once more to relocate to an elven ruin, the caravan is ambushed by elves, who also suffer from internal strife.  Killing the elven leader's brother, they do escape once again, before splitting up.  Geralt will be going after Rience, while the girls will travel to the school Yennefer trained.

As Yennefer and Ciri travel to Aretuza, Ciri warns a messenger named Aplegatt of his impeding death, resulting in Yennefer lecturing her on how one single decision can change the future and cause a lot of more death and suffering.  Geralt, having learned Rience apparently stays at a castle called Vuilpanne, travels there.

Ciri and Yennefer have another fall-out as she makes another rash decision based on her seeing the future, and Yennefer decides to take a detour to show her where she came from.  In Vuilpanne, Geralt faces off against a monster as he saves a young girl who claims she is Ciri, as she has been brainwashed by magic.  Gallatin in the meantime seeks the fallen top general Cahir, who is being punished for his failures in the previous season.

Vespula, Jaskir's muse, deduces he has a crush on prince Radovid, but are interfered by Geralt who takes him to see a druid, Anika, with the mysterious girl.  They meet Otto, who can control his lycantrophy by an amulet given by Geralt, and she deducts the powerfull magics used on the girl's mind.  In the meantime, Yennefer and Ciri arrive in Gors Velen, and while she leaves Ciri with a chaperone, Fabio, she goes to see Tissaia to get a favour, to have Ciri trained.

King Vizimir seems to have struck a deal with Nilfgaard, much to the chagrin of Dijkstra and Philippa for being left out of the loop, so they decide to send a message.  Dijkstra has the queen murdered and her head gifted to the king, to make him believe Nilfgaard is behind it.  At Anika's, they seem to figure out that the mage controlling the girl is working from Aretuza.  Ciri on the other hand learns the hard way being a novice there is no fun at all, and after a fight with Yennefer decides to leave.

Cahir murders Gallatin though, as he needs the elves united and fears his ally is to headstrong, chosing to serve Francesca instead on Emhyr's orders.  Ciri, running from Aretuza, is beset by The Wild Hunt, only to be saved by Geralt.  But as she finds a piece of armour, she realises this was real and not just in her dreams.

Yennefer makes her plea before the Brotherhood, gaining the support even though Stregebor opposes her.  But novices are seemingly disappearing from the mage school, all of half-elven lineage, and Triss sets out with Istredd to investigate.  Geralt, Ciri and Jaskir take the ferry to Aretuza, overcoming a seamonster during the journey to cover their payment.  Yennefer, portaling back from Queen Hedwig's funeral where she invited Philippa, Dijkstra and prince Radovid to the conclave, is diverted and faces an illusionary attacker looking like Geralt.  She and Geralt discuss the matter, suspecting Stregebor to be behind it.

The next episode, episode 5, which was also the mid-season finale is in my view the best of the season.  In a heist like build up, it follows the ball at Aretuza first in general, and then in viewpoints of the characters, every time revealing a bit more of the complexities going on in the political scheming.  We learn that Geralt and Yennefer work together with Istredd and Triss to capture Stregebor, but Geralt realises something when Yennefer finds the bracelet Volgefortz gave Tissaia, that the ore used was near the castle where he found the Ciri imposter and the novices.  It isn`t Stregebor after all behind it all, but Vilgefortz, and they split up to hunt him and warn Tissaia.

 

A coup starts on Aretuza,as Thanedd is invaded to grab the power and captures the mages.  Tissaia is brought forth to uncover Vilgefortz, but fails to do so blinded by love.  Geralt notices a fog creeping up, covering people not of Thanedd.  Vilgefortz reveals himself as the traitor, opening a portal to let the elves and Nilfgardian troops in and a bloody battle ensues, killing many of the mages.  Outside, Geralt and Yennefer run into Rience, but they swiftly decapitate him.  Francesca, the elven queen, sees her husband murdered by Tissaia in the battle, and she unlocks her full power for revenge, dropping a huge flaming circle on the courtyard.  Tissaia, sensing loss, starts summoning a last resort spell, Alzur's Thunder, which unleashes lightning bolts on the enemy and slaying many.  Stregebor buys time by using forbidden fire magic, seemingly sacrificing himself in a huge conflagration to take as many elves as he can with him.

Geralt and Ciri flee the battle to bring her to safety, but she faces Cahir... who surrenders to her.  Unable to take his life, he tells her to run with Geralt as he faces off mounted troops heading their way.  Vilgefortz faces Geralt, and soundly beats him leaving him a badly wounded and his back broken, but sparing him as a lesson to the Continent.  Ciri flees into Tor Lara, tapping into it's power and blowing up the tower and Vilgefortz as she is sucked into a portal.

 

Ciri finds herself in the desert, and wanders across to find civilisation.   She is troubled by visions that take form of her past and future, and is saved by a Unicorn that guides her to water as she faces the ordeals of the hot sand.  But when the unicorn gets poisoned, she summons forbidden fire magic to heal it, instigated by a vision of the power mad princess Falka, a figure of legend that once let a huge rebellion. Geralt in the meantime is seeingly dying in Brokilon, where the dryads try to take care of his injuries together with Jaskir.  

Francesca, arriving in Niflgaard with Fringilla, is offered a ruling position, but only over the elderly and sick elves.  The troops must remain in Emhyr's service, and she is infuriated about this.  King Vizimir, angry at Dijkstra for the failed coup, is murdered, putting Radovid on the throne instead.  Geralt and Jaskir leave to search for Ciri, joined by the archer Milva, while Ciri herself is captured by bounty hunters.   However, the rats, a band of rogues, free her and she takes her first human life in a duel, and takes the name Falka.

In Nilfgaard, the fake Ciri is presented before the crowd, including a severly disfigured Vilgefortz.  This draws Geralt and his travelling companions to journey that way to free her, unknowing it is not the real one, while Yennefer and the surviving mages band together to form the Lodge of Sorceresses...

And so ends Henry Cavill's awesome stint as Geralt of Rivia.  We know he has been recast for season 4, but Liam Helmsworth will have some immense shoes to fill!  But never the less, I`m looking forward to the rest of the story, so let's hope future seasons are somewhat decent!

Blue Period volume 8 - Tsubasa Yamaguchi

 Time to dive into the next volume of this excellent series!

And the more I read it, the more it touches my inner self, how weird that might sound.

After the disappointment of his first assignment piece, Yatora has been cheered up by Maki, tackling his second piece: the scenery of Tokyo.  Yakumo, a narcisstic boy in his course, takes an intrest in him as they visit the Edo Tokyo Museum.  Not intrested in the assignment topic, Yatora suddenly gets a revelation and inspiration after seeing an exhibit of the Kabuki form of art.

When the intermediate reviews are due, he has an oil painting and his sketchbook, but struggles for the maquette he wants to make of Shibuya, the subject of his blue painting that started his journey into arts.  The review goes better then with his first assignment, showing him the directions he could take to continue his project.  He asks his classmate Hacchan for advice, resulting in them and Yakumo to go fishing.  

Thanks to Yakumo, who he gets to know better, he sees his art again through refreshed eyes, and ends up with an okay review even though his maquette didn't reach his own expectations.  But the cultural festival is around the corner as summer break arrives, and they must create a portable shrine, happi coats and a foodstall.  Yatora is assigned to the shrine building team led by Kinemi, the girl that during the entrance exams throw his mirror on the ground by accident.

But more students start dropping out of helping, putting all the work on her shoulders and causing her to go down with a heatstroke due to the long days she pulled to make up for the deficit in help.  This makes Aizawa to step up and try to lead the project, but she keeps a lot of the work for herself as well.  To make matters worse, a typhoon heads their way while they are behind schedule already.

Yatora cancels his planned trip with his friends to help out more, but when the typhoon hits their shrine gets damaged.  Kinemi, returned from her illness, lifts their spirits, and they get back to the job at hand.  Bunking at Tanashi's place, Yatora and Kinemi have a good talk together.  But with the final days approaching, everyone is reaching their limit, and the shrine still needs to be painted.  But unexpectedly, help arrives with Yakumo...

There was also an extra short story, taking place between the reviews and the start of the festival works, about a classtrip and a curry contest which was a good laugh. 

This was another great volume, and I will dive into the next one immediatly as I just want to know how this plays out further!

On the Painting Desk 246

 Last week there wasn't an update, as my father has passed away after a long struggle against cancer.

So with the funeral and all, my mind hasn't been on making video's obviously...

But now the mourning process has begun, and in order to loose myself in thoughts, I have been painting to regain some focus, as life moves on and we need to be there for Thorin as school also started again.

So the goblins... Those did get finished, huzzaaah, leaving only the lord and the warriors to do now.

Let's try to make some strong progress in the coming week, and get on schedule for a beginning of october finish.

1883

 After all the sci-fi of the past weeks, it is time for some good old historically footed amusement in this Yellowstone spin-off prequel.

And I found that with the series 1883, which follows the Dutton family in their journey across the Great Plains towards Montana.

Starring the always delightfully grom Sam Elliot (so this is what Bufford was up to after Gettysburg!) as Shea Brennan, a Pinkerton agent leading the expedition.  He had lost wife and daughter to the smallpox, and just when he was about to commit suicide his partner Thomas arrives, convincing him to take a job at the Pinkerton agency in Fort Worth for an escorting job across the Great Plains.

Together with the Dutton family, whose father is a Confederate civil war veteran, and a group of Slavic and German immigrants, the wagon train sets out.  The tensions between the immigrants and the american members of the train strain though, and leading to the death of Dutton's niece Mary Abel.  The inexperienced travellers find themselves victim to nature's harsh reality like dysentry of rattlesnake bites, as well as thievery amongst the group.  Shea forces the cullprits out, while Dutton's daughter Elsa takes on the cowgirl style of life, becomming smitten with one of the cowboys in the caravan, Ennis.

With food running short as one of the food wagons gets lost in the crossing of a river, as a group of bandits wants to raid the wagon train.  In the ensuing fight, Ennis is killed, and Shea tries to comfort Elsa.  They enter the Comache lands, paying the tax to be allowed to cross.  And Elsa befriends a Comanche who just goes by the name Sam.  A storm arrives, scattering the cattle and destroying wagons, but as Elsa is confronted by rustlers as she tries to gather the cattle, Sam and his partner save her.

Shea wants to cut the journey short now that their supplies and wagons are destroyed, but Dutton challenges the decision and wants to push on to Oregon.  Elsa has fallen in love with Sam, and taking their ways marries him.  She will accompany the train to Oregon, then return to Comanche territory to be with him.  But in Lakota territory, the dwindling group suffers more casualties, and when they find a massacred group of Lakota women and children, Shea and Thomas realize they will get the blame.  As Shea, Thomas and Dutton find the murderers, the rest of the settler's have retreated towards a nearby US army fort, but a Lakota attack kills a number of them before Elsa defuses the situation, but getting seriously wounded.

The Wagon Train moves on into Wyoming territory to find help, but find no surgeon to help Elsa.  Threatened by the Crow tribe, she realizes she will die, and at their advice travels with her father to a valley called Paradise to find her burial spot and a place for her family to settle.  Here, she dies in her father's arms under a tree.  A year later, Shea arrives at the Pacific Ocean, and his promise to his late wife fullfilled, shoots himself on the beach to be back with her as the other's start to build homes for their new life...

So, this was an intense series for certain, and worth the watch.  And of course, Sam Elliot always adds to a series, he just is one of those enthralling, gruff actors.  And the finale was so "bold" it dare to do what a lot of other shows don't.

The Haul Report 372

 Thrift hunting.

I always loved doing this, but it has been YEARS since I got round doing it.

But this week, I stumbled upon the Kringwinkel in Wijnegem, and went in for some good old fashioned scavenging.

But when watching the video, I thought "heck, I should have taken that as well", so three days later I returned for some more grabbing...

 

 

In between, I also went to Kruidvat to pick up some Lego investment boxes, as it was a second at half price action.  And they are already listed higher then what I paid, so let's give it a few years before putting them out there.

So, a good haul, and some nice additions to Noshi's collection to boot, so let's call that a win week!

The 9th Age: Infernal Dwarves Vassal Levies

 So we are back into the hobby at a decent rate, and I opted to go the The Ninth Age path in earnest as you could read in the past months on this little corner of the internet.

With of course what other force then the Dawi Zharr...

As you might remember from quite a while ago, I got a whole lot of metal Clan War figures from a collegue at work, and while sorting through the force, some ideas hit me.  

You see, he played Shadowlands, and while the skeletons didn`t float my boat, all those cool and comical samurai goblins seemed like the perfect models for the Levies (aka, the old Hobgoblin regiments).

I started out with a big block of 30 of them, as the whole lot contained 58 of them, and I wanted both a warrior and an archer unit.  I opted for a mixture of linked 20x20 bases (for the duo cast figures) and 2x2 bases, as they tend to die in droves anyway, making packing and handling far easier.  The command standard and musician had some slight greenstuff modifications from regular rank and file models, and the champion got a flaming sword to pick him out in the unit.

For the colourscheme, I went for a beige brown armour, just because that contrasts nicely with their green skintones, and is something else for once to paint compared to all the regular colours I used in the past.

The remainder of all the models I have lying around will, over time, be painted up to expand this unit far beyond it's T9A maximum unit size, but still have them suited then as either goblin slaves for 8th edition and the likes.  But for now, 30 is a nice sized block to act as a speed-bump for my Chaos Dwarf forces to try and flank the opposing units.

Touring after the Apocalypse volume 1 - Sakae Saito

 I can't put my finger on it why I was attracted to this manga exactly, but when I saw the cover I decided to go for this series and picked up volume one from Archonia.

Seemingly, this should be an after apocalypse roadtrip story, visiting places in Japan after something big happened.

At the end of the days, and all alone, two girls undertake a motorcycle trup across the ruins of Japan.  These girls are the impulsive Youko and level headed Airi.  Because now civilisation has ended, they have all the tourist spots to themselves!

Youko has lived her life so far in a shelter, and now makes the tour based on pictures her older sister posted on her social media back in the days.  Though at the first spot they visit, Hakone, they get chased by the AI of a damaged tank.  Airi stops it though, her arm capable of changing into a plasma cannon.

At their next stop in Yokohama, they find Anuld Schwar-chan, a cyborg.  Bringing him to the portside where he used to work, he secretly remembers where his family passed away, and he waits for his battery to die down before falling in the waterfilled crater they died in an explosion.

On the outskirts of Tokyo, they have a break as they go foraging, finding a secured house.  Though it's owner has passed away, they manage to fill up on rations, have a good meal and a solid night sleep before heading to Shinbashi to cross the water across an old railway track.  

Arriving at the Tokyo Big Sight, they stumble upon the remains of the very last Comic Marmot (a reference to Comiket) before going for a swim.  They pick up a radio signal, apparently from Akiba, hinting at the presence of other survivors...

So this was a good book, and even though it isn`t revealed yet why and when the apocalypse took place, nor if it is global or something regional, it does fill you with impending doom.  Every chapter was another location, and it is quite fun how the known spots have been re-imagined after a huge disaster.

Definitly a series I`ll keep following, and I wouldn`t be suprised if this is one that gets an anime in the future...