Oktober 2023 Loot

 This month has brought some very nice pieces of loot, so bear with me in this little video.

That is indeed some fine and varied stuff!

And here are the links:

Well, none for the Gundam Rose, as this was obtained through a Dutch person I met through Facebook and lives in Japan.

JK Haru, Hero Academia and the Shield Hero manga: these came with my Archonia MyBox subscription

Lunamaria Hawke DX figure: this was a find over at Mandarake.

So a decent and varied amount of Gundam material came in this month, with some specials in it, so that makes it extra lovely!

Age of Sigmar Kruleboyz Killaboss with Stab-grot

 So, time to start Age of Sigmar in earnest, and the plan is a 2000 points for the game.

And I opted for the Krulebiyz Orruk warclan, because I like the look, and they have Hobgoblins, I mean Hobgrots, in their force.

 

An additional benefit of picking Orruks, is that with the suited movement trays, they can just as well service as slave troops in "square based" Chaos Dwarf forces.

So, I started with a modest set first, the Killaboss with the Stab-grot, which is the pointswise cheapest leader for the force.  I did draft a rough army list so far, but we will see by the time I`m finished how relevant that still is.

 

For the colourscheme, I went for the red shields as they have lore-wise, because it provides a good contrast, while for the rest, and mainly for the reason above, stayed with the colours I use on my Chaos Dwarfs.  

 

So that was a fun model to paint, and slowly I`ll be adding to the army as time goes on.  Not really a priority at the time as I won`t be joining events anytime soon anyways.

 

 

Tattoo number 13 is for my dad...

 As most might know, my dad passed away the end of august, after a fierce but luckily brief fight with lung cancer.

Now, Thorin was the center of his world, and I made him a promise in the final days that I would always tell the little guy about his late grandfather and how much he loved him.

Now, dad has become a star in the heavens, looking over his little guy.  To that end, I had a tattoo of a star placed above my tattoo for Thorin, so that his granddad now always, every time of the day, look over his grandson.

I opted for a star as it would be drawn by a 3.5 year old, with splatterings of colour "outside the lines" to give that effect of the little man having placed it, even though it was a very experienced tattoo artist where I have been going for years that actually placed it ;-), thanks to John from Krijos for making this.

But now, the brightest star in the sky is reunited forever with the clever little fox...

 

On the Painting Desk 253

 Well tomorrow is the day for which I have been mass painting Chaos dwarfs, as I`ll be off to the 9th age tournament.

But that doesn`t mean I won`t be painting Dawi'Zharr anymore!

Now though, I`m firstly going to finish a warband for Underworlds, just to add some variety to it all.

But after that, it's back to my beloved little fellows, with flamey death on the menu.

Check back next week for any possible progress as such!

Unboxing Banpresto Lunamaria Hawke from the DX Kumitate Shiki Girls line

 Awright, another good find at Mandarake, as I got this fine lady for 1200 yen.

So, the box was damaged but unopened, I can live with that as I don`t ever sell my waifu anyways...

 

There are two different Lunamaria's in this line, but the first of them can now be scratched of my to hunt list.

 

So let's have a look at her a bit closer!

 

 

I was especially amazed by how tall she!  This is one fine figure, and a great addition to the waifu shelf... which is now expanding into a second one full of Lunamaria's...

 

 

Vinland Saga

 Anime Vikings!  Or actually, an anime about vikings, so what can be bad about this.

Well, not much if I go by how it is scoring at MAL for example, so let's dive in.

Thors is a mighty viking warrior, who has settled down in Iceland with his family after a fierce naval battle.  They tell their children the sagas of how it came to transpire why they moved here, and the reasons behind it, when one day he finds a gravely wounded, escaped slave outside.

he takes him in and nurtures him, when his master appears.  Thors bargains a deal for the slave's freedom, even though his daughter Ylva doesn`t agree.

In Northumbria, a settlement is razed by the english, killing everyone including the women and children.  In iceland, a warship berths carrying the Jomsvikings, who bow to Thors.  Led by Floki, they came on order of the King of the Danes to bring Thors back to battle, as the king, who's sister was in the settlement, plans on vengeance against the english.  While reluctant, other villagers revell at the chance to find glory on the battlefield.

But Floki has asked Askeladd to kill Thors for personal reasons.  While on route, Thors discovers his son Thorfinn has stowed away on his ship.  Arriving at the Faroer Islands, they are caught in a trap set by Askeladd.  Thors attacks the first of the enemy vessels, quickly taking out some warriors and the berserker.  He beats them all, including Askeladd in a duel, but is forced to let himself be killed to save his family and village, asking Askeladd to retreat, and Leif the merchant to birng his head to the chief of the Jomsvikings to prevent his people being prosecuted.  

But Thorfinn has hidden himself on the vessel, and vows to kill them all.  Askeladd decides to take him on and train him never the less, seeing the ferocity of his father in the child's eyes.  As they set sail, Thorfinns joins them on the ship, having learned lessons in the wilds, as they arrive in England.  During a skirmish, Askeladd saves his life, as he also takes his first.  Growing up on the battlefield, he is found a few years later by villagers, wounded from an arrow.  They nurse him to health, calling him John and protecting him from capture.  But he lights a beacon for the vikings to arrive and kills the soldiers in the process.  Seeing he hurt the woman that found him, it makes him doubts his way for an instant.  

 

But he continues to live the violent life of a Viking, becoming more skilled with the passing year, still burned on getting a duel with Askeladd to avenge his father.  He has the upperhand at first but gets worked up by Askeladd's verbal taunting, dropping his guard and losing the duel.  He sees his father in his dreams, who tells him to find his own way.

The danish king Sweyn starts his invasion of England, making smooth progress until stalling near Londonium.  Here, a huge viking mercenary captain stalls the advance, and while Thorfinns can wound him, he is defeated though gaining the respect of the captain.  The viking army withdraws, instead setting way to Wessex.  In a three way encounter, Askeladd plans to catch the prince Canute, and gain a high reward as such for ransoming.  Thorfinn manages to bring the prince, but when he removes his helmet, they are greeted by the face of the princess instead... This is due to his weak and effimate physique, constantly hiding behind his retainer Ragnar.  

 

Askeladd and his warriors travel through England, bartering for passage along the way.   Thorfinn manages to tickle Canute enough that he actually talks to someone else then Ragnar.  Canute is thought dead by the king though, while actually in hiding, but king Sweyn isn`t to eager to send help before spring.  Ragnar is killed by Askeladd's orders, to have young Canute be able to bloom into himself.  Askeladd does promise the dying Ragnar he will protect Canute, as Ragnar reveals the political game playing behind the scenes at Jelling between factions supporting Canute, and those following Harald, with King Sweyn probably out to kill Canute.

 

Attacked, both Askeladd and his right hand man Bjorn are about to fall in defence of the prince, when Thorkell, that huge viking captain from Londonium that has been following them arrives.   Thorfinn arrives, challenging the huge viking to a duel as he won`t allow him to touch his personal target, Askeladd.  Ragnar comes in a dream to Canute, appologising for raising him more as his son then as the Jarl his father the king wanted, but Canute retorts this has always what he had wanted and made him happy.  Talking to a priest, he has a revelation about the meaning of life and the path that he must walk.

 

Thorfinn learns that not only Thorkell is his great-uncle, but also the one that let Thors escape with his wife and child.   During the duel, Thorfinn manages to knock Thorkell over, as Canute arrives at the field of the duel.  Thorkell thorws his lot in with prince Canute who plans on marching against his father.  Coming before the king in his hall, Canute tells him he comes for the throne.  He taunts his father, as Askeladd interferes on the prince's behalf.  

When he meets Leif the trader again after all this years, Leif is amazed by how harsh and brutal the once cheerfull child has become.  Bjorn, grieviously wounded in the past battle, engages Askeladd in a duel in order to leave this world and go to Valhalla, and Askeladd admitting on Bjorn's dying breath he was his only friend in life.  After defeating Thorfinn for a third time in a duel, he tells him and Canute his true origins, and where his nickname Askeladd, meaning covered in ash, came from.  Born from a slave girl and a viking lord, he worked his way up to have his father note him when he wanted to kill his mother, and once trained murdered his father.

 

But when the king orders an invasion of Wales, Askeladd is distressed as he wants to do all he can to safeguard those lands, starting to think of ways to prevent this.  Leif tells Thorfinn that upon his honor, he will bring him back to Iceland as his debt to Thors.   he tells him about Vinland, green pastures his father wanted to set sail to.  Askeladd is set before the choice of either Canute or Wales, and in reply swears to the king he will take the crown of the head of the king and crown another.  As the others want to interfere, he beheads the king for shaming his family and country, making Canute the new king, who condemns him for murdering the king!  This is a rouse though, to take the blame for the kill and not Canute in order to save both the prince and Wales at his own sacrifice.

So this was a good show to watch, and featured pretty cool character arcs as well as great animation.  This is one series I won`t be waiting to long with to watch the second season and see how it all fangs out for sure!

 

 

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves

 Neverwinter!  Icewind Dale!  Baldur's Gate!  THE HARPERS!!!!!

This movie is definitly a trip for 2.5 (the brown books) players about the Forgotten Realms.

But is it actually also a good movie?  The story starts with the bard Edgin pleading for prior release from jail, together with his companion, the barbarian Holga.  He is an ex Harper that turned to a life of stealing when his wife was killed by disciples of a Red Mage he had arrested.  Even though the parole was approved, before they heard the ruling they make a daring escape.

They arrive in Neverwinter, learning that their companion Forge became the lord there, and is the self-proclaimed uncle of Edgin's daughter Kira.  He is reinstating the High Sun games, and they learn he and the Red Mage Sofina had doublecrossed him years ago, resulting in their capture and imprisonment.  Fleeing the city, they recruit Simon, a so-so wizard they adventured with, and the druid Doric.  They must find the Helm of Disjunction, an artefact that can break the seals on Forge's vault, and where a tablet is kept that can bring back his dead wife.

Asking Holga's ancestors in a graveyard where the battle took place for the Helm, they meet the paladin Xenk Yandar who hid it in the Underdark.   They manage to retrieve it from the perils in there (that chubby dragon was hilarious), but Simon has trouble mastering the Helm.  They try another plan to enter the vault, but as they get captured they are brought into the arena (and say hello to the actors of the original DnD cartoon).

They escape the games and steal the boat Forge's treasure is on, but as they see the city being under thread of being wiped out by Sofina's magics, they return to stop her.  In an epic duel, and with the help of Kira, they manage to slip an anti-magic bracelet on her, but Holga is mortally wounded.  Edgin decides to resurrect her instead of his wife, as she has become a part of their family.  Crowned heroes, Forge on the other hand is now imprisonned in Revel's End...

So this movie was good fun, and surely worth the watch, and not only for the nostalgia as I mentioned at the beginning!

Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I wander the Dungeon

 Waaaait, what????

Okay, so this must be the isekai with the most weird concept I read / watched so far, so ofcourse I am curious and going to tackle this series!

 

So one day you wake up next to a lake, finding out you are a vending machine.  Besieged at first by frogmen, you discover your powers and that you need coins to survive...  Okay, that is an odd start for an anime!  He is found by Lammis, and learns he is in a dungeon, called a Stratus.  She discovers his skills and how she can communicate with him, as he can only use pre-programmed sentences, taking him along to her hometown where he quickly becomes a hit and manages to upgrade himself along the way. Lammis names him Boxxo, and together they are set for adventuring. 

One day, they are hired by the Hunters Association to cull a frog fiend uprising, together with a band of adventurers called the Menagerie of Fools.  But when they find themselves under attack by a king frog fiend, they manage to hold it off with the well known internet trick of cola and mentos.  After the fight, they return to the Hunter's Association to help in the rebuilding of the attack's damages.

One day he gets abducted by ruffians who bring him before another captive.  This girl, a genius with magical artifacts, is Helemy, Lammis missing friend.  She figures out Boxxo and how he speaks and functions in no time, and he saves her when the Hunters Association comes to rescue them.  Boxxo joins Hulemy to a convention of magical engineers, assisting her in stopping a golem on the loose, before helping the local food traders out from a Chains Restaurant, and as such helping out the villagers one step at a time.

He joins, together with Hulemy and Lammis, the Menagerie of Fools for a hunting trip when they are besieged by a king level Crocodile Fiend.  Boxxo manages to destroy it by creating an explosion inside the beast after it had swallowed him.  But a stratum split appears, making him fall into darkness.  But he ends up in the Labyrinth below the Stratum, meeting a band of bearcat like adventurers.  They are allies of the Menagerie, and soon his friends come to his aid.

In the Labyrinth a large flamey skeleton lord wanders, and in order to get the coin from him, like Boxxo obtained from the crocodile fiend, they set a plan in motion to defeat it.  Apparently these coins can grant wishes, even returning Boxxo to a human form.  He creates a plan to overcome the beast, selling the coin to the leader of the Menagerie as he already has one, but doubts if he would want to return to being human.  They visit the stratum's Hunters Guild, where they meet a warrior named Mishuel.  He joins them on a simple mission, being an introvert scared to talk to people, as they learn he is actually wanted for reasons unknown.  Back in Clearwater, a food contest is being held, with the bearcats, also known as the Band of Gluttons, join in.  But it is Shui, the young archer from the Menagerie, that wins the contest and the use of Boxxo for one day.  She uses this to return to the stratus she grew up in as an orphan, giving the children there big smiles on their faces.

 

They travel to the Dead Lament Stratum next to confront the Stratum Lord there, which scares the hell out of Lammis.  Boxxo befriends a corpse fiend kid which returns every night in the village, but once they are outside it had followed them, and unknowingly is banished by the members of the Menagerie while trying to insert a coin into Boxxo (this is a seriously tearjerking moment, be warned!).  They face the Stratum Lord, overcoming it thanks to Lammis, but the Netherlord appears nearly killing Hulemy and Shui.

 

 

The band returns to Clearwater, where Lammis brings Boxxo to the lake they first met, and thanking him for saving her so many times in the past months...

 

So this was good fun, and it has been renewed in the meantime for a second season, so looking forward to that.  Sure, the vending machine is an OP main character, but heck, the whole idea behind the series is fine for some good laughs.

 

And that very sad zombie kid moment...

Warhammer Underworlds Casual Meet-Up October 2023

 So, apart from the few home games during Covid I played with Noshi, this is the first real wargame I played again since 2020.

And the irony being that happened to be Underworlds as well, back then a tournament I attended at The Playground.

That tournament (and by extension the only one I ever played), I met a bloke called Peter, and he has been doing his best the past year to keep the community in Antwerp intrested in the game.  Now, with real life settled down at least a little, I finally managed to attend, and so off I went to The Outpost (yes, that gaming place where i go usually to play some Magic the Gathering).

Okay, so season 3 was just out that last time, and I`m attending with Morgwaith's Blade-coven and her standard Rivals format deck.  I never really played her against real opponents, but the Rivals format for me is ideal for the very occassional times I can play.  No deck build tinkering, just straight out of the box, and tonight I wanted to first and foremost get up to speed with the things that changed in the game.

The only thing I made sure with the current new rulings and all was that I took along "legal" boards, though I have been reading about Stagger hexes, plunder tokens, and such, something that wasn`t around in my days.  So expecting losses all around for tonight as I had to re-learn the game, let's see how the game went...

 

 

We where with 5 at the event, with Peter and Wouter I met at the said tournament above, as well as Philip and Vincent.  I sat down for a freshen up game against Philip, who brought with him the The Headman's Curse warband.

 

 

We placed the boards and deployed, and off we went for what would turn out a very bloody (well, as far as ghosts can bleed) affair...

 

 

The first turn saw me looking at a 4-8 deficit, and it had been a very heavy smashing affair, with two of my ladies, Lethyr and Khamyss, taken down versus his Bearer of the Block. 

 

However, the second turn saw a change of fortune, and while Kyrae was taken down, resulting in the return of the Bearer of the Block, Morgwaeth, standing on an objective, began to be very powered up and wreaking havoc.  In a three activation duel, she took down the very scary Wielder of the Blade to a single wound, and surviving herself, putting at the end of the round the score at 8-10.

Philip got the final turn and his Wielder of the Blade of course attacked, but Morgwaeth managed to dodge and take the big guy down.  In her next activation, she also dispatched the Bearer of the Block (again) before, after dodging no less then 4 ranged attacks (an upgrade caused him to be able to fire twice per attack) due to her flashing her assets at the Scriptor of the Sentence before being taken down by the fifth one.

Kyrssa managed to take of the Sharpener of the Blade in the final activation still, denying Philip a heap of glory, like I lost out on some points due to Morgwaith's demise, but the final score came down to 11-13 for the The Headman's Curse, with only Kyrssa and The Scriptor of the Sentence left on the board...

So that was a very fun, but also very intense battle.  Surely, the ladies are indeed a very decent glass cannon, as I managed to dodge above average or it would have been a whole different story, but a tooled up Morgwaith is something not to be scoffed.  At her final attacks, she was inspired, rolling three attack dice when on an objective, with one dice re-roll, a chance for extra attacks in the push back phase and exploding when she is taken out... Not bad for a frail little woman.

The other games being played that evening was a three way battle between Vincent's Exiled Dead, Peter's Grymwatch and Wouter's Domitan's Stormcoven.

And as a final game Peter now piloting the Domitan's Stormcoven against Philip's Blackpowder Buccaneers.

So this was a good evening out, and glad to be able to be play again after all those years of staring at figures and not fielding them.I will definitly be joining them again at their weekly meetings, albeit not all the time, as well as see that I can attend the tournament they are planning on a saturday in november...

The Haul Report 378

 Waifu expansion time!

Thanks to Mandarake, where I paid her 1200 yen (which is about 8 - 9 euro), the Lunamaria collection grew some more.

And even though it stated package heavily damaged, that box was in better condition then how you find new ones here at conventions at times.

 

So that makes for a very nice haul this week!

On the Painting Desk 252

 Well, due to unfortunate health reasons, I did manage to make some very fortunate progress.

Small confort I guess...

But some of the small projects, and most of the movement trays, are nearly done, so we are all set to pack the army up for the tournament next weekend.

This week painting will be a little slower, I aim at perhaps finishing a single figure, while making some progress on the Stormcasts.

So check back next week to see the progress!

Blacktalon

 Okay, so everywhere I read that those Games Workshop produced cartoon are decent, so I gave one a go, the Age of Sigmar based series Blacktalon.

And the first thing I noticed it's style feels a bit of a mix between Netflix's Castlevania and the Magic the Gathering slideshow art commercials.

 

Naeve Blacktalon is one of the Stormcast, mythical immortal warriors chosen by Sigmar to hunt evil in the Mortal Realms.  But with every reforging, the process that when they die, they get reborn in lightning, they loose some of themselves.  Yet Naeve keeps remembering things of the days before her demise, seeking anwers as why this is, as she relives in her memory their last mission against the Maggotkin of Nurgle.  By opening her memories, she discovers there was someone else at the tower where she fell, resulting in that she can stop the spread.

 

 

When a vanpire has claimed one of the Stormvaults as her fortress, she and her team must bypass a Treeman Ancient that protects the vampire. But what does this vampire, Kaelena, actually know about Naeve's past.  But when they a mission they not support, namely the assassination of an ally, the Hag Queen Vintessa, they must decide if they will follow orders.  But which dark secrets will be revealed should they allow her to live instead as they must balance both options.  They battle their way into the fighting pits where captives are being sacrificed together with barbarians as Naeve and Shakana go after the Hag Queen.  Shakana is killed by the Hag Queen for breaking the alliance, as due to the blighted skies, she might not be reforged, as Naeve slays the Queen in angry retalliation, completing their mission as a result.

 

As Naeve keeps digging in her own past as Hammerhal prepares for a massive threat, a farmer on the Realm of Life shows how it happens that a mortal would choose the gifts of Nurgle.   While Skakana is revived after all with the information of the Hag Queen, Hendrik is forced to kill Naeve as she is digging to deep.  As a result she will be reforged and have forgotten again.  But on the verge of reforging, she keeps remembering and reliving visions of her past, bringing her to the point that she must actually choose between the God-King she serves or the last grasps of her humanity.  For she learns that she isn`t one of the warrior women she feels connected to, but the Chaos Warrior that killed them.

In the meantime Hammerhal is besieged by the forces of Nurgle, as the Sylvaneth honour their vows and come to the aid of the besieged Stormcast.  But as her companions are overcome by Thysis, the root of the Nurgle attack, Naeve returns to the battle.  

Okay, so this wasn`t actually half bad, if not to say rather good.  Maybe I might look into some more of them shows, albeit probably not the 40k ones which are sadly so dominant.  But this was an enjoyable 6 episode show.

 

 

Space Battleship Yamato 2199

 For the U in the challenge, it is time for some good classic sci-fi with Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199.

I did see Starblazers as a young kid, but like Macross / Robotech this wasn't yet was the original series, with serious editing done, so let's watch this remake of the 1974 classic!

So now, it's time for the original at last!  By the way, there is also a pretty awesome real life action movie out there, go check it out!

The Gamilon Empire has attacked earth and reduced it to a wasteland.  A group of survivors are bound to set out into outer space and find a neutralizer for the nuclear damage, retrofitting the old naval battleship Yamato into an intergalactic spacecruiser.  This is due to the Earth fleet having been decimated over Pluto by the initial Gamilon attack, in which Kodai's elder brother sacrificed himself to have the commander get safely out.  

Back on Earth, Susumu Kodai is recruited for project Yamato, as the vessel will be able to travel interstellar, and set course to the planet Iscander to get a cleansing agent.  Rebuild in secrecy, even though the Gamilon did expect it's location, the mighty vessel takes off led by the famous admiral Okita and a veteran crew of the best around.  Though their rushed departure means they need to test experimental devices like the warp engine or the massice Wave Motion Gun during the journey itself.

When a medical team gets stuck on a moon, the fighters rush to their aid, a mysterious girl taking one of the planes with great skill.  When they find a wreck, Kodai realises he found the vessel of his late brother, which was sending out an automated distress call.    The girl is Akira "Rei" Yamamoto, and is transferred into the fighter unit due to her performances (btw, the launch system of the Hayabusha fighters is awesome).  During the attack on the Pluto base, Yamato gets damaged but the fighters under Kodai go to the attack, destroying their concealment field.  Yamato is more then in fighting condition, resurfacing as repairs are being undertaken.  She decimates the base and the fleet in a massive battle, as the base commander escapes.

As they leave the solarsystem, they say their last words for now to Earth, as the captain and chief engineer reflect on their days past.  Analyzer, the ship's robot, tries to make contact with "Alter", the Gamilon robot soldier they salvaged.  They get stuck in a dimensional rift together with a Gamilon vessel, as they meet an envoy revealing they look human-like.  They decide to go along with their proposal to mutually try and get out.  One of the Imperial Guard commanders on the Gamilon vessel wants to betray them, but the ships captain steps in, towing Yamato out of the rift as well and showing some faith that not all is lost between the races as he leaves his vessel in the line of fire and be destroyed to save Yamato when an enemy fleet appears, leaving the envoy on board Yamato.

As they ponder what to do with their guest Melda, to prevent anti-Gamilon feelings to take hold on her, helmsman Daisuke learns what truly happened that faithfull first contact with the Gamilon's, as the sole survivor who made contact with them as engineer on the Murasame, which his dad commanded, tells him the story he was forbidden to share.  Melda, after saving Rei, is granted her freedom.

 

 

Nearing the edge of the Mily Way, they prepare the journey to the Larger Magelanic Cloud, taking them through 130000 lightyears of unknown space.   When captain Okita collapses and needs surgery, the vessel is hunted by what seems a spacesub, a Gamilon vessel that can enter and exit dimensional rifts at will.  But Kodai disobeys an order from the XO, and his actions allow the Yamato to trace and driving off the vessel.

The Gamilon ruthless side is shown when a planet with a rebelling province is instead totally razed.  But then all of a sudden, the Gamilon Leader's vessel explodes, assassinated by the more radical persons in the council.  This episode also features an epic battle between the Yamato and a whole fleet of Gamilon destroyers, only saved thanks to the political unrest at Gamilon.  But when the leader re-appears, Yamato takes benefit of these times to reach the Larger Magellan Cloud.  Mikasi, the ship's nurse with a psychic pick-up ability, becomes a conduct with Iscander, and the captain tells her he sees the journey as the test humanity must undertake.

 

But Yamato also faces it's internal problems, as some have thrown their lot in with the enemy.   While they defeat the fleet that cornered them earlier, their commanding officer Domel uses a small ship to attach itself to the Yamato in order to initiate the self-destruct, damaging the vessel, but as the engineers got the shield up at the last moment nothing crippling, as Yurisha Iscander, through a psychic connection with Yuki, makes her appearance.  Yuki is taken by the crew of the submersible like vessel earlier.

 

Yamato and Gamilan's led by Melda's father form an alliance, to overthrow the harsh governing body and freeing the enslaved worlds.   The Gamilan government uses Yuki to declare the Great Unification with Iscander.  As Yamato witnesses a super version of the Wave Motion Gun on the Gamilan base, they decide to both disable that and save Yuki.  Arriving at Iscander, Kodai learns his brother had survived the battle and was captured and experimented on by the Garmilan, before escaping to iscander and passing away before the Yamato arrived in the presence of lady Yurisha.

 

 

The cure for Earth now onboard, they start the journey back home.   But the journey is hazardous, as they are ambushed by the ousted Gamilan leader Desler.  Yuki gets gravely injured in the attack, and passes away just as the Yamato returns to our solar system.  The Cosmo Reverse System had taken on the form of Kodai's brother, at times seen as a ghost by some of the crew, and suddenly activates as he sees his brother in pain, reviving Yuki.  On the bridge, captain Okita passes away from his injuries, having seen Earth one last time.

The original was an awesome series, and this one is just as fantastic, with great animation to boot.  One of the best series I've seen this year, and probably the best in the challenge this year!

Hail Hashut! I did it!!!

 There are some of those days that stars align in a certain way, and things just come together.  Even though near the end, midnight oil was required to be burned...

And the 16th of March was such a day...

That day in the morning, I saw that my former wargame club was organising a The 9th Age tournament the last sunday of october, and I half though "maybe I should see for an army and give it a go".

That day during lunch, I received a box of classic metal Clan War figures, the unboxing is on my YouTube, and it had big demons and goblins in it.  My left arm started glowing, and I heard my sacred tattoo whisper "do it, DO IT" and I did.

I started a new a fantasy army for the tournament, and with a new that not only meant painting, but also buying, assembling, learning the way the army must be build... everything.  I never played the game.  I am joining a tournament next week.  But I do have my Warhammer Fantasy knowledge to fall back on, and without wanting to sound aloof, I wasn't to shabby in that game.  People all told me this is just another edition of Warhammer, so I hope I won't be flailed around like a newborn Goblin fanatic...

But, I completed my force, 3.500 points, 115 models, in the limited painting time I had in roughly the past 6 months.

Next target: NOT to finish in last place!  I guess my army list is everything from optimal in the "meta" but I don't care about that part, I played enough games with underdog forces and tend to draw on historical rank and file gaming as well as my WFB experience to try and compensate by placing selected charges and fate that Hashut will bless my dice.

So now to pack it all up in my carry case and march of to war!

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

 So, Bumblebee was an enjoyable movie, probably one of the better instalments in the Bayverse series of our beloved Transformers.

So what will this sequel bring, apart from entering the Maximals into the franchise?

The Maximal homeworld is attacked by the planet eating Unicron, spearheaded by the Terrorcons led by Scourge.  He seeks the Transwarp Key, whoch can open portals through space, in order to consume planets faster.  Apelinq, the leader of the Maximals, sacrifices himself to allow the others to escape with the key though, as they flee to Earth.

On Earth, in 1994, an ex-;ilitary Noah struggles to find a job to support his family, and turns to the theft of a car with his friend.  This Porsche 911 turns out to be the Autobot Mirage though (heresy, they litterally made Jazz into Mirage!), while Elena Wallace, an intern at a museum, starts studying an ancient Eagle statue with strange markings on it.  It accidentally breaks, revealing the Transwarp Key and sending out a signal that is detected by the Autobots Optimus Prime, Arcee and Bumblebee.  

But it also attracted the Terrorcons, and a battle ensues leaving Bumblebee deactivated as they steal the key.  However, this turns out to be only half of it, and when Airazor arrives to help them, they learn the other part is hidden somewhere.   Elena deduces from her studies of the eagle statue it must be in Peru, and the Autobots together with Noah and Elena travel there.  They meet up with Wheeljack and go to the ancient temple but find the key is no longer there.  The Terrorcons attack again, Airazor being corrupted by dark energy from Unicron.  They find the other Maximals, and when Airazor is about to betray them, Optimus Primal, the Maximal leader, deactivates her at her request.

A chaotic battle breaks out, and Scourge obtains the two parts, assembling it atop a volcano and opening a portal for Unicron to journey through.  Scourge gravely wounds Mirage in the battle, and he transforms himself into a powered exo-suit for Noah to help him battle Scourge, while Bumblebee is recovered due to a  large pulse of Energon and rushes to the aid of his friends.  Optimus Prime kills Scourge at last, and destroys the key collapsing the portal and banishing Unicron away again.  

In the aftermath, Elena gets credited by discovering ancient ruins, while Noah, who also repaired Mirage, is approached by an organisation called GI Joe to cover his little brother's medical bills and asked to join the agency as an ally...

So, a nice set-up for a crossover movie at the end, and I actually found this an enjoyable movie again right until the exo-suit moment.   This for me was way over it, and a bit of a pity they ran the story that way to have Noah save all, deducting for me a lot of the whole Transformers "power" as they need a human to battle in essence a heap of grunts...

Still, curious if that cross-over ever comes, it seems fun to have Optimus Prime and The Rock duke it out though.

The 9th Age: Infernal Dwarves Infernal Warriors

 So we did it, the final unit I needed to paint up for the tournament the 29th of october.

And those are a block of 20 warriors, whom will form the achor of my line.

The models are from Mantic Games in their Abyssal Dwarf range, with some minor converting being done to make a standard bearer and a musician as those aren't in the set as standard.  

Like with the rest of the force, I went for a dark blue and gold colourscheme, which makes it stand out nicely, though once again cursed at the ability to solidly rank up.  That is one thing I look forward for once The Old World arrives: movement trays with space spreaders to make the blocks a bit more open, and 25mm squares for newer units.

I will probably have both my characters join this unit on the field of battle to make it a solid point to hold my line around, even though I have no clue if this is even a good approach... time will tell as for now it is time to start up building fresh experience.

Next up, some more war machines I guess hehehe...

The Haul Report 377

 This week saw the arrival of the last, albeit necessary, addition to the army: the movement trays.

Now I can go and sand, paint and prep them, in order to line up the units for the event and get an easier going for the force on the table.

Made by Sarissa Precision, these MDF trays are rather cheap and very decent, so that's a good stack for me.  of course, I did forget to order a tray for the bull centaurs, but heck, moving one unit loose will be manageable...

So that makes the final needed items for now to get ready for the tournament, let's try and finish them during the coming week and prepare the whole force to pack it up.

 

I also received the MyBox from Archonia, granting some new manga to read.

 

 

So that makes some thrilling adventures in the mind's eye while watching sand dry I guess hehehe...

 

Well, that is it for this week, check back next episode for any additions to the collections!

On the Painting Desk 251

 So, time to do some things "on the side" now that my tournament force is ready for action in two weeks.

And to that end, I took a variety of things to kick off some projects for the not so short future, because no deadlines on them.

One of the things I want to do is start an Age of Sigmar army, and with the 4th edition coming about in 2024 apparently, that means I can calmly paint for now.  I`ll count out an army once I have some serious progress made.

That army will be the Kruleboyz, as I can integrate them into my Ninth Age / 8th Edition with movement tray adapters for the core units to become regular Hobgoblin and slave units.

Talking 8th, I`m going to rebuild my Empire force for that, to have some change from the Chaos Dwarfs in multiplayers, should I be sided with the "good guys" and the Mortar is the first unit for that.  For some reason, most of my forces start with a war machine when doing square based armies...

The Chaos Dwarfs won't be totally forgotten, as I'm also doing a slave ogre at the moment for the Earthshaker and a Naphta Thrower, while one of the older Underworlds warbands is getting the paint treatment as well, because it is about time I start working on all those warbands again.

So a bot of all over the place for now, but we will see how it all fans out over the coming weeks as I`ll be painting without any real planning for a while...

Because for medical reasons, deadlines are a bit out of the way right now.

Tokyo Ghoul Va

 And we have arrived at the T, finally watching the second season of Tokyo Ghoul, the first one finished years ago.

Though I didn't hear much good of this series, especially as it veered way off from the manga, which I must say I didn`t read yet, so no bias on that front.

Ken Kaneki has accepted his fate, becoming a monstrous ghoul, becoming what he has so long resisted to become.  He has joined Aogiri Tree, the very militant arm of ghoul society.  Tensions are rising between the government and the ghouls, as the Comission of Counter Ghoul has intensified it's efforts to purge the ghouls from Tokyo.  An all-out battle takes place between the CCG and the Aogiri led by the One-Eyed Owl, as Touka faces her brother Ayato, getting severly hurt but saved by Kaneki.

Amon receives a new partner in the CCG in the form of Mado's daughter Akira.  When Ayato and Kaneki lead an ambush on a convoy of the CCG, two mysterious ghouls in striped masks intervene.  Amon and Akira visit the special ghoul prison of Cochlea, just as the Aogiri Tree invades it to free the ghouls.  This leaves Kaneki gravely injured, forced to devour ghoul corpses in desperation.  The One-Eyed Owl arrives, taking Ayato and Kaneki with him as the battle dwindles down.

A Taskforce is being prepared by the CCG to take out the One-Eyed Owl for good, as Amon and Akira get to know each other better.  Yoshimura tells Kaneki about the One-Eyed Owl, who is actually his child Eto, birthed from a human mother he loved greatly.  The CCG prepares for an assault on Anteiku, having discovered the identity of the One-Eyed Owl, and despite the danger Touka and Kaneki head towards the battle, where Yoshimura is impersonating as the Owl, who is defeated after a long and intense battle before the real One-Eyed owl appears.

The CCG is driven into a corner, but as the strongest investigators join the battle, Owl is forced to consume the body of Yoshimura.  But he later regurgitates a still alive Yoshimura as Hide is trying to make coffee for the wounded Kaneki.  The latter thinks of happier times in the cafe, as Hide collapses from bloodloss suffered in the battle, mortally wounded passing away in Kaneki's arms.  Carrying his body in his arms, he goes to the CCG, facing Arima.  The next morning, Kaneki, Hide and Amon have vanished along with the other CCG members, leaving only an unharmed Arima...

So this was an action packed horror series, and it was okay to watch.  Not knowing the manga story and the changes made to it might have helped indeed, as while I read the critiques, I couldn't compare.  This leaves Re and some specials to watch in the series, but that will probably be something for next year or so...