The Haul Report 430: more Efteling pins!

 Let's kick it off with some nice stuff for my Efteling collection: more pins!

 

Because every year, they release a year pin, and this time it's the frog king.

 

I also got this series of three, which was out of stock when we where there last summer, so that is another nice addition to the collection. 

 

And sometimes, you can find some very nice stuff for a good price on Vinted... I paid 10 euro for these 3 Micromaster Transformers, including the one I really wanted for this year, Tote (the red van).  The plane, Hot House, is from one of the playsets, missing his wing decals, but it will help in chasing down the playset alone and save serious money.

 

Some other finds through Vinted is the LaserRAT I wanted to replace, and it came with the figure (sadly minus visor) of the... M6 Railgunner.

 

So what else to do... then pick up a Railgunner from Vinted as well, one of the vehicles I missed anyways back in the days.  It misses one of the panels on the gunnery tower, but for 25 euro with working power deploy I'm not complaining.

 

It doesn't happen often anymore, but I actually found a very good condition vintage figure for my own personal collection at Kringwinkel, and it only knocked me back... 50 cents! 

 

Another toy came all the way from Las Vegas through eBay.  I was searching for the Playmates Star Trek Innerspace Ferengi Marauder, and this seller offered it together with the Cardassian Galor.  He gave a nice discount offer that would compensate for taxes and all, so I bit the bullet and had it shipped my way.  The Galor though probably will end up in my trade pile.

 

But that is not all, as even more toys found their way to my collection this period, with this Wraptile mini playset from the Mighty Max toyline. 

 

Of course, I also did some wargame shopping, as the Commerative Figure that came out the last day of january was a Dawi'Zharr, so I immediatly went there to get it by buying my SH tournament price support. 

 

My Secret Santa, due to circumstances called Lucie and Celeste, Thorin's freshborne nieces, arrived a bit later understandably, but this will be a nice addition to the army collection. 

 

So that was a very solid haul to start the year with in the first weeks, and hopefully many more cool thingies will be coming soon! 

Masters of the Universe: Revolution

 I have the powerrrr!!!!!

 

It must have been decades since that phrase was yelled on the school playground...

 

And then I discovered that Netflix did a new short series on Masters of the Universe, as I found the 5 episode long Revolution series on it.  Which is a follow-up to Revelation, and of course that wasn't available in my area, so I'll search for that online in the future somewhere.

 

So this means I didn't know who died and why, and Skeletor has changed into a semi-cyborg by the tech of Hordak.  Because it is a battle of magic versus technology on Eternia in this series.  Skeletor takes the throne, as he returned to his old guise of Keldor, an identity he didn't remember.  But soon his plan springs, bringing the people of Eternia under his sway as he aims to overthrow Hordak as well.  

 

The heroes in the meantime try of course to stop them, with Evil Lyn losing that first part of her name as she helps Adam and Teela to find ancient mystic powers to break the curse, and this all results in Adam and Teela "getting the power of Grayskull" and changing into a sort of "super saiyan form".  With Teela getting tiger shaped armour instead of battlecat, so she now really became He-Man's pussy...

 

The series is well animated and has a very strong voice cast, of course with Mark Hamill as Skeletor but also Gates McFadden (dr Crusher), Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and other big names tossed in there.  The fact you "know" their voices makes you bind easier with the characters, as they somehow feel familiar that way, if you know what I mean.

 

It ends with a possible opening for a third series, but for me, let's go and see as I said if I can find that first one, well, first... 

Versailles season 3

 Versailles is a fantastic series, with awesome visuals and strong acting performances.

 

Yet somehow, the thrid season always slipped backwards on my to watch list...

 

But no more, I started the year with binging through the 10 episode long final season of the rise of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil.

 

This final season builds further on the shisms that have been growing over the course of the first seasons, the political machinations, the shifting of alliances and the brothers becoming more and more opposed to each other.  In his ever glowing delusions of grandeur, Louis first starts imposing draconic measures on the defeated Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, instigating the distrust of the church.  This results in the Vatican taking action, going as far as threatening to excommunicate him should he not become a puppet to their will.

 

In order to do so, they have the one trump card that Philippe had accidentally discovered.  A prisoner in an Iron Mask.  Ever since the time of Louis XIV this prisoner has been an urban myth and the many writers and historians have made their own theories about who this was.  An italian envoy (the most likely theory imho), the twin or older brother and rightful heir of the throne of France (the most often used one in stories and movies ever since Alexander Dumas used this in his Musketeer tales), and so much more.  In this series, it turns out to be the real father of Louis and Philippe, after they first chased an actual unknown brother of them, but who had died as an infant.  Members of the court had been in the loop on this, but they convince their father to take poison in the end, widening the chism between the brothers even further, but securing the throne and robbing the church of their possible hold over France.

 

The queen also died, making Louis having to look for another wife, and he falls for the charms of Francoise d'Abignee, a marquise that spend time as a prostitute, then turned devote christian and wow his heart.  But her fanatiscism causes Louis to prosecute all protestants in Paris, causing the people to revolt against him.  But when he invokes a ritual of Thaumaturgy to come closer to the people, he survives an assassination attempt thanks to his brother.

 

It was a good season for sure, and yes, the debauchery of the first seasons continues as chastity was not one of Louis's christian virtues he went by, even though he has convinced him he is the only true man of God put on Earth, and conquers the surrounding countries as such in name of the Lord.  George Blagden stars again as the king, but for me Alexander Vlahos (Philippe) and Evan Williams (the chevalier of Lorraine) remain by far the strongest performers for the series, especially the transformation they go through over the series from pompous dandy's.  One becomes a believer of freedom, the other a fighter for the protestant rights respectively. 

 

It is these deep character arcs that make Versailles such a strong series, not only the visual marvel that it is, and definitely worth checking out have you not done so over the years. 

My Dress-up Darling volume 10 - Shinichi Fukuda

 Well, manga (and basically, reading) has been on a low level the past 3/4th of a year, due to, well, things.

 

But we are picking up the pace again, and the first volume I read this year is the 10th book of My Dress-up Darling, because what better way to start again then a dose of Marin, right?

 

Her gentleness, hidden geekiness for the school beauty, kindness and affection for Gojo are just so enjoyable for some light reading during the busy night shifts.  And in this volume, we learn that not everyone in the group likes each other as much as it appears.  But never the less, they decide on doing a group cosplay of a game called Coffin, and they set out to make it a fun experience.  

 

During a movie night, trainservices go down and Gojo spends the night over at Marin.  She panic's as she fears and hopes it will finally happen between them, but Gojo, being the gentleman that he is, doesn't pick up on the signals, and he takes care of her.  But Marin decides that once their current project is over, she will finally ask him out and confess she likes him far more then just as a friend!  In the meantime, Gojo learns from Akira how to make props, while Juju will be cosplaying Black Lobelia by suprise with the support of her team...

 

It is a strange series, it keeps having you hooked, yet barely anything happens in this slice-of-life manga about cosplaying fans.  And still, it is enjoyable, and definitly worth to keep reading.

 

Even though I'm going into the final 5 volumes now, so it might be completely done by the end of the year... but it has been a great fun ride then nevertheless! 

Warhammer Underworlds battlereport: The Shadeborn vs The Grymwatch

 Time for another outing with my Mistborn, and I trimmed down their deck just a little compared to the previous game, in the hopes of having them score just a bit easier.

 

Though I was rather confident with my "poof, here I am" ability combo, I should be able to get to Krakmarrow quickly and shut the enemy down.

 

I played as such my Raging Slayers / Blazing Assault combination, but have dumped Overwhelming Force and switched out two upgrades.

 

The Grymwatch brought Pillage and Plunder to the table, coupled with Edge of the Knife.

 

The board was set up, and the Shadeborn had the first turn, so the assassination of the Ghoul leader was on!

 

Sylarc tried to shoot an arrow into the leader, but he blocked, before a Dark Lamprey wounded him.  A Sidestep and a Knife to the Heart later, the ghoul was in killing range, even though he played a card to reduce my attack dice by one.  Never the less, Slythael took her moment, and her single die came up a crit, only to be blocked by a crit and the ghoul surviving... for now.  So close to that activation 2 take out...

 

My opponent had already used his In the Name of the King to inspire Gristlewell, but opted to bring Krakmarrow to relative safety first.  This opened the way for Drusylla to take out the 3 damage wielder crazed maniac. 

 

Everyone started to gang up on Sylarc, bringing the crossbowman down to vunerable status...  The first round as such ended on a 4-4 score to each side, but if I could get the first turn, he was in a heap of trouble.  

 

Which I duly did, and Slythael killed of Krakmarrow, shutting down his resurrection powers before he could bring back any of his warriors, while Drusylla send Valreek to the afterlife as well.

 

A game of delve ensued now for the remainder of the Flesh-eater Court, with the Shadeborn in pursuit.

 

But a small opening in the score formed, as the Shadeborn now lead 10-9 at the end of the second turn.

 

The ghouls grabbed the initiative for the third round, something I actually liked as this would give me the final chance to try and deny the still not appeared Strip the Realm.  But it actually just became a clean-up action as almost any attack of the aelves took down one of the remaining three ghouls.

 

And this resulted in being able to table them and score Annihilation to round out a sweet 20-9 victory.  

 

The game actually gave me the things I wanted to know, as in could I take down Krakmarrow (or any other 4-5 wound model) by activation 2 if needed (technically yes, he really got lucky on his die roll there), but also if the aelves could hold their own in a game vs hordes, where they are barely able to inspire with all their 2 damage attacks versus basically 2 wound hordes.  Valuable lessons learned for sure, and some things as well that I think I should do slighty different next time round... but it is starting to click together.

 

Now onwards to the next try-out phase: attack sequences of the warband... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blood Bowl match report: Only Fangs versus Big Fist Energy

 Time for the second game in the League for me, and again it's a Stunty team facing me.

 

Though these guys are only Stunty in name, as it are the Ogres!

 

That means I'm facing half a dozen of those big guys with S5 and AV10, so I'll have to see and run my Linewomen around them and go for the goals, all the time trying to counter the gnoblars that will be flying all around... sounds easier then done.  Guess Raven Black with her Tackle skill from last game has her job cut out for her...

 

As he had a large deficit in team rating after his first game, he could spend quite a bit on inducements, taking Fungus the Loon and Varag Ghoul-chewer along.

 

So, let's get kinky as the Slaaneshy ladies read about big fisting energy...

 

The teams came onto the pitch in some Pouring Rain, the ladies a bit disappointed by this as at least in last game's Sweltering Heat they could work on their tanlines.   They also noted that Fungus the Loon kept following them, as like last game, he was present here as well.  As was a big bad orc, as Varag Ghoul-chewer had joined the Big Fist Energy for some savage smashing around.

 

The game started with Cat Coxx quickly passing the ball to Peachgardens, and the ladies started to form up on the left flank in an effort to quickly break through his lines to have Fungus send off as fast as possible.

 

Because that little crazed maniac started to smack around some of them, luckily without any grave harm done to their hairstylings!

 

Raven Black had already send one of the Gnoblars to the Badly Hurt pile after a fierce block, and soon Fungus himself was suffering this fate as well, after a one die block by the ganged up vixens!  That takes care of that problem, now to try and get that ball in his end zone!

 

To that end, my offensive switched over to the right side now of the pitch, in an effort to get all his strength 5 players out of position. 

 

Sabrina Sabok was put over, and she spend three turns angrily raging on the floor before she would get back up and into the fray, as the ball started to switch flanks once more.  The waiting game for a safe opening was being played, instead of a high risk break-out now that the fanatic was out of the picture.

 

And then the opening fell on the left flank, and Peachgardens, defended by Raven Black, went through and towards the end zone.  Val Steele decapitated a Gnoblar, while Tanya Virago broke another Gnoblars elbow, resulting in the blighter having -1 AG from now on.

 

And with the lines thin on the Ogre side, Peachgardens ran into the end zone, moaning "yes yes yeeeees" as she put the 1-0 on the scoreboard.

 

 The teams set up again, OnlyFangs going for an intimidating FemDom lineup to show them how it's done.

 

 The Gnoblars picked up the ball, with Tanya Virago going over to try and stop them, before Abella Danger was ko'd by a wild swing of Varag Ghoul-chewer.

 

As the half ended without further incidents, the teams set up for the second half, and once more OnlyFangs took a very aggressive stance, eager to get in the other half fast to recuperate the ball.   

 

As the lines clashed, Raven Black injured one of the journeyman Gnoblars that had flocked to the team.

 

Varag Ghoul-chewer was put prone for once, and the girls went on for a reverse gangbang on the green menace, an act so foul, especially by Sabien DeMonia, that he had to be carried off badly hurt in the loins.

 

Fo, one of the ogres, then badly hurt Sabrina Sabok in return, but she was pumped full of painkillers and ready to return to the pitch in the next drive.  As an act of sisterly love and vengeance, Cat Coxx killed another Gnoblar journeyman by putting him somewhere where every man has gone before until he suffocated.  At least he died a happy little Gnoblar!

As the ball kept bouncing around near the end zone of the ogres, the Gnoblars picked it up and tried to dodge near the sidelines to get away with it as far as possible, but he was overtaken and Sabien DeMonia put the safe 2-0 on the board.  

  

 

One last drive followed, and the teams set up again.  Out for revenge, Sabrina Sabok by then badly hurted another Gnoblar, taking almost all of the little blighters not out of the game, no way those little idiots will score a goal!

With no Ogre players left in the outfield, the girls made themselves ready for an all out charge to score that important 3rd goal with only two turns remaining. 

  

Sabien DeMonia was first on the ball, and without wasting time and risks on blocks, scored the final goal of the game and her second today to grab that all important 3rd bonus point for the league!  With two victories now and the maximum of 12 out of 12 possible points, OnlyFangs has made a good start towards the play-offs, and now sits in second place in the league, way to go you loveable hoe's! 

 

Most Viewed Pornstar

 

In today's game, many of the ladies excelled in their swift moves and vicious blocks, but the audience tuned in the most to BowlHub to view the opening touchdown made by Peachgardens!  This broke the Ogre's resilience at the later part of the first half, and started preparing the way for the smooth sailing towards victory!

 

 

But the great performance once more by the girls, who amassed a solid 28 SPP's during this game, resulted in quite a few advancements on the roster.  Tanya Virago obtained Tackle, while Sabrina Sabok, Peachgardens, Cat Coxx and Sabien DeMonia all went for a manicure and had their fingernails shaved into vicious Claws! 

 

And the team also is joined by a fresh lady looking for fame with OnlyFangs, as Veronica Rose expands the roster for the next games!  Welcome to another Beastly Hot Woman to the team, as she had passed our casting couch interview with flying colours! 

 

Next time, we tackle the leaders in the League, a horde of Necromantic Horrors.  Does anyone have Grashnak's phonenumber?  Or holding pen adress at least???