Win a Sergeant Castus promo figure at Wayland

 Wayland Games is running a cool contest this weekend, running from the 21st until the 24th.

And the rules are actually pretty simple!

All you have to do is buy a Games Workshop product they have in stock and will be shipped out during the contest, and hopla, you are entered into the giveaway.

So click that Wayland banner at the top of the blog (it helps out this poor little fella that is rejuvenating his Chaos Dwarf force!), buy something GW and keep fingers crossed you are one of the lucky 8!

Good luck

Ikkitousen Western Wolves

 For the I in the challenge, we came out at a short series, counting 3 OVA episodes.

But for those that know the original Ikkitousen, one can imagine why this man of culture selected this one from his planned to watch list...

 

Kanu, Hakufo and the rest are back, as are their malfunction wardrobes...  

The series starts with a duel interfered by a girl called Himiko, who is seen as the big predator, and who defeats Sousou fighting, putting him in the hospital.  Hakufu seems depressed now that her friends are taken out, but the others believe she will be the next target of Himiko who want to take their magatama's.

Koukin begs for their power to protect Hakufu, as Gentoku steps in and decides they will go on a "field trip" to Himiko's college.  The whole gang joins in, making Koukin think they might actually pull it off.  But Himiko is waiting for them, but first there is the trip to the onsen.  Yes, it is really ecchi here as they go about oppai comparison... but during the night an assassin comes to the onsen, beginning the confrontation between both groups.

They are attacked in the surrounding area by henchmen, and become split up having to face their own challenges.  Like Koukin having to face a naked cat warrior for example, or Ekitoku having to go through additional training to become more powerfull.

As the group, who misses some members as a result, decides to try and go for it, the others race to rejoin them in the fight.  But facing Himiko, they are quickly realising she might be out of their league.  But just as she reaches Gentoku, the others arrive.  The fight is still a hard one though, as she seems to be on another level, using illusions against her opponents.  But it is Ekitoku of all warriors that finally overcomes her for now, returning the magatama's to their owners.

Okay, top notch animation, but the final confrontation might feel a bit rushed though, taking place only the final 7 minutes of the third episode.  BUT, ecchi.  Lots of it.  I`m good with this series.  Bring on the sequel!

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

 So I held off a bit before diving into the most expensive television series ever made, set in my beloved Middle-earth.

Because of the controversy partially, but also because me and Noshi had a busy time the past months, and we wanted it all to settle down a bit before we could pay attention to a series full of details.

Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, it is centered around the rise of Sauron, the trusted lieutenant of Morgoth, and the elves opposing him, and when the series is finished it should all culminate into the Last Alliance that kicks of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

So with high expectations, I began the series, and the first thing that didn't disappoint was the sheer beauty of it all.  Though "warrior maiden Galadriel" did feel a bit sour in the stomach.  The series began with her hunting for clues of the Dark Ones return, and culminates in her refusing to go to the Undying Lands together with the rest of her brave warrior band.  In the meantime, a comet strikes, and a man lies in it's centre, while small clues of the darkness rising appear.  Wargs starting to come closer to Hobbit territory, cows secreting a black substance instead of milk... as such we get to meet the main characters of the series like the curious Hobbit Elanor Brandyfoot or the elven ranger Arondir, new characters to go along established names like Gil-Galad, Elrond and of course Galadriel.

In the burned ruins of the Hordern village, Arondir discovers a tunnel and enters it to see where it goes and what dug it.  Bronwyn tries to convince the people to evacuate the village, but she is rebutted.  Later on, when an Orc attacks from a tunnel under her house, she brings it's head before the other villagers and they agree with the plan to move to the Elven outpost.  Elrond goes to look for his friend Durin in the meantime, but years of neglecting their relation made the prince sour.  They make up though thanks to his wife.

Galadriel is adrift in the Sea, and saved by Halbrand after his companions shipwrecked and killed by a beast, only to be found by a mysterious ship.  That captain turns out to be Elendil, father of Isildur and he brings them to the island of Numenor (EPIC entry sequence here, you can see where the budget went).  Galadriel and Halbrand are met with resistance though, as Numenor has turned away from the elves.  Galadriel figures out Halbrand is the king of his southlands people.

In the meantime, Arondir is tossed in the orcish slavepits after being captured in the tunnels.  Here he finds the rest of his regiment, but as they try to escape, they are killed one by one and Arondir is captured again.  The hobbits start their migration, but Elanor's family, due to her actions, is at the risk of being left behind, but the stranger helps them push their cart.  But when they are surrounded in a forest, the stranger unleashes a blast of power, saving the hobbits.  But three mystics are on their trail, clearly looking for the mysterious stranger.

Back in Numenor, Queen Miriel has a vision of the fall of Numenor.  When Galadriel confronts her for her inrreverence of the Elves, she is arrested and thrown in jail.  Galadriel gets out and finds the king of Numenor, Tar-Palantir, who is bed ridden, and Queen Miriel.  Here it is revealed the reason of their separation of the elven ways and the vision, as it was seen in one of the Palantir.  This leads to a new alliance between them, and Numenor will send 5 ships and 500 warriors with Galadriel to hunt down a seemingly reawakening Sauron in Middle-Earth.

In the Southlands, Arondir is confronted by the orc's leader, a disfigured elf named Adar, who sends him to the tower and the villagers to tell them they must surrender or die.  Elrond discovers in the meantime what the dwarves are mining, a metal called Mithril, and swears secrecy as Durin accompanies him to Lindon.  he tricks Gil-Galad of giving the dwarves the table they are dining on, as the High King confides in Elrond the improtance to the elven race of the Mithril, and that he must see to convince Durin to share it with them.

In the Southlands, Adar and his orcs invade the elven tower, only to find it abandoned. The villagers have sneaked back to their homes, preparing it for defence as the enemy forces are weakened by a rouse, causing the tower to collapse.  The remaining orcs assault, and while initially held off, soon the defenders become swarmed.  Adar starts killing survivors to get the key, but then Numenor arrives, quickly dispatching the enemy.  Adar is caught and questioned, but his subordinate escaped with the swordkey, opening the dam. Due to the tunnels dug by Adar, the water runs in magma veins, causing the nearby mountain to errupt and the result forming what would become Mount Doom and the Desolation of Mordor.

 

With the eruption of what will become Mount Doom, the surviving Numenorians and Southlanders leave the area to a base camp.  Queen Miriel has been blinded, but when she is reunited with Galadriel vows she will return with a big host to defeat the awakening evil.  

 

 

The Harfoot's in the meantime reach the grove they migrated to, finding it damaged by the eruption as well.  The stranger restores it to bountifull harvest, but nearly injures a young hobbit, causing him to leave.  Strange mystics arrive, destroying the camp and making Nori, Poppy, Malva and Sadoc to go search for him and help him out.  In Khazad-dum a large mithrill deposit is uncovered by Durin and Elrond, but Durim's father who refuses to aid the elves casts Elrond out and disows his son.  But in the bottom of the mine, the Balrog of legend re-awakens due to their digging. 

The stranger is ambushed by three mystics, trying to awaken his true powers of Sauron.  But they find out he isn`t him, but "on of the others", an Ishtar.  The veil lifted, he quickly makes short work of them before setting of into the world together with Nori.  Meanwhile, Galadriel and Elrond discover the truth of Halbrand, and that he is actually Sauron.  He tries to sway Galadriel, but is forced out and flees to Mordor while the elves craft their three rings of power.

Okay, so I get the grievances with this series and how it, let's put it lightly, takes liberal approach to the lore.  But apart from that, it IS a beautifully made series, and it is a fun fantasy show.  So I get how the die hards might cringe, but then I ask you, why do you rever the original movie trilogy that much though?

I surely enjoyed it for what it is, a fantasy show that happens to take place in Middle-earth, and look forward to the second season.  Some of the questions are answered, it was long hinted that Halbrand would be the ancestor of Aragorn (heck, Charly Vickers even looks like Viggo Mortensen), and the Ishtar just screams Gandalf (the follow your nose line for example, as he uttered in Moria in the movies), yet somehow my gut feeling tells me he is actually Saruman (the pose with the mystic stave, the control over fire, ...).

Well, those are things to find out over the coming seasons when they are released!

Gundam 1/400 resin Type 61 tank

 And here we have it, the first models painted of the sample box I received for MechaTop back in february: two Type 61 battle tanks.

The mainstay of the Earth Federation ground forces, these tanks are tiny in 1/400 scale, as they rightly are so next to 18 meters tall Gundams of course.

They have been cast in resin, and the STL's will be part of the upcoming second Kickstarter they are planning to launch, which is great news as they would be very hard to find otherwise.  The detailing on the little tanks is perfect for a model of about 2 square centimeters after all.

Colour scheme wise, well, they are what they are, grey tanks, so no flashy paint job on that part though.

Now to eagerly await the kickstarter, back it and then contact one of my buddies with a resin printer for some mass-printing...

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime volume 11 - Fuse and Taiki Kawakami

 Time to visit my favorite (and probably the best out there) isekai series again, and read more of the adventures of Rimuru.

Who now has become a teacher for the kids that where in the care of Shizue, and which he promised to cure of their ailness that will cut their lives short.

His plan to do so is to bound a lesser spirit into the children, like Shizue had the mighty Ifrit bound inside her.  To that end, Treynie tells him he needs to find the Faerie Queen and her ever shifting realm.  But while he ponders this, a Sky Dragon comparable in power to Charybdis attacks the city where the school is located.

A merchant saves a child and her mother from the beast, only to be rescued himself by Rimuru.  This turns out to be Gard, who bought all the healing potions in Blumund and knows Rimuru from the tales in Tempest.  With the help of the divining elf he met in Dwargon, Rimuru finds the entrance to the fairy realm.

He takes the children there, simply overcoming the guardian trial and meeting the Fairy Queen Ramiris, who is one of the 10 Demon Lords apparently despite her diminutive size.  She agrees to help save the children with binding higher spirits to them to stabilise their magicules.  During the ritual, Rimuru learns that long ago the demon lord he is out to get, Leon Cromwell, was actually a hero and he stole Ifrit to forcefully bind into Shizue.

Rimuru helps in the ritual to summon and bind spirits in three of the children, but a higher light elemental appears when Kenya is making his prayers, seeing him as a potential hero.  But when Chloe makes her prayers, a mysterious being appears that fuses with her, something not even Ramiris recognises but feels like it came out of the future.

As a thanks for the help of Ramiris, Rimuru grants her a new golem, created in a magisteel body and bound with a now named Greater Deamon he had previously absorbed during the trials of the Adventurer's Guild, naming the arch-golem Beretta and protector of Ramiris...

And that is another fun read in the series gone by, and it came with a nice extra short story of the voice actors working on the anime.  Time to reincarnate in volume 12 now it seems!

Cool-headed Hoozuki season 1

 Or Hoozuki no Reitetsu as it is called, the H-letter entry for this year's letter challenge.

And this comedy takes place in nothing less then Hell itself, a bureacracy that is being ran smoother thanks to the skills of Hoozuki.

 

And the rather absurd opening theme already gives a good idea of what I could expect...

 

Heaven's Shangri-La, the biggest heavenly tourist trap, is ruled over by Lord Enma, but as all the sub deamons come to him with all their problems, he relays on Hoozuki, the calm troubleshooter, to sort out the problems for him.  Though the Stripping Hag is a bit disturbing...

 

Satan visits Shangri-La in order to do recon of the place for a possible invasion, and is escorted by Hoozuki, making him doubts his plans to add the japanese hell to his european branch.  But as more hells border on each other, it is up to Hoozuki to keep running his own in an efficient way, not helped in the least by Lord Enma, as the various hells compete with each other to be the dominant afterlife.

 

 

This makes for a fun series with about two 10 minute short stories per episode, but it doesn`t really have an overarching arc which makes it a bit of a pity.  But it definitly is worth having a watch, as the short stories are incredibily funny, especially the manners of Japan's Hell compared to the manners of the other Hell's. 

So if you looking for some fun gags to watch, but don`t feel forced to keep binging in order to keep up with the overall storyline, this is a fine anime for you.

The 9th Age: Infernal Dwarves Titan Mortar

 Aaaah, my beloved Earthshaker, how have I always loved both the looks and the playing style of these big cannons.

And for the resurgence of my Chaos Dwarfs, one of these big boys just has to be added to the force.

Though I did steer away this time from it's regular colourscheme, and went for the blue and gold that I`m running through my whole force instead.

Called a Titan Mortar in the 9th Age game, it can just as well wreak havoc with the movement of enemy troops due to it's slowing effect, even if it isn't as insanely good as in the old days where I tended to bring two of these along to really make my opponents movement fase's miserable.

But in T9A, as that part is slightly less impressive then back in the WFB 6th days, I settled for one Mortar in my force, also in part to the more limited amount of cannons and rifles the Infernal Dwarves can bring to the table, especially in bigger battles with the army restrictions.

So that is the second unit of the force completed, next will probably be the second war machine planned for the force, before I`m starting the big jobs of the blocks of rank and file troops.

The Haul Report 358

 Another Haul Report, as there are a bit of calmer times of parcels arriving, until this week!

And yes, it is more waifu stuff that came in, with a trade figure of Lunamaria coming from Mandarake.

But she wasn`t the only one to arrive, as a small parcel from Singapore brought in two Demon Slayer chibi figures as well.

So, that was a cute little haul, but I am expecting more to come in by mail over the next weeks, and it isn`t all anime related!

On the Painting Desk 228

 Well, no more Zephyrantes on this update, as he has been finished and could be seen earlier this week on the blog.

But we keep painting and going forward, mainly of course with Hurricane!

 

In the past period, I managed to get great progress on the model kit, as much actually that not only did I finish his second layer, I even began on the third and final one and had some great advance on that as well.

 

Because this is how it looks at the moment.

 

 

I expect it to be finished by the end of the month, meaning I can finally start crafting some stat cards for the model kits of Super Mecha Champions and who knows, even get a game in.

 

More progress was also made on the 1/400 scale battle tanks, as they are nearly finished as well now, all they need is some varnishing and basing.

But there is more 1/400 goodness, as I began painting on the Moonlight Butterfly, the Turn A Gundam, who will become the next gachapon to join the forces.

With a set of 75mm round bases also arriving by mail, as war machines in the 9th Age are based on those (hence why the crew is also on round bases, they are actually just there for the "rule of cool" if you don`t include them on these larger bases), I could assemble the big cannon and start painting on it.

 

 

So that's another nice batch of figures currently being worked on!  Keep following this series to see how they will evolve over the coming weeks.