The Chaos Has Ended. You Will Be Remembered.

By The Horns

This is another piece for Legendary Realms Terrain. When one sees a minotaur in fantasy art -- in particular Dungeons & Dragons-related art -- they tend to be bulky bruiser types. I've tried to go for something a bit more athletic here.

False Alarm

I saw this on Games Workshop's web site yesterday:



It is safe to say that I was somewhat excited. Rumours have been circulating of late -- as they often do -- that GW are going to release a limited edition game this year and that said game would be either Blood Bowl or Warhammer Quest. While I love Blood Bowl to bits I already own two sets, but I never got to own Warhammer Quest, so when I saw the logo on the site I was about ready to pay right then and there.

Alas, there is no deluxe big boxed set on the way -- yet -- but there is an iPad version.


I suspect that this means that there won't be a tabletop release on the way after all.

Quickie Film Reviews: Dragon Wars (2007)

Godzilla plus Dragonball Z plus Lord of the Rings plus the crappy Transformers, not as good as the first three but better than the latter.

Love Hurts

My theory is that Hurt is the Ninth Doctor, the one who ended the Time War, and because of his actions the others would like to forget about him and count Eccleston's incarnation as the Ninth. Sort of like Pope John XX only with time travel.

Thieving Thursday III

Here's where I am with Horror Among Thieves. Almost there.

Cover - done.
p1-3 - Introduction/Norwich 1625 - done.
p4 - Norwich map - still to do.
p5 - about the Tenebrous Hand - done.
p6 - Tenebrous Hand headquarters map - done.
p7 - Unexpected Visitors - art almost done, text done.
p8-9 - The Dog & Bastard - maps done, text done.
p10 - The House on Cow Hill - maps done, text done.
p11 - "Dear Christina" handout - done, but I'm not happy with it; my handwriting's not the right look for a letter from 1625.
p12 - The Warehouse - maps done, text done.
p13 - The Scribe - maps done, text done.
p14 - The Potter - maps done, text done.
p15 - The Butcher - maps done, text done.
p16 - mutant dog picture - done, but I think I should take another pass at it.
p17-18 - The Carpenter - maps done, text done.
p19 - "Forgive us" art - done.
p20- The House on Willow Lane - maps done, text done.
p21 - The Casket - art done, text done.
p22 - The Courtyard - maps done, text done.
p23 - The Secret Cellar - maps done, text done.
p24-25 - The Vaults - maps done, text done.
p26-27 - treasure table - art done, text done.
p28-29 - The Things in the Vaults - art almost done, text done.
p30-31 - The Brotherhood of Pus - maps done, text done.

pXX - "Death and Taxes" bonus adventure - needs a rewrite.
pXX - "In Heaven, Everything is Fine" bonus adventure - needs a rewrite.

Quickie Film Reviews: Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Someone should really stop Damon Lindelof from ruining promising films with his cack-handed scripts.

But Aren't Mercenaries By Default "For Hire"?

I was reminded of this by the ever-excellent British old school gaming tumblr:



To this day the Amiga is one of my favourite gaming machines, although don't tell my father; he thinks he bought it so I could do my school work.

Free Comic Book Day

Well, this is unexpected. It is Free Comic Book Day tomorrow and I wouldn't mention it here except that this year I'm involved, sort of. If you go to Forbidden Planet London, Gosh or Orbital Comics tomorrow, you can pick up a free copy of The O Men #2.5, which included a page drawn by me.

Bonkers.

Into Uncertainty

I was quite enjoying 2009's Star Trek remake, right up until the end, in which New Kirk orders the destruction of the crippled Narada. Star Trek is supposed to be an optimistic view of humanity's future and yet here the heroes more or less murder their opponents, backed by stirring music leaving the audience with no doubt that it's a heroic act and not, you know, a war crime.

So to my mind, New Kirk is more a villain than a hero and so when I see the trailers for the new film show him getting his comeuppance at the hands of Benedict Cumberbatch -- who is almost always excellent, and is playing a character who is not just a cackling villain but seems to have a legitimate grievance -- I have to admit that I am intrigued.



The problem is that based on the first film, I have no confidence at all that anything interesting will happen. New Kirk will blunder in like a thug, his mindless violence given tacit approval by the film-makers, any questions raised by Cumberbatch's character's motivations will be ignored, and New Kirk will not learn anything or develop as a character. Perhaps worst of all, Cumberbatch is going to be wasted in the role of a punch bag.

Of course, I am being unreasonable. There's no way the film-makers are going to allow their hero to lose, but the way they've set him up that's the only outcome that I could see satisfying me. I'm going to see Star Trek Into Darkness this week, so let's see if they can surprise me.