Here’s some fan artwork I received for The Dragons of Jupiter. Very exciting stuff. Please enjoy. 🙂
Holo Writing – More Fan Art
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The Sons of Liberty – Book Review
Two escaped slaves get superpowers, team up with Ben Franklin, and wreak havoc on their corrupt former owner. This tells you all you need to know about The Sons of Liberty.
This graphic novel, penned by Alexander and Joseph Lagos, is more National Treasure than history class, which is probably why it’s one of the most fun comics that I’ve read in a while.* Graham and Brody begin as slaves under the cruel Jacob Sorenson. When Sorenson’s son attacks Brody, Graham’s act of defense puts them both on the run, where they encounter Benjamin Franklin’s crazypants son, who has been electrocuting animals and, increasingly, slaves in effort to see what effect it has on their bodies. In this case, superpowers! (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.) The boys proceed to befriend Ben Franklin, who gives them work in his print shop, and Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lay, who teaches them the African martial art of dambe and suggests that they use their newfound powers to right the wrongs slavery has inflicted upon the country.
Normally I’m irked by historical inaccuracy in books, but I make a gleeful exception for this one. After all, via Authors’ Note, the writers are pretty blatant about the historical inaccuracy (see again: superpowers), and most of the relevant inaccuracies are so ridiculous that they’re instantly noticeable. For example, while Benjamin Lay was truly eccentric and loudly anti-slavery (as depicted in the book) he also had a hunched back (as also depicted in the book), which logically seems like something that would interfere with the learning of most martial arts (not depicted in the book). William Franklin, too, is such an exaggeratedly despicable character that it’s hard to see anything that he does as historically-based (other than his strained relationship with his father, which was accurate). Such exaggerations permeate the book, from the fictional slave hunter who outfits his dog collars with foot-long spikes to a terrifyingly huge Hessian character who has no problem scalping a person with his bare hands. These are all the things of over-the-top action movies, which make it easier to suspend disbelief for this particular tale.
Graham and Brody, however, are decidedly non-exaggerated characters, which is what makes the story work so well. Most of the problems that they face in the story are problems that would be faced by any runaway slave—having to evade slave hunters, trying to find food without being conspicuous, worrying about the friends and family they left behind, etc.—and even once they acquire their powers, they react as one would expect teens in their situation to act—terrified at first, and then WHOA THESE POWERS ARE AWESOME. Surprisingly little of the story centers around their powers, too, but this is far from a flaw. Between Lay’s abolition efforts, Franklin’s conflict with William, William’s own several duplicities, and both of Graham and Brody’s conflicts (that is, hiding from Sorenson while learning to use their powers), there’s more than enough to keep the reader interested.
The writing itself zips between each storyline quickly, but never feels rushed. Dialogue is particularly well-handled, with several characters possessing their own unique styles of speaking. The art, too, is energetic, with smart use of color, expression, and character design, even if the lineart beneath the color occasionally looks too quickly-drawn. (It’s far from bad, but every now and then a character will look off-model. It’s not frequent enough to interfere with the reading experience, though.)
Ultimately, The Sons of Liberty is more concerned with entertainment than education. Considering that this was its goal in the first place, it does it with panache—so much so that it might even make readers interested in the true history behind the story! At its heart, it’s an exciting fantasy romp through pre-Revolutionary America, and highly recommended.
***
*No offense to history teachers. Mine were magnificent, but I’ve had several teens refuse historical fiction because they say their history teachers ruined it for them.
11 Doctors, 11 Stories – Book Review
The history of Doctor Who spans 50+ years of TV broadcast, radio plays, print publications, video games, and several spinoff series, which means that there are lots of places for newbies to dive in, and not all of them are easy starting points. For those first approaching Doctor Who through print, the short story collection 11 Doctors, 11 Stories is one of the best ways to do it (and is also a fine read even for established Whovians.)
For the uninitiated, Doctor Who follows a Time Lord known as The Doctor as he travels through time and space, usually with one or more companions, but always with the aid of his trusty Sonic Screwdriver and intermittently trusty TARDIS (a.k.a. iconic-blue-police-box-slash-time-and-space-traveling-machine). As a Time Lord, he cannot die, but rather regenerates into a different form whenever death-like circumstances require it.
He might also be the most powerful being in any of the series’ universes, simply because he can speak total BS and use it to world-rendingly save the day: He’s been poisoned? No prob, he’ll just eat some walnuts and ginger beer and then burp it out in a cloud of magic Time Lord smoke. The day generally looks hopeless? Give him some complicated space-and-time-pseudo-science babble and a random mundane object and THAT MESS IS FIXED. The Doctor Who canon never formally acknowledges this superpower, just as it never acknowledges the fact that the time-traveling structure of the series renders every bit of tension that happens null and void when you even try to think about it. That said, its consistency is a hot mess, but it’s also a fun, whimsical, and refreshingly optimistic series, and that alone makes it worth a try.
As of this writing, the series has moved up to its Twelfth Doctor (well, Thirteenth, but that’s a tale for a decided Whovian), which is one reason why this anthology is such a good starting point. Each story in the collection follows a different one of the then-eleven Doctors and thus provides a good series primer. The stories themselves have impressive pedigrees for the YA sci-fi and fantasy crowd, coming from the pens of Neil Gaiman, Patrick Ness, Eoin Colfer, Philip Reeve, and others, which gives the anthology the added benefit of exposing readers to some of the finest writers in this genre, all in one place.
Unfortunately, this pedigree doesn’t always equal absolute goodness. The first two entries are easily the anthology’s weakest. Eoin Colfer’s First Doctor opener “A Big Hand for the Doctor” suffers from a bland, action-oriented plot. Action has never been one of Doctor Who’s strengths, considering that the Doctor’s favorite battle strategies consist of running or distracting enemies until he can drop a convenient plot bomb. There is no plot bomb in this story, either, which makes it seem like a huge waste of the infinite BS possibilities of the Doctor Who universe. The story also features a lot of random, misplaced elements that feel like they belong in another story, sometimes because they literally do; the Gnommish language from Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series makes an inexplicable appearance, and a late story twist credits the Doctor’s adventure with the creation of another classic, beloved story that, in the context of this adventure, is also inexplicable. Overall the entry reads like Colfer forgot that he was assigned to write the thing and so turned in the first draft that he scrawled out, which is disappointing because 1) when he’s writing in his own worlds, Colfer is one of my favorite writers, and 2) the story could have been pretty cool if fully developed. As for the Second Doctor, I literally remembered nothing about Michael Scott’s “The Nameless City” when I sat down to write this review (two days after reading it).
Fortunately, the rest of the anthology vworps in like the TARDIS on a good day and saves everything. BSery aside, the real strength of the Doctor Who series is its ability to craft clever, quirky storylines around whatever random props the BBC had lying around its lot at the time. Obviously, a book does not have the same type of budget limitations as a TV series, but the stories in this anthology are written in keeping with the series’ rag-and-bone spirit.
Marcus Sedgwick’s Third Doctor tale “The Spear of Destiny” is a prime example of the series’ strengths. I mean, it’s got museums, Vikings, uniquely Whovian explanations of how certain historical events really went down (you know, time magic and stuff), and plenty of well-placed twists. You can’t really go wrong with that, and it doesn’t.
Philip Reeve’s “The Roots of Evil” only adds to the momentum, setting its adventure on a space-station-that-is-really-an-enormous-complex-sentient-populated-tree-that-exists-solely-to-kill-The-Doctor (Fourth, in this case). It’s in this story and the previous that the collection begins to actually feel like a genuine entry into the Doctor Who canon, combining the series’ distinct eccentricity (All the alien names are elaborate commentaries on The Doctor’s intended fate) with a thoroughly fascinating, whimsical setting.
These elements all cumulate in Patrick Ness’ Fifth Doctor tale “Tip of the Tongue,” which may be the best entry in the anthology. In this tale, Truth Tellers have become all the rage in World War II-era Maine. These devices speak absolute truths about the people at whom the wearer directs them, which, predictably, leads to all sorts of unpleasantness. However, most of the entry’s conflict comes not from the fantastical elements, but the tensions that are inherent in its main characters being, respectively, biracial and a German Jew in a time period that was especially unfriendly to both. The story manages a delicate balance of quirk and respect for the darker elements of history (and those who suffered them), which is a mark shared with some of the finer episodes of the TV series.
Richelle Mead’s “Something Borrowed” gives readers a break from the serious, taking the Sixth Doctor on a romp through a planet modeled on the ridiculousness of Las Vegas. The fact that it involves an alien Las Vegas wedding and mini-pterodactyls tells you all you need to know about the colorful wackiness of this one.
Malorie Blackman takes readers back to the serious with the intriguing “The Ripple Effect,” in which the Seventh Doctor accidentally re-writes the universe (yep) and must decide whether to leave it as is or revert back to the original universe. This decision is complicated by the presence of the Daleks; in the original universe, the Daleks are an indiscriminately murderous race (which, after Classic Who, becomes partly responsible for the annihilation of the Time Lords and thus a whole lot of dramatic Last Time Lord angst). However, in this new universe, the Daleks are so docile and benevolent that they give lectures about bad manners! Most of the tension in this story comes from the Doctor himself, who can’t fathom a universe with such Daleks, and it’s interesting to watch his moral dilemma unfold.
After this, Alex Scarrow finishes up the Classic Who with his Eighth Doctor tale “Spore,” which is easily the creepiest piece in the collection. Much of what makes it cool can’t be revealed without revealing spoilers (and thus reducing the creep factor), but the twists behind all the creepiness rendered it another of my favorites.
The anthology enters the New Who timeline with Charlie Higson’s “The Beast of Babylon.” This story is notable for assigning the Ninth Doctor an unexpected sort of companion, and also for a clever twist that ends up setting it inside the first episode of the re-imagined TV show. Higson’s depiction of the Doctor is spot-on, too; the Ninth Doctor’s voice clicked effortlessly into my head the moment he first spoke in the story. (Not that the previous Doctors don’t sound like themselves; I’m simply not familiar enough with Classic Who to comment on the accuracy of those depictions.)
Derek Landy takes the Tenth Doctor into literary territory in “The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage,” plunging the Doctor into a mysterious world constructed around his companion’s favorite childhood book series, The Troubleseekers. Despite revolving around a fictional series of books, the story has the same charm as the TV series’ literature-related episodes (even if the reveals are a little underwhelming) and Landy’s writing style is well-matched to the Tenth Doctor’s personality.
Finally, Neil Gaiman finishes the anthology with the Eleventh Doctor story “Nothing O’Clock.” Here, a dangerous race known as The Kin has escaped from a defunct Time Lord prison and is up to no good on 1980s Earth. The story borrows from current showrunner Steven Moffat’s tendency to take mundane things and make them terrifying—in this case, people in amusing masks, innocent questions, and selling a house. Its twists and world building rank it among the best (i.e. most coherent) Eleventh Doctor tales, and the writing, being Neil Gaiman’s, is the most charming in the anthology (if you like Neil Gaiman, as I do).
As a whole, then, the anthology more than overcomes its underwhelming start. Whether you’re an established Whovian or a noob who still abbreviates the show as Dr. Who (DON’T), 11 Doctors, 11 Stories is definitely worth reading.
Hordes Exigence Review: Legion of Everblight
IN SHORT: Hordes Exigence is here, so let’s take a look. As with previous releases, every Hordes army receives a host of new toys, this time throwing out powerful character warbeasts, lesser warlocks, and two of the new warbeast packs. Like all Privateer Press releases, the book is printed in full color with page after page of impressive new artwork.
So, let’s take a look at the new Legion of Everblight models.
ABSYLONIA, DAUGHTER OF EVERBLIGHT: Absylonia comes with plenty of ways to enhance Legion’s powerful arsenal of warbeasts. First, her warbeasts can charge or make power attacks without being forced. Second, if Absylonia kills something, those warbeasts get +2 SPD and +2 MAT. Third, her feat hands out +2 STR, Flight, and Reach to her battlegroup. Fourth, she can heal her entire battlegroup for d3+1 damage points at a cost of 2 Fury. That’s enough to guarantee every warbeast has every aspect active. Fifth, she can hand out Return Fire at 1 Fury per cast to allow her warbeasts to … return fire. Sixth, she can Fortify a model in her battlegroup with +2 ARM.
Oh yeah, Absylonia comes stocked with ways to make warbeasts an absolutely terror. She can also Teleport up to 8” away, which allows her to be played more aggressively, moving forward to get a kill in, then teleporting out of danger. She is an incredibly focused warlock, with basically nothing to give supporting infantry. But with a list of enhancements like the one above, why waste points on infantry?
BLIGHT WASPS: I tried. Honestly, I tried to figure out what these guys are good for. Blight Wasps are one of the two new warbeast packs, so they should be exciting, right? Well, not so much.
I mean, they’re not bad. I’m sure skilled players can put them to good use. They’re just underwhelming. There’s no wow factor here. Plus the Hunting Pack rule and Overwhelm animus don’t seem to mesh. Hunting Pack makes them a threat when they work together as a group, but Overwhelm can easily have them swinging bonus attacks at MAT 5 and P+S 8. Not exactly scary stuff here.
Meh.
NERAPH: This flying warbeast is fairly scrawny for a heavy warbeast and is instead geared to taking down high DEF enemies. A single hit with its Grasping Tail means every following attack automatically hits. After that, just keep headbutting the enemy with a P+S 16 Hammerhead. Plenty of light warjacks and warbeasts have very impressive DEF stats, but suffer with low ARM. The Neraph is an excellent counter to those models, and a flurry of P+S 16 attacks can certainly do work on tougher opponents.
ZURIEL: With a solid stat line, Flight, two P+S 16 daggers, and two spray attacks that set targets on fire, Zuriel means business! His Chain Attack allows him to get in a free spray if both his initial attacks hit the same target, and his animus is powerful when used right.
Predator’s Instinct is SELF only and costs 1 Fury. It gives Zuriel an additional die to all attacks against warrior models (excluding warlocks and warcasters). This allows Zuriel to tear through enemy infantry with ease using both spray attacks (RAT 5 with a bonus attack die should not be underestimated), but can also be used by numerous warlocks to great effect.
Given his affinities (Rhyas and Saeryn), he fits in well with both of them. He gets Stealth when with Rhyas and can channel spells for Saeryn. But by no means do I think he should be restricted to their lists. Just imagine putting Predator’s Instinct on the Lylyth’s bow or Thagrosh’s spray attacks, just to name a few possibilities. Yeah, I think those combos would create quite the mess.
STRIDER BLIGHTBLADES: An ambushing unit for Legion? Apparently so!
The Strider Blightblades look pretty straightforward. Ambush allows them to enter the battle from the table side edges. They have high DEF and Stealth to help them survive long enough to actually do something, and they have Combined Melee Attack and two attacks each to give them some extra hitting power.
Like other ambushing units, you pay for that ability and suffer elsewhere in the unit’s capabilities. These blighted killers cost a point a model, so your mileage may vary.
FYANNA THE LASH: Okay, I have to admit something here. I really do like seeing models with varying attack types. I enjoy having that level of flexibility built right into the model’s rules, and Fyanna can execute three different attack types. She can beat enemies back 1” at a time, gain additional damage dies against warbeasts, or throw enemy models around. With Chain Strike and SPD 7, she has 14” threat range and can attack twice a turn. To keep her safe, she can Prowl in terrain to gain Stealth, is immune to free strikes, and gets a free 2” move when shots miss her.
That all pretty awesome. But is she 3 points worth of awesome? With only 12 ARM and 5 damage boxes? Umm … maybe?
SUMMARY: Privateer Press introduces another set of new models that bring fresh possibilities to each faction. Less warlocks and warbeast packs may not be as exciting as gargantuans, but there are still plenty of fun releases in this book.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Exigence Review: Skorne
IN SHORT: Hordes Exigence is here, so let’s take a look. As with previous releases, every Hordes army receives a host of new toys, this time throwing out powerful character warbeasts, lesser warlocks, and two of the new warbeast packs. Like all Privateer Press releases, the book is printed in full color with page after page of impressive new artwork.
So, let’s take a look at the new Skorne models.
XERXIS, FURY OF HALAAK: Here comes Xerxis, back for more and riding a … rhinoceros … sort of thing. Whatever it is, it looks impressive.
Xerxis himself is fast and hard hitting. With SPD 7, MAT 8, and a P+S 15 weapon, Xerxis is hitting like a ton of bricks even before his special rules kick in. Add in cavalry charge rules, Brutal Charge, Ignite, then Mobility, and suddenly you have a 14”threat range with the first attack slamming home with effective MAT 10, P+S 19. That, I think, will leave a mark.
As a cavalry battle engine warlock, he comes with a long list of built in rules, some good, some not. His huge base is his main liability. Solid defensive stats help there, and he has access to the Basilisk Krea’s animus if more protection from shooting is required. In fact, the Krea’s animus goes very well with Xerxis regardless. Not only does it give him an extra +2 to DEF and ARM against shooting, but it also drops enemy DEF by -2 if they’re within 2” of him. Remember that huge base? Yeah, that’s a lot of tabletop he’s covering with that aura.
Oh, and Xerxis gets to cast an animus spell for free once per turn thanks to his Warbeast Bond with a warbeast in his battlegroup. Plenty of applications for this beyond the Krea too.
Xerxis is also a very warbeast-friendly warlock, despite his low Fury of 5. Mobility gives +2 SPD and Pathfinder to his entire battlegroup and his feat turns the entire tabletop into his control area, allowing warbeasts to be forced far afield if necessary while giving them an additional die for attack and damage rolls (dropping a die of the player’s choice).
Xerxis is a fairly straightforward caster, but he definitely looks fun to play. Who doesn’t like a speeding horde of Skorne titans led by someone riding a rhinoceros?
SCARAB PACK: Now here’s one of the two new warbeast packs, and an interesting one at that.
Scarabs have low base stats, but they also have a lot of rules and features that help them perform beyond their raw numbers. For example, they come with poor DEF and ARM stats, but also have a lot of hit boxes to soak up damage as well as the ability to Dig In for cover and eat enemy models for health. Same with their MAT and P+S. Not very impressive, but they have built-in ways to enhance them.
Also, with the number of attacks the pack can put out (along with buying additional attacks or boosting attack rolls), that Critical Paralysis becomes a lot more likely to land. All in all, a very interesting addition to Skorne, and definitely one I think is worth trying out.
ARADUS SOLDIER: With SPD 3, the Aradus Soldier is slow. However, a combination of Advanced Deploy and Reach give it surprising threat potential early in the game, and P+S 18 on its Mandibles is no joke. That’s even higher than a Bronzeback, and can easily be pushed up to P+S 20 with beast handlers. After all, this is Skorne we’re talking about.
The Mandibles don’t have Reach, but the attacks that do come with Pull to suck enemies in for those Mandibles. Also, good luck killing this guy with shooting. Its Carapace rule takes its base ARM of 19 and turns it into 23 against ranged attacks and free strikes.
A fairly interesting setup here. It has more of a defensive feel to it than other Skorne heavies. Once it gets somewhere, it’s going to be a pain to shift. Though, you still have to get it there.
ARADUS SENTINEL: Similar to the Aradus Soldier, the Aradus Sentinel has the same low speed, Carapace rule, and Advanced Deployment. What the Sentinel brings on top of this is a powerful AOE attack with Poison! And given its Carapace rule, it’s difficult to tie up. It can back away from being engaged, take its lumps with ARM 23, and keep firing. The Poison rule on its ranged attack makes it particularly effective against other Hordes armies.
By the way, this guy goes great with a Mortitheurge Willbreaker. Two Poison AOEs per turn? Yes please!
PRAETORIAN KELTARII: Here’s another flavor of Praetorians for Skorne, this one with some solid defensive rules. Blade Shield gives them +2 DEF against ranged attacks, bumping them up to a very respectable DEF 15 ARM 14 when shot at. Parry makes them immune to free strikes, and Reform gives them a free 3” advance at the end of the unit’s actions.
Throw in Combined Melee Attack for some harder hitting when needed, and you have a solid block of infantry that can easily rush in and jam up the enemy’s ranks or help screen friendly force. Overall, a nice new unit.
TYRANT ZAADESH: So here’s Skorne’s lesser warlock and immediately something is different. Unlike the other factions, Zaadesh has no restriction on what he can include in his battlegroup. He comes with a decent defensive ability in Protective Battlegroup (letting a warbeast he controls take a ranged or magic shot for him), and he enhances his battlegroup with Tag Team.
When active, Tag Team gives his battlegroup +2 melee attack and damage as long as the target is engaged by another member of the battlegroup. Zaadesh’s abilities mesh well because Protective Battlegroup and Tag Team both keep his warbeasts close. And it doesn’t take much to turn him into a nasty killing machine. With his warbeast(s) nearby, Zaadesh can hit at MAT 8, P+S 14 repeatedly until his Fury runs dry.
He can also be used as an animus battery, dishing out multiple copies of Sprint from an Archidon, just as an example. Or Rush from a Gladiator. Or … well, I think you get the point.
But yeah, I like this little tyrant.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press introduces another set of new models that bring fresh possibilities to each faction. Less warlocks and warbeast packs may not be as exciting as gargantuans, but there are still plenty of fun releases in this book.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Exigence Review: Circle of Orboros
IN SHORT: Hordes Exigence is here, so let’s take a look. As with previous releases, every Hordes army receives a host of new toys, this time throwing out powerful character warbeasts, lesser warlocks, and two of the new warbeast packs. Like all Privateer Press releases, the book is printed in full color with page after page of impressive new artwork.
So, let’s take a look at the new Circle of Orboros models.
BRADIGUS THORLE THE RUNECARVER: Bradigus is a dedicated Construct warlock through and through, and boy does he bring the tools to get it done. First, all of his warbeasts (which must be Constructs) get a 1 Fury discount on their animus casting. Second, he can repair said Warbeasts d6 damage points with a skill check.
Synergize goes great with a healthy number of Woldwatchers, and allowing them to quickly boost melee attack and damage for the rest of the battlegroup. Rift gives Woldwardens an impressive 4” AOE spell to chuck out en masse. The spell even leaves rough terrain behind as an added insult. And speaking of insult, this guy can shut down enemy casting, channeling, and upkeeping within 5” of his whole battlegroup. Ouch!
Now, Bradigus is on a large base and his defensive stats aren’t particularly stellar. However, this is a manageable problem. Between Woldwatchers soaking up hits for him and/or Bradigus using a Wold Guardian’s animus to reduce ranged damage, Circle players have the tools to keep him safe at range.
The biggest downside I see (more about the hobby than the gameplay) is that Bradigus doesn’t synergize well with the Woldwrath. Given what an awesome centerpiece model the gargantuan is, it’s a little sad to see how poor a fit it is for Circle’s new dedicated Construct warlock.
ARGUS MOONHOUND: Want to field a Circle army with lots of shooting? Well, here’s the warbeast for you! First, the Argus Moonhound can Mark Targets, granting other Circle models +2 to ranged attack rolls against enemies within 5” of him. He can also perform a special action that strips Camouflage and Stealth from those same nearby enemies. It’s a perfect one-two punch prepping the enemy for a rain of incoming fire.
With Pathfinder and SPD 7, the Argus Moonhound can easily reach those targets and get them ready for the incoming fusillade. All this for only 4 points? Not bad at all.
ROTTERHORN GRIFFON: Here’s another 4-point light warbeast, but one with wings and a more offensive tilt to it. The Rotterhorn Griffon’s most notable feature is its Shrill Shriek special action. This hits all models (friend or foe) within 2” of it with POW 8.
Okay, so it’s just POW 8. But, it auto-hits and it can potentially affect a large number of clumped up models. With average damage rolls, the Rotterhorn can take out ARM 14 models half the time. This guy is tailored for eliminating high DEF models, and most of those won’t have much armor.
BRENNOS THE ELDERHORN: Brennos is not meant to go toe-to-toe with enemy heavies. With low health, ARM, and really bad DEF for a Circle non-Construct heavy, he’ll get torn to pieces by pretty much any enemy heavy in the game. But that’s not why you’d take him. Instead, he’s meant to hang back and support the rest of the army, with the epic version of Morvahna being the clear favorite given his affinity for her.
Brennos can heal Morvahna when he kills something (preferably with his ranged attack!) or when he takes damage. Given how much of a yo-yo Morvahna the Dawnshadow’s health can be, these extra damage points can be a big deal.
With his 1-Fury animus, this character satyr can reduce the cost of friend warbeast animus casting by 1 Fury, as long as they’re within his 8” command range. Not bad. He can also cast those same animus spells himself. Sacred Ward helps keep him safe at range, and his ranged attack comes with d3” knockback and a critical knockdown.
All in all, Brennos brings some interesting tools for Morvahna’s game. Just make sure he doesn’t get obliterated before he can use them.
THE DEATH WOLVES: The main currency of this 3-model character unit is corpse tokens. They each start with one, gain one when they kill a living enemy model, and can spend those tokens for boosts, extra attacks, or to reduce incoming damage to 1 point. They also grant each other Overtake (for their PacMan impersonations), Prowl (to help keep them safe), and Gang (for some extra hitting power when they need it).
They’re a character unit that can absolutely mulch through living light infantry. Not exactly the most exciting of jobs. There’s plenty out there that can grind through living light infantry, but the Death Wolves do what they do very well.
UNA THE FALCONER: Una is a lesser warlock who likes griffons. Really, really likes griffons. In fact, if it can’t fly, she can’t take it. But if it can, she gets it for a 1-point discount (3-point Rotterhorns, anyone?).
That said, she doesn’t really bring much to the table to enhance those griffons. She also doesn’t come with much in the way of defensive abilities. Bird’s Eye allows her to see everything in her control area, so hiding her behind terrain doesn’t hinder her. With those two facts, I’m thinking Una and a single griffon (maybe two) is probably the best route to take.
With RAT 6, three boostable birds of prey to “fire” at the enemy, and clear line of sight within her (admittedly small) control area, she can provide some decent ranged support. And with Black Penny, she can fire into melee without penalty. Nothing too special, but not bad either.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press introduces another set of new models that bring fresh possibilities to each faction. Less warlocks and warbeast packs may not be as exciting as gargantuans, but there are still plenty of fun releases in this book.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Hordes Exigence Review: Trollbloods
IN SHORT: Hordes Exigence is here, so let’s take a look. As with previous releases, every Hordes army receives a host of new toys, this time throwing out powerful character warbeasts, lesser warlocks, and two of the new warbeast packs. Like all Privateer Press releases, the book is printed in full color with page after page of impressive new artwork.
So, let’s take a look at the new Trollblood models.
BORKA, VENGEANCE OF THE RIMSHAWS: Borka is back and he’s riding a bear! With solid offensive and defensive stats, Borka is all about getting in your opponent’s face and then pounding said face. His large base does bring the usual vulnerabilities, and his Fury stat is low, so he certainly isn’t without weaknesses. But what he really brings is ways to penalize an opponent’s aggression.
First, his spell Battle Charged grants his whole battlegroup Counter Charge, allowing them a free charge when enemies stop within 6” of them (with a few restrictions). Second, he also grants his battlegroup Immunity: Cold, which isn’t a big deal until you see his feat.
With Ice Storm, Borka gives his whole army Stealth (again a tool to deliver his army to the opponent’s face). That’s nice, but this feat’s kicker is when an enemy lands a melee attack against his Immunity: Cold model. They suffer Stationary! Warmachine and Hordes often comes down to whoever hits first and hardest. With Borka’s feat, he’s going to penalize the heck out of any army trying to strike before him.
Have fun!
DOZER & SMIGG: Start with a Dire Troll Blitzer and replace the gun with a powerful but inaccurate AOE attack. This character warbeast brings a lot of support to ranged troll armies. First, it grants friendly Blitzers +2 to all of their attack rolls while they can see Dozer & Smigg. Very nice! Second, its animus gives +2 to ranged attack rolls and also allows the deviation and / or distance of deviation to be rerolled. Third, if you take Dozer & Smigg with Gunnbjorn, then this warbeast gets boosted blast damage rolls, making its ranged attack even more interesting.
Taking Dozer & Smigg is kind of like taking Blitzer Premium Plus for ranged armies. By itself, it’s not super special. But put it in the right army, and that Premium Plus can be a game changer.
NORTHKIN FIRE EATERS: Sometimes I come across models that make me love this game even more.
So, the Northkin Fire Eaters come with what you’d expect from fire eating trolls. Namely, spray attacks that set people on fire. They also get +5 ARM when receiving fire damage, and actually power up when they’re burning (boosted attack and damage rolls, among other buffs).
So what can you do with this unit? Well, have one of the models set the other two on fire, of course! Then go to town with two fully boosted spray attacks.
I love this game.
TROLLKIN HIGHWAYMEN: A solid no-nonsense unit built around using combined ranged attacks or putting out an impressive number of shots (2 per model). They also come with Gunfighter so they can keep fighting with their pistols in melee, Camouflage to help keep them safe from enemy shooting, and Swift Hunter for a little extra mobility when they kill something.
A nice addition to the Trollblood arsenal.
HORGLE IRONSTRIKE: Horgle is a lesser warlock who focuses solely on Pyre Trolls and Slag Trolls. But that’s okay, because he makes both of them cheaper by 1 point and can enhance their ranged attacks with Hot Shot, granting boosted ranged damage rolls to one battlegroup warbeast.
Horgle can also team up with either warbeast and pump out multiple +2 melee damage buffs to nearby models. He’s no slouch in melee either, with easy access to those same buffs and a sword that inflicts Continuous Fire.
So, yeah. This is one solid lesser warlock.
BRAYLEN WANDERHEART, TROLLKIN OUTLAW: Braylen is a solo that comes with everything the Trollkin Highwaymen have, only better. Better guns, better stats, better defensive abilities, and so on. With Luck, she can reroll misses for her twin POW 12 heavy pistols, and with Gun & Run, she can kill something and then back away to safety.
She’s also an Opportunist, granting additional attack and damage dies when in something’s back arc, and she grants this ability to Trollkin Highwaymen that can see her. Definitely worth consider alone or with a posse of Highwaymen.
SUMMARY: Privateer Press introduces another set of new models that bring fresh possibilities to each faction. Less warlocks and warbeast packs may not be as exciting as gargantuans, but there are still plenty of fun releases in this book.
Check out the complete list of Warmachine and Hordes articles here.
Interstellar – Movie Review
IN SHORT: The Earth’s blighted crops are dying off. Now a small group of astronauts must venture beyond our solar system in hopes of finding a new home for humanity.
WHAT IT IS: A fantastically imaginative film that explores several hard science theories while maintaining a heart wrenching father-daughter core to it. Black holes, wormholes, time dilation, and a few surprises find a home in this breathtaking film.
WHAT IT IS NOT: While Interstellar is built on a solid foundation of science, there were a few “science” moments that took me out of the movie. More nitpicks that anything else, really. Same with the human elements.
WHAT I THOUGHT: Go see this movie.
Seriously, just stop reading and go see it. It’s that good. I’m struggling to remember the last time I was this impressed with a movie. Also, it’s going to be hard for me to talk about it for fear of spoilers, but I’ll do my best.
At its core, Interstellar is about exploring the unknown set against a backdrop of desperation. Earth is dying, and people need a new home. It explores the edge of our understanding of physics, then dives off that edge. The movie takes its science seriously, and tries to be true to our current understanding of the universe. Don’t believe me? Some individual frames took 100 hours to render because they accurately modeled how light bends. Now that’s attention to detail!
The story comes with a powerful emotional core, enhanced with a healthy dose of space travel mucking up the passage of time. The tumultuous relationship between Cooper and his daughter can be heart wrenching at times. I actually got a little misty eyed over this one, and that doesn’t often happen to me at the movies.
The music deserves special note for effectively setting the mood. For example, there’s a scene around the movie’s middlish section that shows one of the Ranger space shuttles docking with the larger Endurance (the circular spaceship featured in the movie posters). All by itself, it’s a fairly standard docking sequence. Add in the music, and ohmygoshSTRESS!
And that’s another thing. This is not a relaxing movie to watch. It is STRESSFUL. The plight of humanity is communicated very effectively to the viewer. Wheat is gone. Okra is gone. Corn is basically the only crop left, and it’s starting to die. Things are GRIM, and this ratchets up the tension for all the space scenes that follow.
That being said, grounding a movie in science this firmly can be a double-edged sword. The smallest pebbles in the story can feel like boulders. For example …
START – MINOR SPOILERS
- The agricultural blight breathes nitrogen instead of oxygen. It’s implied the blight will win against oxygen breathing life forms because the Earth’s atmosphere has so much nitrogen in it. This seemed a bit silly to me, given how inert nitrogen is under normal circumstances.
- So, we’ve got this super-massive black hole called Gargantua with a bunch of planets orbiting around it. I kept wondering if the radiation from the accretion disc would make all the planets glow in the dark. Then again, given Gargantua’s size (100 million suns in mass), those planets are probably quite a distance away. Well, except for the one that’s so close its time is dilated like crazy, which brings me to my biggest complaint …
- With three planets to choose from, the crew picks the absolute worst to try first. They clearly know that one hour on the planet equals seven Earth years, and at least some of them have a strong grasp of relativity. With the first expedition leaving about ten years before them, at best they have a little over an hour of data from the planet surface (which should be clear from the quantity of data and its timestamps). Never mind the problems of colonizing such a world in the first place. Any ship you send to the surface comes back years later.
END – MINOR SPOILERS
There were also a smattering of odd moments between the characters, but these complaints really amount to nitpicks and nothing more. In the end, Interstellar delivers and then some.
So check it out if you’re looking for a story with heart where the science behind the adventure really matters. Just synchronize your watches before stepping into the theater. You know. Just in case.
VERDICT: Strongly recommended.
Physics of the Impossible – Book Review
IN SHORT: A wonderfully optimistic glimpse of the future, viewed through the prism of advanced modern sciences and the creations of many beloved sci-fi franchises.
WHAT IT IS: A delightful thought experiment. Take a sci-fi trope and ask the question “Is there anything in our current understanding of physics that says we can’t do this?” If the answer is no, then explore how we could theoretically do that. Chapter 1 covers building force fields.
WHAT IT IS NOT: Don’t expect complex equations, mathematical proofs, graphs of hard data, or engineering diagrams, but also don’t let that dissuade you. Michio Kaku is a thoroughly talented communicator of Big Ideas. Throughout the book, he skillfully keeps the discussion understandable (most of the time, anyway), even when talking about string theory or positrons traveling backwards through time.
WHAT I THOUGHT: This book is awesome! Seriously, I’m struggling to remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. Here’s a snippet of a recent conversation I had while reading Physics of the Impossible.
Jacob Holo: I think I just figured out a way to destroy a planet with a flashlight.
H.P. Holo: How?
Jacob Holo: First I need a sum of negative matter the size of Jupiter.
H.P. Holo: I don’t have that in my purse.
Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed every last chapter, even when it started to get really out there with time travel craziness.
Michio Kaku takes a lot of familiar ideas from science fiction, such as parallel universes and cloaking devices, then guides the reader on a journey of what may be in the centuries and millennia to come. Along the way, he draws upon a wide sampling of science fiction tales both popular and obscure, old and new. Together with well written stories about famous scientists and their theories, he weaves a memorable base from which to explore Big Questions.
Is that impossible?
Could we someday do that?
How?
Take teleportation, for example. Most of us are familiar with beaming from the Star Trek franchise, but did you know that physicists are already tackling real teleportation experiments? Granted, we’re talking about an atom of cesium here or a clump of rubidium there. But still. Teleportation. It could happen, probably not like we see it in Star Trek, but it could happen because nothing in our current understanding of physics says we can’t.
Plus any book that references Xenosaga and Invader Zim in the same breath gets bonus points from me. From metamaterials for invisibility cloaks to negative matter throats for stable wormholes, Michio Kaku tackles a wide range of topics. Seriously people, Chapter 1 explains how to build a force field. A force field! Chapter 12 covers time travel.
For anyone who loves both science fiction and the science of what may be, this book comes with my strongest possible recommendations. Go ahead. Dive in. I loved it, and I think you will too.
VERDICT: Strongly recommended.
Dead Space: Scary Space
SPOILER WARNING!Â
This article contains SPOILERS for the Dead Space trilogy.Â
You have been warned!
The ability to evoke an emotional response is one powerful one, and fear is a very potent emotion.
I remember being intimidated by the original Dead Space’s main menu alone. I didn’t even want to start that first game. So creepy! Naturally, different people will have different reactions. Some of us are desensitized to certain stimuli (for example, H.P. laughs when people get eaten in Attack on Titan), while others aren’t so hardy (that same show gives me nightmares).
This story is about my journey through the Dead Space trilogy. It starts with a truly fantastic and terrifying game: the original Dead Space. For me, it was one of my most memorable gaming experiences of recent memory. The game positively oozed atmosphere and presented a repressive sense of isolation.
Granted, this wasn’t the bowel clearing fear of a game like Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but it was more than enough for someone like me who dabbles with scary games, but prefers not to be permanently, psychologically scarred by them.
So, yes. Dead Space was the right scary game for me. Yes, it frightened me, but I had guns (or really wicked mining tools, in this case). I could deal with it.
One of the things I really enjoyed was just how alone you feel in the game. True, there is a smattering of supporting characters. And yes, you do get to interact with them before they meet gruesome fates. But, for most of the game, you are alone. Horribly, unbearably alone. It’s just you and your plasma cutter against a haunted ship full of space zombies that want to eat your face.
And it’s not only the necromorphs. Just about everything you come across wants you dead, including the ship, the asteroids around it, and the very vacuum of space. Dead Space places you alone in a truly oppressive environment, and I enjoyed (I’m using the term loosely here) every minute of it.
Then came Dead Space 2, and it too was a blast to play. But something was different, something that took me a while to figure out.
You see, I wasn’t alone anymore. Isaac Clarke, the silent protagonist from Dead Space (well, except for horrible screams of pain) was now an absolute chatterbox. In Dead Space, I was on my own against everything the Ishimura could throw at me. I was Isaac. In Dead Space 2, I tagged along with Isaac for the ride.
That made a huge difference for me. I found that I was much more at ease turning the next blood-splattered corner now that I had a badass engineer at my side, strange as that may seem. The shift from silent protagonist to a more fleshed out character really made the game a lot less scary. For me, personally, at least.
That’s not to say it didn’t have its share of brilliant moments. The return to the Ishimura? Definitely my favorite part of the second game. That long, drawn out lull in the action kept me on edge as I crept deeper and deeper into the ship’s decommissioned halls to the point where I was begging the game to throw something at me.
When the necromorphs finally arrived, it was awesome.
Dead Space 3 was … well, it just didn’t feel like the same game.
Sure, we still had the space zombies and the disturbing environments, but something was lost on the way from 1 to 2 to 3. The Dead Space games have always been big on jump scares, but Dead Space 3 seemed to take this to a ridiculous extreme. A huge chunk of the game was dominated by mobs of slasher and puker necromorphs jumping out of vents and running at me from all sides.
Sure, jump scares make you jump. That’s what they do. It’s a very human, very understandable response to a surprising stimulus. But after a while, it gets old. I became desensitized. Yeah, I still jumped here and there, but after that initial startled flash came another emotion.
Annoyance.
I tried playing through Dead Space 3 with my faithful plasma cutter, but abandoned it for heavier weaponry about halfway through. I became sick of fast necromorph mobs swarming me, stun-locking me, and having to furiously press the Do-Not-Die button to break their scripted animated holds.
So I retired my plasma cutter for some of the new weapons like shotguns and rocket launchers. I wasn’t even shooting off limbs at this point. Just overwhelming the enemies with sheer damage output, trying to survive a boring spam of cannon fodder. It felt like a different game to me.
To a certain degree, it was. Machine guns? Rocket launchers? Co-op? Many of the additions amped up the action and, as a side effect, lowered the tension. A few necromorphs charging you and your nearly empty plasma cutter is scary. Twenty of them charging your fully loaded rocket launcher? Not so much.
But the strangest addition came in the form of Unitology soldiers. Sure, additional enemy variety sounds good, but here it came at a price. By the time the climax arrived, I had basically wiped out a whole paramilitary army single-handedly (with the occasional necromorph eating a few of them). Those final soldiers blocking my path seemed afraid of me rather than the other way around. For the first time in the series, I really felt like the unstoppable juggernaut rather than the isolated engineer struggling to survive.
I still enjoyed Dead Space 3, but not nearly as much as the previous two games. Again, a lot of this comes down to personal preference. I bought Dead Space 3 because I wanted more of the same intense experiences I had in the first two games.
What I received was a horror game watered down by more guns and more enemies.
Meh. Could have been better.
Holo Writing at DragonCon!
CONVENTION TIP: When visiting a convention, even one you’re only going to as a fan, bring business cards. If you have bookmarks or flyers, bring those too. Seriously, you never know who you might strike up a conversation with.
Yeah, about that. At DragonCon, I had to give someone my engineering business card instead of my Holo Writing card. Not my most professional moment there. Oh well. Lesson learned.
So, H.P. and I went to DragonCon and had a wonderful time. There were a huge number of impressive costumes on display, and the panel selection was superb. Highlights for us were the Mass Effect Voice Talent Panel (featuring Mark Meer, voice actor for Commander Shepard cosplaying as Commander Shepard, among a few others). We could tell Mark Meer had experience at improv comedy because he kept the panel lively and on track.
We also got to see a new episode of Doctor Who a little early. Getting to watch an episode of that show with over a thousand other fans was an awesome experience, and it was a really smartly done episode that makes me excited about Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor.
For this year, we focused on “easier” costumes, going as the 10th and 11th Doctors respectively. Now I put “easier” in italics because H.P. doesn’t do things halfway. She actually sewed together her own 10th Doctor suit, pin-stripes and all! She finished the last details in the hotel room the first day of the convention.
Talk about dedication to the hobby. But it was worth it! I simply bought the pieces for my costume. I also discovered something about myself that surprised me. It turns out I really like bowties. I’m going to start wearing them more often.
H.P. also wore a few other costumes, just for some variety during the convention. She portrayed Yomiko Readman from Read or Die and Eruka Frog from Soul Eater.
While walking around we heard someone shouting after us: “Eruka! Eruka!” It turned out to be two young ladies cosplaying as Blair and Mizune from Soul Eater. They were kind enough to pose with H.P. for a group picture.
Both of them wore excellent costumes, though I have to say the one young lady’s Mizune costume was particularly impressive. She also got into her character with a bit of mousey timid behavior, hiding her face in her costume. Very well done!
And <sigh> I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but here goes.
CONVENTION TIP: If you see an attractive young woman in a revealing costume, DO NOT ASK HER TO EXPOSE HER BREASTS IN PUBLIC!
Seriously, people. Seriously. I can’t believe someone did that while we were taking these group pictures.
Seriously.
Anyway, enough of that. How about we finish off this article with some more awesome costumes? Heck yeah!
Soul Eater Cosplay: Eruka Frog
Moving a long drive away from my seamstress mother led me to stop mooching off her sewing skills and finally teach myself how to sew. This is the result!
I chose Eruka Frog from Soul Eater as my first genuine sewing project because of the simplicity of the costume. Pattern-wise, it comes down to a polka-dotted sundress, long sleeve T-Shirt, tights, and boots, three of which can easily be purchased and used as-is*. However, her distinctive frog hat is also a must, and having never made a hat before, I wanted to tackle that, too.
*supposedly. I had a hard time finding white boots that weren’t cheap costume boots, but I assume they exist somewhere.
For the dress, I used Simplicity pattern 2176Â and patterned cotton cloth. The pattern itself required minimal alterations, but the cloth I chose ended up presenting some small problems: The relative transparency of the polka dots made any seams behind the dots visible upon close examination, and of course, by the nature of patterned cloth, it was nearly impossible to make the polka dots flow seamlessly from piece to piece.
After the costume was finished, I happened upon several tutorials that suggested beginning with black cloth and painting the polka dots on once it was finished. Should I ever remake this costume, this might be the approach that I’ll take.
After the dress came the hat, which was loads of fun to make!
I used a combination of tutorials to guide the design. Shironotenshi’s at DeviantArt was the main one. I deviated from it some in that I used orange broadcloth instead of stretch cotton (for the main hat), Free Form Air instead of Sculpey (for the eyes), and that I didn’t use spray adhesive (for the internal batting) but rather sewed everything together after stuffing the upper portion.
I used broadcloth because it was cheap, and I (correctly) anticipated making many mistakes until everything came together nicely.
Free Form Air I used because I had it lying around anyway, and also because it is a very light material that was less likely to weigh down and disfigure the hat. It’s also easy to sand, which enabled me to get a nice, round, eye-like shape with minimal effort. And while we’re on it, to mold the eyes, I just plopped the stuff in a 2” wide PVC pipe cap, stuck in some .25” O-rings, and let it dry. (Should you want to do this, note that you’ll want to line the cap with something like plastic wrap to prevent the Free Form Air from sticking to the mold.)
When it came to determining the size of the brim, I found the earlier tutorials too vague, so I switched to this one, which helped me determine the brim size using the magic of math!
The hat was easily my favorite part of the project. Ultimately, a combination of incorrectly estimating the size of my head and having to make an extra seam (and thus lose .25”) ended up making it a little too small, but overall I think it came out quite well.
The costume debuted at a local con earlier this year, but is not as finished as I intend it to be. About a week before the con, I remembered that I hadn’t secured any white boots, so I attempted to convert an old pair of black leather boots. This ended disastrously, thus necessitating an emergency shoe change.
From now on, I’ll listen to tutorials when they tell me not to use regular spray paint on leather boots.
Because of some admittedly amateurish mistakes, I’ll likely remake parts of the costume in the future (bigger hat, more accurate polka dots on the dress, etc.). However, for the first project I completed entirely on my own, I was quite pleased with the result.
In the future, I hope to add boots (of course), Eruka’s suitcase, and possibly a Tadpole Jackson prop.