Wolf Of Sigmar Short Review

Warning: Contains some spoilers.

While the last two books in The Black Plague trilogy went smooth enough, this book is some what confusing. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story an all, but it's the  shifting timelines that has me perplexed. I'll give an example to best explain what I mean.

The battle starts in Dietershafen in the year 1119 with Mandred's forces engaging the Skaven led by Sythar Doom of Clan Skryre, then the next part is in Skavenblight in the year 1121 with Sythar Doom now in a Council of Thirteen meeting before we return once again back to the battle of Dietershafen in the year 1119. It's like this throughout the book and while the years are only so far apart and they a still somewhat connected story-wise, it does tend to start irritating you after a while. I'm not sure if this was the intention of the Author or some editorial decision, but I'm fairly sure the previous two books didn't follow this time crisscross format (I'll check and update this if it's incorrect).

The story itself is the rise of Mandred to eventually becoming the next Emperor and the defeat of the Skaven conquest. The book itself seems to take place a few years after the last one with most of the Empire under Skaven control. The book still switches between the various points of view from Mandred, Kreyssig along with a few other humans and of course, the various Skaven leaders. One of the main reasons I enjoy the Skaven written by C.L.Werner is that he really understands Skaven and can create some really enjoyable characters (which is why he is usually the one to write books featuring them) and he does indeed show them and their weaknesses well. After all, Mandred may be this great legendary hero, but the only thing that can bring the Skaven down are, of course, the Skaven themselves.

While this does finish up the Black Plague trilogy nicely, the timelinissue tends to cost it a little. Some people may think nothing of it, but for me it was the one thing I couldn't ignore. Still, I enjoyed it and found this book had some really interesting parts to it that kept me reading into the night. Now, if they could only get C.L.Werner to write a trilogy on the second Skaven civil war....

This Song Is In My Head!!

....and I can't explain why I like it so much. Perhaps I should give this game a go.

Heat Slows Progress

Another bloody heat wave and I'm stuck in this sweat box of a room. Oh well, lets have a sneak peek at the conversion corner:

So lets see, the Mousling is in the process of it's base being trimmed as I blan for it to be on a pathway like base. Not as grand as the last one, but hopefully the colour will make up for that. The next two are for the Inquisition force with a Daemon hunter with a Daemon weapon and my Xenos equivalent of the Daemonhost. Finally, we have the Mevrix conversion in it's most early stage. I'm still trying to decide if that huge shoulder blade is even necessary or if I should convert that spot a little. Same goes for the gut plate and helm as well. His weapon is also having a few troubles in it's conversion too, so with any luck that one can be resolved soon.

WD No, Skaven Yes

So, I've read through the second issue (week 2) of White Dwarf and it really does occur to me just how short lived this series may end up being. My previous complaint against Warhammer: Visions still stands, but it seems that they may have very little to keep me getting this new incarnation of White Dwarf. If anything, it still feels heavily like a money making scheme, with little to do with what the hobby is about. Good luck to anyone who thinks they can convince me otherwise.

On a more positive note, this book apparently was released without me knowing (again, never appeared in both WD and Visions.....well done GW). I can wait to read it and give it my short review treatment, but I'm already pleased with the cover, which I guess is a Chieftain or Warlord. Can't wait to see how the final chapter of this trilogy goes.

A Rescue Rangers Movie?

For those who don't know, I am a big fan of Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers (and Chip n Dale generally), so it's no surprise that when I read various articles about a pitch to Disney wanting to bring these guys back in a new movie I was ecstatic. Then I read those words 'Live-Action/CGI' and I slapped my head.

Ok, while I thought the Alvin and the Chipmunks trilogy was alright (although number two was bad in my opinion), I really cannot forgive the disappointment that was the Smurfs (they live in a fantasy setting, was it really that hard to keep them there?). I admit, bad ideas and horrible writing was the ultimate downfall for the franchises that used the live-action/CGI elements. While the Rescue Rangers have little communication between humans (except regular villains like Professor Nimnul), I fear this will be one of those movies with too much human interaction. something I find tends to take away from the actual stars of the show. It's alright to throw a few police and villain scenes(humans aren't too intelligent in this show), but keep it focused on the animals as they're the focal point of view for the show. We know the story will be an origin story of how the Rangers came to be, though how it will differ from the 4-part cartoon version will be interesting (the 4 part was also the set up for two of their recurring villains, Fat Cat and Professor Nimnul).

I also agree that trying to take an animated character and turning them into a more realistic 3D CGI also has it's problems (why was Garfield the only CGI animal, just looked weird), so I'm also worried how these characters will look like. Will Zipper keep his familiar look or will they make him look more fly like......NO, do NOT make him look more fly like. Whether they can pull off the look I won't know until they start releasing images and it'll probably be a year or two before we see anything.

With that said, I will throw my full support behind this project. As a fan I'm still overjoyed at the thought of the return of the Rescue Rangers.

Also, -1 to it for lack of Foxglove, even though it is an origin story and she only appeared in one episode in season two. She is very popular amongst the fandom, and would return in stories by fans and even in BOOM Studios short comic revival (sadly only 8 issues, but I still enjoyed them). Hopefully if this does go ahead and they ever make a sequel, they’ll bring her back.





.....wonder if they could bring back Disney's Gummi Bears this way? So long as they kept them in their fantasy setting and not say..modern time (to hell with you Smurf movies).

An Engineer Conversion?

As mentioned in one of my more recent posts, I was doing conversions to represent characters I played as in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. While most were those from the Forces of Destruction, I did play some characters from the Forces of Order. One character was based on my model of Kargrog Grimstone, but the rest I created on the spot. Sadly, I forgot most of their names, but the one I played the most of them was a Dwarf Engineer named Geegaw Hackwrench and yes, this character was indeed named after Gadget Hackwrench's father from Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers. This character was one I did want to convert, but wasn't sure how. Now it seems, I may get that opportunity.

Meet Master Engineer Grimm Burloksson. This new to release model for Dwarfs is looking just like the perfect candidate for the conversion. Obviously, the backpack will need to be redone and I'm still trying to remember if the game Engineers used wrenches as melee weapons (in which case, I believe their is one in the 40K miniature line), but apart from that, this model seems to be the best fit (bar a few more alterations). Might even go so far as to great a gun turret on a separate base just to add to the feel (he was grenade spec so it would best be a grenade turret). Liking this idea already.

New Artwork 'First Encounter'

Another Commissioned piece was finished today:

The Artwork was done by the amazing CaptRicoSakara and features Storm Spear, Sparky and Lord Corrupticus Fellwing. This piece is great and I particually like the lighting effects on Storm Spear from various sources. You might also note the lack of scar on Storm Spear, well unfortunately he forgot it (wasn't his fault, I should have been more clearer during the sketch phase), but I wasn't going to bother getting it added on.

In fact, this piece got me thinking as an introduction scene for Corrupticus and as such, would be in a time line just before Storm Spears encounter with the Terror Fiend which resulted in his scar. This encounter would be the starting point in Storm Spears hunt for Corrupticus and would set him about a year or two (or even three I guess) before my initial story lines for the two characters. One day I might even get around to those stories, let alone updating their profile page.

Projects Update 8/2/14

So with those two recent uploads now done, it's time to look at what projects I should focus on next to better clear my desk.

1. Four Warrior Acolytes - All have base coat, but need more details done to get them out of the road.

2. The Everqueen - Oh boy. This model was done as part of an in-store painting and gaming comp....and she's been sitting on my desk since. She needs more fine detail work to finish her off.

3. Musketeer Mousling - This will be my next Mousling project.

4. Celestial Hurricanum - Bloody hell, this thing has driven me nuts with the off again, on again painting. The problem is I am obsessed with details on certain models and because of this, this project has been a real hassle instead of a real pleasure. My focus is to get this over and done with so I can move on to finishing the rest of the Empire Army Challenge (Yeah, remember that?)

Not sure what else I could add, but this is the focus point for the next few weeks. Also plan on doing a few articles (such as Top 5/10 list perhaps, since they are personal choices) and linking them to my profile page to help people get to know me just that bit better.

Mousling and Squigs Done

Both the Barbarian Mousling and the Squigs are now done and uploaded.

...by the power of cheese...

Here's the link to view the pics of them: Gallery

As for what will be done next, that I'm not sure about. A lot is going on at the moment, but with any luck I will figure out soon.

The New WD and Warhammer Visions

Oh boy, with this new release one must wonder what's going on in Games-Workshop to get to this point. I must admit that when I first read what they had planned the thought 'money maker' struck me and felt that the weekly issues would probably be not worth it and I could just focus on the monthly one. Boy was I in for a shock, cause with the books now released and having a good look at them, it seems the opposite has occurred.

White Dwarf Weekly ($6AU)
Much smaller then the old White Dwarf, (though what did you expect from a weekly book) yet still filled with a number of articles. At thirty or so pages, the first thirteen or so are the usual product sell with their new products, most of the rest has various articles. Jervis is in it, along with designer notes and a basic paint guide for the new release product. The Week in White Dwarf article is also nice to read. While it isn't great, it was still better then I thought it would be (far more enjoyment to read then this next mag).

Warhammer: Visions ($13AU)
The best way to describe this is with the words 'lack of vision'. This book went from the limits of Australia and New Zealand to all of Australasia and as such, the language is now consist of three, with English being the main and two (I believe) Asian languages added. This is fine, but it does mean that text is now limited because each paragraph needs to be printed three times. This wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that the battle report is very limited on text, to the point I didn't realize it was one. Another another point is that this is a 228 page book, of which 113 of them is advertising models in various shots (with about 12 of those pages just for store and magazine details) and it's very irritating. I also think that the models they were advertising were the same as last issue, which has me confused. There are a few good articles, such as Kit Bash and the brilliant Blanchitsu, along with various Golden Daemon entries, Army of the Month along with the usual painting guides.

Overall, I will keep my final opinion of the weekly one until a full month has passed. As for Warhammer: Vision, I'm not sure if it is worth the cost as I feel that apart from Kit Bash and Blanchitsu, there isn't anything of personal value to the hobby to be found here. Still, we'll see if this can improved.