Goodbye 2017. Begone!

So within a few more hours 2017 will finally be over (well, in Australia at least) and good riddance I say. I know lots of people really bagged out 2016, but for me 2016 was not that bad. No, for me 2017 was one of the worst years I've had in a while and that is an understatement.

I won't deny that this year still had its good moments (I know I've done my best to talk about them previously on this site over all the negative things that have happened), but both my health and personal life have gone through hell this year (I'll spare you details) and to be honest, 2018 ain't looking much better, but I guess I can go into it in some vain 'hope for the best' attitude.

Now that I have gotten that out of my system, I hope you all have a Happy New Year and a great start to your 2018 year.

Short Review: Armello (PC)

Ah yes, this is one of those games I love but haven't talked about much. Armello is described as a board game style game with strategic and role-playing elements involved. Taking place in a the fantasy land of Armello which is a land populated by anthropomorphic animals that a more animal in appearance who act more human-like (yes, there are several styles of anthropomorphic creatures and this is just one style). The King Lion (because of course a Lion would be King, most series always have Lions as Kings) has begun acting rather strange and aggressive, drawing the attention of the four prominent Clans: The Wolf, The Rabbit, The Rat and The Bear. These Clans investigation leads to the discovery that the King is being corrupted by a dark power known as Rot. As the Rot gets work, the King's madness becomes more apparent and despite slowly dying from it, the damage being done is throwing the land into chaos. Now Heroes are setting fourth to defeat the King, claim the crown and restore order to a land inflicted by madness.

Twiss from the Bandit DLC is my fav to play.

The game is easy enough to learn, the prologue helping to introduce players on how to play the game, though achieving some of the victories can be rather problematic. First off, you start by selecting your Hero. Despite some being from the same Clan, it really is every Hero for themselves, though in games with friends you could role-play by helping each other out (though you'd probably end up screwing each other over in the end). Each Hero has a set of stats which are Fight, Body, Wits and Spirit. Fight is related to combat combat, Body is the amount of health you have, Wits determine card numbers and dice for Perils tests and Spirit is related to magic Perils tests. Each Hero also has a special ability unique to them. Once you have selected your character, you then get to choose a ring from your selected Clan with their own abilities. Most are locked and you unlock them by simply playing games with Heroes from that Clan. Finally you select an amulet which tend to be limited to a stat boost, but you later unlock other ones from either winning certain types of victories, playing with each hero, playing games and playing online games. DLC character packs also have rings and amulets added to the list for use.

Once you start the game you get some cards, gold and magic to start you off and then you select a quest, which will show you on the map where you need to go to do it. Each quest has a stat symbol on it and the number on your stat is what percent chance of success you to acquire the reward. You also get that stat buffed just doing the quest, so you can either focus on buffing your strengths or helping your flaws. After doing a number of quests you will eventually get a quest that will grant you free access to the palace. Otherwise, the only other way into the palace is to break in, which requires using up all your actions and passing either a Wits or Spirit peril (depending on which side of the castle you enter) and failure will cost you health and kick you out, so only high Wits/Spirit character have any real chance of breaking in, though you can always get lucky (or smart about it). For the most part, you'll be doing quests, equipping items and followers, setting perils on tiles, casting spells, attacking/defending against other Heroes/Palace Guards/Banes (Banes are Raven/Crow like creatures born of Rot) all in the hopes of winning the game. You have three actions which are used to either move or attack, while cards can be used in any players turn so long as you have the requirements and any player you plan to use it on isn't busy.

Cards are another important part of the game. Most are earned at the start of turns, but some can be acquired through quests, treasure hunts and other events. There are four types of cards: Item (both normal and treasures), Followers, Magic and Trickery. Most have money or magic costs, though some can cost Prestige or increase your Rot level. Most Item cards can be attached to a character to give them combat or map effects, but some are one use items to restore things like health or a turns worth of effects. Followers can be attached to grant additional effects too. A Hero can only have three Item and three Followers attached to them at one time. Magic has can be cast on yourself to give you positive effects or cast on enemies for negative effects, just remember that you can buff other Heroes with your spells so take note or you may end up buffing then accidentally just before they attack you. Finally there is Trickery, which can be use to form packs with other Heroes, grant you a bonus, set up perils to slow enemies and generally screw around with everyone.

Combat involves an attacker and a defender and which one you are tends to make a difference when it comes to abilities and items. So for instance, the Heavy Flail item states 'In Battle, when Attacking, +2 Swords or the Tower Shield item which says 'In Battle, +1 Shield. When Defending, gain an additional +1 Shield'. When starting combat, both fighters start with dice based on Fight stat, which then gets modified by things like abilities and items. Rot can also effect the number of dice as the combatant with the higher Rot level gains additional dice based on the opponent's lower Rot level (those without Rot are unaffected by this). The game then adds the effects of items, spells and abilities in, leaving the rest of the dice for you to roll. At this point you can burn cards, as each card has a symbol you can see in the top right-hand corner. You can sacrifice the card to turn one of your dice into that symbol. Once you have done all that (or time runs out), the dice are rolled and tallied up into attack and defense. Swords are attack, Shields are defense, Sun and Moon count as attack depending if it is day or night (otherwise they don't work), Wyld (Tree) symbols explode, adding to your attack and giving an additional dice roll while the Rot (Worm) ones fail, though if a character becomes Corrupted by the Rot, then they switch places and Rot gives the bonus and Wyld fails. Then each side attacks and defends, with the winner forcing the looser back one tile and moving forward (if both survive), the attacker taking the tile of the slain defender, staying where they are if a tie or attacker lost or the defender killing the attacker (who still remains on their tile). Killing another Hero or Bane grants one Prestige while killing a Palace Guard will cost you one Prestige.

The King himself is the main goal of the game. At Dawn the King looses one health, while at Dusk the King gains one Rot, thus adding a turn limit before the game finally ends. Your goal of winning comes from one of four victories. The first is Prestige which is earned by completing quests, killing other Heroes and Banes and some come from card effects. If no one kills the King before he naturally dies, then the Hero with the highest Prestige (the Prestige leader) becomes the winner. The second way is to cure the King by collecting four Spirit Stones, enter the palace and use them on the King (same as attacking but a different effect will take place). Kingslayer is simply to enter the palace and kill the King without falling to the King in the same combat. Finally there is Rot victory, which is the same as Kingslayer, but you have to be strongly corrupted by Rot when you do so. Most of these victories can prove difficult when everyone is trying to screw you over, though most usually end in a Prestige victory.

Personally, I really like this game. It has all the charm of a great board game, the art style definitely gives it that feel, while the game itself is accessible on most consoles and PC. The music is very much how I'd expect it to go in this sort of fantasy setting and I do enjoy listening to the soundtrack at times when I want to get that feel while doing something creative (or even just relaxing to it). The art and animation on the cards is great and really helps give them personality and character, making me want to learn more about this realm and it's inhabitants. I have had a game or two with my Brother to show him the basics with a few A.I. added in and it was enjoyable (even in a not talking game like this, I'm still too anxious to play with random people, so I'm sorry if I can't tell you what multiplayer is actually like). Bug wise, I've never experienced any yet, but some reviews do mention them (then again, most talk about them when a player disconnects during a multiplayer game, so maybe that's why I haven't seen any).

I feel what gets me is just how much they can expand on this IP. I mean, it isn't a simple little world of fuzzy animals with minor problems that can be resolved in some fun adventure, this is full on combat. The Squire card states that when you would be killed, the Squire is killed instead and even the trailers show scenes with implied murder and bloodshed. Personally, this could make for an interest animated show or movie, given how more mature animation is becoming a stronger thing these days. Certainly merchandise could easily expanded on, from novels, art, dice, display pieces or heck, even an actual miniatures board game. There is so much more they could do, though I would also love them to add perhaps a lore section to the game, with character profiles and maybe some more information about minor characters and locations perhaps.

But back on topic, I really enjoy this game and while I am unsure about whether or not the DLC or micro-transactions are reasonably priced (then again, character skins are much cheaper compared to games like Heroes of the Storm, just not as plentiful though Mercurio with a mustache just sounds hilarious). The character DLC tends to add more Heroes and ring options (and so long as the main host in multiplayer has them, other players without them can still try these Heroes out in that match), while the seasons one just adds spring and autumn textures and weather effects to the board, but only the purchaser sees them. Still, even if you don't pick any of these up it is still a great time, so check out some gameplay footage and decide if it's the right game for you.

A look at The Midnight Stalker

So I got myself The Midnight Stalker miniature for my Outcast crew, purely based on how great the character looks (seriously, I'd love a costume like that). Oh course, I know nothing about the character or his rules, but from what I can tell he's a serial killer who has a code of conduct.

This is clearly shown in his rules. Respect for the Art states he cannot target enemy models if they have already activated that turn (probably wanting to give them a chance). That said, he has a nice counter as his Polite and Well-Mannered rule means if he has not yet activated, enemy models get a double negative to Attack duels targeting him. On top of his DF/WP of 6, means he is incredible difficult to attack if he has not activated, though he only has 6 wounds. So you have to decide do you activate him first or last in a turn.

He can ignore intervening models during his walk or charge actions, he gains fast when on his opponent's half of the board and to top it all off, at the beginning of each turn he heals all damage and can be placed within 8 inches of it's current position. On top of that he has a 0 tactical action that grants him a condition where if he deals damage that turn, anyone targeting him must pass a TN 14 WP duel or that action fails, but still cost the AP that was spent on it.

Finally, there is his combat. He has no range, but has a decent MI 6 attack with a 2 inch range and does decent damage with the ram critical strike trigger available (but not built in). He also has a 1 AP tactical action which adds an extra ram to the total for every enemy model it's engaged with, with it's own tomes trigger (not built in) which forces an enemy model that's within it's engagement range to take a TN 11 Horror duel, which could help keep others off his back.

Overall, I really love this characters rules and I look forward to eventually using him. As for the miniature, it was really good spur, making it easy to assemble compared to some other of Wyrd's products. Probably limited for a paint scheme, but I still look forward to working on him.

So......Malign Portents eh?

This is one of those cases where I don't know what to think or if I should say anything. Simply put, I feel like talking about it might hype myself up, only to be struck down by disappointment. What do I mean, well Games-Workshop is slowly showing off new miniatures for some upcoming Age of Sigmar product called Malign Portents. What is Malign Portents? Haven't a clue as it is extremely vague to the point I can't tell what kind of an event it will be, if you need to by a book just to use these miniatures or if they'll add them to a White Dwarf, let alone what it will be about. So why get interested then? Well, I'm liking the look at some of the new miniatures.

First of we have the Death factions character called the Knight of Shrouds, which while not matching my Skeleton/Vamp Bat theme Death forces, does really add to the style of many Death armies. Could see many Nighthaunt armies taking this one.

The next one they have up is the Darkoath Warqueen, who I just love as for a massive mortal force that has both male and female warriors, we rarely have female miniatures and I imagine the rules for this character will be fairly badass. I do feel like this is a miniature I could definitely add to my Chaos faction.

Now on to the final one they currently have up and this one I feel is simply amazing. The Fungoid Cave-Shaman is one of those miniatures I feel someone like my Glibbins character would have eventually evolve into. Perhaps I should re-consider doing a small AoS Skirmish force based around this guy (though am still disappointed that Squigs, Chiefs and Shamans from the Moonclan Grots were never added to Skirmish. That game really needs an expansion).

Overall, I do like these new miniatures. Whether I'll ever get any to paint is something else entirely, but they still look great.

So that's what I did wrong...

...and I feel very, very stupid for not figuring it out.

In my time doing photography I have learned much from online courses and Internet tutorials, so imagine my surprise today when I learned something new that I should have known a some time ago. It was actually from the most recent White Dwarf article which drew my attention on how to photograph miniatures, something I've been wanting to improve as it has been a frustrating problem I've been facing recently (one of the main reasons I haven't uploaded anything in a while).

See, it involves what they called the 'f-stop' and it was something I knew what it did, but had difficulty in using it, mostly cause I assumed it was automatic on my camera as I never found how to alter it. That ended today as not only did I learn more about it from the article, but found a short passage on a site that told me how to work it. Needless to say, this, along with the meeting I had today, has made it a positive day (despite the heat causing me to feel somewhat ill. Yeah, I live in Queensland, its Summer and I struggle with the heat. Fun times).

All I need is some slightly dimmer light bulbs for the two lamps I have and I believe I can start getting the miniatures photographed again (the bulbs I have a bright, great for green screening, not good for miniature photography).

Health & Projects Update

Throwing out just a quick update on situations. Health is still bad, but at least I still have some support out there. Never realized just how bad the health system can be until you actually need it the most. Still, trying to stay positive, though have become a little over frustrated and paranoid as of late. Not sure if its just the situation or the medication, but we'll see what happens over the holiday period.

Now on to the more important stuff, the projects. As such, both Wilma and Maurice are now completed (completed feels inaccurate of a term, perhaps more like 'Well, I'm done"). I've also completed the Gremlin depleted one which I have now named Franky The Depleted, though he has earned the nickname of Mr. Tickles, mostly because of the tendril arms.

The Thalarian Queller is giving me more trouble though as there really isn't any full art of her that I could find and searching for completed models has lead to s single low res version, so I haven't much to go by in painting her and my frustration in doing so is through the roof. I want to finish her off so I can get right into the Jakob Lynch Brilliance crew. While I previously did finish the Hungering Darkness, I am thinking of repainting him as I feel purples are a better colour and using blues to highlight the energy effects might prove to be a better choice.

It's strange, but when I'm creating/converting characters, I feel odd. Not in a negative way, but certainly something that could be described as more positive. I'm not sure what to make of it.

Anyway, perhaps I'll get some shots uploaded soon. We'll see.

Pig Painter

If there is one thing I've learned from painting Maurice's pig companion Wilma, is that painting pigs isn't as problematic as I thought. Actually, it is rather fun. All it requires is just the layering of more human flesh colours, before blending them in with a mixture of the first layer flesh paint watered down mixed with a red wash to add a sort or red/pink colour to darken it. This wash mix was done over the model once, with a second and possible third wash done over areas that were a little too bright to blend them in more (the lightness between the middle layer and the highlight layer tends to be much brighter with the paints I have). Flesh colour mixed with a redish colour is then added to the snout to help give it a darker touch. Now all I need is lots of mud.

Wilma so far, still needs some highlights and more mud work.

I am quite happy with how it's turning out so far and so naturally my attention has turned to looking at Ulix and having a pig focused crew, perhaps as a future project sometime next year. I do love the idea of doing a 25 Soul Stone henchman lead crew, with Old Major leading his pig crew of say two Wild Boars, one Swine-cursed (he's spent so much time in pig form he's now come to love it) and a Piglet.