A Very Goon Find

Just another day in which the depression eats away at you, so instead I decided to visit that second hand book store that's just up the road. What compelled my to do so I still don't know, but in doing so I did come across a great find.

I am a fan of The Goon Show and despite it's age, it still has many great stories and jokes. These two books are mostly script prints from a number of there shows. For me, I enjoy most of those show, but there are a couple that I don't like. Thankfully (for me anyway), none of those shows are in them. The Book of the Goons also contains copies of Correspondence between the goon cast done in the form of their respected characters and is quite amusing (if a little confusing).

Also, saying 'Thynneeee' does indeed cure you of monkeys on the knees.

The Illness of July

And so I find myself still recovering from a bad cold I got last week and the consistent torment that is depression and anxiety. Sometimes, I just wonder......

Thank goodness for a few things to have recently happen. My tax return came in and I finally got myself a new t.v. Spent over a year using my old tiny colour television, which isn't much use for gaming. Had that one for over 12 years and even though it's speaker has gone, thanks to it's headset port and my iPod dock, it still useful. Even got a Blu-ray player to go with it and all at a very reasonable cost.

It's also Steam's summer sale time and this has also seen a few new games to my collection. These include my favourite Dust: An Elysian Tail as well as Killing Floor, Don't Starve, Guns of Icarus Online, a mass of Sonic games for a bargain price and one game I'm having lot's of fun with, Castle Crashers.

Work is slow on the miniatures. Somehow this whole nonsense with GW's main heads and their attatude has really bummed me out on further purchases. With that said, have ordered a pack of unused Reaper miniatures off Ebay and will give them a shot. I felt that I was more painter/converter/story writer to this hobby compared to actually playing games. Who knows, perhaps something will happen in the future to change all that.

We'll see.

Dragons 2 Teaser

http://vimeo.com/70165791

The teaser for How to train your Dragon 2, coming mid 2014. Judging by this clip, Hiccup could invent just about anything, plus I suspect that the flight scenes will be spectacular.

The Art of...

I like to collect the occasional art book here and there. Most are art books from video games or perhaps an artist I've come across. Yesterday I got one in the mail from a source I have not got one from: Movies.

It's a good look into the original sketches of characters and dragons and how different they look from first concept art to the final product and the reasons behind it. While not majorly in-depth like in one of those behind-the-scenes documentaries, the art and it's various styles are still very fascinating to look at and enjoy.

Mordheim Skaven Update

While slowly working on the Rat Ogre, I have also started testing the Clan Kreepus paint scheme. So far I'm liking the look, but as of this current time, the Warband doesn't have a name. I guess since no characters have been written up, nor any group fluff, that a name has not been thought on. I should go back and re-read the Clan Eshin fluff to get some ideas.

For some reason I really like painting Rat Ogres.

Linkara DVD Vol.1

Linkara DVD Vol.1

....and the moment I read his title I was finding that I was already purchasing it.....

Blighted Empire Short Review

Warning: Contains some spoilers.

 I still have no idea how that Priest became such a powerful Necromancer.

A while back I did a (very) short review of Dead Winter. Blighted Empire is the sequel to it and kicks off about a year after the events in Dead Winter. I liked how they recapped the important events from the first book in the form of of a scholar who is recalling those events, explaining them as from his previous volume and that these events are from his second based on his research from that period of time.

The book focuses on four main locations of the Empire for the stories (Altdorf, Middenheim, Sylvania and eventually, Carroburg) and of the characters within them. We still follow the main characters from the first book, though the Skaven characters have shifted somewhat. While we finally see the true purpose of Seerlord Skritter and his plan for the moon (something that was kept very vague in the first book), the torch moves more away from Clan Pestilens and more towards the Grey Lords and their planned assaults of the surface world.

The stories themselves are fairly good, with more character development for characters like Mandred and Kreyssig. While the first book builds up the characters and the horror of the Black Plague, this one launches the insidious invasion of the Skaven as the various Grey Lords launch their invasions, with the same belief that they will be the one to show their rivals. As you can expect with all Skaven plans, they are ingenious, intelligent and very cunning. And like all Skaven plans, they always possess one obvious flaw.

One of my few complaints is that, unlike the first book, this one feels almost like it had finished up without telling the full story, namely the ending. Perhaps this is ment to leave more mystery as to the events in the third book (Wolf of Sigmar in 2014). I also felt that the battle in Altdorf didn't seem as big or grand compared to the ones in Middenheim and Sylvania, considering how quickly it ended (though that might be me just being nit picky). One thing I did love was the inclusion of Clan Mordkin in the book. I've always been interested in what purpose the clan could serve in Skaven society and this gives a satisfactory role, particularly with why they are brought in and how they work.

Despite there is still a third book to continue the story, there really wasn't much to tempt the continuation of the story (in other words, no real cliffhanger leaving you wanting more). While it's difficult to say if it is better then the first book (I do recommend reading it before this one), it does well enough as a stand alone book, given how the introduction and ending parts go.