Introducing the Iconics: Princesses

With the recent release of FOE's Princesses, I wanted to run something to put them front and center and well... the best way to do so it is to create some iconics for the game.

Now mind you, these characters are iconics, drawing direct influence from the original characters but one thing I am asked a lot is "can I make one that's different?".

The answer is YES! Princesses presents these character as playable races. So your Snow White could be a fighter or a bard or a wizard!

Bianka

Female Snow White Bard 3 (College of Valor)
Born to nobility you had to exile yourself to avoid persecution by your jealous sisters. You fled your home one night and have been on the road ever since, living from the generosity and your skill at entertaining.

Doncella

Female Cinderella Fighter 3 (Champion)
To say you lived a hard life is a euphemism. You grew up on the streets of a large city. Even in the darkest, coldest night, you always knew you would leave that place and make something of yourself.

Keera

Female Ice Princess Cleric 3 (Domain Arcana)
From a young age, you felt different from other people: you loved the cold, snow, sleet, and ice. You felt the peace of a cold winter evening. So you left your family to live by yourself in the mountain where you discovered the goddess of magic.

Koral

Female Little Mermaid Rogue 3 (thief)
You grew up in an undersea kingdom dreaming of the cities of the People-From-Above. From afar, you watched their chaotic world with amazement. You collected trinkets taken from the docks. When your heritage revealed itself, you walked out into the world to find mementos to bring back home.

Marguerite

Female Belle Wizard 3 (Transmuter)
Your mother used to say there never was a door you left unopened, no book you did not read, and no secret you did not want to be revealed. You discovered magic and took to the magical arts with your usual compulsive interest.

Petunia

Female Rapunzel Barbarian 3 (Berzerker)
To call you an army brat is an understatement. As your parents traveled the world serving as mercenaries, you were excited by the prospect of seeing something new, going someplace new. Now that you are grown, you took your hair and set out to see the world for yourself.

Rosanna

Female Rose Red Ranger 3 (Beastmaster)
No sooner could you walk that you headed to the forest to see what it was. You left home wanting to see what lay hidden inside the forest. When your parents found you petting dire wolf cubs, they freaked out but you just wanted to show them your new puppies. After that, it was bears, dire rats, or wolverines, anything with jaws, claws, or talons.

[Review] Star Trek Continues review.

The first one that I wish to give a review is the 10-episode "Star Trek Continues".

When I first started this series, I expected to watch ten minutes, close it and never watch it again. Some cheap imitation or fanfic title made with a 20$ budget before a bad green screen. The kind of movie you can see on SyFy.

NOT ON YOUR LIFE.

For a Star Trek series, I felt I was back in the 60s watching the final two seasons of the five-year mission... The first episode, "Pilgrim of Eternity" brings back Apollo! One of the villains I liked most in the Original Series (TOS).

The filmography is excellent, with decor, lighting, music and writing that seem taken right out of the 60s.

The depiction of the main characters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy (the second is better than the first, but both are good), and Scotty (played by James Doohan's son). But also the secondary characters who also get expanded roles and more lines: Sulu (played by Mythbusters' Grant), Uhura, and Chekov.

But also the new characters introduced are interesting and add to the plot and complete the crew. I found myself intrigued and wanting to see more of Dr McKennah (first ship's counsilor), Drake the security chief, "Mr" Smith the alternate navigator, and the backup doctor who appears very competent.

About the stories themselves, they deal with a number of "modern topics" such as racism, sexism,

I particularly like the episode on sexism which is written in a way that leaves the whole event very unclear. Very ambivalent. The story leaves the viewer with have to make the decision about the character in question. Is she a victim? Is there more to it? What was Kirk going to say? The story is extremely well-written and I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.

One unique episode "Fairest of them all", takes place in the mirror universe, immediately about "Mirror, Mirror". Very very interesting.

The final two-part episode was also quite memorable. It forms a great bridge between TOS and the Motion Picture. It closes many of the threads it started during its ten-episode run, and it does so in very satisfying way. Using some elements of the series, mixing it with the new elements. Finale was good.

My final verdict on this one... 5/5 I would watch it again. This is top of the line production. Strongly recommended.

New Adventure Blurb for Akhamet on the Patreon!

Just a quick note to let you know about a new blurb about something I am writing right now. All the details are on the FOE Patreon.

I will be posting more previews and teasers for what is coming for all of FOE's settings.

[Review] The Left Behind

This story is simple: after a battle, a clone trooper is left behind on a planet where he has to fight off the locals by himself. He becomes a knife-weilding Rambo who slays all.

The actors have Eastern European accents that gives it some charm but the fighting scenes are weak. Syfy-level of weak.

The story itself is pretty is good with a tragic bend that gives the story charm. Still, it is weak. I hesitated about this one. "Charm" is the best descriptor but it is not overly exciting nor is it something I think gives a new dimension to the overall mythos. In the end I gave it a weak 3/5. I settled on that because I must say I left with a mostly positive view of the story.

[Review] The Old Republic: Rescue Mission

Another short. This one set in the Old Republic piting Jedi, Mandolorians, Republic Forces, and Revan. If you didn't know Revan was a Jedi Master who turned to the Dark Side and who straddled both sides of the Force. He mastered the Light and Dark Side.

A lot of decent action a plot that is "believable," with all of the elements coming together. I really like the portrayal of Revan. The fight choreography were pretty nice. The female jedi was much weaker than her male counterpart, but still I enjoyed it.

My biggest complaint was the level of the music. It went from too loud to acceptable.

I will rate this one a 4/5.

Space Marines Adventures: Separatist

This is the fifth and final member of the five Space Marines from the Space Marines Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necron Lord.

Unlike his Space Wolf brother, there never was any doubt about this guy... He was getting the classic the paint job of my other Space Marines: The Separatists. I won't bore you with the made-up chapter history. Its iconography is based on my home land of Quebec, with blue and white as the base.

He came out great.

Blood Angel | Imperial Fist | Salamander | Space Wolf | Separatist

Space Marines Adventures: Space Wolf

This is the fourth of the five Space Marines from the Space Marines Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necron Lord. To my great surprise, I was shocked to discover that I had never before painted a Space Wolf - using their own colors!

Now I will be honest and say that I am not the biggest fan of the Space Wolves because I find their color scheme uninspiring. Their lore and background is great, but the colors... pffff... I would NOT paint a whole army grey.

I thought of painting him in white (as a White Scar) but chose to keep to the classic theme of the others and go with the grey. This guy ends up looking pretty good among the others. In the end, I gave him the blue face paint as a highlight.

Win.

Blood Angel | Imperial Fist | Salamander | Space Wolf | Separatist

[Kill Team] Run to the Space Port AAR Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2

Continuing the After Action Report from Yesterday.

The Battle

The battle started VERY poorly for the Tear Bringers. They ran out of ammo and lost scouts to the first xenos that jumped out. From that point on, they turned to mugging tactics, attacking the xenos in group. The separatists also lost a marine to the first Xenos they encountered.

As both teams surged forth, fighting the xenos as they encountered them. The Tear Bringers lost many of their numbers. Marines from both chapters made it to the first common area, they shot at the Xenos and defeated them. By then, only three members of each teams survived for the final push to the transport.

Frantic - if not desperate fighting took place to clear out the last of the xenos, the Tear Bringers lost their sergeant and sniper, leaving only the missile launcher marine to make it to the transport. The Tear Bringer extended a hand in friendship to the Separatists by asking them "The Emperor Protects!". To which the Separatists replied "The Emperor Protects," then followed by opening fire, vaporizing the Tear Bringer and leaving them alone on the escape shuttle.

This man is a traitor to the Imperium. His heresy is such that he does not believe in the power of the Emperor.

Hail the Emperor!

Part 1 | Part 2

Space Marines Adventures: Salamander

This is the third of the five Space Marines from the Space Marines Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necron Lord. This Salamander with the flamer was also given the typical painting scheme for his chapter. He is classic and very effective next to the others.

Highlights include the flaming shoulder pad, the almost-black skin on his head, and the chapter emblem.

Blood Angel | Imperial Fist | Salamander | Space Wolf | Separatist

[Kill Team] Run to the Space Port AAR Part 1

Part 1 | Part 2

With the Xmas Holidays coming, I thought of putting together a few games of Kill Team to play with ActionMan. Instead of our usual "Line-up-and-kill-each-other," I thought of doing something different. Not quite a narrative campaign, but more than just a one-shot. I wanted to come up with a plot that would allow us to be not quite cooperative, but not fully adversarial either. This is what I came up with:

On an Imperial Planet, the Xenos population initially believed to be simple savages turned out to be quite adept in warfare. After the Empire sent a number of recon teams (the Kill Teams) on the planet, word was sent through the voxcom that all Imperial forces were to retreat to their transport.

Two teams fought their way through the jungle, expending much of their resources. With ammunition running low, they had to hurry not to miss the final transport.

Our two teams were about to clash when they received the call.

The Field of Battle

Xenos Forces

The Xenos were represented by Trollblood minis from Hordes. They are appropriately large and very flavorful. We used the swordsmen as "Xenos", and some warbeasts: Impalers (with throwable spears), Axers (with a big axe), and one with a flail and a shield (we made him "armored" and gave him a 3+ save).

	M	WS	BS	S	T	W	A	Sv
Xenos	6*	3+	4+	5	5*/4	3	3	5+
Armored Xenos	6*	3+	4+	5	5*/4	3	3	5+
Armored Heavy Xenos	6*	3+	4+	5	5*/4	3	3	3+

After a few rounds of combat, we decided to lower the Toughness of the Xenos to 4.

Complicating the Situation

I wanted to complicate the situation and put us both in competition, fighting for resources. Therefore, I made the following rules:

Ammo Crates: Ammo creates can be claimed if only one player's models end within 2 inches. Having claimed the ammunition, it can be used to "reload" ONE model.

Low on Ammo: Whenever a model fires a weapon, on a roll of '1', the model is out of ammunition. To reload, the team must find and use one of the munition crates scaterred across the field.

Xenos Ambush: The Xenos appeared only when we entered a new section of the map. Section defined by the folds of the battlemat, the two tables and the landing pad at the end. This allowed us to move gradually and not know where the Xenos were. There were 1d3 xenos per section, the composition of the ambushers was rolled randomly.

In addition, Xenos only move towards a model they can see by charging.

Separatists Adeptus Astartes

ActionMan took command of my personal Chapter: the separatists, a small but tough unit.
- Sergeant with power swords
- Marine with plasma gun
- Marine with meltagun
- Marine with bolter
- Marine with bolter

Tear Bringers Adeptus Astartes

I took control of the Tear Bringers, a team of mixed tactical and scout marines.
- Sergeant with plasma pistol
- Tactical Marine with Missile Launcher
- Scout Sergeant with chainsword
- Scout with sniper rifle
- Scout with combat shotgun
- Scout with combat knife and bolt pistol
- Scout with combat knife and bolt pistol

To be continued Tomorrow.

Part 1 | Part 2

Space Marines Adventures: Imperial Fist

This is the second of the five Space Marines from the Space Marines Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necron Lord.

This Imperial Fist presented a series of challenges to me. First off, painting yellow is not something I am used to do. And this model is ALL about the yellow.

I primed the model grey, then gave it a light undercoat of white, then yellow. Then did the rest of my usual (unusual method). Next dip-like, wet-brushing a few drybrushing, and retouching.

I am very happy with the final result of the model. The yellow really pops and looks great.

Blood Angel | Imperial Fist | Salamander | Space Wolf | Separatist

Space Marines Adventures: Blood Angel

This is the first of the five Space Marines from the Space Marines Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necron Lord. I bought the set to play with the kids during the Christmas Holidays.

I painted this guy using a very classic Blood Angel scheme: all red. Since taking the picture, I tweaked the right shoulder pad, adding white lines to highlight the chevron.

I am particularly proud of the hand-drawn chapter emblem on his left pad. Looks good.

Blood Angel | Imperial Fist | Salamander | Space Wolf | Separatist

[Review] Darth Maul: Apprentice

Well if you like massive and extended lightsaber battles with Darth Maul facing a small mob of Jedi... well this one is for you. Not much for dialogue however.

I will admit that Darth Maul to me, is a throwaway character. One whose only evil act is to face Qui-Gon... Oh and he kills a bunch of other villains... He gets his butt kicked. By a padawan. He sucks so bad, like Boba Fett, they had to bring him back off-screen. Both are little bitches.

However, here we find Maul as a competent villain who can fight on his own. This story makes a better introduction to the character than The Phantom Menace did with the hours of Jar-Jar. The choreography is absolutely fantastic, fast-paced, and full of twists and stunts.

As much as I came into this thinking "who cares about that little bitch," I left this movie going: "This guy is pretty dope." I cannot help but going 4/5 because the story tells us little more about the character other than to showcase his fighting prowess.

This is a fight movie. All action.

[Review] Star Wars Exile Review

This one started with a bang and a wonderful teaser: a mandolorian (who like all others are all little bitches) and Darth Vader. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for more.

But everything that happens after... Guuuuh! An underwhelming fight scene, a love affair, not really any resolution. It was just a bore with classic cliches and the same old same old crap.

I had enough by the time the 10 minutes it went on... I was happy that out of 15 minutes, there was about 5 minutes of credits.

On the plus side, the filmography was good but wasted on a bad script and cookie-cutter characters. Because of this, I cannot give this a 1. However, I settled on a weak 2/5.

[Review] TK-436: A Stormtrooper Story

Another Star Wars story about about stormtrooper with a past with a side of love story. As a stormtrooper finds his love who has gone to the Rebellion.

It was move than a little predictable. The special effects were okay. Not great. The actors and the filmography are the best part of this one.

I was looking forward to the end, it just felt a little too long - which is funny to say about something a short film.

In the end, I give this one a 3/5. It's fine but not great.

[Review] Astartes

If you know Warhammer 40k, you MUST see this one... This fan film presents a squad of Space Marines (Adeptus Astartes) that board a ship. Who they fight is not quite clear, as the exact villains are not one clearly identifiable. Necrons?

This is very violent as fitting for that universe. The eeriness is increased by the lack of spoken word between them. Now Astartes do have communication units inside their armor.

The battles are fast, furious, and filled with awesome effects. If you never got into 40k, this will make you go "Whoah!" I mean the marines are absolutely fearless and ridiculously efficient in their taking out of enemy forces. This is the gothic feel at its best. The action is broken up by slower pieces that, while still fully quiet, convey the mood and thoughts of the characters.

This is not a story with intense character development: space marines are not particularly interesting characters. They are zealots, single-minded, obstinate, and dedicated. Even when things don't go as planned, they remain unphased.

This is an action movie. You watch this for what happens, not who it happens to. I really hope they produce more and complete the story because it just keeps going from one "oh crap" moment to the next. As I write this, there are five parts completed and the story can keep going on.

For the quality of production and storytelling. I give this one a 5/5. Astartes is the BEST 40k fan film produced out there.

Fan Films, Episodes, and Show review coming

So for the past week or so, I have been watching a number of fan films set in the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Warhammer universes. While I do not plan to review all of them, some of the most memorable will make it here.

Some are just short films, other are collection of episodes, and others one-off. I plan on using the same 1-5 rating I've been using for everything.

Let's see what I can dig up on YouTube...