More Starblazer Comics

I blogged recently about Starblazer Comics the small format sci-fi stories from my childhood.  Thanks to eBay a few more dropped onto my doormat this week.

#50 - Moonsplitter - Out of the cosmic rim, one of the many Galactic wars raged. Only one thing stood between the Earth Galac-Squad as it swept triumphantly towards the Mease aggressors homeworld - An impregnable armoury on the barren planet known as Silicon IV.  General Larz Pluto (love it) readied his Earth forces for an invasion that would end the war.  

Issue 50 marks fearless Fighting-Scientist Hadron Halley's first appearance as he fights off the Mease to save some Galac-Squad soldiers on the planet Silicon IV.  Halley uses his gadgets and his knowledge of science to single handedly defeat the bald-headed Mease and get back to the safety of a Terran carrier only to find that General Larz Pluto has been captured.

Halley mounts a one-man rescue mission and infiltrates the Mease base, locates the Genral and makes a bid to escape.  The interior design of the Mease base is really interesting and features numerous psychedelic looking geometric patterns which wouldn't look out of place in a Zenith strip.  Curiously the Mease also seem to use the English alphabet, which is handy.  The titular moonsplitter device makes its debut and the Fi-Sci command use it to bombard the mease base with moon fragments utterly devastating the planet, but that's okay because they are the good guys... right?   

#51 Prisoners of Zorr - By the year 2382 Earth was the administrative centre of The Galactic Foundation.  The gigantic Sandpoint Military Academy trained a multi-planetary peace-keeping force and the highlight of each year was the passing out parade when only the best pupils qualified.  The planet Zorr had observers present... and they were interested in only the best.

Cadets Sol and Hammond are top of their class at Sandpoint (a potmanteau of Sandhurst and Westpoint) and due to graduate in a few days when thay are kidnapped by mysterious alien observers and transported to a prison compound on the planet Zorr.  

Along with cadets from other worldsthey are subjected to batteries of tests and arduous training exercises to turn them into the ace pilots that the planet's ruler Zorr needs to fly his Dragon Ships and conquer the galaxy.   Will they escape the prison and overthrow this evil dictator?  Will they ever see Earth again?

A typical Starblazer tale as our heroes dash from one death defying encounter to the next.  There is definitely a WWII vibe about this issue, the bad guy, Zorr, looks like a cut price Mussolini and the Zorr soldiers have a mild Nazi look to them.  I was most surprised to see Zorr and General Valcan ride in on a sci-fi version of the WWII manned torpedo known as The Chariot.    

#52 The Mask of Fear - By 3000AD Man had spread out and colonised worlds among the stars.  With men, went crime. Wealth and position were highly prized, and life was cheap.  Desperate men did desperate things to achieve wealth and position - even destroy entire worlds.

When a mysterious group of three criminals destroy the planet Deltan they murder millions of innocent inhabitants including the family of Special Agent Hart Tallis.  His mission is to bring the three to justice and to seek revenge.  A fairly simple galactic manhunt as Tallis follows the few clues he can piece together.  Fortunately for him he grew up on a heavy G world he is more than a match for most of his assailants.  One by one he tracks down the members of the group of three and uncovers more evidence of their intergalactic crimes until he finally comes face to face with The Mask.  

Only one question remains... Is the mysterious Mask someow related to Diktor Van Doomcock Future Ruler of Earth?

#54 The Torturer of Triton II - The Terran Galc-Squad were the prime fighting and exploration force of the year 2280, ready to space-warp to trouble spots anywhere within the star-systems of Federation space.  Galactic conflict was a complex business, and could involve forces beyond the experience and understanding of an ordinary galac-soldier.  To meet this challenge, a specialist unit was formed, men who had the brain power to understand science, combined with the strength and courage of a fighter.  They were called the fighting scientists and their outfit was called the Fi-Sci branch of Galac Squad.

Another Hadron Halley adventure, which opens with him deliberately crashing his shuttle into the docking bay.  What a joker!!  But wait, he survives certain death using a force-field shell he has invented.  That's going to be important later on.  The art in this issue is top notch although some of the spaceships look like they were inspired by legendary spaceship artist Chris Foss.  The one of page 31 bears an uncanny resemblance to the Jodorowsky's Dune spaceship.  The cover art depicts the evil Torturer of Triton and reminds me of Thundercats villain Mumm-Ra.  The evil aliens of the story look pretty good even if they are only wearing what look like silver underpants!     

#56 The Sleeping Legion - By the year 3500 Solar powered space craft had blazed man across the Galaxy.  Each passing star was an energy source, charging solar panels that fed unbelievably powerful engines.  Thus was the Milky Way explored until only the galaxies beyond remained a mystery.  Man was too busy forming the Galactic Commonwealth to take up this new challenge, so unmanned probes were sent outside the galaxy.  These reported the existence of strange, alien cultures, and armed forts were built around the galactic perimeter in case of need.  But when those forts were eventually attacked they proved useless against the might of the aliens, who at all costs had to be prevented from activating their sleeping legion.

Our heroes this week are Crane, an eyepatched wannabe Snake Plisken and his trusty droid UNGO or UMGO (The letterer seems to have had a bad day).  The aliens from the planet Largos bear a striking similarity to TMNTs Kang and once again seem to be dressed in nothing but metallic underpants.   

Crane has a real time of his life and ends up getting swallowed by a giant metal right off the cover of Judas Priests, Screaming for Vengeance. The alien art is really outta sight.  We have aliens in mobile guard towers that look like Wallace's wrong trouser's, Blobs that live in frozen craters, an alien spider that looks like it overdosed on H.R. Gieger's Biomechanics, but nothing quite prepares you for the sight of Crane in his space suit.

#57 Galactic Lawman (A Planet Tamer Story) - The Planet Tamer!  Throughout a lawless universe the name was spoken in whispers.  Just who was this mysterious instrument of justice.  Part man and part machine?  none could say for certain, but one thing was sure, wherever Evil went The Planet Tamer followed, and The Planet Tamer punished!

Our story opens on the prison ship Negril (which is also a resort town in Jamiaca) where the monosyllabic Molok, a being of pure Evil with the good looks of Brian Blessed, is none too pleased with being de-corticated.  Meanwhile in a cheap knock off Westworld the Planet Tamer arrives to arrest galactic fraudster Lorix.  With the crook swiftly apprehended and the entire pleasure dome time bombed until the space police can turn up, the Planet Tamer jets off on his space scooter towards Pados 12.  Enroute he encounters the wreckage of the Negril and learns that Molok and some convicts have escaped to the planet below.  

So begins a manhunt across the galaxy but we also discover much about our hero the Planet Tamer's history.  He was once a UPO Marshall called Jubal McKay before he was injured.  His paralysed body was rebuilt by a ceybernetics expert in some Robocop like experiment.  Catching up with Molok we discover that the de-corticator has somehow given the crook the power to manifest creatures made of ectoplasm.

This week's issue throws the kitchen sink of plot devices at our hero and then some.  How did it all turn out, well I;m not telling so you will just have to read it yourself.      

#58 Pyramid Power - After the Great Galactic War of 2482 an uneasy truce was established.  Many worlds joined a concordat to forge a lasting peace, but hte most powerful single nation, the Pugnarions, declined to take an active part.  They saw peacekeeping duties as an increased burden on their powerful spacefleet's patrolling capabilities.  Eventually, in 2492, the Pugnarions were persuaded to take part in the Amity Day celebrations.  In honour of this event they agreed to display their legendary symbol of power - the priceless ancient diamond - The Pyramid of Pugnaria.  A Concordat vessel was sent to transport the diamond along with other treasures to Centros, the Concordat capital.

The early 80s were the golden age of mysticism history authors like Eric von Daniker and this Starblazer's click bait (before click bait was a thing) title suckers us into a gripping tale of intergalactic heist whodunnit.

Investigator Petrie (he's a real dish) enlists the assistance of Professor Calegh as they track down the jewel thiefs before the Pugnarions lose their patience.  On the planet Kanthus they stop a mugging and with their new friend in tow hit the space pub (aka a fluid replenishment centre) and embark on a manhunt to find some aliens who never take off their spacesuits.  That's ruddy mysterious!

On Rogus they find an ancient egyptian tablet they return to earth to the egyptian museum to have it translated, the professor has seen the tablet before along with the spacesuited aliens and in a flash they are off to Sadalmelek.  Flitting from one planet to another is a trope within Starblazer stories.  If you haven't visited at least 4 alien worlds per issue then you feel a bit short changed.  The aliens (Xsilith) have been placing transmitters at strategic locations throughout the galaxy and use pyramid science to harness the energy of five suns energy creating a super weapon.  Surely it would have been easier to build a death star...

Movieweek 2022 - Week 2 - Flying Sharks, a Titanium Girl & some Eternals

I didn't watch as many movies this week as real life events got in the way a little.  I am now back to the grind after the long Christmas break and I had the small issue of finding a new car.  Hopefully my evenings will now be free to relax and watch some movies.

Sky Sharks (2020) - 3/10

Sometimess I say that I watch movies so that you don't have to and that adage has never been truer than in the case of Sky Sharks.  

Having seen the trailer for this movie about a year ago, I was honestly looking forward to seeing this and hoping that it would be another cult classic like Iron Sky, or Dead Snow.  It's not, it's an out and out exploitation movie more like Sharknado but with more sex gags, and not great ones either.

There are precious few moments in the movie which I thought were worthwhile and it seems to lumber from one set piece to another.  The characters are instantly forgettable as they try to end the Nazi Sky Shark threat once and for all but the only way to do that is to sacrifice a plane full of innocent people to lure out the Sharkwaffe.

Not content with having zombie nazis, there's a whole muddled section about zombie vietcong.  It makes precious little sense and should be avoided like the plague.

Titane (2021) - 5/10

Titane is a tough film to watch.  I'm no stranger to violent french films, I loved Doberman, I loved Man Bites Dog and I have watched Irreversible, but Titane just didn't grab me.  

The main character of Alexia is just a little bit too hard to watch in places and I had to take a break (of 2 months) before going back to complete watching it.  This is always a bad sign and either tells me that I am just not in the right mood for this movie or that it is really not a great movie.

This is an entirely different situation to that of movies like Fight Club and the TV Show Squid Game which I actively avoided thanks to the trailers.  However, having watched both, I can understand why I reacted negatively to the marketing.  

Titane should be right up my alley but the central premise to the film, that psycopathic murderer Alexia has been knocked up by an automobile, is a bit too far fetched for a movie which takes itself very seriously.  SFter a killing spree, she then runs away and gets taken in by a fireman who lost his son.  The relationship between Alexia and Vincent is a strange one full of confused sexual tension and paternal grief. 

There is a good amount of body horror in this movie and well done to whoever did the prostetics work and practical effects as they were flawless and utterly convincing.  It reminded me somewhat of the Tetsuo movies which were an awesome blend of cyberpunk and film noir with a similarly transhumanist motif running through them.  However, they are much simpler films which don't try to tell multiple stories full of complex human emotions.

Definitely one of the oddest films that I have seen in the last ten years.

Eternals (2021) - 4/10

The MCU lumbers on like a juggernaught in this latest release from the house of mouse and we are starting to to run out of really compelling stories to tell it seems.  Full disclosure, I am not a hardcore superhero movie fan and I prefer the way that DC Animated Universe treats the properties of Batman, The Justice League, Superman and Justice League Dark to the live action Marvel universe.

The Eternals promised a lot with its huge cast of A-List talent and I am so glad that Hollywood has recognised Gemma Chan as an actress who can headline a movie.  But, and it is as big bit, this movie had pacing problems from the beginning.  It chose to ponderously establish the emotional baggage that many of the characters had saddled themselves with over the course of 7,000 years spent watching over humanity and waiting for the Emergence.   

The real story was of them gradually wiping out the deviants until none remain.  Instead, against a backdrop of the fall of Tenoctitlan, we have Salma Hayak (Ajak) nonchalantly declare that the last deviant was dead.  Like a 60s supergroup, the band breaks up and they each go their seperate ways, but we don't get any montage of what they do with temselves in the intervening 500 years.  

This was a great opportunity to do some B-Roll of characters lives intertwined with famous pivotal historical events but instead we go straight into a Bollywood dance number so jarring that it rips you right out of the movie.  We don't really understand why, because in the few scenes that Kingo was in, there was literally no character development.  I cared much more about his valet than I did about him.  This is a big flaw in the build up of the movie because we struggle to bridge the gap between the Eternals as they were and what they have become.  We have little to no reference to what they have witnessed, the wars they have seen, the things they have done to hide their presence from humans as they openly live as literal Gods among men.

We then jet off to some desert hovel in Australia where Gilgamesh is living in relative squalor looking after Thena where Sersi is told by Arishem the Prime Celestial, the earth shattering truth (quite literally) behind their mission.  This was another wasted opportunity to dump some Celestials lore whihc would have driven Marvel fans wild.  For example, how many celestials are there?, who are they?, how long do they live? why do they need more celestials? what functions do they perform? what are their powers? why is Tiamut important? If celestials are so powerful why can't Arishem (The Judge) wipe out all the Deviants in a snap of his fingers?  Seems like Celestials are just a plot convenience to me.

From this point on you would think that the story would really pick up pace as we now know that there is a ticking clock.  As Tiamut's emergence draws near why aren't we seeing more of these global earthquakes and scenes of minor Deviants ravaging metropoli? 

Some of these characters were hard to love as in the case of Druig, and others you just felt were nothing more than an artists preliminary sketch (Makkari).  When we catch up with Druig he has become some sort of religious cult leader in the Amazonian jungle, controlling his followers with his mind.  This is not at all creepy behaviour and makes him really endearing to the viewer (irony).

There was precious little to like about some of the characters who clearly have been playing some background role in the evolution of humanity and then "check out" when the going gets tough.  The scene of Phastos in the ashes of Hiroshima was particularly trite and cliche without any other WWII scenes.  

What was Druig, a character who clearly had the deepest connection and concern for humanity doing while war raged across the globe?  It would have been great to see a character reading a newspaper about the exploits of Captain America fighting the Nazis.  It's as if this movie operates within an MCU vacuum, the story is selectively blind and deaf to what is going on in the world around it. 

The problem with this approach is that it ultimately dehumanises the Eternals as characters.  If they can comfortably sit back and spectate as the the Nazi onslaught kills 15 to 20 million people across Europe, how are we expected to empathise with them when they get upset at the killing of 130 to 226 thousand people at the end of the war?  We needed those historical reference points to establish the character's gradual descent into disillusionment, anger and guilt.

This was handled much better in the movie Highlander (1986) in just a couple of flashbacks we learn how Connor Mcleod stumbled through history doing what little he can as an immortal without any flashy superpowers. 

Eternals could have been a good movie but it suffered from terribly poor storytelling, too many characters and laborious exposition.          

Session Blogging - Why I Bother Recapping my RPG Sessions

I have mentioned before that I have been the defacto session writer for our group at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club for some time now.  It takes up a good portion of my weekend but here are a few reasons why I do it.

5 Reasons Why I Write Session Reports

1. It Engages Me - Yes, that's right, if I am scribbling notes througout the game I am completely focussed on what is happening at the table.  I've been roleplaying on and off for 40 years and it's easy to become blase and become distracted by the joking, camaraderie and snacking that usually fills up at least 50% of the game.

2. It Helps the GM - Most sessions begin with a recap of what happened in the previous week.  I have witnessed several instances of the GM logging onto the last session and skimming through their own game and pulling out the salient points.  It helps their worldbuilding consistency as there's always a reference to NPCs we have interacted with (especially those created on the fly).  It helps them to remember the important details of who said what and to whom.  

When I am the GM the session report is formed from my game notes and I get the players to read the report before we start the next session.  That way I don't have to do as much of a recap to the previous session and we start playing faster.

3. It Helps Players - Real-life happens and it is a more common occurence as we get older that we have to forgoe our game night to deal with other priorities.  Having a session blog helps missing players to pick up where they left and still feel like a valued member of the group.

4. Player Engagement - Players like to read about their exploits every week.  I know of at least one player in our group who loves to see their quotes in print.  They know that they can always send me an update or an amendment if they want to highlight something or heaven forbid if I got it wrong

5. Free Content for my Blog - A selfish reason, I know, but it hardly makes me a monster.  I love the fact that I have weeks worth of sessions on my blog which I reminisce about in my dotage.  I've also published session reports on RPGGeek, so if you are a member send me a gamebuddy request.

Why Don't You? 

It's surprisingly easy, why don't you have a go yourself, you just might like it.  If you are already blogging your sessions, stick a link in the comments below as I would love to share them with my readers.

The Scribe, by George Cattermole - Art UK

The Expanse Ends Today

The Epic Sci-fi series the Expanse ends its run on Amazon today.  I have followed the exploits of the crew of the Roscinante since day one and thoroughly enjoyed this series.

Game of Thrones in Space

I've always described The Expanse as Game of Thrones in Space as it has a similar blend of Politics, Fighting, Technology (Magic) and Monsters.  The series has had a troubled history having begun on the SyFy then jumped to Netflix and then finally Amazon.  

However, it has been a perfect bridge to span the yawning chasm that seperates Star Trek's far future Utopian view of the future from Star Wars gritty Space Opera. 

One of the central motifs of the show is it's commitment to realism, what we might otherwise refer to as Hard Sci-Fi.  This commitment is evident in their attention to detail depicting things like zero-g, and space flight physics, but also in their design aesthetic for things like the mobile data pads.

I for one hope that we will see the show get picked up in the future as I am sure that writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck will continue to write stories set in this universe.

Bon Voyage... sad face emoji

Spring Cleaning the Blog

It staggers me that I have been writing this blog since 21 August 2010. almost 12 years ago!

It is full of weird little articles which I have brain dumped ober the years and collected a huge number of tags, some of which only feature once, or I have multiple tags for the same thing.  

When We Begin, the Beguine

My first blog post was a plot idea for a Judge Dredd game. well nothing much has changed there, I'm still writing plot hooks for games and I am still running games of Judge Dredd.

Blog Stats By Label

My Top 20 Labels or Tags are:

Post Tag / Label	# Articles
Fluff/Inspiration	185
Fantasy	133
Sci-Fi	105
Miniatures	92
Judge Dredd	63
Painting	61
Advice/Tools	50
Movies	43
Session Report	40
Bones	39
Make:	39
Reaper	38
3D Printing	30
80s	29
Mapping	28
Monsters	27
D and D	26
Games Mastery	25
Boardgame	24
TV	24

Feel free to roam around inside my mind dump.  But, for me, it's time I did some spring cleaning.

Rosey! fetch the feather duster.  

 

Cat Theft - Not a Victimless Crime

For me 2022 went out with a bit of a Fuck You.  Some scumbags stole my Cat

Catalytic converter theft is a growing problem

According to farsight blog over 16,383 catalytic converter theft incidents were recorded in the first 7 months of the 2021, that's an average of 2,340 cats being pinched every month!  I am not one to play the victim and despite being fully insured, my car was written off as an uneconomic repair.  Which is all well and good, but there is still a financial impact to the unlucky owner in the unplanned purchase of a new vehicle.

Turn Adveristy into an RPG Plot Hook

I have to stay positive and think of a way I can turn this adversity into a positive.  How about a plot hook for a Judge Dredd game.  Enter nefarious music producer Simon Power.

He has been working on putting together a super-group girl band called Kat Kitten and the Power Converters and he just hasn't been able to get their sound right.  None of the band can sing worth a lick but he stumbled on a rare psychometric study which postulated that a cats meow at the right frequency has a psychotropic effect akin to mind control.  His plan is to add this mysterious M note to the band's song "Don't Stop By Me Now"  

His backroom boffins have isolated the particular cat's meow that he needs to fill his lineup and has despatched teams of audio analysts to track down the right cat for the job.  They have been prowling the streets of MC-1 secretly recording pet cats and passing on the owners details to a a gang of catnappers.

Catastrophe

These pet pinching perpetrators have been getting away scott free until one particular owner catches them in the act and tries to prevent her moggy from getting manhandled and she falls to her death from her apartment balcony.

Jocelyn Wildenstein / Mr. Blofeldt
Ugly Competitor / Pet Cat

The victim is one Jocelyn Wildenstein, a famous ugly pageant winner and the owner of a prize winning pedigree pussy named Mr. Blofelt who just so happens to have the magical meow that Simon Power is desperately searching for.  Needless to say the cat is missing.

Ms Wildenstein's death has escalated the case of the missing moggies to a capital crime and the Judges will need to enlist the aid of Tek Division best to trawl through the hundreds of cases and thousands of hours of video footage to find the connection between the victims.  Or MAC can do the same job in about 6 hours.

The cats are all different species but the one thing that they have in common is their meows are all within a particular frequency.  

Having a Psi judge in your patrol squad will be useful when reviewing any vid footage of the missing cats.

As a backdrop to this plot hook the holo ads have been running thick and fast in the last couple of days promoting the release of the debut single from Kat Kitten and the Power Converters.

Some Potential Encounters

Record Store Riots - If the Judges don't get the connection before the release of the single, it will be fairly obvious that something is untoward is going on when the record stores run out of copies of the single due to its immense popularity.  Riots break out between crazed fans of the band as they storm record stores.

Live Concert Catatonic Conversion - Kat Kitten are appearing at an open air concert playing the B-Side of their single "Stop the World I Wanna Get Off" when the crowd suddenly go catatonic.  Reports start coming in over the air waves of mass reports of muteness among the population.  

Pop Mogul Protection - A baying mob attacks Elton John Luxy Apts the home of Simon Power and he needs to be rescued.  Attending his apartment, eagle eyed members of the patrol will notice the odd white hair laying on the sofa.  A search of the apartment will find a stash of synthi-cat food (Mr Blofelt's favourite flavour Liver and Tripe) in his kitchen.  Power will of course claim that he doesn't have a cat at all and that this is part of his diet regimen and even eat the cat food to prove it.  

Power keeps his secret musical weapon close and caged in a secret closet in his bedroom.  A member of the patrol with an allergy flaw, exceptional hearing or a Psi Judge will be sensitive to the cat's presence.  Of course if Power is subjected to cross examination with a birdie lie detector he will eventually crack.

Rounding up the Catnappers - Powers will give up the name of the gang he hired to steal the cats.  The Eartha Kitt Krew are an all female gang of catburglers who specialise in high rise heists using jet packs, skysurf boards, bat-suits, climbing gear and sucker knee pads.  

Their turf is in the lower levels of Adam West Block. They won't come quietly and are particularly adept at Martial Arts and also protected by a contingent of well armed heavies from neighbouring gang the Robinhoods out of Burt Ward Block.

Helter Skelter - To Paint or Not to Paint

In an earlier article about Judge Dredd Boardgames, I hinted that I had prayed to the eBay Gods to send me a copy of Judge Dredd: Helter Skelter.  

 Well the Gods answered and now it is in my boardgame collection.

20 Plastic Miniatures in Need of Some Colour

So should I do it? Should I paint these up?  Tell me in the comments box below.

Starblazer: Small Format Science Fiction Adventures

I've blogged before about my love of the Starblazer Adventures RPG system which was inspired by the small format single story comic books published by DC Thomson Comics in the 1980s.

Small Size but Big Thrills

Starblazer was never as popular as it's war story cousins Commando and Battle and I know as a kid they were hard to come by in 1980s Bradford.  In fact I seem to remember there being one news kiosk in the bus depot that used to carry them in one of those wire racks for birthday cards.  Isn't it strange what you remember.

DC Thomson had started publishing collections of these long out of print gems, but after 2 volumes the faith seems to have departed.  Not to worry, I have a small collection of these thrill packed little comicbooks and they are still readily available on eBay at very reasonable prices. 

#18 Abandon Earth - Space Wars did not exist.  By a series of treaties each galaxy remained alone and untouched.  Earth built a survey shi, Zephyrus, to prospect in deep space.  It was this ship that led to the call - "Abandon Earth".

In this tale of human humbris, the arrival of the Zephyrus in Vemlin space is interpreted as an invasion and gives rise to an intergalactic war with Earth.  The inexplicably named Carstairs is the robotic hero in this odd tale of politics and miltary strategy.

The cover art is reminiscent of the spaceship paintings of Chriss Foss, Peter Elson and Jim Burns which are gloriously immortalised in the Terran Trade Authority Books published by The Hamlyn Group in the late 70s.  I remember getting one of these coffee table books as a child and they were like nitromethane for the imagination.

#76 The Mind of Meredith Morgan - Benjamin Starr was a teacher - A man who knew nothing of the mysteries of space travel.  Yet, when a simple accident brought him to the attention of the World Council, he found himself at the controls of a starship, pitting his wits against and alien computer, and warping space itself - and if he failed, Earth was doomed to an eternal Hell.

A rollercoaster of a tale which pretty much sums up a standard Starblazer storyline.  Heavy on the cliffhangers, bouncing from one near catastrophe to another a breakneck speed.  There's no time for an indepth discussion or detailed character motivations, its a swift punch to the jaw and a laser blast from the hip.  

The Starblazer Adventures RPG echoes this with it's hilarious random Starblazer Comic Title Generator.  Honestly, I could just spend a couple of hours happily rolling up different scenarios an imagining what might appear on the cover.   

#77 Fortress of Fear - The key to space travel, was the system of wormholes througout the galaxy.  As they were so far away, defence posts had to be constructed.  Operatives from Earth's elite fighting scientist branch, The Fi-Sci's, were put in charge of their construction.  Danger was a part of their lives , but even their brand of courage was put to the test by the... Fortress of Fear.

In this issue we follow the exploits of Hadron Halley (what a zarjaz futuristic name) as he explores the mysterious planet which is home to the even more mysterious Mind Lords.  

These cut price Mekon-like maniacal mentalists have subjugated the native population and turned them into puppets dressed like the Oz's Tin man (I kid you not).  They hide in the safety of their mushroom shaped city come spaceship and finalise their plans for Solar galactic domination.  

Elements of the artwork remind me of Simon Harrison's Bradley the Sprog but in classic fashion DC Thomson never cited who wrote or inked their comic books.  

#160 The Last Days of Earth -  It is 2500 AD, and Earth is protected by Earthwarriors - A select band of highly skilled fighters.  A mission starts on Picture 1 and progressively becomes more and more difficult... It is at this point that your help is needed to make vital decisions.  Read on... unless you succeed you will witness... The Last Days of Earth.

A cheeky subtitle change to "Space role-playing game in pictures" announces that DC Thomson have  jumped on the Fighting Fantasy style adventure gamebook in this story of post apocalyptic survival.  You are Space Patrolman Svenson .  I can't remember ever seeing anything as ambitious as this in comic book form although the Ace of Aces Game Books from Flying Buffalo.

Needless to say the adventure is a pretty ripsnorting affair with Svenson bouncing from one death defying panel to another before ending up in court.  I think this deserves a proper playthrough and mapping of the choice tree so I can work out what the hell is going on in this story arc.

#174 The Terminator - Lawlessness abounded in the pioneer outer worlds of the Earth Federation, and the few over-worked, short lived Marshals attempted to stem the criminal tide.  Assisted by huge, deadly robotic terminators, justice slowly began to return to the colony worlds... Until one of these gigantic, unstoppable machines turned rogue and proceeded to eliminate innocent people.

It's 1986 and clearly James Cameron's lawyers thought it wasn't worth suing DC Thomson over the title of this issue.  This has all the hallmarks of a classic western story where up to no good town officials are lining their pockets with some scheme involving the mine.  Enter Marshall Skarr (God, I love these names) who is sent to Glasis V to investigate.  He gets straight to the bottom of things and stirs up trouble for the local Judge who programs a Terminator to exterminate Skarr before he really finds out what is going on.  

The Judge has done a deal with the Ellon, who basically are starfishmen, and not the cuddly Patrick kind these are more like Zygons.  The Terminator gets its second wind and helps rescue Skarr and everyone lives happily ever after.  The robot is a pretty cool design and lives up to its description as an unstoppable relentless agent of justice.

#180 Eden the Hunter - Made an outcast because his mistake had caused the death of fellow villagers, Eden swore vengeance.  The only trouble was - he didn't know what he was fighting.

The depiction of Eden on the front cover is a bit misleading and clearly someone must have copied a picture of Kurt Russell as once you turn the page he looks more like a Native American Indian tribesman.  

This is such a weird story and the sort of techno savagery story you used to get in science fiction back in the 80s.  As the story evolves the villains of the piece are introduced, a race of electro vampires that look like a cross between a human and a pteradactyl.  Eden encounters various people along the way all of whom seem to have fallen prey to the electro vampires but Eden is a rugged outdoorsman and not to be trifled with. 

The electro vampires reminded me of one of the character Worzel from the excelent Lensman anime movie.  A highly recommended adaptation of the E.E Doc Smith, Hugo Award nominated Lensman books from the 1950s.

#182 - Bron The Avenger - After the Nuclear Wars devastated Earth, civilisation ceased to exist as we know it.  Murderous bands roamed the country taking what they wanted, but the hand of fate selected Bron to stand against them.  A young man with strength in his limbs, and revenge in his heart.

Well from that description Bron sounds like a lot of fun.  Starblazer didn't just do Sci-fi with spaceships and aliens, there was a healthy smattering of fantasy and crossover post apocalyptic mad max style adventure too.  Bron is one of those sword and sorcery tales set in the ruins of 1980s civilization.

The scent of anachronism is heavy and at one point Bron delves into the subterranean underworld chased by zombies and finds himself on a runaway tube train.  This theme runs throughout, the idea that some technology survives, hoarded by the "sorcerors" and technomancers with the knowledge and skill to keep the machines alive and working for their own benefit or that of their overlords.  

#186 Starhawk - The 3rd Millenium, 2600 AD, and the Galaxy spanning Terran Empire is crumbling in decline.  The savage Krell ravaging its borders and order is replaced with choas.  Barbarism exists everywhere, and amid this lawless bedlam one man stands for law and order - Sol Rynn, known as Starhawk. 

This is a return to the square jawed smoke me a kipper type hero who roams the spacelanes like a one man A-Team.  His calling card, quite literally a card you push into a machine to make a call, reads "If your cause is just, but the odds are too great Use Me".  I'm suprised he gets any business at all with approach.

Somone on Wengel IV needs his help, but the first locals he encounters practically ignore him.  Fortunately he finds the terminal used to make the call in an abandoned communications centre.  Enter the Battletoads style mutants who chase Starhawk through the jungle.  Eventually he discovers the secret lab of Hak Galos the owner of Megalos Mining who has hatched a nefarious scheme to mine Trikalak K a banned substance and key ingedient in Quark bombs.  Galos clearly has some sort of plan for those quark bombs, but it is never fully fleshed out.   

Want to Know More?

I found a great resource with some fantastic interviews from some of the original artists and writers who worked for DC Thomson back in the day.  Check it out at downthetubes.net.

The Great Human vs AI Challenge

Did you know that it is almost 25 years since Skynet became self aware?  I thought I would test whether or not the old girl was still up to snuff.

The Challenge

Play 10 games of Race For The galaxy on my iPad whilst I am walking up in the morning (see I'm already finding reasons why I lose), log all the win scores and then crunch the numbers in excel.

The Ultimate Challenge - Race for the Galaxy

Only completed games are recorded and there is no quitting except in the event of a game crash (it happens surprisingly often).  The AIs are set on Hard and play uses all the expansions available (New Worlds, Gathering Storm, Rebels vs Imperium and Brink of War).

 

It will be interesting to know if any patterns emerge among the AIs and whether or not my win rate improves as I play more games.

 

I have done this challenge before in the first lockdown and despite playing 1000 games I only managed a 25% win rate which is probably the same as the random chance score in an ESP Test.

Race for the Galaxy The RPG?

Unlike other CCGs like Magic the Gathering, R4TG has no  flavour text on the cards despite the huge potential to do so contained within the theme. 

If you are active on Instagram check out @r4tg_2022 which is one person's personal project to add a narrative roleplaying element as he plays the game.

Score So Far

As I write this I am 1 week into the challenge with 70 games completed.  Scores on the doors please George Dawes!

 

• AI 1 - Strongest player Win Rate: 37%, Average Score: 47.5, Average Win Score: 60.5
  
  
• AI 2 - 3rd strongest player: 25.7%, Average Score: 42.3, Average Win Score: 53.9
  
  
• AI 3 - 2nd strongest player - Win Rate:30%, Average Score: 45.7, Average Win Score: 43.4
   
• Me - Weakest player - Win Rate: 12.9%, Average Score: 38.1, Average Win Score: 62.8  

The average score per game is 43.4 but the average score to win a game is 58.0 which means that AI 2 and AI 3 are winning with much lower than average scores.

Galactic Council Report

What a diabolical start to the challenge. Lets hope that my play improves considerably going forward.

 

One Year On - Dragons Keep Roleplay Club

It's 2022 and the COVID-19 debacle rages on.  One of the casualties of the Coronavirus pandemic was my old club.  The pandemic was a catalyst for division and greatly reduced attendance as fear and panic spread across the membership, it ceased to function in any meaningful way.

Pulling the Plug

This club had been founded on the principles of democracy, every member having an equal say in how the club was run.  Unfortunately this led to internal politics when most members just wanted to turn up, play games and have fun.  Running that club became a constant battle of personalities, skullduggery and in-fighting.  The pandemic was a cover story for usurpers to spread rumour, lies and deceit in private channels in order to facilitate a popular uprising.  

Unfortunately, the patient was considered to be unsaveable and the tough decision to pull the plug had to be made.  This enabled the membership to ultimately make their own decisions about how they wanted to roleplay going forward.  The club was dead, long live the new club.

Sacrifice

Running a club is a thankless task and I have played my small part in helping to run numerous roleplaying clubs over the last 30 years.  The problems are diverse but mainly revolve around organising games so that everyone has something to play.  Clubs evolve organically, expanding and retreating as the winds of fortune blow and the real-life priorities of members compete for their valuable time and energy.

It takes a certain amount of sacrifice to run a club and a management team that can commit to doing what the club needs rather than what they need as a player or a games master for the good of the group.

I have learned a hard lesson in that a club is not a democracy.  Democracy empowers people with a voice and a platform upon which to speak their opinions.  However, without effective rules, governance and constitutional principles it can easily turn to Anarchy.  For a club to thrive it has to have strong leadership and direction, it has to have doers and not talkers, because ideas are ten a penny and talk is cheap.  A thriving club is one where everyone is engaged and they want to come to enjoy themselve and not to talk about politics or how they could run things better if only they had a chance.

Green Shoots of Recovery 

January of 2021 saw the birth of a new club, Dragons Keep Roleplay Club, founded by a small group of 6 people with the core principle of "being excellent to each other" and fostering engagement.    The management team run things for the benefit of members and the members only duty is to make sure that they and their fellow players are engaged and enjoying themselves.
 

One Year Later

I am happy to say that we have exploded in size and the membership has swelled to  around 25 members and every one of them turning up every Friday night.  We have gone from an online only existence, playing our first games during lockdown via Zoom and Roll20 to being once again an IRL club with 5 different games on offer.

We hosted our first Games Day and Christmas Party which was very well attended by members and a huge amount of games were played, turkey consumed and sprouts scowled at.  

 

 

We have produced a stable funding platform to guarantee our future.  We now have a merch store so that members can digitally pay their subs and help to fund the club through their purchases, a website which punches well above it's weight, a management team who understands what the members want and actively make that happen.

 

I am proud to say that we have created a space where people can put their work-a-day worries aside and for 4 hours escape to worlds of wonder safe in the knowledge that the people around them have their best intentions at heart. 

However, the most important thing is that this club is full of excellent people who are the most engaged bunch of players and gamesmasters that I have ever had the pleasure to call my friends.  Here is a toast to the future and the roads we will journey together.

Fellow Dragons... Live long and prosper.  

Movieweek 2022 - Week 1 - A Matrix of Saints, Settlers, Aliens and Ghostbusters

In a new series of regular posts I write about the movies I watched this week.  They could be new or they could be old but I'll watch it and in the interests of keeping these reviews spoiler free I'll white out any neat plot devices or story beats which I find worthy of a follow up in.

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) - 6/10

For some the Matrix was the movie that turned them on, for me it was always a bit so-so and intenionally obtuse.  However, I will concede that it was ground breaking in its visual style and special effects, so much so that the whole movie industry became singularly obsessed with creating a signature special effect for each new movie.  

When bollywood made its own Terminator movie (Enthiran) you knew that the game was up, CGI had indeed made all things possible whether we wanted it or not.  TMR actually self references this in its own script then proceeds to ignore the irony and go ahead and create a new bullet time effect.

Watching the Matrix Resurrections felt, for me, like watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and not in a good way.  It looked like the Matrix, and had all the story beats of the Matrix, but ultimately it was a hollow shell of the original.  I enjoyed seeing some of my favourite characters return, like The Merovingian, but he was like the movie, a ghost of his former self.

I really hope that the Wachowski's can finally put the franchise to bed with this 4th installment and move on to making new stories.  If not we might just see The Matrix 5: Dead Man Walking. 

The Many Saints of Newark (2021) - 7/10

I confess to having only watched Sopranos in clip form on Youtube despite it starring one of my favourite wiseguys Stephen Van Zant.  Had I known that this was the Tony Soprano origin story I might have passed up on the opportunity and I'm glad I didn't.

The movie focuses on the crew which influenced Tony Soprano's early life and what made him turn to a life of crime.  Ray Liotta does double duty playing the Moltisanti twins, one of which has been imprisoned for murder and become a jail house philosopher and self confessed jazz nut. 

A special mention goes to Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini, who does a great turn as a teenage Tony Soprano.  I also loved the expert portrayal of Silvio Dante by James Magaro.  He manages to recreate some of the physicality of Stephen Van Zant which resonated with me.

This was a genuinely interesting tale set inthe 1960s and early 70s at the height mob and is interwoven with the story of the civil rights movement and the Newark riots of 1967. 

This was a genuinely engrossing story of youthful potential corrupted by the failings in the adults and "the life" that swirls around him.

Settlers (2021) - 5/10

I had no expectations going into this and I'm kind of glad that I didn't.  Let me go through the good points first.  The art direction was fantastic despite what was clearly a small budget.  

I've read Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" Trilogy which details the massive undertaking that terraforming will be and so was surprised to see people walking around without vac suits.  The location looked like a NASA briefing and I half expected the cast to stumble upon some half buried mars rover at any moment.  Clearly the location scouts had done their homework and this went some way to helping me suspend my disbelief regarding the whole terraforming thing.  I was so glad when they revealed the reason and understood why this hadn't happened earlier as it becomes a huge plot point for the whole story going forward.

The cast were great.  It's nice to see Johnny Lee Miller on screen again and Brooklyn Prince, the young actress who played Remmy, was fantastic.  Sofia Boutella did a great job in a tough role, enough to have me tracking down a copy of Prisoners of the Ghostland.  Ismael Cruz Cordova made a very convincing and mysterious bad guy and it will be interesting to see how he manages in the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show..

However, what an absolutely depressing tale.  It reminded me of Z for Zacariah which I also found beautiful to look at but utterly depressing.  The pacing was slow and drawn out, probably intentional, as the plot unfolds at a snails pace.  The tragedy in the tale largely happens off camera giving you this anoying sense of uncertainty about what is actually going on and the the story seems to be going nowhere until the final twenty minutes or so.

I'm not saying that every sci-fi movie needs to be an action epic but this was just too slow for my liking.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) - 7/10

I was cruising the Netflix and stumbled across one I hadn't seen in a couple of years.  The most expensive film in European cinematic history and another collaboration of Luc Besson and Jean-Claude Mézierès based on the popular Valerian and Laureline graphic novel series by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières.  This movie is a visually spectacle, let down only slightly by an odd plot and wooden acting from Dehane, Delevinge and Rihanna.

There are so many cool ideas running through the movie which more than make up for the ones that fall flat on their face.  Big Market in particular is a cornucopia of visuals and plot hooks with a few Besson easter eggs thrown in there.  The trans dimensional nature of the whole setting is something genuinely fresh and new.  I loved the magnetic chaser balls, the strange alien kid "Da", the gun which splits its barrel.  The pearls are cool and I especially love the dying soul wave idea which could be a great plot hook for any RPG.  Give me more please.

There is an outside chance that we will see a sequel at some point in the future (according to Luc Besson) as this was very well received by fans and despite it not being a commercial success Besson does have the ability to make a great film.

In the meantime try to find the 2007 anime series Time Jam: Valerian and Laureline which in my humble opinion is well worth a watch if you enjoy a good space opera. 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - 9/10

When I saw the early trailer of Ecto-1 under a dusty tarp, I hoped that this would be the Ghostbusters movie that we were all waiting for.  After a long wait I am glad to say it is and it is well worth that wait.

Whilst the movie undoubtedly reverberates with echoes of the past, it breaths new life into the franchise with new characters and new possibilities.  The story revolves around the central figure of Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), a wannabe scientist as she uncovers the truth about her Grandfather's past following his sudden death.  Her down at heel family are evicted and move to Summerville, Illinois to attend to the estate of a man they barely knew in the hope that this will lead to a change in their fortunes.

It's a story of self belief and adventure and very much reminds me of another classic, The Goonies, in that the heroes are misfits and social failures who are just trying to get to the bottom of a mystery.  In a world gone mad we need stories like this to take our minds off what is going on outside our own windows.

The cast and director deliver a nigh perfect blend of action, adventure, humour, tension and pathos with every story beat.  A complete antidote to 2016's unfunny, synical, confused and pathetic reboot.  Jason Reitman gets what Ghostbusters is about.  It's not a comedy, it's a spooky adventure with comedic moments and not a contest in who can get the biggest laugh or the wittiest punchline.  It's not about slapstick, fart gags or puking.  There's a story, a plot, real jeopardy for the characters and not just an assortment of gag sequences which when stretched out together fill out the runtime.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (there's a good reason why they chose that title) is also an homage to legendary comic actor and writer Harold Ramis.  In his portrayal as The Ghost Farmer, Bob Gunton treats his memory with respect and reverance, a perfect way to honour a comedy legend.  The Ghostbusters family are almost fully reunited (with the noted exception of Rick Moranis) with Annie Potts reprising her role as Janine Melnitz and Sigourney Weaver returning in a post credits sequence with Bill Murray.

Paul Rudd does a fantastic job as does Carrie Coon as the "responsible adults" and the unwitting new Gatekeeper and Keymaster of Zuul.  The return of Gozer as the supernatural vilain of the piece adds the motif of unfinished business and adds an extra layer of backstory with the wonderful if brief role of Ivo Shandor (J K Simmons).  Noticeably no-one gets slimed in this movie and there is no rerpise for Slimer, instead we get a new character called muncher who looks like a blue tardigrade.  If there is a criticism to be had of this movie it is the lack of ghosts.  Something I hope they will rectify in the near future with whatever is trying to escape the failing containment unit in the dilapidated firehouse.      

I am so glad that they made this movie and gave the fans what they wanted, a real ghostbusters movie.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 16 - Maxing out the print bed

 

This week, I are mostly been printing...

Ticket to Ride Trays - Thingiverse 213031

Nothing gets a board gamer with OCD riled up than having their rolling stock scattered all over.  How do you calculate your progress? How do you know at a glance if you have enough to snatch that last minute route?

Wonder no more with these wonderful Train Trays.

Judge Dredd Film Badge 2012 - Thingiverse 114711 

I am a big fan of the Savage Worlds RPG system and it's a perfect fit for my Judge Dredd RPG Campaigns (see Sector 55 Blues).  Savage Worlds uses the concept of "bennies" to effect rerolls, soak damage or to introduce a bit of player story enhancement.  What better way to encourage player engagement than with some Judge Dredd badge shaped bennies.

 

I also managed to max out my printer bed in the process... which was nice.  It's heartwarming to know exactly what the maximum available print space you have on your printer.  In my case for this Geeetech Prusa i3 Pro W it is X 185mm and Y 187mm.  Settings have now been adjusted and so there is zero percent chance of a carriage collision... fingers crossed.

Printer Upgrade Time

I've had my printer for almost a year now and I must say that I haven't been using it that much until recently.  Getting back into printing has been great but the experience has been marred by the absolutely ludicrous location and orientation of the SD Card.  On my printer it is on the back of the control board and mounted transversely. 

 

This doesn't seem like a big deal until you've dropped the SD card a bagillion times whilst trying to insert it in the slot and then had to fish around under the printer to retrieve it without disturbing the delicate karma that makes the 3D printing magic happen.

 

Clearly a first world problem but a quick scan of ebay threw up a solution in the form of an SD Male to SD Female card extension which should allow me to move the whole shebang to somewhere more esasily accessible.  I might even print a cover to go over the board now I don't need to access the onboard SD Card slot.   

New Years Hobby Resolutions 2022

It's that futile thing we all do around this time of the year.  Some people might say that this only counts if you make your resolutions on January 1st but I say stuff that I had a 3D Printing hangover...

Blog More

I am in lock down until the Prime Minister says otherwise so this gives me ample opportunity to get ahead in the blogging stakes.  My goal is to brain dump at least one article a day and schedule the posts ahead of time.  

The name of the game is short and sweet with lengthier articles in between.  This is harder than it looks though so don't hold me to it.   

Play More

My List of Games I need to play in 2022

• Block Mania - One of my Games Workshop Bookcase Games and a Judge Dredd one at that.  Do I wait until I have the 4 player expansion Mega Mania? or do I just bite the bullet and try before I buy?
  
  
• Rogue Trooper - Another Games Workshop Bookcase Game which has never been played and really should.
  
  
• Dune - Another bookcase format game this time from Avalon Hill, with the re-imagined version launched to coincide with the Dennis Villeneuve 2021 movie release prices for punched but unplayed copy have plummeted to below the price of a new version so I should really work out if this is something I want to hang on to as I don't have the valuable version with Sting on the cover.

 

• Jaws - A gift from my old work colleagues which desperately needs to be played.
   
  
• Mow - A stupid little card game I picked up in a charity shop last year.  The box goes Moo and it's by Bruno Cathala (Shadows over Camelot, Cleopatra & The Society of Architects, 7 Wonders Duel)
  
  
• Shuggy Hall Brawl - A print and play game from the pages of Warlock Magazine back in the 80s which I am currently making a 3D version of.  This will require some 3D modelling work and I ought to learn how to use FreeCAD.
  

Print More

There's no point in having a 3D Printer if you don't use it.  Plus Jessie's Prints is always in need of new content so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  Here are some grail prints which I really should try and get done in 2022.

• Aliens Pulse Rifle (Thingiverse 2334265) - A truly iconic weapon from the Aliens franchise and one that needs to be on my prop wall. Wait a minute I don't have a prop wall.  Well that needs fixing.  I don't think I will go the whole hog of adding lights and sound but you never know...
  
  
• Judge Dredd Killdozer (Thingiverse 3840028) - An absolute must addition to my 15mm Judge Dredd Vehicle Fleet and a great objective or background prop for my RPG Campaigns.
  
  
• ABC Warrior Bust (Thingiverse 2568026) - Stallone Dredd rarely gets any love, but the set dressing and special effects were awesome.  I refuse to call this Hammerstein but it's a pretty iconic robot which would look fantastic on one of my floorstanding speakers.  The eyes must light up of course and it would be a good starting point for an arduino sound / IR remote project.  I promise not to use it in anger and especially not to kill off Ian Dury's character.
  
  
• 15mm Blank People (Thingiverse 1695396) - My 15mm boingers were a great start but they were let down by my pathetic sculpting skills.  What better way to learn mesh mixer than by reposing these blanks and printing them.  I could also do with some fatter fatties if you know what I mean. 

I think that's enough to be going on with right now.  If you have any suggestions of games I ought to play or things I ought to print, you know what the comments box is for.

15mm Judge Dredd - Boingers

In the megalopolis of the future one of the more popular crazes is boinging.  I couldn't help but scratch build a few boingers to harrass my players in my next Judge Dredd RPG at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

What the Heck is Boinging?

One of the many crazy inventions which are an everyday occurence in Mega Dity One, Boing is a miracle plastic-in-a-can which saw its debut in the Daily Star serialised adventures of Judge Dredd between 1981 and 1998 and fully fleshed out in the Prog 136 story Palais de Boing

One spray with Boing encapsulates the user in a bouncy ball of plastic, turning them into a living pinball.  Within days of Boing hitting the streets the first casualties occurred it was made illegal but since when does that ever stop the citizens of Mega City One, and soon regulated and safe establishments sprang up in every sector to cater for the boing craze.  These Palais De Boing feature tubes and bumpers to really accentuate the boinging experience.

Needless to say the enterprising, and foolish, perps of MC-1 have occasionally used Boing in their criminal ventures and illegal use comes with a mandatory 20 year sentence or death as Boing is incredibly flammable.  Boing was notably used for good to encase Judge Anderson as she harboured the spirit of Judge Death.  However, the three other Dark Judges, Fire, Fear and Mortis managed to orchestrate his release.    

Make Your Own Boingers

My boingers are made from 40mm plastic fill yur own christmas baubles with hand sculpted figures made from milliput hot glued inside.  

My sculpting skills are pretty pathetic and I will definitely have another go at this.  I will probably try making an armature or using one of the 15mm "Dolly" miniatures from Alternative Armies.

But in anycase the mission statement for these guys is to be a surprise encounter for my players.