Living in an apartment I have very limited garden space, basically it is my kitchen window ledge. I was challenged by my 80 year old Dad (who has an alllotment channel on YouTube) to start growing some microgreens.
I used to have a ramshackle mix of pots and planters which did not take advantage of the one thing I do have which is ample amounts of vertical space and a chance encounter with an image on Pinterest made me think "I can do that with my printer".
Minutes later, the Soda Bottle Stacking Planter was born.
Soda Bottle Stacking Planter
Just print twice, glue the halves together and combine with your favourite 2 Litre bottle of soda.
"But this is a gaming blog! What the heck has this to do with gaming?" I hear you say.
Well this is a perfect example of a crossover print. With the addition of this ladder from Thingiverse designer Cheng Huat Wan it becomes a multi-purpose Bulk Liquid Storage Tank for use in all your Sci-Fi miniature wargames and RPGs.
Browsing through YouTube can be a dangerous game, particularly when you find a trove of old Sci-Fi and Fantasy B Movies
Arena (1989)
I distinctly remember the cover of this B-movie budget space Rocky calling to me from the shelves of Blockbuster video back in the day. It wasn't a contender for my attention then, but in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, frankly I can't think of any good excuse to not watch it.
The story is a simple one our hero Steve Armstrong, (Paul Satterfield) is a young kid with a talent for boxing had dreams of becoming a professional fighter and bought a one way ticket to starstation the home of the biggest fights in the Galaxy, The Arena. A year later his dream is shattered and he spends his days as a short order cook in a fast food joint run by his boss the four armed alien Shorty (Hamilton Camp).
A chance brawl with a customer turns into a job offer from promoter Quinn (Claudia Christian) and a trial in the Arena. However, Steve is the only human in 50 years to fight in the Arena against aliens and he is hopelessly outmatched. Can he face impossible odds and become a contender?
Aliens, so many Aliens
The budget on this movie was pretty slim but they spent it wisely on a cavalcade of monster makeup. It makes the cantena scene in Star Wars look like 2 men and a dog. There is so much variety it really makes you feel like the Galaxy is teeming with alien species of all shapes and sizes.
The downside of this is of course that they spent all the money on monster makeup and next to nothing on writers, special effects, models etc. The list goes on.
The Director in me says "what the hell if I'm making Rocky in Space how much script do I need and this is pretty much what director Peter Manoogian must have though too. He does his best and to be honest there are some great moments, in particular when they do an inventive visual gag based on Shorty's four arms.
Claudia Christian (Ivanova in Bablylon 5) is her usual classy self and Armin Shimerman (Quark in DS9) also does a respectable turn as the henchman Weezil who is aided in his master plan by the duplicitous alien cyborg skull (William Butler). It's worth sticking this one out to see what happens to this guy.
It was Acceptable in the 80s
To be honest this wasn't as bad as the terrible video cover art had me believe. The only truly excrutiating part was having to listen to the truly awful songs of futuristic cabaret star Jade (Shari Shattuck). It's a relatively engaging story if a little cliched as we follow Steve's career reach its climax with the big fight against six time champion Horn (Michael Deak), a drug fuelled half robot half horned devil beast.
Give it a go, there are honestly worse things you can with 90 minutes of your life.
The original paintjob was a horrible early experiment using artists inks. I had given him a wash of blue ink over a white primer basecoat. He was more Blue Man Group than Bela Lugosi and so it was time this scary dude got a spooky repaint.
The C18 Night Horrors range is a particularly interesting series of minis and no doubt was designed to accompany the Gothic Horror Floorplans and GW licensed edition of Call of Cthulhu which were released about the same time.
They were excellent value as you got 5 "classic horror" minis in a blister pack for only £2.50 which if GW used the Bank of Englands inflation calculator would be under £10 in today's money. Well I guess it's true what they say...
"There are only two certainties in life. Death and Games Workshop price gouging!!"
I came up with a silly idea and had to post it otherwise I would forget I'd had it. Clearly too much cheese was consumed that day.
Ameoeboids
These complex vegetable organisms are humanoid in shape and come in a variety of heights and classes. they have all the same stats as humans. Their one distinguishing feature is that they reproduce asexually.
Yes every time they level up they immediately split into two distinct life forms with the same stats, skills and memories.
Go forth my Son (or daughter)
Of course whilst it sounds like a fun idea, it presents a problem for the party if they keep on their new recruit. If this lappens every level by 4th level (assuming that they all survive) their will be 8 versions of it and the party will keep growing exponentially. The player will have to decide which to put to the sword and which of his children to cast out into the cold unforgiving wilderness. Tough love indeed.
In hindsight perhaps to prevent this getting out of hand reproduction should be capped at twice per lifetime.
Not at all Thought Through
I cannot be held responsible for my creation if you should choose to use it in your game. It could be an interesting Invasion of the Body Snatchers style plot hook though if you use it as a benevolent monster NPC type which can also assume the visage of an unwilling party member.
DC came up with the Amoeba Man idea first - dangitt!
