Netflix Binge - Tribes of Europa

Every now and then Netflix has a bit of a stonker on its hands and Tribes of Europa feels like it's going to be another one.

Pitched Like a Young Adult Novel

Tribes of Europa
art reminds me of 80s Chocky

I was a little wary going into this series as I knew absolutely nothing about it except for the teaser photo and the trailer.  It came across as another Hunger Games / Scorch Trials style post apocalyptic YA novel.  I've been burned before with the sanctimonius "Kids save the future" mantra but I'm a glutton for punishment and so I fired up the Netflix and gave it a go.

Older Cast Members Show the Kids How It's Done

Whilst the 3 main protagonists we follow through the series are all young performers in their teens or early twenties, the cast is made up of some heavyweight older actors who put meat on this stories bones.  I dont want to sound dismissive about their acting talents, they do a reasonable job, but they pale before their much more experienced co-stars. 

Perhaps that is exactly the point.  Liv (Henrietta Confurius), Kiano (Emilio Sakraya) and Elia (David Ali Rashed) are supposed to have led a sheltered life as forest dwelling Origine, protected by the forest and their elders non-confrontational philosophy.  

When they are exposed to the other tribes and the world outside their tiny microcosm their naivete, like their acting, is laid bare.  

The standouts for me are Moses (Oliver Masucci) sporting a moustache that would make Nikola Tesla proud.  A grifter and con man who befriends Elia (pr. El-e-ya), he is a pre-collapse survivor and a necessary tool of exposition filling in the blanks about how the world got to where it is. 

Sebastian Blomberg steals every scene as the menacing Kapitan Yvar of the Crow gang.  He looks like he has just stepped off stage supporting Danzig or The Sisters of Mercy (Flood period).  Cutting an imposing figure he rules a post apocalypse Berlin with a studded leather fist and demands undying loyalty from his subjects or, you guessed it, you die horribly.

Mekika Faroutan (Lord Varvara) oozes seduction and machiavellian schemery with every graceful step.  She craves power and position among the elite Crow but you get the distinct impression that Yvar knows that she is a threat and keeps her subdued with promises of elevation dangled in front of her like a ball of string to a cat.

Tonal Shift and Adult Themes

The opening episode reminded me of classic 80s TV Scifi shows like Chocky (1984), The Tomorrow People (1973) and The Tripods (1984) 

As the series progresses we are gradually introduced to the other tribes and the tone shifts to something much darker.  Some of the scenes are distinctly adult in nature and the series carries a 15 rating for a good reason.  I guess that the TV landscape has changed since Game of Thrones.  Now every show has to have its fair share of bloody gore and nudity. There is also a strong drug reference with the Crows being fueled on some strange inhaled narcotic much like the war boys from Mad Max: Fury Road.

This makes for engaging adult viewing and to be honest is a refreshing change from the usual Young Adult glittery vampire or schoolboy scorceror nonsense that we had to put up with in the noughties.  I for one think that you should let Young Adults watch things which challenge them rather than shield them from adult themes and concepts. 

To the writing crews credit, they've managed to make a believeable world in just six episode short series and I now now eagerly anticipate a second.

It's Alive!!! - New 3D Printer at RGP HQ

A sad and sorry tale has finally come to an end...

I have been without a 3D Printer since November 2020 when my something got fried on my CTC i3 Pro B motherboard.  I blame the operator carelessly backdriving the extruder motor when extracting filament although it didn't help that the printer was equipped with an early Mk3 extruder with no way to disengage the drive wheel.

Geetech i3 Prusa Pro W

I took delivery of my new printer last Thursday, but opening the box revealed a kit of parts which filled me with dread.  My previous printer came partially assembled and I had no motivation to get stuck in to what could possibly be the larget single meccano challenge I have embarked upon.

Two days later and the printer was built.  

My New Geetech Prusa i3 Pro W

What were my initial observations?

No Manual - I am no newbie to 3D printing and this printer is essentially the same as my last one.  I knew I would find a comprehensive guide to building the printer on the Geetech YouTube channel and lo and behold there it was.  What I wasn't expecting was getting to the final stage in the build process, wiring the control board and there being no final step!!!

Luckily the printer uses the ubiquitous GT2560 control board so finding a manual and a picture online was no problem.  However, by following the manual I did manage to connect all the limit switches incorrectly which meant the printer didn't home properly (cue horrible motor clunking sounds as the x-carriage refured to recognise the limit switch).

In addition this printer differs in one respect from my old printer in that the x-axis limit switch is set considerably further back and so the home position is actually off the print bed by about half an inch.  I could have fixed this by updating the printers firmware and setting an offset, but I've been here before.

Half an inch makes all the difference

My old printer had a similar problem in the Y-axis which meant that it would home too far forward.  The solution now as then was to print off an extension finger which would press the x-axis limit switch that half an inch early.  

So off to thingiverse I went and lo and behold someone had made a model and bish bash bosh my printer was off to the races printing out its first part.  Given that the Prusa design is derived from the Rep Rap project itself I think this is quite fitting.

First Part Printed - An x-axis trigger extension

Upgraded Parts - The reason I bought this particular printer was that it was one of the cheapest I could find with a Mk8 extruder.  However, this was not the only upgrade that the printer came with.  No siree, I got proper lead screws for the z-axis instead of plain old threaded rod, proper flexible couplers not pieces of rubber tube and a significantly better x-carriage assembly with threaded holes for mounting a second hot end fan.  The hot bed was also an upgraded version without the annoying brass rivet in the middle like my old printer.  The borosilcate glass platter now sits perfectly flat on the hot bed ensuring no distortion in z height and no hot spots.

Laser Cutter Dust - I could not believe how dirty I got when handling the laser cut plywood panels which make up the frame.  Every edge of the printer is covered in a thin film of wood ash which comes off on your clothes and hands.  If I were ever to build another laser cut framed printer then step 1 would be to wipe down all the wooden parts with a damp rag.

Jessie Will Be Chuffed

Now I have a working 3D Printer I can return to blogging about the things that I print in my Jessie's Prints series.  Jessie has been on a severe no PLA diet since June 2020 so he will be chuffed to bits.

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb - Vintage Fun from 1988

Recently I blogged about rescuing my copy of the vintage Games Workshop boardgame Curse of the Mummy's Tomb.  This weekend I actually got to play it for the first time in about 30 years. 

Curse of the Mummys Tomb

Vintage Games Play Very Differently

Back in 1988 boardgames were very different.  Wolfgang Kramer had only just invented the Kramer Track implemented for the first time in Heimlich & Co. (1984) and no-one had heard of the term Euro game.

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is essentially an exploration game set in a 3 tiered cardboard pyramid.  You move your token by playing movement cards on yourself but your fellow players can play movement cards on you to send you off your chosen path.

If you land on an encounter space, numbered 1, 2 or 3, they can also play encounter cards on you up to the value on your space.  These can be either a hazard, a creature or a discovery and you can have only 1 of each.  This means as a player you must search out the encounter 3 spaces in order to guarantee that you can lay a discovery on yourself.  Of course the more players the more chance that they will play hazards and creatures on you.

Heavy Player vs Player

I was quite surprised at how heavy the PvP action was.  In fact in order for you to get the right movement cards for yourself you have to get rid of as many hazard and creature cards in your hand as possible because you can only hold 5 cards at a time.  

The Mummy Is Not That Much of a Threat

Players bid to control the mummy each round by bidding with their Tana leaf tokens.  This auction style movement runs out of steam unless players are regularly pausing to burn their cards and acquire new tana leaf tokens.

If I were to play again I would definitely up the ante and instigate two house rules.

1. The Mummy moves every turn not just every round.
2. Either the player to the right of the active player moves the mummy or the mummy moves randomly using a d10.  (1 North, 2, North East, 3 East etc.. 9 Go Up, 10 Go Down)

The End Game

Once you find a Key of Osiris you can attempt the end game and ascend the pyramid to find the Chamber of Osiris and try to find the elixir of immortality by testing 3 of your attributes.

This is a bit of a lacklustre endgame to be honest as I hate a dice off.

Player Reaction

My boardgame pals didn't hate it completely.  Once they had gotten to grips with the forced PvP nature of the whole thing and the crippling nature of some of the hazards the pace of the game picked up.

Reaper Bones #28 - Medium Fire Elemental

Like a bad movie franchise that seems to go on forever (I'm looking at you Sharknado!!) here is another transparent mini but this time it's RED.

Medium Fire Elemental - Bob Ridolfi (SKU: 77083)

Smaller and much, much sexier than the Large Fire Elemental thus is a cute mini with ridiculous wings.  Whilst this may have worked in metal (this is a remoulded Dark Haven mini) in plastic she's a bit floppy given her slender form.  Still I enjoyed painting her even if the transparency effect has been lost a little.  

As promised I did use a pot of old (and I do mean old) Citadel Red Glaze that has probably seen better days.  My Blacklist Miniatures Kickstarter is inbound and includes 18 transparent minis!! 

I think I might need some new inks.

Newsround - Feb 14th to Feb 20th 2021

In the best tradition of John Craven's Newsround here's my rundown of "What I Learned" on the Internet this week.

Gelatinous Cube Love Song

I've always considered Gelatinous Cubes to be unfeeling unsentient slimes with the notable exception of the Forgotten Realms Glabagool.  However, Ginny Di has obviously spent far too much time considering the romantic emotions of the most famous slimes of D&D Lore, penning this 1950s style ditty of unrequited love.

Pixels - The Latest in Light Up Dice

I was recently made aware of these cool looking light up dice which might be launching on Kickstarter soon.  They were supposed to go live in June 2020 but for some reason (possibly a worldwide epidemic) they didn't.  

The dice are purported to connect digitally to Virtual Tabletops like Roll20 so what you roll in meatspace appears in the VTT.  The designers have undergone exhaustive product testing and  produced randomness comparisons with the gold standard platonic solid random number generating Gamescience Dice and those Chessex ones mere mortals use.  

Clearly they know what their target market wants and, fingers crossed, they get their ducks in a row and launch soon. 

Bonkers Bladesmith Fashions Real Life Gotrek Axe

YouTuber Michael Cthulhu has excelled himself once more and made a life size replica of the famous Axe from Warhammer's Gotrek and Felix novels.  No stranger to building stupid sized axes, Michael has really gone balls out on this one and you can follow every step of the way in his 4 part series on YouTube.  

Mike is a larger than life character but this time he is dwarfed (pun intended) by the size of this iconic weapon, wielded by one of Warhammer's most iconic characters.  As part of a charity live stream raising money for Doctors Without Borders (Medicine Sans Frontier), Mike shaves his hair and cosplays as the famous Dwarf before taking one for the team and needing medical attention himself.

 

Are you Struggling to Find a Roleplay Group Near You?

It's hard enough to find likeminded Tabletop RPG fans near you at the best of times but this has only been made worse by the current year predicament and the various lockdowns which have been imposed on everyone.

At Dragons Keep we are looking to recruit players from our local area (South East London) in anticipation of our venue reopening in the very near future so that we can return to playing face to face as soon as possible.

Our Tabletop RPG Club is in Chislehurst, South East London, within easy reach of Bexley, Bromley, Dartford, Eltham, Greenwich, Lewisham, Sidcup and Orpington.  But that's too far a commute for many people and whilst we are playing online games it is a purely temporary measure.

We thought it would be helpful to provide some tips and tools to help you find a local group which is right for you.