Seems like we have found a new furrow to plough. Badass fighter dudes.
Another archetypal evil head henchman. Full plate, big axe, horns and skull motif. He's all show but probably goes quite a bit too.
I'm treating you to two photos today (front and back) because I'm pretty pleased with how the cloak came out.
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| Norgol, Irongrave Knight (SKU 77065) - front |
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| Norgol, Irongrave Knight (SKU 77065) - back |
Bones Progress
My weekly roundup of news and what I found on the internet.
The biggest tabletop games convention in the UK has announced it's dates for 2021.
Due to venue refurbishment this is going to be a much smaller event than in previous years but I for one am glad to see it still taking place after the disaster that was 2020. Fingers crossed.
More details on the UK Games Expo website.
Imagine running the same Dungeons and Dragons campaign since 1982 That's exactly what Robert Wardhaugh of London, Ontario has done for the past 39 years.
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| Robert Wardhaugh - Playing the same game since 1982 Pic: from CNN article |
Sometimes the YouTube recommendations algorithm just nails it and this is how I found the amazing carpentry creations of David Lundell. Check him out he has just about something for everyone.
Ask a roleplayer if they have enough dice and they will reply "You can never have enough dice". So who could resist these awesome floating eyeball dice.
There appears to be a trend of people casting their own dice with things embedded in them. I've seen skulls, frogs, penguins and eyeballs. The difference with these dice is that the eyeball floats and always looks up at the number rolled.
At $59 a set (D4, D6, D8, 2 x D10, D12 & D20) they are a premium item and I'm not sure how they would compare in a randomness test against the gold standard Gamescience dice, but they look amazing.
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| floating eyeball dice oumcraft.com |
Talking about dice, if you are a fan of the maker community on YouTube you will probably have heard of Wesley Treat. He makes one off custom furniture, signs and light fixtures in an Americana style inspired by his years as a photographer trekking across the USA capturing it's disintegrating history.
Wesley takes you through the whole process of constructing the classic platonic solids we know and love. If you have ever tried to do this yourself you know it's hard enough making it out of cardboard never mind steel. A fascinating video and a great YouTube channel if you are at all interested in art, design or making things.
Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion. This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.
Judge Teal calls it in.
"We've got a dead Judge and five dead perps at The Two Ways in Benny Hill Block. I need a meat wagon stat."
"Who's the dead Judge" replies control "Going to need to inform the Watch Commander".
"It is the Watch Commander... Judge Govan is dead"
A full complement of forensic judges descend on the crime scene and start to pick apart the aftermath of the shootout. The death of one of his senior officers brings a personal visit from Sector Chief Judge Ezquerra to the crime scene.
He walks past Hammer who is hunched over one of the Bikes trying to get its computer to home in on his bleeper. A flashing green dot can be seen entering a mixed use zone in city bottom about 5 miles away. The spot stops moving at an intersection on Salmond and 110th street.
Ezquerra balls out the four Judges for the destruction of Justice Department property.
"If the department gave you a salary I'd be taking the cost of repairs to those bikes out of it.!!"
Walking into the foyer of The Two Ways he surveys the seen of destruction and the body of Judge Govan which lies underneath the heavy steel treads of The Crushinator.
"Judge Govan was a fine officer, one of the old school, he'll be hard to replace but not impossible. We are all replaceable.
I've brought you four new bikes now get out there and hunt down Rabies Nesbitt. Nobody gets away with Judge Homicide on my watch and roams free. What are you waiting for? Go!!
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| Sector Chief Judge Ezquerra orders a manhunt |
The Judges gun their lawmasters through the dimly lit streets of city bottom following the computers directions to the intersection. This part of the sector is so close to Great Western Wall that its streets never see daylight and are continually bathed in its 500ft tall shadow.
Illegally parked on the pavement at the intersection is the red hatchback. Cully notices a loose manhole cover to the right of the vehicle and Hammer calls up CCTV of the area from MAC. A jerky grainy feed is patched through to his bike showing an obviously wounded Rabies getting out of the ar and walking around the front towards the manhole and dissapearing from view..
Cully opens the manhole revealling a 10ft drop into the sewer below. Blood spots trail down the ladder into the sewer below. The others notice that there are two boxes which match the one that fell out of the vehicle as it made its getaway from The Two Ways. It is likely packed to the brim with these wig creatures and present a threat to the inquisitive citizens of Sector 163.
Their brief debate about what to do is settled when Cully fires two incendiary rounds into the vehicle setting it ablaze
"Into the sewer boys, he's got a head start on us"
The blood trail leads West and about a hundred feet along, the left sewer wall is broken open leading to a short hand excavated cross tunnel which intersects a service shaft filled with electrical conduits and other essential services which feed the Great Western Wall. The trail of blood continues to a circular metal grate in the wall, a hot dry breeze blows through the grate carrying with it the unmistakeable smell of death.
Hammer fires an incendiary round down the shaft which explodes with Justice Department efficiency scorching the walls clean of anything which might have been alive. They clamber into the 5 foot wide shaft and inch their way along for what seems like an age until they emerge from the wall and stare out onto the bleak and barren windswept irradiated dustbowl that is THE CURSED EARTH.
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| The Cused Earth - A barren and desolate irradiated wasteland |
They call for an H-Wagon to come pick them up from the other side of the wall and their conversation is cut off by Judge Ezquerra
"I've been in touch with Sector 55 and these hairy creatures are taking over. Only Rabies has the answer to this infestation and I want him alive".
Ten minutes later a Strat-bat lands at their 20 and pilot Judge Maverick shouts at them "We are your ride, get in". In the back of the long range cargo carrier are a four bikes and a few extra supplies. Each judge is issued a Rad Kit including meters, medical supplies, rad suits, one man pop-up tents and 14 days rations. Their bikes are fitted with extra large panniers and a set of emergency sat comms gear.
The Strat-bat dusts off an half an hour later they are following the vehicle tracks using nap of the earth navigation. Teal orders the pilot to get some altitude as there's a high chance that the perps are armed.
As the H-Wagon climbs to 200 ft and crests a dune the pilots see a large wheeled vehicle in the distance belching black smoke. Sirens blare as the Electronic Counter Measures computer warns them that it has detected a weapons lock. Moments later the right engine explodes. and the H-Wagon crashes into a canyon.
As the dust settles the Judges survey their immediate surroundings. The back half of the shuttle has been torn off. The pilots have not been so lucky. The cockpit is a crumpled mess of tangled metal and sparking wires. Blood drips from the steel.
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| VTOL Crash Site Battlemap - Get a free 140dpi version from Fragmaps |
As they survey their new predicament at the bottom of a 50ft deep canyon, Hammer spots a human sillhouette on the east canyon wall and then another and another. His years of training kick in and he dodges as a primitive spear made from one arm of a pair of gardening shears lands six inches from his foot.
A gravelly voice shouts down from the rim of the canyon
"We're gonna come down there Judges, we're gonna come down there and catch you, we're gonna catch you and we're gonna EAT YOU!"
Their day just keeps getting better. Cannibals!!
Cully indirectly fires a grenade round which arcs over the rim and explodes with it's familiar crack. A scream goes up from one of the perps above.
Hammer manoeuvres his bike onto one of the storage crates which has been tossed from the wreck. He can't quite get the elevation and his Cyclops Laser cannon only succeeds in turning a portion of the canyon wall into molten glass.
A cloud of black smoke belches from the vehicle above the canyon rim as it lurches North.
The Judges gun their bikes in the same direction. Hopefully there is a way out and they can head these wasteland scavengers off at the pass.
Next Prog ->
Prog 2 - Hair Today Gone Tomorrow - Rock Dwayneson's apartment and carnage at the Yes-A-Bout
Prog 3 - It's Ugly Out There - Fun and Games at the Ugly Pageant
Prog 4 - Down, Down, Deeper and Down - Entering the sewers under RESYK
Prog 5 - The Big Wig - Confronting the beast below the city
Prog 6 - Last Orders at The Two Ways Pub - A shootout in Sector 163
We've all had to begin somewhere and when I started playing nearly 40 years ago the internet didn't exist to help.
When you first start playing roleplaying games you need to learn from other players. Critical Role and other streamed "Live" games are fine, but they are edited professional voice actors and that's going to give you an unrealistic expectation of what the game is like to play with normal people.
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| Learning to play from experienced players is the best way |
Joining a local group is the best way for you to learn the basics before you begin investing time and money into the hobby. You will meet people who have been playing for years and can help you get up to speed straight away.
At my Friday night Tabletop Roleplay Group, Dragons Keep Roleplay Club, we are always welcoming to players new to the hobby and will help you to create a character and learn the basic rules. We have experienced Games Masters who have been running Dungeons & Dragons for many years
Google search terms like:
Dungeons and Dragons has a long history of producing starter boxes which give you a simplified cut down version of the game, a starter adventure and even teach you how to play the game. In fact they contain pretty much everything you need to get yourself up and running with the game.
Most game systems will have multiple starter set entry points. Dungeons and Dragons has at least 3
For younger players there is even a boardgame version of D&D called Adventure Begins which will get you started.
Cosmic Sin is a new straight to streaming release starring Frank Grillo & Bruce Willis written and Directed by Francis Drake (Breach, Broil).
Low budget does not automatically mean bad
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| A Cosmic Mistake |
Sadly this movie is not a contender. It begins as a zombie movie before turning into a sci-fi shooter and really doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a straight up guns blazing action movie or is it a polemic on the nature of war and genocide of hostile alien species? Are humans the bad guys here or were the aliens irredeemable?
It doesn't matter because it never holds onto its train of thought long enough until it's onto the next scene. Pacing is in fact diabloical.
One huge complaint that I have is the dialogue for CJ Perry's character. I think she had some great punch lines, like a sassy Vasquez, but the audio was terrible when she delivered them and I'll never get the joke.
It's not all bad and there are some moments where the movie shines. The suits look fantastic and the nig bad alien costumes are pretty good. This is a Saban production so you get Power Rangers quality costumery. Stalwart TV actor Costas Mandylor uses his screen time to great effect making everyone look wooden by comparison.
However, it's not enough to save this movie especially when it gets to the final act where it completely loses the plot quite literally. It's almost like the final quarter of the movie is from an entirely different movie.
It's not like I didn't give it a fair shake of the stick.
I watched it twice so that you don't have to...
