Category: Miscellaneous

More Crafting

It’s time for a craft update. While KLS was in Ireland I occupied myself with a bit of making. Three different miniature kits to be precise, and all turned out quite well.

The first was a tiny cardboard dinosaur skeleton that I had picked up in CA earlier this year. I bough a kit by the same maker in Japan years ago but ruined it during assembly so I was very careful this time and it went together without issue.

As you can see it’s very detailed for its size (about 1.5 inches high) if a little flimsy. A tiny bit of glue would perfect this, but I’m too nervous to do it so it shall sit on the shelf forever!

The next kit was a gift from Florence, who has since admitted she chose it because it looked difficult. She wasn’t wrong!

I’d made one like this before and that was hard enough, but look at the micro-folds required here! The level of precision is incredible, and this one also requires glue to assemble. Im not sure I had the correct tools for this, but then I don’t know even what the correct tools would be!

Almost all the pieces in the first photo go into making the tiny three-windowed piece in the lower right of the second!

Anyway I was careful and meticulous and patient and believe I ended up doing quite a good job:

It came with a little display case (which also needed assembly) but I like it better out.

Lastly it was time for (yet!) another Metal Earth kits, this time from their new Doctor Who license.

This was another trial of my patience to be honest, and definitely amongst their more difficult kits. But once made, it’s amazing:

Next on my list: a Gundam. Whether or not that happens before Oz remains to be seen…

Yes My Friends, The Fated Day Has Arrived! It’s Time Once Again For The Christmas List!

I got a postcard the other day with a kiwi stamp on it. On the back, next to the sketch of the extinct ‘kiwi squid’, was the following request: “Please blog a Christmas wish list!”
I think we know who sent it, so here goes.

Video Game Section

Slap Fight for the Megadrive is pretty high on my list, but – as with most Genesis shooters – is a real dog to find (boxed with manual of course). It’s a mostly forgotten game these days but I always loved it. Bernard may be able to use his contacts to obtain this, but he’ll weep quietly when he sees the price (>$350) so may want to consider this only-slightly-less-expensive alternate:

Taito Nostalgia 2 is a plug-and-play TV game, which includes a remixed Slap Fight amongst its handful of games. This is a 10 year old JP-only release and may be ‘challenging’ to find at a reasonable price ๐Ÿ™‚

That’s a Sega Master System, an obsolete 8-bit system I’ve been getting more and more interested in. They’re not too difficult to find, and not prohibitively expensive, but of course they are nothing without games to play. And here’s where things get a bit chancey. Because if he gets me one of these, he’d have to get me some games as well.

These two are a good start. Other good options include Sagaia, Zillion, Master Of Darkness, Phantasie Star etc. Very likely each of these games will cost more than the system!

Speaking of games…

 

Bernard’s going to need the devil’s luck finding these two TG-16 games (boxed of course), and then open his wallet wide to get them for me…

RPG Section

This AD&D module was published a startling 31 years ago and is a legendary classic. It’s also bloody expensive and rarely complete (the complete boxed set has oodles of maps and handouts in it). I almost bought it myself about 25 years ago but chose not to knowing that in 2016 my brother would get it for me.

This is apparently a mostly stupid expansion to D&D that was put out in 1986 to keep stubborn gamers who hadn’t moved on to AD&D busy. I’ve always been intrigued but it’s bloody hard to find complete. And sticker-shockingly pricey. Thanks Bernard.

With a bit of effort, sacrifice and prayer Bernard should be able to get me one of these AD&D manuals for under a Benjamin. The Conan ones are apparently very short (one is only 12 pages I think) which means the cost/page is sky-high. Good thing Bernard spares no expense!

Toy Section

Gore Magala Girl just came out. As in last week. It would be challenging get it before Xmas to say the least, plus it’s expensive; more than I’ve ever paid for any figure. I’m putting it here mostly to show it off since you can bet I’m buying it the second I get back from Oz. In other words this was originally added as a sincere list item, but like the ZOID from 2014 I’ve now retracted it to buy it for myself ๐Ÿ™‚

Computer Section

That’s a Casio FX 890P handheld computer, which (apparently) has several built-in languages. Just the machine for me to write the next (long awaited) Mercenary King game on. I’m putting any generic programmable handheld computer on this list, so Bernard can surprise me!

That’s a RetroPie handheld. It’s a lovely handheld MAME device based around a Raspberry Pi. Now I have conflicting feelings about emulation, especially of consoles, and frankly couldn’t be bothered setting up a Pi or (even less so) downloading MAME roms. But Bernard will do it all for me, because Christmas ๐Ÿ™‚

Trading Card Section

Get me this and I promise you’ll get Tron stickers on postcards ๐Ÿ™‚

MTG Section

My MTG basic land collection is pretty massive now and almost complete. But I don’t have any of the five stupidly rare and expensive ‘guru’ lands. If Bernards got about $2000+ lying around, he’ll get me these 5 cards for Christmas!

‘There’s only two weeks and this list is insane!’ Section

– Any Gundam kit
– A t-shirt (size L)
– An interesting jigsaw (suitable for framing)
– Any gamebook I don’t own (check the list on your network)
No metal miniatures ๐Ÿ™‚
– Glowworm stamps!

It’s Time Again To Talk MTG

The five new Commander 2016 MTG decks came out a month ago and as I usually do, I played them against each other to get their measure. Here’s my conclusion: they are the least fun Commander decks Wizards has put out.

This is not to say they are bad (or even poorly designed). The problem is that as four colour decks they play very slowly, lack focus and (as you can see above) quickly become extremely complicated.

I played 10 games, matching each against the other four, and found them to be mostly well balanced. With three wins the ‘Saskia the Unyielding’ deck (BRGW) seems strongest overall (look at her her leader ability) and the weakest deck is ‘Kynaios’ who only managed one win. The other three had two wins apiece.

 

Of course I’ve already dismantled the decks to use the cards in other decks and as usual they are well worth it (in my opinion) just for the wealth of powerful cards they contain. While these examples were not as fun as decks themselves, I still think Commander is the best MTG product being released these days.

And while I’m on the topic… Australia 2017 is fast approaching and as always I’ve crafted a few decks for some down under card flopping. Adam’s made a bunch himself (which are no doubt evil…) and even Bernard’s making some. The competition will be intense this trip.

At the risk of revealing my cards – literally! – here’s a rundown of the three I’ll be taking with me.

My first deck – which I call ‘Bang A Boomerang – isn’t that new, being mostly a refinement of a deck I made about five years ago. It’s a control deck based around the above with a couple of other tricks up its sleeve and is both the most successful deck in my playtests and the one that’s least fun to play. I may replace this with a mono creature deck…

I love the bicolour enchantment cycle from Eventide and crafted an entire deck – I call ‘Deathlink’ around the one shown above. This is a very conventional creature based deck that I already know is vulnerable to the gimmicks of both A and B’s decks. While I think it’s fun to play, I’m not expecting many wins from this one in two player, but perhaps more success in multiplayer.

The third deck – let’s call it ‘Overload’ – was inspired by the above card, which is in one of the Commander decks. Currently in flux, this is a high concept, very unusual deck that has a very fragile win condition but should – I hope – create spectacular multiplayer games. Fingers crossed!

I can’t wait to play these. I can’t wait to see Adam’s decks. I can’t wait to lose to Bernard’s evil black deck not to mention see what his other one is. I’m pretty sure there’s some titanic flopping in the not-too-distant future…