Rick the Grumpy Gnome

Yes, I know… it’s been awhile…

While we have been doing a lot lately, not that much of it has been interesting progress on our hobby projects. We went out of town on holiday as well as entertaining guests from out of town. Little GG has returned to Kindergarten. Mrs. GG has had to go out of town for work. And I have been toiling away at my cancelled projects clearout.

However, we did manage to get a game of Frostgrave in. Mrs. GG convinced me to throw a bunch of partly painted Games Workshop Age of Sigmar terrain (that we won in an auction) onto the game table so we could fit in a “quick” game of Frostgrave. We decided to play a scenario from the main rule book, “The Worm” but we also added individual goals from the Ulterior Motives expansion.

We did not document the game well enough to make a full game report as we were trying to fit the game into limited time… ideally we wanted to play a couple of games being rusty we struggled to complete even just the one game in the little free time we had available.

High points of the game included a random wandering Giant Worm showing up before the main adversary of the scenario arrived. We mistakenly thought Control Animal would work on it and Mrs. GG rolled a natural 20 in her casting of it. Once we realized that a Giant Worm is not classified in the rules as an “animal” and subject to that spell we decided to still allow it as she rolled a natural 20.

We did not get a chance to see a battle between the two titanic worms however because my Necromancer decided to risk using his Strike Dead spell on the scenario’s Giant Worm, wounding it greatly… thereby allowing a lucky thug in the service of my Necromancer to subsequently kill it. It felt quite like a Guardians of the Galaxy Drax moment. One of the best things about Frostgrave is the little moments like this which weave an unpredictable narrative.

We really like the Games Workshop Age of Sigmar Azyrite terrain but it needs a good bit of work before I feel it will really be table ready. As for colors, we are thinking a mix of both tan and grey to go along with the mat as well as our other terrain. Except where our other terrain tends to be grey with some tan, this will be mostly tan with some grey.

I keep mentioning my cancelled project clearout. Some things have gone better than others. I have been surprised by the current lack of interest in my French Napoleonic stuff and am concerned it will be the same when I finally get my First Indochina War French ready to move on.

The Quar are still my current focus, but that focus includes world building beyond just the Quar themselves. I have been wondering if I can also put some version of the Games Workshop Kroot models into that world. Perhaps not, perhaps I will save them for use along the GW Ash Wastes Nomads for our various sci-fi game plans, Core Space, Stargrave and Five Parsecs from Home.

GW has been surprisingly attractive to me lately. Coming across the “coconut crab paint scheme” for Tyranids and seeing some of their new sculpts for older models has made the “space bugs” an interesting option for our various games.

Coconut Crab Tyranid Tutorial by Catgut

This is a very different take than the Ridley Scott Giger Xenomorph look I previously held for Tyranids.

As for other GW designs calling my name, I have liked the Kroot and Tau for quite some time and they just keep getting better sculpts released. And Inhave already mentioned in a previous post how much I like the Ash Wastes Nomads.

While the 40k setting and lore does not really appeal to me, some of the sculpting aesthetics sure do.

Speaking of the Quar, Procopius (a fan of the Quar) has made a couple of great introductory lore videos for the Quar…

…and…

…. and…

In other news, we finished season 3 of The Witcher.

It was ok. Not great, not terrible. That said the best part is as Henry Cavill as Geralt… so with him leaving it will be a tough select to get us to watch Season 4.

We also watched the Witcher prequel series Blood Origins, which had terrible reviews.

Since I went in with very low expectations I was pleasantly surprised. It was not great but it was not terrible. In fact it was alright. A solid B or 3.5 out of 5 stars. I am not sure why it had such horrible reviews. Bear in mind I did not read the books or play the game. I know some folks do not think the show writers were respectful of the source material.

We also watched 65, the Sci-fi Dino adventure with Adam Driver.

This one was disappointing. It looked excellent with very good costumes, set dressing and special effects. However the writing was seriously flawed. It felt like a film with a first time director with a background in special effects. Some great looking scenes with very little narrative to tie them all together. And the director forgot cinematography 101, sometimes less is more.

Much better than 65 was Elemental.

I did not expect to like Elemental. It was pretty to look at but I thought it would maudlin or superficially sappy. It was much more engaging than I expected with some clever writing. Some of the jokes fell flat for me but a couple made me laugh out loud. Toot toot!

However, I really expected to like and enjoy A Man Called Otto, as I am a big Tom Hanks fan and the story of a grumpy old man seems like it would be just my thing.

But to be honest, while it was a decent film with solid acting, I struggled to enjoy it. It reminded me, in its own way, of the Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino. Less guns, less bigotry. But both have a core plot of lonely old men learning to reconnect with others after the loss of their spouse. Both films made me sad at the end though and I am not sure that was the intent of the directors.

I have a lot more to say but this blog post is long enough and I salute all of you with the endurance to make it this far. Please be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think as I am ver interested in your opinions.

27 comments

  1. Sorry to hear some of your clearout has stalled, hopefully you can find some interest in it. The game setup looked great, and memorable moments can really bring a game to life. Look forward to seeing what you do to the scenery in the future.
    As for GW stuff Kroot will always have a special place with me, as I have a Kroot army (no Tau) just need to get the Kill Team box to finish it off.
    I personally enjoyed The Witcher and prequel series, and agree on 65, very disappointing, haven’t seen the others you mentioned.

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    • Hopefully things will continue to shift so I can fund future Quar related purchases.

      I did not think the table had enough cover and looked monochrome but we were in a rush. It sufficed as the monsters quickly became the focus of the game. We house rule that random creatures can appear at the end of every turn not just when you pick up a treasure.

      The Kroot arw very cool looking. Not sure I like the lore of them consuming DNA in order to change themselves but it certainly is a thought provoking concept.

      With the Witcher tv shows it has been interesting to see a non-Tolkien take on Dwarves and Elves.

      The frustration with 65 for me is that I can makings of a decent movie or tv series.

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      • Monotone can work with the right setting, it did in the first Mummy with Brendon Frazer, sandstone on top of sand, but still looked foreboding.
        The only reason they never went far with the Kroot, was they were already using the DNA route with the Tyranids.
        65 fell into the trap of look at my awesome effects, so I don’t need much in the way of story for me, personally I’d like both in a movie, but then I am greedy ! LOL

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  2. I’ve been tempted many times by Sigmar scenery, but lack of storage space has won the argument everytime.

    Glad to see you got a game in, and a chance to use some scenery. I broke up a set gaming table I had built as I felt it was restricting me too much on what I wanted to do.

    What is the scale of your Napoleon figures? I’m surprised they aren’t selling as there always seems to be a market for them (especially in Europe/UK).

    Thanks for the head ups on 65, glad I passed on it. I liked Otto but it was obvious where it was going in the first 10 minutes. I’m currently rewatching Vikings but will probably stop after Ragnar dies. Any other film/show recommendations?

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    • The modular aspect of our terrain is a key element of our gaming and storage. We like things to have more than one use if we can get it.

      All my figures are 28mm. I think being individually based on 25mm circular bases (for skirmish gaming) puts off many traditional wargamers.

      I am slowly working through Black Knight on Netflix, a Korean Post-Apoc tv series. It was hard to get into but persevering seems to be paying off. I still have not finished 100. The new Walking Dead Dixon spin off is ok. Daryl really makes it watchable, the rest is a stretch. Sadly predictable. And the new zombie types remind me of video gaming… new levels, new monsters but use many of the same assets to save money/time in production. And of course people are the real monsters. Still, Daryl is cool.

      It is hard for me to recommend something to watch without knowing what you still need to see. Easier for me to give you an opinion on something you are considering trying.

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      • I always preferred modular terrain but felt the need to build a bigger set piece. I enjoyed building it but realized it took up too much room in my limited space.

        I thought your Napoleonics were 28mm and I can see how that might be a harder sell. Maybe package them as a game size unit for Silver Bayonet, Chosen Men, etc?

        I made it through 3 episodes of Daryl in Paris and thought I would enjoy it more but too many story line coincidences and plot holes did me in.

        Watched Ahoska, I enjoy the way the new star wars stories are filmed, just wish they would spent as much creativity on writing. With your prompting I went back and gave Andor another chance. I watched it two episodes at a time which I found helped the story and my enjoyment of the show. He still isn’t my favorite anti-hero though 😁

        Will give Black Knight a view.

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      • A good chunk of the Napoleonics have shifted now, just a few things left. But not a bad idea considering how quick the Silver Bayonet specific things went.

        Yeah, Dixon has seemed to focus on style over substance. It really strains the suspension of disbelief. I mean the camerawork and set dressing is impressive but the showrunner seems more focused on that than the writing. And the show would have worked better with Carol in it as well. Although the new female lead does remind me a bit of Carol and I wonder if she was originally written like that or if they merged the characters.

        Again I agree on the writing for Ashoka. I have enjoyed the show but in retrospect I have enjoyed it because it is not terrible rather than because it is good. And it is the writing that seems to be its weakness.

        With Andor, I think the key for enjoying it is to not focus on Cassian himself but the people and world around him. The real strength of Andor is the writing and tone. It takes Star Wars to a different feeling place and while I feel like it should not work… it actually did for me. It was certainly better than Kenobi and Book of Boba Fett. But it was not perfect. It too has plot holes and too many unanswered questions. But what I like about it is that it has weight. It is not casual.

        Black Knight is… challenging. Like many Korean films. I imagine they view differently from a Korean perspective. Such strict hierarchies can be difficult for folks from more relaxed cultures.

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  4. I enjoyed the Witcher series more than my wife, but she has read some of the books while I have read none of them. Actor changes are always a challenge and we shall see how it works or not.

    As for 65, I happened across it and gave it a watch. Held a lot of promise in the first 10 minutes. It then became somewaht unfocused almost like a D&D adventure with the GM/Director throwing new encounters along the trek to give some interesting fights to figure out. It falls into that category of films, see it once, and that is plenty.

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    • It seems very challenging to bring a novel successfully to film.

      In regards to 65, a very apt comparison to the encounters of a RPG session! It would seem the director got carried away with their storyboarding and did not have the discipline to keep only the best bits that truly served the narrative. Normally I do not like films as tightly edited as a lot of other viewers, I will normally watch extended cuts with eager anticipation, but I want the scenes to serve the narrative not just be done because they might look cool on their own.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it is great to see folks commenting.

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  5. Great post and excellent to see you got a game in. Agree with Dave that memorable moments can make a game and a system which creates the opportunity for them is awesome. Haven’t played Frostgrave but am sorely tempted now! We are still wading through Quantico which is both extremely predictable and far fetched b ut we still keep watching it!

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    • I highly recommend Frostgrave. It can be swingy but that actually does a decent job of reflecting the high fantasy magical flavor of the setting. Wizzzzards!

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  6. Its always a pleasure to hear from you and even better to hear that you got a game in. I hope you get more in in the coming months. I know I’ve been on a dry spell myself and am waiting for a particular folding table that I want to buy to come back in stock…

    You know what’s funny is that for how similar our interests are, you just highlighted all the 40k factions I care least about. I’ve never painted Tau and while I did buy some Tyranids in high school, I’m not that into the Zerg, I mean Tyranids! I do think that is a strength of the game and Games Workshop in general. There’s something for nearly everyone. I find I get tired of Warhammer after working on a display miniature for a month or two or three but give me a couple of weeks for me to get bored of painting for gaming and something Warhammer will be calling my name again.

    I’m glad that The Witcher didn’t disappoint you too much. I’ve heard plenty of complaints about the latest season and losing the services of Mr. Cavill doesn’t bode well for the show. Its been years since the last Witcher game was released and now I’m starting to wonder when we might get another. I would welcome a new one!

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    • I could Solo Game while Little GG is at Kindergarten but I always seem to have too many chores to do first.

      Originally the Tau were too anime for me, especially in the 40k setting, but the more distant I become from the 40k universe the more I have come around to them. I used to be a big 40k fan in the 80’s and 90’s. And I while I thought Tyranids were alright it was really only when I came across the coconut crab paint scheme recently that I felt the urge to paint them. I recall having some Tyranids in the 90’s but only to fight against my at the time favorite Praetorians and I really disliked painting Tyranids back then. I have painted and played Eldar (both kinds), Space Marines, Imperial Guard… even Orks at one point. Never Chaos though. Chaos makes me uneasy.

      But really my plan for Games Workshop 40k and Age of Sigmar purchases will be to use the models in other games. A lot of the Warcry stuff has gotten my attention lately. I quite like the Gnarlwood terrain. And I always have an eye open for a good deal.

      Mr. Cavill does an excellent job but in general I have preferred watching machinima folks have made out of stringing together cutscenes from the Witcher games to put on YouTube more than the actual show. And to be fair, I never read any of the Witcher books.

      Having read some of the Wheel of Time books is one problem I have in trying to watch the Wheel of Time tv series. I disliked the first season so much I have been unable to face the second one.

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      • I’d definitely look to a fast playing game if you’re going to try and do some solo gaming.

        I know what you mean about Tyranids and new color schemes. People have really pushed the envelope there. The Warcry terrain is definitely fantastic. Some of the best GW has made. I think the Kill Teams stuff is also great (though not as useful for you I’m sure).

        I’ve probably said this before but I’ve heard The Witcher books aren’t that great and the video games elevate the content. There’s only one way to know for sure though. I read the first book or two of Wheel of Time and I thought it was inferior to LOTR in every way which was disappointing at the time because I wanted to like it. Brandon Sanderson seems to be one of the better fantasy writers these days. I read a trilogy by him that is allegedly being turned into a movie or TV show at some point in the future, though it hasn’t happened yet. I would certainly recommend his work if you’re looking for a fantasy read. His books are on the long side though so maybe that isn’t something you’re looking for right now. I read them when I had quite a bit more free time than I do now, truthfully.

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      • The only problem for me with the Kill Team terrain so far is the focus on Gothic Imperial aesthetics… too many pointed arches and skulls. Same with a lot of the Necromunda terrain. The Ash Wastes hab’s were a pleasant change. But I certainly agree with you that the quality of the terrain is great.

        Both the Wheel of Time and Shannara series do start of feeling very derivative but eventually go off into their own directions. For better and worse.Although I read several books in each, I have not finished either series.

        I like Joe Ambercrombie but have only read a couple of his books. If you like grimdark anti-heroes Glen Cook (the Black Company series) is also decent.

        However I have not read much Brandon Sanderson despite his excellent reputation. I just do not seem to find the same free time to read that I used to.

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      • That is true. Its all pretty imperial which I suspect is because that sells the best in 40k though I don’t have definitive proof of course.

        Wheel of Time is a crazy long series so there is no shame in not finishing it. I think I have heard of Joe Abercrombie and I’ll have to try one of his books one day. I used to try and read more fantasy and Sci-Fi and I kind of felt like I was mostly disappointed with what I found. Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep, and Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy were highlights for me. Truthfully, I do a lot of my reading during work hours because its been slow this year so that’s my secret to getting things read these days. Don’t tell my boss or co-workers though!

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  7. While I suspend belief while watching any zombie show, Daryl in Paris just had too many. Walkers appear when a shot is fired but not when a horse clop clops down a street; leaving a map and recorder behind, etc.

    I read that the director for Andor instructed his writers to write a story vs their first instinct of putting their twist on star wars elements. The writers were justifiably eager to doing a star wars story and had to be reined in. I think that is what bothered me about Ahoska, the not too subtle references to scenes in other star war movies.

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    • Episode 4 of Dixon did not improve upon that. Some strange decisions and way too many odd coincidences.

      One thing about Ahsoka that was funny at first but got a bit tiring for me was what appeared to be nods to Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings. Ahsoka the White, wargs, broad vistas, giant statues and a strange light atop a far off peak.

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  8. I couldn’t reply to your last comment but thanks for sharing the link to Cohors Cthulhu! I did some digging and it looks like the RPG is what’s going up on Kickstarter for now and next year the miniature game is coming out (in a separate Kickstarter, I assume). I’m eagerly anticipating that and would love to see more info on it. I don’t need any more games but that has rarely stopped me before!

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