| If There Was Ever a Task Denis Would Be Cut Out For...

... it's this one. Even though it doesn't involve elves, alcohol or porn.

A visit to GW's specialist site revealed the horrifying fact that an in-faction Escher gang (leader, heavy, 4 gangers, 2 juvies) and a booster (3 random minis) would end up being $70 with tax and shipping. I mean, I've paid more for minis, a lot more, but I don't actually like the Escher ones so much and I'm wondering if I can throw together something a little cooler with random shit from the war store, even if it turns out around the same price.

So I went over there and basically threw all the halfway decent female sci fi minis I could find into the shopping cart. But now my brain is melted and I can't seem to figure out which ones are cool. Anyone want to take a look and vote on good stuff for a leader, 1-2 heavies, 4-5 gangers and a couple o' juves? Shopping cart here! I don't care so much about the punk rock chick look the GW minis have, more just the chicks with guns thing.

Edit: Crap! I tried from another browser and it looks like pasting the cart URL didn't work. Ah well... I'm on my own I guess.

| Partying Like It's 1995

Today Enron and I rolled up Necromunda gangs and shot at each other a bunch. It's been years since I've played this game. Man, is it fun! It's almost as satisfying to lose as it is to win because of all the unpleasant crap that happens to your characters in the Serious Injury rolls. This will definitely see more table time. I'm definitely bringing it to Kubla, and might even pick up another gang... I've always thought about picking up a House Escher crew....

I'm pretty confident that The Iron Merkins aren't going to lose any more games. After all, they've got to get revenge for their dead brother, Jolthrower!

I can vouch for Dark Spire! I bought it a few weeks ago (off Rudy's recommendation, actually) and it's a lot of fun. It's basically like Wizardry, but completely awesome! I've even been playing it in the wireframe mode since it's faster to cruise from the dungeon and also easier to hear the "real wall/secret door" sound when you bonk into the wall.

It's LONG, too -- I guess there are only eight levels, but each one takes a while to go through (and you go up and down between them a lot). I'm about halfway done I guess.

I like the Etrian Odyssey games a lot, too. I played... well, ALMOST all the way through the first one (you get to some lame bonus levels that weren't fun so I quit) and a pretty decent chunk of the way through II as well.

I <3 dungeon crawlers... now if only someone would make a really nice DS remake of Bard's Tale, I'd be set!

Rudy - Glad you liked the game. I'll be looking forward to it. I actually have Etrian Odyssey (both). Man they kicked my ass (haven't finished both yet).

Jon - Oh yeah, I'm with Rudy. The Fly II sucked!! Yet Stoltz is so dreamy, I'm so conflicted.

I have Dark Spire Dennis and it is a very excellent game. It's pretty hard and I gave up having only fully explored the first floor and parts of two others, but I'll go back to it soon. It's a total Wizardry throw-back and it even has a wire-frame mode you can swap into at any time (the "modern" mode looks almost EGA-graphics ish which is rad.) If you end up liking it Dennis, check out the games Etrian Odyssey. Same developers and the gimmicks with those two games (there's a 1 and a 2) is that you have to do all your own mapping on the bottom screen. Otherwise another tough as shit old-school dungeon crawl. I like 'em both.

SOMETHING ELSE I totally like is the new Pop Cap game Plants vs Zombies. There's a 1-hour demo on Steam and it's only $10 bucks to buy through steam ($20 bucks if you buy it at Pop Cap's site.) AWESOME GAME!!! It's sort of a tower defense game but super cute and zombies and hella cool plants and it's just something you have to demo to "get." TOTALLY solid though and super fun/worth $10 bones. FUCKing watch this GD'ing video. I think I linked it previously but so cute and good! (Play the demo off steam, it's rad.)

Ah windlings... Gotta love those encyclopedia sized books. I think I'll press a few windlings between those thick pages. I didn't know a new edition was coming. Awwww, more books to buy. While a 4th ed supplement might be an interesting read, I'm fully married to the bucket-o-dice mechanics. It just wouldn't be Earthdawn without consulting that dice chart and rolling twenty dice.

I ended up getting the Gamemaster's, Player's, Namegiver's and Nations vol1. Ah yes... late-night, alcohol/porn fueled internet shopping binges.

Speaking of shopping binges. If anyone is still buying Nintendo DS games, look into The Dark Spire. While I can't vouch for it personally. It's already been through my Amazon shopping cart. It's an old-school (Wizardry) dungeoneer based on D&D mechanics. Apparently one reviewer couldn't get over the fact that it uses random rolls. Random hit points?! What are we uncivilized barbarians?! Once I get it, reviews will follow.

| Hurry up and wait!

Got another late-night production push for work tonight, plus a last-minute fire drill... so I've got about an hour to kill here before I go to work. Good times!

My Earthdawn books arrived and I have to say, they bring me pleasure just looking at them. Oh, little Windlings! Never fly away from me again!!!!!

Yeah dude, there's a part when like his ear comes off and he goes to put it in the medicine cabinet and you see his dong and other little body parts on the shelves in there. I didn't even remember it was Cronenberg! I should watch it again. Fly 2 is HORRIBLE!!!

His dick was in the medicine cabinet!?

I'm talking about the Cronenberg movie. My parents weren't super-rich with cable or anything so I never saw this as a youngster. WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS TELL ME THAT THIS MOVIE WAS THIS GOOD? The ladyfriend just kinda randomly checked it out from the library and it totally unexpectedly freaked the shit out of us. It's amazing that a monster movie from 1986 holds up so well. I think it's because really, by that time, they had taken practical monster makeup/effects as far as they was gonna go, and also the director skillfully gets you to sympathize with the main character and buy in to the story so once the sfx start you're on board and invested. Too bad in looks like the Fly 2 is a stinker. Eric Stoltz? They could've just had the son of the fly be the guy from the mask.

When he casually pulls one of his fingernails off.... eugh.

Is that just slang for Firefly like The 'Fly and The 'Verse!? Or the Jeff Gottenburgal flick where his penis is in the medicine cabinet!? Welcome to 20 years ago either way!!!