HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Years from Savage Tales - We'll see you 2011!!!

Game Spotlight - Summoner Wars Reinforcement Packs

Summoner Wars Reinforcement Packs

The first two Reinforcement Packs are here, providing extra units for all 4 original factions plus some Mercenaries. Plaid Hat Games has divided the cards nicely so that if you bought just one Starter, there is a Reinforcement Pack to go with it.

 

Guild Dwarves Reinforcement Pack

Cave Goblins Reinforcement Pack

 

These new cards enhance the deckbuilding element to the game - deckbuilding. Now you can swap out a few or a bunch of cards to surprise your opponent or build with the cards that suit you. 

 

Tundra Orcs Reinforcement Pack

Phoenix Elves Reinforcement Pack

There are also a few mercenary units packed in. These can go in any deck.

 

Mercenary Units from Reinforcement Pack

The new cards look great and I'm looking forward to seeing how they change the game. There is also a new promo, Sairook...

As you can see from the lovely surface underneath the cards, I bought the premium board. It is beautiful and nicely made with thick cardboard. It comes in two parts and each half is a quad-fold board so it folds up to a small footprint. It is well worth the money.

 

If you want to get back to the original decks, here are the decklists:

Cave Goblins Faction Deck Includes:
•1 Sneeks - Summoner
•1 The Eater - Champion
•1 Mook - Champion
•1 Blarf - Champion
•8 Fighters - Common
•6 Slingers - Common
•4 Berserkers - Common
•3 Goblin Horde Attack Events
•3 Goblin Rage Events
•2 Goblin Rush Events
•1 Goblin Invinciblity Event
•3 Wall Cards

Guild Dwarves Faction Deck Includes:
•1 Oldin - Summoner
•1 Gror - Champion
•1 Baldar - Champion
•1 Thorkur - Champion
•8 Defenders - Common
•6 Spearmen - Common
•4 Engineers - Common
•2 Besiege the Walls Events
•2 Heroic Feat Events
•2 Magic Drain Events
•2 Reinforcements Events
•1 A Hero is Born Event
•3 Wall Cards

Tundra Orcs Faction Deck Includes:
•1 Grognack - Summoner
•1 Blagog - Champion
•1 Krung - Champion
•1 Ragnor - Champion
•8 Fighters - Common
•5 Shamans - Common
•5 Smashers - Common
•3 Freeze Events
•3 Ice Wall Events
•2 Reinforcements Events
•1 A Hero is Born Event
•3 Wall Cards

Phoenix Elves Faction Deck Includes:
•1 Prince Elien - Summoner
•1 Maelena - Champion
•1 Kaeseeall - Champion
•1 Fire Drake - Champion
•6 Guardians - Common
•6 Warriors - Common
•6 Archers - Common
•3 Spirit of the Phoenix Events
•2 Burn Events
•2 Magic Drain Events
•1 Greater Burn Event
•1 A Hero is Born Event
•3 Wall Cards

Fallen Kingdom Faction Deck Includes:
•1 Ret-Talus - Summoner
•1 Skhull - Champion
•1 Dragos - Champion
•1 Elut-Bal - Champion
•7 Skeletal Archers - Common
•6 Zombie Warriors - Common
•5 Reapers - Common
•3 Dark Sacrifice Events
•2 Legions of the Dead Events
•2 Forced Summon Events
•2 Magic Drain Events
•3 Wall Cards

Vanguards Starting Faction Deck Includes:
•1 Sera Eldwyn - Summoner
•1 Archangel - Champion
•1 Kalon Lightbringer - Champion
•1 Raechel Loveguard - Champion
•8 Guardian Knights - Common
•5 Stalwart Archers - Common
•5 Priests - Common
•3 Holy Judgment Events
•2 Divine Strength Events
•2 Summoning Surge Events
•1 Intercession Event
•1 A Hero is Born Event
•3 Wall Cards

Tannhäuser Tuesday - BPRD Agent One

Arkham Horror Investigator Joe Diamond

Thanks go out to Miah again - this time for the tokens and for input on the packs.

11:30 PST - I have reposted with less typos on the powers.

Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage #20

October 1934 - Death in Silver

This adventure has a limited cast, with Renny working in South Africa and Long Tom and Johnny in Europe. Death in Silver finds Doc, Monk, and Ham blasted into danger when an office under Monk's Manhattan laboratory is blown up by the mysterious and deadly Silver Death's-Heads.

A gang of silver clad thieves and murderers has been terrorizing New York City for a few weeks having robbed armored cars and astonishingly sank an ocean liner. With the explosion destroying a shipping office under Monk's lab, Doc Savage gets involved and immeadiately meets the dame. This time her name is Lorna Zane.

Doc wastes no time in dropping her off at his cousin Pat Savage's swanky Park Avenue Salon which is described as half salon, half gymnasium.

There are quite a number of items of interest in this novel.

- Ham uses the stuff coating the tip of his sword cane as a stimulant to wake up a knocked out character. This is quite different, since the stuff has previously indicated that the tiniest prick of the blade would produce instant unconciousness.

- Doc makes a bet with a cop.

- There is a description of an automatic elevator as if the average reader has not operated one before. There is also a comment about "zipper fasteners" being an efficient method of fastening clothes.

- Lester Dent describing Doc's car racing through the fog - "The machine chased the white funnels of its own headlights through the night, like a quite black ghost hurtling after some luminous siren."

The secret of the Silver Death's-Heads miraculous escapes is revealed and Doc puts the Helldiver into service again. When Monk questions why the Death's-Heads have a particular contraption on their vessel, Dent writes, "The answer to that did not come until later, after unpleasant things had happened."

Needless to say, Doc and his men wrap things up in the end, but was a pretty exciting and satisfying adventure. I'll give Death in Silver an 8.5 out of 10. 

 

The pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer, the pulp interior art is by Paul Orban (and can be found at Chris Kalb's Doc Site), and the Bantam paperback cover is by James Bama. For this review I read my Bantam paperback, 1st edition, July 1968.

Tannhäuser Thursday - Hoss Harbinger Announced!

 

Hoss Harbinger Prototype

Fantasy Flight Games has announced the release of the last of the TOY legacy single figure packs, Hoss Harbinger, a Reich Hero single figure expansion pack. From the description it sounds like he should be an EPIC HERO, but there is no indication that he is.

From the press release, "Hoss Harbinger is a descendant of Atlas, the true king of the world. In his veins flows the blood of the ancients, and he wields their powers with ease. Hoss is a frighteningly powerful individual, able to bend time and space to his will. His manipulation of reality gives him superior agility and his clairvoyant nature gives him the edge in combat."

That sure sounds epic to me! How you implement the bending of time and space in a combat board game sounds tricky and I wonder what they have come up with. It could be that Hoss may take his turn when ever he'd like, or he may have some kind of limited teleportation.

He seems to be holding the Golden Globe in one hand...

Hoss (too cowboy for my taste) was formerly call Hass, but maybe FFG thought that  Hass sounded too much like an avocado.

I'm looking forward to trying him out.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - BPRD Agent Tokens

Here are the tokens for the Agents. I guess this is a teaser, cause you won't get the descriptions until next week!

Thanks again to Miah for building the graphics!

Teaser image up on the Facebook

Mike Fyles (Iron Man Noir and Spider-Man cover artist) has started sending me illustrations for the upcoming Clark Tyler collection (title forthcoming.) Mike's work is fantastic and I can't wait to see more of these. Check it out at my facebook link.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - B.P.R.D. Field Agents

B.P.R.D. Field Agents

BPRD Field Agent One uses the Joe Diamond figure from Fantasy Flight Games' Arkham Horror Investigators miniatures line. These are 25-30mm prepainted figures for use with the Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness board games. The figures are good pulp era  figures that will find use in many rpgs and minis games. They are $4 each, whis is an OK price for the quality, which is average. As you can see there is some flash and Joe is a little smaller than he should be. The bases are a bit thinner than the Tannhäuser ones, but I don't see the need to replace them. They are close enough. I'll have a further review of the figures later. 

Joe's offense comes from his twin .45s that blaze into action. He fast on the draw and has been known to take down multiple targets with his trusty .45s.

BPRD Field Agent Two is represented by the Mike McGlen figure, also from the Arkham Investigators set. Mike's got a Thompson sub machine gun, a .45 caliber death machine. There are many figures available that would work as field agents, so feel free to substitute any appropriate figure.

I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!

My custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Fantasy Flight Games. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Games and © Fantasy Flight Games. The BPRD, Hellboy and all related characters are TM and © Mike Mignola.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Hellboy Pt 3

Here are the tokens for Hellboy. 

I received some comments from old pal Rhydderch about the Hellboy powers and agree with some of his points so there will be a tweak to his Character 2-Page Sheet. I'll get that up next week. 

If you have any comments on Hellboy or any of the other BPRD, let me know as I am looking to move on.

I'll be working on the Agent card next. It'll be a twofer - both agents will have the same powers, but there will be two cards for two different figures.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Pulp of the Week - The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Written and illustrated by Brian Selznick

I am the last person in my house (family of 5) to read Brian Selznick's glorious novel / picture book hybrid, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It is a two inch thick short novel that is rich with wonders and surprises. Selznick intersperses his text with double page pencil drawings that advance the plot and enhance the characters.

 

Selznick says that he was inspired to write this story after reading a book about a collection of automata (mechanical performing figures) that was donated to a Paris museum and then neglected to the point they had to be discarded. Selznick said, "I imagined a boy finding those broken, rusted machines, and at that moment, Hugo and his story were born."
 

Martin Scorsese is making the film of this book (which many friends of mine love) but it wasn't until reading it that I truly understood why Scorsese wanted to make the film of this story. It reaches back into the very roots of cinema in wonderous ways.

The book itself alternates between prose and art in a quite brilliant manner. It is not like a long comic book, nor a heavily illustrated novel. The prose flows to the art  and back and every page turn is a delightful surprise. The art often propels the action forward, drawing your eye to details that might take far longer to describe than you want at that moment. You see it and turn the page eager for the next revelation.

It is a quick read, but Brian Selznick has crafted a very memorable and enjoyable book that will stick with me for a long time to come.

 

I give The Invention of Hugo Cabret 9.5 out of 10 stars.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Hellboy Pt 2

HELLBOY

There you have it, the rest of Hellboy for Tannhäuser. Now if only we had some agents...

Tannhäuser Thursday - Oksana revealed

 

 

Oksana

Has Harbinger

Tannhäuser Thursday - Daedalus Revealed

This month's Previews catalog had the above ad along with an ad for the previously seen Asteros single figure box. Hopefully this means Asteros and Daedalus will be out by January.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - BPRD - Hellboy Pt 1

Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage #19

September 1934 - Fear Cay

The paperback cover of the astoundingly well titled nineteenth Doc Savage adventure, Fear Cay, shows Savage struggling on the beach of a desert island as he is getting wailed on by the 131 year old Dan Thunden. Fear Cay is great fun for a number of reasons.

First off is the already mentioned Dan Thunden. He is a spry, strong, tough SOB that claims to be well past a century old, putting his birth near 1800. He is a good match for Doc and is hiding a secret at the aforementioned Cay.

The book also marks the return of Pat Savage in a good featured role as she is mistaken for a starlet. Pat is also featured on the pulp cover with Doc. The real starlet is also a peach and it's a treat to get two strong female leads here. Strangely enough, the starlet is attracted to Doc.

A secret crime syndicate, Fountain of Youth, Inc. has been getting payments from the richest men in America and the gang behind it makes the mistake of getting Doc Savage involved. This takes him to the Caribbean to the titular Fear Cay.

As usual, Doc and his crew get captured, but this time Doc has a new trick. He unties himself by contorting his legs and then using his prehensile toes to untie the rope.

I'm sure I would not want to see that in a movie.

For this review I read my Bantam paperback, May 1966 (2nd printing.) I give Fear Cay and 9 out of 10. It is one of the better ones so far. The pulp was written by Lester Dent. Walter Baumhofer provided the (1934.09) original cover which features Doc and Pat. James Bama provided the great cover for the Bantam paperback.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Wolf Returns

Tannhäuser Tuesday - BPRD - Liz Sherman Tokens

Pulp of the Week - Cherie Priest's Dreadnought

Dreadnought

Cherie Priest

 Dreadnought takes place after the events of Boneshaker and Clementine in Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series. I guess you have to be a vehicle to get Cherie to name a book after you. The Clockwork Century stories are set in an alternate history American Civil war. The war has been going on a very long time.

This Savage Tale (it indeed qualifies there) introduces us to a Civil War nurse, Mercy Lynch, who is working at a busy hospital. She is caring and competent, assisting the doctors and caring for her patients. It is not easy as the war is brutal and the soldiers on both sides are taking a beating.

After a series of tragic events, Mercy is compelled to take a cross country trip by airship, train, and other means to get to her ill father.

As you may recall, I thought Boneshaker was outstanding. It is my favorite book I've read this year so far. Unfortunately, Dreadnought is merely very good. I think the story took a bit too long to unfold and there were a few detours along the way.

Boneshaker had the benefit of the gripping dilemma of a desperate mother following her son into the heart of Zombieland. The book was also told in two perspectives. Dreadnought is told in a single voice, a single perspective.

Mercy is a great character, but the dead straight, linear path of this book played out a bit too long for me. I think the whole of it could have been 100 pages shorter and it could have had greater impact. As I said above, Dreadnought was very good, but I thought it was missing some additional element to push it to great.

Clementine was much shorter and just as enjoyable. Cherie is building a great world here and I will continue to follow the Clockwork Century books. After reading Dreadnought I got to thinking about the structure of my own stories. Many of them follow just one characters' perspective. I need to be sure that I don't allow my viewpoint to get stale.

However, my stories are short stories. When I do a novel, I will have to be sure to allow another character's viewpoint to lend a different perspective on the story and to provide the pace that converging story lines can give.

I give Dreadnought an 8 out of 10. The book is again graced with a gorgeous cover by Jon Foster and nice design work throughout. As with Boneshaker, Dreadnought's tan pages and brown ink are beautiful to look at and comfortable to read.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - BPRD - Liz Sherman

Agent Liz Sherman of the BPRD

I'll try to get the tokens up this week. Please let me know what you think of Liz.

Hellboy is next...

I FEEL U-CHRONIC!!!

My custom additions to Tannhäuser are not created by, distributed, or endorsed by Fantasy Flight Games. Tannhäuser and all related characters are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Games and © Fantasy Flight Games. Hellboy and all related characters are TM and © Mike Mignola.