Tannhäuser Thursday Bonus - Hellboy Upgraded

There are two bits of news today. First off, I have collected the BPRD characters onto their own page for easy reference - look for the Tannhäuser BPRD link under the banner.

Secondly, with the frightening appearance of Asteros and his mighty stats (along with several players that indicated that Hellboy may be too weak) I have upgraded Hellboy. While his stats still do not equal Asteros', Hellboy has good ranged attacks and this should put him on better footing.

Pulp of the Week - DC's First Wave Miniseries

Geof Darrow Cover

Pulp of the Week
First Wave #1-6
DC Comics
Writer Brian Azzarello
Artist Rags Morales

I don't know if it is ironic or just sad that the flagship book of DC Comic's First Wave Universe has just  finished its six issue run as the whole Universe is rumored to be scrapped.

Several sites have reported the demise of the First Wave Universe, but as of this writing, DC Comics still has the books listed on their schedule. Time will tell.

J.G. Jones cover

If the line is cancelled, that would be a shame. For all of Azzarello's bluster about changing everything about these characters, he wrote a pretty good story. It didn't hurt that Rags Morales is a great artist. The same can't be said for the Doc Savage solo title as the art has been poor, in my opinion.

The real issue is that the First Wave miniseries ran hopelessly late, and in fact should have been completed as a set up to the solo books, instead of seeming to have nothing to do with them and finishing 6 months late. The miniseries is also a far better story than any of the Doc Savages so far. The Spirit has fared better.

I like happen to like this combination of Doc Savage, the Batman, the Avenger, and the Spirit, although I know many pulp fans don't.

The First Wave miniseries follows Doc Savage and his men, The Bat Man, and The Spirit on a globe-trotting adventure to thwart the machinations of Doc's nemesis, John Sunlight. Along for the ride are Richard Benson (The Avenger), the Blackhawks, and the jungle girl, Rima.

I liked the First Wave mini series and give it a 7.5 out of 10.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Eastern Dynasties Preview

The U-Chronic History of
The Peoples Republic of Eastern Dynasties

At the turn of the 20th century, a rapidly modernizing China was threatened by the Boxer Rebellion, a  movement that sought to return the Empress to power. The Chinese people fought back. The Imperial forces were ruthless and killed many Chinese and even more foreigners.

Europe and America were greatly alarmed by this sudden, violent turn and sent a Grand Union of military forces to China to rescue their besieged embassies, merchants, and diplomats. British, Russian, Italian, German, French, Austrian, and American troops all fought side by side. They helped the Chinese defeat the Imperialist Boxers and started China on the path to democracy.

This Grand Union did not last as squabbles between the members quickly led the Russian, Austrian, and German forces to go their separate ways.

In China, the great Sun Yat-sen was appointed as first President. Sun Yat-sen's fervent fight for equal rights gained him a lot of clout in the west, but as the outside world soon learned, China's idea of democracy was starkly different than their own. While Chinese leaders are chosen in free and fair elections, their constitution is vastly different. The state started as the sole property owner. Each individual was granted a share of the land. People can barter and exchange their land, but all income generated is paid to the state and all salaries are paid by the state. Every citizen, from the President on down, receives the same salary. Needless to say, there is a thriving black market.

The Socialist Democracy Movement swept the East. China, Mongolia, Thailand, Siberia, and Japan all adopted similar governments. When the Great War began, the Democratic Socialists decided to stay out of it, and formed a Union of their own: The Peoples Republic of the Eastern Dynasties, known commonly in the West as the Eastern Dynasties, or the Rising Sun.

Their military force is tremendous in size and skill and relies equally on ancient arcane arts and martial arts. Technology has advanced far slower than in the West. Walkers, Tanks, Zeppelins and airplanes are still at their infancy. But their skill with the inner arts - mental and psychic powers - is without compare.

Threatened by the Reich's contact with the U-Worlds and The Matriarchy's contact with ancient Gods, the Rising Sun is finally getting involved in the Great War.

The Rising Sun Expeditionary Force is as exemplified by People's Team One.

Here's the Rising Sun factions first team - The People's Team One - From left to right:

Wūshī Zhǔ Qayan - Hero - Chinese Elemental Sorcerer with power rings and amulet.

Ryokō Seishin - Hero - Japanese Half spirit/half human with cosmic powers.

Ashigaru Budō - Troop - Japanese Bo stick fighter and marital arts expert.

Shàolín Sēngbīng  - Troop - Chinese Monk and aerialist Kung Fu fighter with stone fist.

Michiko Tsuki Ken - Hero - Japanese bladed weapons expert that can threaten multiple foes.

The figures chosen are all inexpensive HeroClix figures. The prices indicated are from Game Hollow, but there are many other online retailers for HeroClix singles. Total figure price is $1.55.

Mandarin - Marvel Heroclix - Xplosion #073 - .49
Yukio - Indy Heroclix #061 - .19
Arashi - Indy Heroclix  #031 - .19
Lady Shiva - DC Heroclix - Cosmic Justice #059 - .39
Kabuki - Indy Heroclix  #077 - .29 - I painted her clothes a bit to fit in with the team better. Here’s how she looked originally:

In the coming weeks I will detail the team. Which name do you prefer - Eastern Dynasties or Rising Sun?

Game Preview - Omen: A Reign of War

Omen: A Reign of War

Small Box Games

Game Designer: John Clowdus

Illustrator: Michael "Riiven" Ng

Small Box Games has produced an astonishing number of good games in the few years they have been publishing. In three and a half years Small Box Games has published 35 games. The number is surprising because this is literally a Mom and Pop operation with John Clowdus and his wife being the company.

Politico, Seii Taishogun, Elemental Rift, and Dirge are some of his more popular games.

The games are simple, yet strategic, compact, and inexpensive. You get a lot for your money with Small Box Games. If there have been any criticisms of the Small Box games, it has been that the graphic design is functional, if not always beautiful. The games are known for the play and not the chrome.

Well that has changed with their newest game, Omen: A Reign of War. After reading the rules and getting a peek at some of the cards and the art, Omen looks to be a home run in terms of both game play and appearance. John's tight but strategic rules and clean graphic design have combined with the beautiful art of Michael "Riiven" Ng to create a gorgeous game.

 In Omen, each player is vying to take control a number of cities in Greece. Using a combination of cards and coins, the players challenge each other for victory. The players use Rewards, Feats, Soldiers, Oracles, and Beasts to build their power and dominate the world. 

Omen: A Reign of War will be released soon, with pre-orders opening up tomorrow, March 7th. Check it out at Small Box Games.

Spam Haiku

This is the first in a series of actual emails I have received.

Pete Miller, Become muscle, like Trent

Pete Miller! Go as a hoodlum, like George did!

Taint bad person, clear alertness and influence!!

Pulp of the Week - Operation Red Jericho

The Guild of Specialists Book One
Operation Red Jericho
Written and Illustrated by Joshua Mowll
Additional Illustrations by Julek Heller and Niroot Puttapipat

Operation Red Jericho is a terrific adventure story by Joshua Mowll. The tale is framed as the research the author has done in his great aunt's secret archives. You see, the great aunt had quite a series of adventures with her brother in the 1920s. There are three books in the series that is called The Guild of Specialists Trilogy. They come packages like thick journals.

The first of these novels takes place mostly in the South China Sea, with pirates, warlords, and a secret society, the aforementioned Guild of Specialists. In addition to being an author, Mowll is a professional graphic designer and the book is chock full of maps, schematics, and drawings.

Joshua Mowll's graphic elements support the pulpy adventure tale of sibling teenagers Rebecca and Doug MacKenzie as they search for their missing parents. Becca keeps a journal and Doug is an artist. Julek Heller provides the sketches that in the story are attributed to Doug. The artwork is beautiful and illustrates the story without feeling like it is duplicating the text.

We learn about an age-old conspiracy as well as the secret society, The Guild of Specialists, that the elder MacKenzies are a part of. Exactly who and what the Guild are is still  mysterious, but we do know that they are trying to save mankind from the evils of the world.

Here is a schematic of a small submarine that Doug and Becca encounter. It is a three-part fold out.

There are also numerous side bars featuring character information and other notes.

I was very impressed with the quality of the art and extras in this book. It really makes a neat package along with the pulpy goodness of the story. I look forward to reading the next one.

This is packaged as a children's book, but I guess that is because kids are reading and buying books. They are not hung up on what genre a book is, because kids books themselves are the genre. The characters here are teens and the language and action are well done and thrilling. Characters are killed, and there is danger and torture, but it is not gratuitous or graphic.

A high school english teacher of mine once said that great children's literature is first and foremost great literature. While I'm not sure if Operation Red Jericho is great literature, I am sure that it is great storytelling and I for one am happy to have found this book at all.

The book industry seems to be trapped in a self-fulfilling prophesy where they are losing adult readers. Hiding good adventure fiction from millions of those readers seems a poor way to go about your business. Just because a book isn't full of swearing and sex does not mean it is of no interest to adult readers. I think that much of the best adventure fiction being written today is hiding in the YA section of the bookstore and library.

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Asteros at Last

My local shop finally got in their supply of Asteros and I have him in house! This oversized figure comes in a slightly larger box, and gets 5 life instead of the usual 4. He is an Epic Hero and replaces both a Hero and a Troop on a team.

 

As you can see, Asteros is a beast. His stats are epic and his abilities can crush opponents. He may Bull Rush any number of opponents. He may make a Charge attack - knocking his opponent back from the impact.

Asteros' massive battle axe, Labrys, can be used adjacently or it may be thrown, but only an Epic Hero can pick it up.

Asteros other tokens provide additional support and options.

His armor prevents damage. His Bracers allow him to make two attacks. His Anklets allow him to sneak up on waiting forces, ignoring their overwatch, and allow him to trade his action for an additional turn of movement.

His shield allows for an epic 8 on his Stamina and you can always re-roll the lowest die.

Asteros' belt will let you use any Natural 1 rolled against you to also cancel a success rolled.

When wearing his helm, you may counter attack once per turn without spending a Command Point.

And finally, Asteros is so frightening that his Command Pack forces his enemies to subtract 3 from their initiative rolls.

Asteros also gets a full set of Challenges. These, when completed, provide additional Command Points.

This expansion also includes 3 crate tokens, 2 bonus tokens and one scenario.

The bonus tokens are the Mask of Samhain that forces an opponent to defeat you in a mental duel before they can attack you, and the Shame of Minos which punishes an opponent that uses mercenaries against you (including the minotaur).

All in all, this is a nice package and I'm looking forward to trying Asteros out.