Friday, July 24, 2009

Oddz 'n Endz


Just going through some unfinished posts, thoughts, and ideas I've never really completed or followed up on.

Dawn of War II - I finished the campaign, finally. And really I was a bit disappointed with the challenge of the final mission. Not to say it was bad, because it wasn't. But I had a harder time with some of the other missions leading up to it (especially when I decided to go after an Ork Warboss to get some more Terminator armor). The story and campaign were great, but I guess knowing some of the difficulties I had I was surprised how easily I completed the last mission. Not to say there weren't some hairy moments, but I never had that "Oh crap I'm gonna die bad here" moment.

Plus, the single player campaign was the worst thing I could have done for multiplayer. Again, I loved the campaign, but man after focusing so much on levelling up my guys, getting good loot, and finding different combinations of loot to make my guys lethal, multiplayer was like learning the game all over again. Not to mention the campaign is all Space Marines, and I like to play the other races in multiplayer (especially Da Orks).

I'm hoping there will be some cool DLC coming. Maybe some Xenos-centric campaigns?

Ork Boy #4 - I finished up Ork Boy #4 and I almost have #5 done. No pics, but even though I'm not spending the hours on them that I did on Zagstruk, I'm still a slow painter. This is great for the look of my army (I hope), but not so great for the 400 point challenge. I need to get on the ball and paint some more. I was hoping to be done with my boys and maybe onto my Nobs or Stormboyz by now.

400 Point Challenge - As I've said I'm way behind in the 400 point challenge. I'm not sure where my buddy Chris is in his painting, but I just got word that my buddy Steve is almost done with his tacit cal squad (he's doing marines) and then he has 5 assault guys and he's finished. I still have to finish up my Boyz, then start on my Stormboyz, and my Nobz, and then my Warboss with Bosspole. Yeah I sense failure in this challenge, and it reeks as bad as the sweaty pits of a nervous Space Marine about to be swept up by Da Green Tide.

Ravenor by Dan Abnett - So I was coming home yesterday and I was thinking of stopping into my new gaming home when I decided instead to stop off at a book store I pass all the time. I ended up picking up Ravenor by Dan Abnett because I've really been itching to read a 40K novel. This would be my first. I love the selection of the novels Black Library publishes, but why does everything have to be human-centric? Black Library really needs to do a Xenos series. I'd love to read something from the Ork perspective (it could be funny and brutal), or from the Eldar. Sure the Tyranids might not be fodder for a great story, but not every Xenos race is a mindless collective bent on the destruction of everything around it. Still, I'm definitely enjoying Ravenor, and now have a new way to soak even more 40K goodness. It's just another step to as complete a 40K immersion as my short attention span and love of shiny things will allow.

Non 40K news - My wife purchased my ticket for the RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space show on August 20 (I love her). I'll be going to the closest theater to my tiny small backwoods town, which is actually my old stomping grounds of Jackson, MI. I encourage everyone who loves bad science fiction movies and laughing at them to go see this event. For those who don't know, RiffTrax is from the people who did Mystery Science Theater 3000. And since this is riffing on the worst movie ever made (not the most un-entertaining that would be a toss-up between Twilight and Ishtar...yeah I went there) I don't expect to be disappointed...at all. Anyway if you're going to Jackson look for the fat nerd (oh wait, that doesn't clear things up at all). Well let me know and we can at least say hi and I can bask in the glow of your praise about my blog...or wither beneath the brutal criticism. Whichever you prefer.

2 comments:

  1. I was informed there are some books that aren't human-centric. But if I can't easily find them, then obviously they're not a priority...and that's a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have read CS Goto's 'Eldar Prophecy.'

    Obviously, it's...not quite human-centric.

    The bright side? It's Eldar, and a look into the Eldar culture.

    The downside? His writing style. It's a little hard to get into. He has a host of characters in there, and while they all add something, there's not really necessarily one main character you can latch onto. Sure, he's GOT a main character, but the book seems needlessly complex. I plowed through it because I wondered how it ended, not necessarily because I liked the writing. Ih ad to give it a couple passes before it really clicked.

    I am under the impression that there are some Deathwatch novels and those have xenos in them, but I have not read them.

    ReplyDelete