More reading!

Ok. Two more and I will have caught up on my reviews!

It's been a long day at the coal face so please excuse any grammatical faux pas.

#8 Scorpion Swamp

Written by Steve Jackson (USA) This has to be the most D&D influenced title of the whole series. Not that thats bad, as a matter of fact, it makes this one of my favourites to replay.

The whole thing just oozes RPG charm. From the characters you encounter to the interactions you are able to take with them, you can tell that Jackson knows his stuff where RPG's are concerned. TBH I wouldn't mind playing through a multiplayer version of this adventure with my friends!

The book stands alone in the way it has been written. There is a heavy emphasis on mapping and revisiting sites, rather than the more traditional linear storyline. On that subject, this book is again interesting in that it allows for multiple quests within the swamp itself! Not only that, but when in the swamp the sections are written to account for whether or not you have just stumbled across a nasty situation or if you have already dealt with whatever it was that was trying to make you dead (and there's a fair bit of that to be had)
It's a little hard to explain suffice to say you should just read it!

It wouldn't be right to not talk about the art!
Supplied this time by Duncan Smith (in his one and only appearance for Fighting Fantasy - which I think is a great shame) It fits the book perfectly. Most of the encounters get a pic, some get more! Its all very D&D as I mentioned before but it all adds to the classic feel of the adventure. The cover is the popular choice of depicting a powerful nasty from the story, and I reckon its pretty appropriate (I suppose a scorpion might have been an obvious choice...)

Favourite pics from the book? Def this one  =)

I mean how Dungeons and Dragons is that!


And last, but by no means  er, THE last, er review...



#9 Caverns of the Snow Witch

  

 

Hmm... You know when you're planning a holiday and there are all those things you just have to pack into one weekend, and you just have no idea how to get from one thing to the next in time?
Thats how this one feels.

Don't get me wrong, it has some very good points and the title alone is awesome enough to be turned into a film. Its just not that well put together  =(
You start out already on a quest (of sorts) Then find yourself on another, complete that and get given ANOTHER quest to undertake, see that one through and get railroaded into one more before completing that AND THEN HAVING TO DO ANOTHER THING!

Now I do like a story that throws a few surprises at me and variety is the spice etc etc. But honestly it just saps the life out of the original idea! THE SNOW WITCH!
This is a shame as the book does offer some great encounters. Its lighter on traps than some but makes up for it with a couple of good puzzles (of sorts) and does add some story driven tension that impacts positively on the game play. The Frozen, magical ice fortress of the Witch is well populated with foes and (in one of the books better moments) friends and allies, all of which does still make it enjoyable at times.

Art wise? This one uses a duo of talent to fill its pages with Gary Ward and Edward Crosby providing pen and ink illos (not sure how that came about or how it was divided?) And again this is the only appearance of their art to be shown in an FF book. Probably some of the most original ink illos to appear for a fantasy setting, the work is characteristically 'heavy' in feel but it comes off well and does a lot to add to the 'alien' quality of the creatures you encounter.
The cover is a great piece by veteran illustrator Les Edwards (he of HeroQuest cover fame, among many others) And accurately depicts a gruesome scene from the book.

A fairly fast read with a few good bits and, if you like roller coasters, one hell of a storyline!

So thats it for a bit, I'm currently trying to finish the next book so give me a sec!

Ace

More reading and a bit of a bash at HeroQuest.

Yep, so for the first time in about ten squillion years I got to play HeroQuest with my friends.

Awesome =)

I'll leave a more detailed post about this subject for another time suffice to say I had a blast and I hope the others did too! If you have this game banging around at home dust it off,  get it out, grab some mates, add some beer (because we're all old now so we get to play HeroQuest drinking games... not that we did... but that is an interesting idea for next time) and smash the dungeons.

Have a great time  =)


Speaking of great times, here's another Fighting Fantasy review thing.


#7 Island of the Lizard King

I think at this point in 83'/84' Steve Jackson (GB) was off writing the 'Sorcery!' books (which are amazing and I will get to after the main series) leaving most of the books to Ian for a bit.

While no 'DeathTrap Dungeon' this title is still a worthy adventure. I think this is the first book in which a bit of cultural diversity starts to influence your surroundings as the art (supplied by Alan Langford this time) is slightly oriental/far Eastern in appearance. This is cool as it really helps to fuel the sort of 'Voyage of Sinbad' feel that the book offers. I always find myself thinking of Ray Harryhausen's monsters on their model islands when I play this one =)
Speaking of the artwork (because I always do!) This story has some great pictures, some of which go down as childhood favourites I've remembered forever. I know I said no spoilers but I feel this isn't really giving the books secrets away.

 And I really love this picture.

Frank Frazetta would be proud! One of the few non lizard encounters from this book is this lovely girl and her Sabretooth Tiger. How or why she is living on an island presided over by a Lizard gangster mob boss we may never know. I just like looking at her.
Thank you Alan Langford, for one of the loveliest ladies of Fighting Fantasy.

TBH up till this lady graced these pages I don't think the world of Titan had much to offer in the way of female surprises. I suppose there was a She-Elf contestant in 'DeathTrap' but I can't think of any in the previous books... oh, apart from this rather dangerous girl from 'City of Thieves'

Hmm. Not really the sort you bring home to mum? (well maybe MY mum...)

Anyway. Alan outdid himself on that and many other exotic looking illos found within the books pages. The cover is also the last time Iain McCaig would contribute to the series, marking a huge change in the visual appearance of the books on the shelf.

How does the book play? Um, a bit strangely really.
It's the pacing that does it. Some parts seem to take forever to figure out and then you find yourself rocketing along trying to keep up through other sections. TBH it's not a bad thing as I always find reading this story to be very exciting and the story itself well rounded and interesting. I reckon it was the fastest read so far as far as time spent with a book goes.
Mind you there's tons of fighting to be had, rescues to attempt and Ian managed to throw in a lot of options and choices at key moments which have quite marked affects on your next moves.
The game itself is hard to define this time as it is a mixture of 'find the thingy to kill the bad guy' and 'find the guy to tell you stuff you need to know' as well as 'command the troops' and 'help the people escape from blah blah' So all a bit overwhelming at first!

Yeah, all in all it's a bit of a winner  =)


Man that cave girl is hot...

More Fighting Fantasy goodness!

Right, so where was I? Oh yes...

#6 Deathtrap Dungeon

Lets face it. There's not much I can say about Deathtrap Dungeon that hasn't already been said. This book is arguably the most famous story of the series rivaling the mighty 'Warlock' itself in reprints and versions. Everyone I knew who read these as a kid either had this or had read it.
How do I feel about it? I love it!
As far as the writing goes it's basically flawless, the exploration of the dungeon and characters/monsters you meet are both exciting and well rounded. The traps are well thought out and there is a good chance of completing the book without falling foul of a 'cheap' unavoidable death.
There are fellow adventurers to find and interact with, some useful, some not. The basic idea is the 'go find stuff that may/may not be useful and hang on to it' quest type, made interesting by the sheer variety of items and treasures to be had.
The art is again all provided by Mr McCaig. The cover is among my favourites, and lets face it, the beast depicted is truly hideous. The book sports a pen and ink illo of some sort of encounter every three pages or so, some are so original in composition of pose and lighting that I don't think they have ever been equaled. Honestly, If all you wanted to do in life was draw awesome dungeons, ferocious monsters and cool characters you could do worse than study this gamebook and Iain's hard work. What a wonderful man he is =)

One interesting side note of Deathtrap Dungeon's fame is its appearance as a game (there were a few different platforms it was ported for but the only one I am familiar with is the Playstation release)

I have never had a chance to play this game personally (although I look for an old Ps1 copy of it constantly!) so there's not much I can talk about =( One thing I will say however is that they knew their target audience when they started on the advertising!

Check this out =)

Reminds me of my high school...And here's a rather, er, revealing shot from the game itself...

Hmm. Don't remember fighting a dragon? Or meeting a woman who, ah, met those requirements...

Who cares! It all looks fairly good fun, and from the few vids of it I have seen on youtube, it all works well with plenty of teenage hormone riddled angst and violence.
So all in all?
Def one of the most rewarding and painless reads in the series, great art, great encounters and good pacing.
Get it!

Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and proffesional procrastination...

Hey guys!

Hope all has been well?

As the title of this post suggests I have not had the time I would have liked to get projects done last month, no matter! All things in their own time =)

On to some things that I have been able to do then.

A while back I had a bit of spare time and decided to pick up reading all the books from my FF collection. These books have been an inseparable part of my life since childhood and are probably one of the major causes of the brain damaged insanity that saw me spend most of my adolescence buying model kits and small leaden toys...

Anyhow now that I am older (and poorer...) I have a magnificent collection of gamebooks to peruse at leisure. Having never actually attempted to read all the books chronologically before, I decided why not??
I'm not going to go into ridiculous detail or give away any spoiler-esque material (because that shit drives me mad) I'm more or less just going to give my thoughts on the books as a whole and, I suppose compare them to my memories of reading them as a young twit (if I actually CAN remember back that far...)

(BTW I wont be using a rating system for these reviews. That shit is for retarded reality tv crap)

So then...

#1 The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Still one of the best titles around imho. What can I say? A classic dungeon crawl. Lavishly illustrated by Russ Nicholson, this book has a nice claustrophobic feel and some great encounters. While never one of my personal favs, you have to start somewhere! There's really nothing at all wrong with the adventure and a good pace and suitably evil villain/overlord give some replay to this book. Funny thing that I remember being utterly lost in the maze section as a kid, but really enjoying it this time through?? Good times in the dungeon  =)





#2 The Citadel of Chaos

Great book. The cover art by Emmanuel must stand out as one of the most original in the FF line up (although a second cover by Ian Miller was used for reprints of this book) I just think its cool. A sort of tableau of the evil baddies you'll be up against is lined up outside the Citadel itself, all framed by a blood red sunset/sunrise filled with giant bats. Great stuff.
As for the book? Again Russ Nicholson provides some of the most compelling interior art I have ever seen, I was especially taken by how he created the foreboding lighting effects throughout. Some of his creatures have to be seen to be believed! This particular book always left me a bit worried of being in the dark as a child...
The writing by Steve Jackson (GB) is top notch. Not a long book by his standards, and fairly linear in approach, which is something of a rarity for Mr Jackson, I always think of him as the more "puzzle/mystery" orientated of the pair - Ian Livingstone being more for storytelling and setting an 'adventuresome' mood. But no disappointments in finishing this one.

#3 The Forest of Doom

The first Fighting Fantasy gamebook I ever read and my favourite FF book (and cover)
I actually feel for illustrator Martin McKenna having to redo the art for the reissue of this book years later for 'Wizard' publications. Imagine being asked to create artwork for one of the most iconic books of the series, and then being told not to deviate from the original cover created by none other than Iain McCaig!
Anyway. Obviously I like this book a lot. To be totally honest, its just a dungeon adventure set out in the open! What really makes it cool however is the creepy, verdant Forest itself. Almost all the encounters in this book get a wonderful illo by Malcolm Barter (a sadly under-used illustrator of these books imho) And you find yourself in every possible location a forest could possibly throw at you. In clearings, up trees, down holes etc. One of the best features of this book for me at least, is that it allows for a replay in itself. That is, the fact that you are looking for items to get you to the end of the book means if you dont have them by the appropriate section, you are simply given the option to turn around and trudge back into the glades! I know that doesn't sound like much, but I always felt sad when I got to sections like that in other books and knew it was over and had to start the book again.
Great stuff =)

#4 Starship Travaller

 This one gets treated unfairly I think. Def one of the hardest of the early books to complete, and a first for a sci fi FF book. I really like it. I was a big fan of Star Wars/Star Trek as a kid and this book has influences from both (though prob more Trek...) This is also the first time you find yourself able to command others in a FF book too, a responsibility that leads to a lot of tension throughout the story!
The art inside is fantastic. Peter Andrew Jones has a very unique pen and ink style that I dont think I have seen the like of in other FF books (it reminds me of the work done for the Highway Warrior series by Melvyn Grant for Joe Dever) Its all very spacey and doesn't give too much away leaving the encounters you have with aliens being, um, very ALIEN and a bit strange, which is exactly how it should be.
I've always been in two minds about the cover (also the work of Peter Andrew Jones) While I like the image a lot, I just don't know if it was the right situation from the book to use? IDK maybe. But hey, it could have been this...

Figure that one out!

#5 City of Thieves

Again great art by one of the best, Iain McCaig providing both the cover and the internal illos for this one. The first book set in a fantasy city, the story is a tried and true 'find the thing and use it against the bad guy' story. But its the setting that makes it. Some fantastic creatures and truly inspired traps wait for you amidst the crumbling slums and terraced houses of Port Blacksand (this is beginning to sound like a sales blurb...) With the aid of the fantastic illos, this book has a very special feel for me, easily one of the most stylish stories of the series. The added idea of being in a semi developed place for once also limits your 'homicidal adventurer' tendencies. Causing trouble in the wrong part of town could see the adventure ending from a jail cell!
The bad guy (Zanbar Bone) must have been an inspiration for Iain's later work on creating 'Darth Maul' for SW Ep1 (although I have never heard him mention this)



Cool. I have read a few more but my fingers are starting to get tired so I'll leave it there for now.

On the model front? Well the Spit mkXIV and FW190A8 are coming along, when I can clear a space for pics I'll be able to show off the first of my Post Apoc Hot Wheels cars and a vinyl kit I was given ages ago is almost there too.
Busy busy eh?

Why is my foot glued to the floor??

HeroQuest - Final!

Life does tend to take a lot out of you doesn't it??

Well then, before I'm old and grey here are the last in my series of HeroQuest figures.

First up is a selection of the fantastic furniture supplied in the game.

My first furniture painting... so proud =)
The weapons rack was really the bit I was looking forward to. The only stumbling block being what colours to paint the shields! I'm always amazed how well this stuff has survived over the years I have owned it, believe me, she's seen some action!
Along with the weapons rack I'm particularly pleased with the tome on the sorcerers alter, very papery =)

Here are the Orcs

Sorry for the bad photo. I'm still getting a decent lighting system together for models and such.
As with the other evil beings I have painted them directly from the artwork on the lid. Not much I can say, they came out nice and grubby!
I actually used a friends painting technique for these models which he always called his 'Scunge' approach. Funny what you remember...

 And lastly (but by no means leastly)

The Heroes!

Great fun painting these lads. I still say the Elf was the best character (but the Dwarf was my fav)
The Wizard's tunic came out well (its a bit garish in the photo I'm afraid...) And his blue trousers (denim?? surely not!) weathered up well.
I did a lot of playing around with metallic colours and washes for their accoutrements and have to say that the Barbarians two handed sword does justice to the artwork, but that blue hue was a bitch to mix!
The Dwarf probably came out the best, but then I've always liked painting Dwarf's. The Elf was fairly boring but easy and the Barbarian, even showing all that skin, didn't prove as difficult as I feared.

So there you go, all done and ready for the slaughter that awaits in the dungeons below!
Thanks to any who have actually waited for me to post this, lots more to come as Space Crusade nears completion and vies for my time betwixt a number of other projects!
Ahh, so much to do and so little time...

C u.

Renovations, repaints and Rogue Trader.

...and HeroQuest!

HQ is all finished and done! Now if I could get a day off work and a ray of sunshine to photograph with I'd be a happy man.
The four Hero models were actually a blast to paint, all my stressing about the Barbarian's skin being a bitch to get right came to naught. He looks great! The others all resemble their 'box art' to a lesser or greater degree (I'll let you judge... when photos permit...)

So whats next, a rest? Not a bit of it!

As I write this the Blood Angels from Space Crusade are waiting to have their base coats finished. Once done they can stand next to the I.F and UltraMarines already done. After that its only a matter of painting the marines weapons and gear (pending a day were the wind is at sub cyclonic levels... how I love spray undercoating in winter) and a few finishing touches to the Chaos dreadnoughts and we're all done! Yay!

Renovations then. No, well not really but my painting room has been relocated and has become, um, a bit more cozy. On the flip side the wife loves her new big bedroom...

And this is the new pursuit. Had a practice game a fortnight ago and really enjoyed it. Not usually interested in such small scale games (I prefer to have a bit more character to my models) but the game was so fluid and quick to learn that I couldn't resist. The good side to not being as interested in the actual models used to play is that I wont get so tied up in painting them, they'll just get done! A plus for all the other projects I'd rather be spending time on when not blowing up my friends fleets =)

If anyone is interested I plumped for the 'League of Italian States Fleet' Not sure why exactly?
When they are all done the fleet will have ample opponents in the shape of the groups Prussian Empire, Federated States, Kingdom of Britannia and Republique of France Fleets.


Repaints and Rogue Trader come in the same package for this post.

I'll just say it. I don't like GW or contemporary WH40K. That being said I don't have anything against Citadel Miniatures or anything GW came up with for 40K until 3rd Ed. I just don't like the 'modern' game.
What has this got to do with the post? Well a bit. My first army was the Eagle Warriors Space Marines (because I just HAD to be different...) and two decades later they still haven't been finished.
I had a bit of a think about this the other day and realised that the problem primarily had to do with the fact that I just don't paint the way I did back then (thank God)
The idea of going backwards in my approach to miniature painting and finishing an army that, when done, might not even appeal to me is very, um, unappealing.

So a big change of heart and a large dose of motivation has seen plans for an unloved Space Marine force to take a new shape. The sketchbook is filling up with ideas right now...Watch this space!

(Oh yeah. And theres some High Elves on the table, a plane, some Germans and a Hot Wheels car)

All work and no play...

Sorry, yes its been far too long...

A little progress update then; the HeroQuest painting is almost complete!
 I've finished the Orcs and as soon as I can get a second of daylight I will photograph them in all their warty glory. Had a blast painting them, I think the last time I painted 'da boy's' it was for Space Crusade. These guys worked out better though, I'd forgotten how forgiving green is as a skin tone!
 The furniture is almost there now, a first for me  =)
The Heroes will be getting the individual treatment, as befits the pieces that will be getting handled most often. I think the Barbarian is going to be the challenging one to get right, needs to have just the right amount of 'Conan-ness' going for him =)

So yeah, there it is. I'll have the Orcs up in a couple of days with any luck and the Heroic types will get their own shots after that, don't let me forget about those Space Crusade figures either, they've all got to get finished one day =)