Miniatures Finished: Weird Science

Keeping to loose themes for a while, here are some science-related characters I painted up in-between other projects. 

Baxter Stockman: I wasn't planning on getting this character anytime soon, but I got him in a blister and couldn't resist a Playmates Toys style paintjob. Heroclix 

Weather Wizard: I have a growing collection of Flash's Rogues that I'll have to do something with one day. I love how crummy the colour scheme looks on this guy. Heroclix 

Metallo: A classic Superman foe I've wanted to get on the table for years, but kept forgetting to paint him. This classic Clix isn't a brilliant sculpt, but has plenty of character. Heroclix 

Mister Terrific: I considered painting my copy of this character up after watching Arrow, but never got around to him. I'm tempted to do a couple of "T-Spheres" on separate bases to buzz around him. Heroclix 

Robotman: Different base for this figure as I was using him as a "Plod-Bot" for Judge Dredd miniatures for a while. I guess now I'll have to get the rest of the Doom Patrol. Heroclix. 

Angstrom Levy: How could I not get this awesome antagonist from Invincible onto the table? A classic evil genius with teleporting powers, his knowledge of the multiverse makes him truly dangerous. Heroclix 

Miniatures Finished: Beasts of No Nation

It can be a lot of fun to paint some non-human miniatures sometimes, as there are fewer limits on what can and can't be done. Superheroes have plenty of monstrous villains, so finishing one off occasionally is a fun way to break up a bigger painting run.

Rocksteady: I finished Beebop years ago, so taking so long to get to his partner is almost a little embarrassing. I went for a colour scheme similar to the old toy, but a little more muted. Heroclix 

Leatherhead: I got this for free when we were cleaning out the old store and thought it would make a good version of the classic TMNT baddie for those gaming in the 32-35mm Batman/Crisis Protocol scale. he has since been converted into a 54mm mutant for Inquisitor. Privateer Press 

Copperhead: Having painted plenty of orange and green over the years, this figure came together really fast. When chipping away at the lead mountain, I've found these "easy wins" are a great way to stay motivated. Heroclix  

 

Etrigan: I was going to be clever and put this section entirely in rhyming verse, but I'm tired right now, so you miss out. Heroclix 

Serpieror: I've had this for years, from back in the days when I played the Pokemon TCG, actually and only just got around to painting it. I used to use these Pokemon as various Squigs in Gorkamorka, now they get to play with my superheroes. Toy 

Lobo: The main man! I had a Heroclix Lobo, but he was smaller than a lot of my other characters, so I hunted around and found this version, which is much better. Knight Models 

Yet More Superhero Wargames Armies Ideas

I can stop anytime I want, I swear. It's just that I think people could really benefit from these army ideas, even if these are some of my worst-performing posts. Something I can do just for me, right? Like I can get these damn ideas out of my head so that I'm not tempted to make them myself, even if I did end up buying most of the Space Knight Heroclix recently for gaming. 

If you're not caught up by now, the idea behind these infrequent pieces is to discuss ideas for bringing a superhero-inspired Miniature Wargames armies into existing games if your FLGS or local club isn't keen on the genre. Whilst I try to not keep the ideas focused on any specific game or set of rules, I do have a vague idea of something along the lines of Warhammer 40,000 in mind, at least in terms of army size and variety of units.


The Brotherhood (Marvel)

Concept: Based on the representation of the "Brotherhood" army in X-Men 3, the entire concept of this force boils down to Magneto saying "In chess, the pawns go first". Despite probably being powerful enough to take Alcatraz by himself, Magneto doesn't want to run the risk of losing, so he brings an army of disposable minions to his side to do the dying for him. With his core group of more powerful mutants to back him up, Magneto is master and commander of a very dangerous rabble. The similar army Magneto builds in Ultimate X-Men is probably worth a look here as well.

Army Building: This one seems pretty straightforward, with mobs of weaker mutants making up the bulk of the force and a small number of elite and powerful members to provide the real punch. As most of the "lesser" mutants don't need to have really specific powers, they could be grouped in "squads" that serve functions. For example, mutants with strength and claw mutations for close combat, chameleon and climbing mutants as scouts and psychics scattered here and there as "radio operators" mean you can fill out a decent sized army pretty easily. Juggernaut and Phoenix fit easily as Dreadnought like vehicles and "monster" infantry, and plenty of games allow for powerful solo characters like Pyro and Kid Omega. 

Models: Honestly, I'd be looking at Heroclix for most of this, just as a way to keep costs down and to scale well with other games. There are plenty of thugs and criminals in other ranges if you want a look closer to the film for your mobs of disposable mutants. I could see using Knight Models or Crisis Protocol for Juggernaut to get something big enough, but I know from past experience that getting enough models in the right scale to match is pretty difficult and expensive.

Red Ribbon (Dragon Ball)

Concept: A mercenary army dedicated to conquering the world, Red Ribbon not only has troops, tanks and planes, but also robots, monsters and ninjas; what else could you want in a wargames army? Probably the only truly recurring villains in the Dragon Ball franchise, the Red Ribbon forces have brought everything from mercenary soldiers to Perfect Cell against Goku and friends over the years, giving plenty of scope for a fun and unique army build. Plus much of the naming scheme is colour-based, so you can have fun with naming things, like Colonel Taupe, Major Heliotrope or Sergeant Aqua. 

Army Building: The spread of troop types and characters means you can never really run out of ideas on this one. You can have plenty of Red Ribbon soldiers, tanks and planes to fill out the rank and file, of course, but do you need an elite unit? How about robots, or maybe ninjas? An elite assassin? Tau Pi-Pi is ready to go. Hell, there's even the Androids and Cell if you need something of an otherworldly power scale. For this concept, I'd probably be working backwards, deciding on a game and army, then finding stuff in the Red Ribbon catalog to fit. 

Models: Sadly, the amount of Dragon Ball miniatures on the market is rather low, but don't give up before you start. Most of the major characters can be found as a 3D print, and there is a great line of model vehicles that vary in scale from 28 to 40mm for pretty cheap. For the soldiers, there are plenty of lines of Cold War Chinese and Soviets that fit the bill quite well, and scale alright with some of the Girls Und Panzer tank models that are a bit more rounded and "cute" in style, for that Anime look.


Free Armies of Mongo (Flash Gordon) 

Concept: What happens when the heroic Flash Gordon of Earth turns the citizens of Mongo against the foul Emperor Ming? The Free Armies of Mongo are born! Mostly taken, in concept, from the King's Watch and King's Quest comic series, this idea works for pretty much whatever version of Flash Gordon that you happen to prefer. Hawkmen, Lizard-men, Tree People and whatever else you feel like are ready to go fight for their freedom against the evil empire!

Army Building: This army falls into the "Halo Covernant" or "How the Tau should work" category, in that each unit will have a very different look, perhaps even being a different species. It's pretty straightforward from there, really, Hawkmen are a "jump pack" unit, Aborians are commandos, Lizard-men are scouts, and so on. The various characters like Flash, Dale and Vultan are ready-made commanders and squad leaders, and there are plenty of rockets to fill out all of your vehicle needs. 

Models: There are plenty of "Not-Flash Gordon" miniatures available with a quick search online, I own some from Reaper and Dirk Garrison myself and they suit fine. Bringing together several different ranges may be necessary, depending on how big you want your army to be. The rocket ships may be a little harder to get, but I've seen a few good 3D print examples around with a good "retro" vibe.

Foot Clan (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Concept: It's a Ninja Clan with some comic book extras, not much more to this one. An ancient Ninja Clan, transplanted to New York City, embraces both mysticism and advanced technology in order to further its agenda of accruing power and influence. Most often led by the mysterious figure of "The Shredder", the Foot includes everything from Mutants, to inter-dimensional mercenaries and even robots depending on the source material, but there are always plenty of Ninjas to throw at the enemy. 

Army Building: I'd by lying if I said I hadn't been considering putting together a Foot Clan force for my wargames club's Samurai League, but I thought better of it. The Foot just kind of work really well for a lot of games, because you can have as many ninja as you want or need, then just add in whatever else is required for elite units and characters. Personally, I'd be using a mixture of elements from different incarnations of the Foot, from Rock Soldiers and Krang to Karai and Mousers, because that would give me more variety and more options to choose from. 

Models: There are plenty of Ninja models avaiable, which should fill out whatever you need in terms of "squads"; even the TMNT Heroclix Foot Clan Ninjas are pretty nice, though the weapons can be warped and often need replacing. Naturally, Heroclix have all of the characters you'll need, most are pretty affordable on the secondary market as well, but there is the IDW Board Game if you're one of those people who cannot abide Clix. Mantic does a great tunneling vehicle in the Warpath range too.

Superhero Media: Turtles Forever

What happens when the 1988 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meet the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? One shell of a film! An accident with the Technodrome's inter-dimensional portal ends up with the classic Turtles and their main enemies crossing paths with their newer incarnation, all shell breaking loose when the Classic Shredder resurrects his newer counterpart. Oh sorry, you getting sick of the puns? Well Turtles Forever doesn't let up with them and neither will I. Despite being billed as a crossover, Turtles Forever mostly utilises the 2003 characters and settings, with anything outside the core cast of the 1988 version rendered background cameos. Whilst this doesn't really please me all that much, it's an understandable choice, given that the 2003 run was still in production at the time and, well, the 1988 version was a bit shallow. Don't get me wrong, I grew up with the 1988 version of the Turtles and still enjoy the better episodes now, but it was a product of its time and a lot of it has aged poorly. Of course, Turtles Forever understands this and plays it for laughs, but don't go in expecting to see Leatherhead, Fugitoid or the Triceratons.

As the action ramps up, new Shredder discovers that all versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stem from a single universe, which he dubs "Turtles Prime", the key to destroying all Ninja Turtles everywhere. When the teams arrive at Turtles Prime, they discover a black and white world drawn from the original Mirage comics, complete with internal narration and way too serious dialogue. It's a great moment, especially after the "multiverse" sequence which dives as deep as Out of their Shells and Turtle Maki. I think people can forget that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started as a pitch-dark pastiche of 1980s Marvel Comics, as well as forgetting that later versions have tended to improve that original concept. Yes, as an adult, you may find the Mirage Comics more appealing, but the best versions of this franchise have been built on the success on the 1988 version, which added diversity, characters and a heck of a lot more fun to the proceedings. Turtles Forever celebrates all of that, albeit briefly, uniting all off the various Ninja Turtles that have ever been or will ever be as part of a whole growing from the original centre. 

Turtles Forever isn't quite as good as hardcore fans may want it to be, but it is clearly made with a love and reverence for the material, which makes it endearing even if it feels rushed in places. Not having watched much of the 2003 version, I was a bit lost with some of the characters and references, but I never felt that I was missing too much. Like, ok, this Shredder is an alien? But with a human daughter? I can deal with that, I read comics, but a minute of exposition would have been good. Krang and classic Shredder get an introduction, even the Technodrome is briefly explained, but who is this woman and how is she the daughter of an alien octopus? As I've said, Turtles Forever is far from perfect, but it is a great watch for fans of the Turtles, even not these specific versions thereof. I picked up my copy cheap on DVD, but I'm pretty sure you can stream this in a few places if you look for it.

Miniatures Finished - 31/12/18

Much like my Goons and Thugs, I decided that lugging around a figure case full of metal civilians was a bit pointless, so I'd be better replacing them with more durable plastics that can rattle around a box safely. For the most part, I just grab "civilian" Heroclix and dunk them in some Army Painter dip, apply some matte spray varnish and base. 

And there's some other stuff too, I'm still painting lots of Sci-Fi minis and Kaiju, but there's always room for a hero or two. 

Totoro: A toy I found in a store, he makes a nice addition to my Impudent Mortal bus shelters. All I did was add a base for stability. 

Leatherneck: This classic TMNT baddie looked better in the cartoons, but the quality and dynamic pose of this mini is really great for the price. Heroclix. 

Skrull Infiltrator: Embrace Change. I picked up a bag of Imperial Guard bits off a friend and it included a Vox Caster Guardsman in a nifty "at rest" pose. As I can't leave well-enough alone, I just had to give him a head-swap and make him an infiltrator. I may have started adding a Skrull to every army I work on, just because. Converted Games Workshop. 

Civilians: I seem to have gotten a bad can of Tamiya Matt Clear, because there's still some shine on these. They may not be as nice as whitemetal miniatures, but for under a dollar each, these Heroclix come up nicely. Ultimate Dazzler, Bruno Manhiem and Wonderman. Heroclix. 

Superhero Media: Infestation 2

Hot on the "success" of Infestation, IDW launched the second part, Infestation 2, leaner, meaner and with more than a few changes. Rather than a single entity, like the Undermind, Infestation 2 pits its heroes against the entirety of the Cthulhu mythos, which makes for grander stories, but the overall effect is slightly weakened without a recurring villain like Brit to tie the narrative together. Infestation 2 features the Transformers, Dungeons and Dragons, TMNT, GI Joe and 30 Days of Night, most of which are better than the stories in Infestation, but without the kind of crossover promised, like Snake Eyes meeting Optimus Prime and Leonardo, it's still unfulfilling. Once again, the GI Joe story is the best one, with a cult uprising at a Cobra asylum for insane operatives. Crystal Ball (Cobra Old Ones Expert), Storm Shadow, a Cobra Psychologist and a cadre of lunatics have to survive a wave of hybrids to shut down the ritual and escape. I'd watch that film, even without a GI Joe framework and characters. 

The Transformers story takes place, not "now" or in the near future (like the 1986 film), but in 1887, with most of the Autobots and Decepticons in hiding, until Dunwhich is overrun by Deep Ones and corrupted Decepticons and Nikola Tesla has to awaken Optimus Prime to save the day. It's ridiculous nerd-bait, but the fun concept and diesel-punk transformer designs make it worth a look anyway. Nothing else in the anthology is really worth mentioning, though none of it is strictly bad, if you have the Omnibus Edition like I do, the whole Infestation/Infestation 2 does make for a good read and has plenty of inspiration for supers and horror games of all kinds. For me, the Infestation[s] are a nice additional antagonist for a campaign without having to buy additional miniatures, as I already own more than enough zombies and cultists to combine Infestation with Annihilation or to run it as its own series of games.

I've read almost all of HP Lovecraft's published works, and whilst I'm not a huge fan, his ability to evoke the otherworldly, the uncanny and a sense of unknowable horror is unmatched. It's no wonder that his style and mythos have endured and become a major fixture of popular culture. Of course, having such powerful beings as the great old ones leads some writers to wanting to see this power flexed; hence many derivative stories being more action-focused. As I've mentioned a number of times, a certain subset of supers fans are more interested in seeing the fights than the characters, so that superheroes fighting mythos monsters is a pretty expected result. Sometimes, this works really well, like Hellboy or Atomic Robo, but there are far too many poor attempts that leave me mostly disappointed. For me, the best Old Ones in comics are the ones that were there before we knew what they were, Starro, Galactus and Stardust the Super Wizard, for example. What's the point of a mountain-sized monstrosity when Superman can still throw it into space, after all?

Miniatures Finished: 12/06/2018

Funny story, I bought 16 miniatures over the weekend, so I set a goal that I'd finish painting at least 16 this week. Last night I completed 10 and it's only Tuesday, so I'd say I'm off to a good start. 

Spider-Man 2099 - I'm pretty sure my motivation behind this one was playing him as a "Lone Vigilante" in Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, but now that I have a sweet Cyberpunk set-up to play on, maybe I should do some "Future" supers games. Heroclix

Metalhead - Need a fifth for your TMNT team? Well, if Casey Jones, Slash or Splinter aren't to your liking, maybe give Metalhead a go. Heroclix 

Mew - He's actually closer to 1/35 scale, but I'm so damn happy with hand-blending the shade of pink on him perfectly that I don't care. I actually have some plans for the Pokemon stuff, but I'll need someone good with image editing to help out. Vending Machine Toy 

Nebula - I was on a deadline to get all of my Guardians finished for Little Wars Melbourne 2018, but it turns out they weren't needed, so Nebula got left a week or two. Big fan of her role in the films, so expect to see her in a few games. Heroclix 

Brothers Grimm - When I opened one of these guys in a booster (I was going thru one of my Clix-playing phases), I knew I had to put two of them on a base and run them as a single character. I'm beginning to focus on villains that have interesting gimmicks so that I can vary play a little. Heroclix  

Granny Goodness - Seriously Warner Bros, do a "Fourth World" film and pay Betty White whatever she asks to play Granny Goodness, what could you lose at this point? I'm not too keen on most of the Female Furies, so how about I run a game where they're other female super-villains? Thinking Titiania, Brit and Ursa? 

 

Miniatures Finished: Mousers

After having four of these buggers painted for a while, I decided to pull my finger out and buy the rest of the damn henchmen team I'd want to play them as. 

 Also included another Knights of Dice park bench. 

I don't actually really remember much about the Mousers, but it's nice to have some "Indy" henchmen to throw into games. Teaming these guys up with Ultron or Brainiac would be a lot of fun. Heroclix. 

From the Archives - Vol 1

Been doing a big catalogue of my Supers stuff and realised just how little of it is on this blog. To remedy that, I'll be running the occasional entry showcasing my older efforts. 

First up, here is my old "Trailer" for my Little Wars Melbourne 2015 game, now on YouTube: 

Enjoy! Next time, some miniatures and maybe terrain. Actually, I'd like to do some more video stuff, but it's very time-consuming, so probably not any time soon. 

Superhero Media: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows

I stand by my (more-or-less) positive review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), whilst it doesn't reach the heights of the 1990 film or even Turtles Forever, it manages to be fun and there are a lot of good scenes and some great visual elements. Out of the Shadows is not even as good as the 2014 film, though I believe it is precisely the TMNT film I wanted when I was eight years old. Yes it's dumb, but it's a story about four mutant turtles fighting a ninja master and inter-dimensional aliens, how serious did you expect it to be? If you can't enjoy the Turtle-Van chase sequence or Bebop and Rocksteady riding a tank down a river, what the hell are you doing calling yourself a TMNT fan? Yes, Out of the Shadows isn't really that good a film, but it's so fun and so quickly paced that watching it, I really didn't care. 

Sadly, there is no backpedal on the terrible Shredder, but once he accidentally ends up in Dimension X and makes a deal with Krang to open a portal in return for the death of the Turtles, he fades into the background. In order to facilitate this, Krang hands over a container of Ooze so that Shredder can make his own mutants. Baxter Stockman, of TGRI, uses the ooze on a couple of street thugs, and Bebop and Rocksteady are born. Holy hell, how is Out of the Shadows the most faithful TMNT adaptation? Sure, it's not all good news, Tyler Perry is terrible as Baxter Stockman, which is no surprise, and the sub-plot of the ooze turning the turtles human both makes no sense and goes nowhere. Purists may complain about the turtles getting a public debut, but I like the new spin on the story and would be interested to see where it went in any following films.
 

Stephen Amell is not a good Casey Jones, not holding a candle to Elias Koteas, but the script gives him little to do and fighting off ninjas with a hockey stick and puck makes for a fun scene. The climatic battle on top of the slowly-forming Technodrome with Krang looks like it would make an awesome SuperSystem game, and that Mikey saves the day with a skateboard is pure Turtles gold. Internet nerd culture have panned this because of what Bay did to the Transformers franchise, give it a fair go and you may just find a lot to enjoy. There's also a brilliant version of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song over the credits that's really hard to find, but is on Google Play and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMZjlllTz5I Hey, I said this was the version I would have wanted as a child, embrace it! Turtle power!

Miniatures Finished: 02/01/2018

Without a major project to work towards, I'm just getting whatever I feel like done. 

 April O'Neill, Pete Wisdom and Ash. (two clix and Hasslefree)

 Made one more Wakandan sentry gun, Baymax (keychain) and another inmate/prisoner. 

Miniatures Finished - 17/11/17

Dipping into the obscura now, character-wise. 

 Atom Eve (clix), Splinter (Clix) and Snoopy (custom job, not my work). 

 The Mandarin, Doombot and Bebop (all clix). 

Superhero Media: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

Due to some mild trauma I experienced when I was fifteen, I really don't recall my childhood, or much before 2002. I have some dream-memories, which I don't trust for validity, and occasionally something floats up from the subconscious, but for the most part, it's all gone. One glimmer that remained for years was that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III was a terrible film. It's not. Sure, it's not even the third best TMNT film, but I think that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III may actually be a bit better than Secret of the Ooze. The premise is silly (par for the course for TMNT, really), a magical lantern transports April, then the turtles, back to the last days of feudal Japan where they must save the local village from the machinations of Walker, a colonial exploiter leveraging the local Diamyo. As with the previous two films, the plot is pretty basic, think a stripped down Seven Samurai with four turtles and Western colonialism as the villain rather than bandits. 

Actually, that the bad guy, even in feudal Japan, is a greedy European man, is pretty damn smart for a TMNT film, compare it to TMNT(2007), where a colonially-minded, wealthy, culturally appropriating white man is the red herring villain obfuscating the "dangerous foreigner" mastermind. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is full of nice little touches and clever ideas, like the turtles, now 17 years old (they were identified as aged 14 in the 1990 film) wanting to stay in the past because they don't have to hide from people and are appreciated for who they are. Those familiar with psychological development theories will see something in that small part alone. The puppetry has improved again since the previous film, and this time around, the action scenes got better, possibly because the suits are easier to move in? I've done enough horse riding to know that it's actually pretty tricky, I'd hate to try it in a foam-rubber turtle suit and plastic samurai armour. 

Casey Jones is back, but relegated to a b-story about teaching hockey to the time-displaced Samurai Honour Guard; still better than the version in Out of the Shadows. Even, for the moment, not taking the decline of the turtles culturally in the mid-1990s, it's easy to see how there wasn't a fourth film in this franchise. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III was, despite some truly clever moments, just not good enough to cycle into another film. Again, I don't own a physical copy of this film, and I don't intend to get one, but I'm glad I got to see it again as an adult and not have to rely on misty memory. Seriously, I remembered this film having child vampires in it? I'd say I'm confusing it with The Next Mutation, but I don't recall having ever watched The Next Mutation. Due to my non-existent memories of childhood, nostalgia doesn't really function for me, but I felt a twinge of something with this film. 

Superhero Media: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - Secret of the Ooze

Remember how good I said the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was? Well this isn't as good, but is still better than I remembered it being. Following on a couple of months from the defeat of the Shredder, the Turtles are living with April and aren't up to much, suffering some major cabin fever now that the Foot Clan aren't tearing around. There's also an element of the Turtles getting older, even though it hasn't been all that long since we met them in the last film, this will get explored more in the third film, which we'll get to in time. These peaceful times, however, won't last long, as the Shredder survived being crushed and is looking for revenge.The diminished Foot start recruiting at martial arts dojos and things get more complicated when a private lab, TGRI, come onto the scene and Splinter reveals the canister that once contained the ooze that mutated them all; a container marked "TGRI". 

The turtles decide to investigate, only to find that TGRI have already destroyed the ooze to cover their tracks, bar one canister, which the turtles are unable to stop the Foot from getting away with. Shredder plans to use the ooze to create his own mutants to battle the turtles, but is betrayed by the captured Professor Perry and ends up with Tokka and Rahzar, strong but infantalised mutants that the turtles can readily outsmart. The puppetry (still Jim Henson) is better in this film, but the fight scenes are not as well choreographed as the original, except perhaps "cold-cut ninja". Casey Jones being absent is a bit of a let-down, but he probably wouldn't have fit the tone as well as the first film. Also, Vanilla Ice raps over the big Turtles/Tokka Rahzar fight at the end, which is, of course, terrible. Seriously, have you listened to any Vanilla Ice lately? He drops references to being a Nazi. I'm not even kidding.

Secret of the Ooze is not as good as the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but is probably the sequel the original deserved. It's not as original, but the technology is better, the story is stronger, but the characters aren't as developed. I actually own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on DVD, but I don't think I'll bother with Secret of the Ooze as it just doesn't do it for me as much as the original or even Turtles Forever. That said, when Heroclix get around to making a Tokka and Rahzar, I'll be certain to grab them for Ultimate Alliance games, maybe even team them up with the Brotherhood of Mutants or put them in my Foot/Hand war game idea. See what I mean about even the bad (or, in this case, not quite as good) superhero films are still filled with ideas that can be used for gaming? Worth checking out if you've never seen it or haven't for years. 

Miniatures Finished: 26/09/17

I have plans for a series of Ultimate Alliance games next year, which is steering my painting somewhat. 

 Killer Frost, Rat King and Mr Zsasz. 

 Mandroid Armour, Jocasta and Robin (Damien Wayne).

Superhero Media: Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles (1990)

This film is fucking awesome. Seriously, have you watched it recently? Even the puppetry hasn't dated that badly, thanks to the miraculous work of the Jim Henson Creature Shoppe, and Elias Koteas is still the definitive Casey Jones by a country mile. Judith Hoag shines as April O'Neil, Mako is brilliant as Splinter, hell, everyone is good, even a young Sam Rockwell who has all of two lines as "Young Thug #2". The martial arts looks good, the comedy works and the turtles aren't taller than everyone else. When I picture Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello in my mind, it is the versions from this film that I see. I feel not so much as a shred of shame when I shout "I just love being a turtle!" along with Mikey. Ok, so the lip-sync on the costumes is far from perfect, Shredder gets defeated far too easily and the plot is pretty basic, but there's still so damn much to love about this film. 

April O'Neil is rescued from the Foot Clan by the quartet of reptilian heroes during the height of a "ninja" crime-wave and our adventure begins. The Foot Clan are recruiting disaffected youth in New York, with the temptations of cigarettes, video games and martial arts training, turning them into a shockingly effective army of criminals. Man, when was the last time you saw a kids' film where twelve-year-olds smoke on screen? A point that will become relevant when I get to the sequels, the turtles are revealed to be fourteen years of age in this film, whilst Splinter seems to be in excess of a century old. Yeah, Splinter is ancient, given that Hamato Yoshi could not possibly have been doing his thing much after 1868 CE with that being the agreed academic consensus for the end of Daimyo period and that the third film actually sets up a cyclical legacy around the character. Neat, huh?

The entrance of Casey Jones, a former hockey player whose career ended with injury before it even got started and decided he wasn't going to take the moral decay of his city lying down anymore, still stands, in my mind, as one of the best in the Superhero Film library; right up there with Spider-man swinging in to save the day in 2002, Superman catching Lois Lane in 1978 or the Mark I armour stomping out of a cave in 2008. It is that element, that four teenagers or a fit guy with a golf bag full of sports equipment can take on and defeat an ancient Ninja clan, that keeps this series so enduring more than two decades after it started as an indy comic. If this film seems more than a little silly, just remember that the original comics were themselves a pastiche of the grim and gritty Frank Miller Daredevil run, complete with ancient Ninja clans, costumed vigilantes and a decaying New York City. Well worth another look.

Superhero Media: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Why does everyone seem to hate this film so much? I started watching expecting a flaming pile of garbage, but found I actually enjoyed a fair bit of it. Don't get me wrong, it's nowhere near as good as the first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) or Turtles Forever, but the action is good and I was certainly never bored throughout. Whilst I will also agree that Megan Fox is a terrible actor and should have had much less screen time, I actually liked the idea of her having a larger role in the Turtle's backstory. I think that's the problem actually, the film takes such liberties with the (already nebulous) TMNT canon that the "hardcore" fans feel somehow betrayed, with that odd kind of entitlement that people have for the media they love. Yes, Splinter learning Ninjitzu from a book is a bit silly, but is it any more silly than copying the moves of his master in the old films? Hell, the entire TNMT franchise started out as a parody/tribute to Frank Miller's run on Daredevil, so is there really any point drawing a line on how serious the characters and story need to be? 

Speaking of characters, I also hear/read a lot of complaints about how the Turtles look in this film and the sequel, a contention I had agreed with, until I actually saw this film. Yes, the Turtles look odd at over six foot tall and the nostrils are a bit much, but aside from that, I grew quite fond of their new design. Each Turtle is in similar, yet subtly different attire, each evoking a Samurai and/or Shaolin aesthetic, though made out of garbage and detritus. Leo's chest "armour" is made of disposable chopsticks, Donnie's Kusazuri is actually the solar cells that power his gear and Mikey has sewn together two pairs of sneakers to fit his feet. That's some really clever design work that a lot of people will have missed. Little touches like that and the beatboxing scene in the lift really bring up the level of this film, making up for the stumble over Shredder's identity and Fox's terrible acting. 
 

Before you start posting nasty comments below, I'm not saying that this is a good film, or even good TMNT, but it is fun to watch and held my interest well enough. Is it some kind of betrayal to the franchise? No. If TMNT is broad enough to include the original comic, the '80s cartoon and a rapping xmas album, there's room enough for this version. If you don't like it, that's fine, it's probably just not aimed at you. For me, It's a fun ride with some clever elements and decent fight scenes, basically all I need from TMNT.

Minitaures Finished: A Telling Six

You know that you've painted a lot of supers miniatures when you get to Jack Flag and Animal Man. A friend suggested I get all my supers out and take a photo, but I need to find a really big table before I even consider that. 

 Shredder, Jack Flag and Nightcrawler. 

Another Ultron (Ultron Unlimited is just too tempting an idea), Animal Man and Kilowog. 

 

Miniatures Finished: Odd Team-ups

Steady progress on the big pile of supers to be painted. 

 Weasel, Phyla Vell and a wild Golem bulk out the roster of heroes.

 Slash, The Destroyer Armour and Purple Man make for some dangerous villains. 

Ultimate Alliance: Civil War - Part I

With the recent battle between Batman and Superman having left an entire city in ruins, the Superhero Registration Act is primed to be signed into law by Congress. This creates a divide in the superhuman community, with Captain America coming to represent those making a stand against the Act and Iron Man leading those working for it. Some heroes, such as Doctor Strange and Superman, elect not to take a side, staying out of the brutal conflict between friends and colleagues. 

Yes, Little Wars Melbourne approaches again and it's time to prepare for some super-heroic action! This year, I'm capitalising on the big summer movies, especially Captain America: Civil War, with two teams of mixed heroes going toe-to-toe. I'm yet to finalise the teams, but so far the playtests are going well and I may even be ready a little early!

Pro-SRA Deployment 

 

Standard table glamour-shots.

The fight we all paid to see! 

 

The ground shakes as Luke Cage and She-Hulk come to blows! 

 

Iron Man wasn't expecting a ninja strike from the shadows. 

 

She-Hulk brings down Captain America. 

 

 

Cage flees to fight another day. 

I think I have the team balance right at the moment, expanding it to six-hero teams and a couple more play tests should see me right. This time around, there's not so much to prepare, so hopefully I can add some real polish to the game. Excelsior!