A destruction of Hulks?

The Hulk figure for the Marvel Universe game was huge, heavy, and expensive. It was supposed to fit on the large 60mm base. I was able to pick up an alternative but, if you missed out, you also have options.

There are a couple of Heroclix figures that are larger than normal, but would still be smaller than the right size. While they would be lighter, they are still a bit moderately priced. They are already painted, unless you buy the Red Hulk version, which would need to be repainted.

The new Hulk figure from Marvel Crisis Protocol is close to the same size, and light, but also pretty expensive. It will also need to be assembled and painted.


I had picked up this one. It was moderately priced, is light, is painted, and is the right size. The base needs a small amount of work to make it 60mm though. You can glue it directly to a 60mm base, or cut the figure from his base and then glue him to a proper one. I would cut a 60mm disk from styrene or cardboard, hot glue him to it, and then blend the edges with extra rubble made from styrene and paint to match.

Dollarama/Dollar Tree had some large scale superhero figures. These were light, the right size, painted, and cheap. They are closer to 1/35 scale but that is about the right size for the Hulk figure. This one already comes on a base that is almost 60mm. I had picked this one up a few years ago and haven’t seen any recently.

I did find some WWE wrestlers at Dollar Tree that were also close to 1/35 scale. They are light, a good size, and cheap. John Cena and Brock Lesnar have okay figures that could be used for A-Bomb and Red Hulk. They are both wearing boots so that would have to modified and the pant edges torn if you want to make a normal Green or Grey Hulk. They don’t have full bases, so that would need to be cut away and both pinned to a 60mm base. Both would need a simple paint job as well.

Why so many? I could not find the cheap Hulk, or anything equivalent when I was looking so I picked up the other one at a convention. Then I picked up the wrestlers while looking for ones that others would be able to find easier. Finally, while sifting boxes to storage recently, I came across the original one I had bought.

Top 10 Games of 2019

My top 10 games of 2019

I have put together my top 10 games for 2019. Note that these are games that I have played for the first time in 2019, not necessarily games that were released in 2019. With all the games that I already have, I got another 25 games plus expansions last year. Some were gifts, some were purchased at the thrift stores, and some were new.

The new games were: Big Trouble In Little China, Button Men: Beat People Up, Combat Arena, Disney Villainous, Disney Villainous: Evil Plans Ahead, Disney Villainous: Wicked to the Core, Dracula’s America: Shadow of the West: Forbidden Powers, Dune, Jurassic Park Danger, Justice League Strategy Game, Outremer: Faith and Blood, Saurai Jack: Back to the Past.

The ones I picked up not new were: Anomia, Conspiracy, Crash Tackle, Euchre, Gangs of Commorragh, Lexigo Rush, Loopin’ Chewie, Ninja Burger, Shogun (Lakeside), Snake Oil, The Collectors, Trespass.

A lot of these did not hit the table this year. Some games from previous years were finally played.

Games that I played for the first time that did not make my list were:
Get the MacGuffin, Han Solo Card Game, Jaipur, Yahtzee Texas Hold ‘em.

12 – Sagrada – Looks very pretty. You have to choose from the dice rolled and place one into your scoring grid. But, like Catan, if not explained fully, you can be messed up right from the start. The play is okay.

11 – Snake Oil – another game where one player has to choose from among other player’s submissions. In this one, the first player draws a consumer, and the other players have to use two of the cards in their hands to come up with a product that person would like. Unlike most of this category, your submissions are not secret, you actually get to pitch them to the judge.

10 – Splendor – Another classic resource building game. You collect gems in order to buy cards with gems on them. This allows to buy more cards so that you can buy more expensive cards with points on them in order to get enough points to win.

9 – Anomia – One of the Mensa select games. You flip over cards and if you match symbols with someone, you have to give an example from the topic on their card before they give an example of the topic on yours.

8 – Perpetual Commotion – Plays like G’Nertz or Dutch Blitz except the Aces and Kings are replaced by Starts and Stops, both of which are wild. It comes with cards for up to 6 players, but you can get extra decks for up to 10 – which would be insane. There are slight scoring variations but it tends to last a bit long if played to 150.

7 – Take the Train – a quick card game for up to 6 players. You try to play all your cards first by building on routes. The simple rules could be a bit more clear about some of the odd situations, but the game plays quick enough to try any questions both ways until you can agree on any questions. A lot of the game depends on your original deal but it still fun and simple enough for mixed groups.

6 – Unspeakable Words – A word game where playing too many larger point words may end up losing you the game. Letters are scored by the number of angles on them. You have to roll your score or higher on a d20 or you lose one of your adorable Cthulhu statues. If you lose all of them you are out of the game but, while you are down to your last one, you are considered insane and can spell gibberish words. Seems a bit short but keeps everyone feeling like they have a chance.

5 – Trespass – an old Lakeside game. One player has to move one of their 9 red pieces to the top of a column. The other player can move their 4 black pieces to block while their sole yellow piece can actually remove the red pieces. It’s quick, simple to learn, and feels like it needs just the right amount of strategy for such an easy game.

4 – Domination – An older control game (also known as Focus). You move your pieces and the top piece on a stack controls it. The setup is a bit precise but it plays pretty well. Definitely looking forward to trying a few more times.

3 – Zooloretto – A set collection game where you are populating a zoo. It’s pretty simple to explain and quick to play.

2 – Disney Villainous – A lovely looking game where you play as the villains trying to achieve your goal first. Each villain has their own decks so the theme stays very true. It starts with 6 villains and already has two expansions of three each so the combinations are quite high.

1 – Cathedral – A two player area control game. It has a very GO-like feel to it that I like. It’s fast but makes you want to play again and again.

Figure Painting Total - December

I ended up popping into GameKnight and picking up another basket of figures. While I did not get any more painted in December, I did assemble the Suicide Squad set, as well as started to assemble a bunch of the Marvel Universe figures. I started painting the dumpsters, but did not get them finished before the end of the month. It won’t take much to finish them – which would double my painting output from this year.
I am also working on getting my storage together for the finished figures so impediments are being overcome.

Blood Bowl – Champions of Death – 14
Blackstone Fortress – 44
Chronoscope – Deadeye Slim – 1
Chronoscope – Patent Scientist – 1
Chronoscope – Pulp Era Professor – 1
Chronoscope – Femme Fatale – 1
Chronoscope – Occult Detective – 1
Chronoscope – Hellstromme – 1
Reaper – Dumpster – 1
Reaper – Jade Tiger, Monk – 1
Reaper – Xiao Liu, Female Monk - 2
Reaper – Townsfolk Strumpet – 1
Reaper – Zombies! – 5
Savage Worlds – Stone – 1
Savage Worlds – Texas Ranger Female – 1
Savage Worlds – Texas Ranger Male – 1
Savage Worlds – Dita, Steampunk Witch – 1
Wild West Wizard of Oz – Scarecrow – 1
Wild West Wizard of Oz – Winged Monkeys – 3


Dec total - figures bought 82, figures painted 0
Running total 2019 – figures bought 231, figures painted 1

Books Read - September to December 2019

Sept
The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World by Dan Ackerman
Milestones of Space: Eleven Iconic Objects from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by Michael J. Neufeld
400 Great R/C Modeling Tips by Jim Newman
Everydaycook by Alton Brown
Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastery by Robin D. Laws
Star Trek Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann
Warhammer 40,000: Index: Xenos 2 (8th Edition) by Games Workshop Nottingham
Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist by Christopher Hart

Oct
Music Boxes by Gilbert Bahl
Stage Costumes Step by Step by Mary T. Kidd
Leatherwork – A Manual of Techniques by Geoffrey West
The Lego Neighborhood Book: Build Your Own Town! by Brian Lyles and Jason Lyles
The Lego Neighborhood Book: Build Your Own City! by Brian Lyles and Jason Lyles

Nov
Memories of the Moonlight Special and Grand Beach Train Era by Barbara Lange
Build Your Own City – The Big Unofficial Lego Builder’s Book by Joachim Klang / Oliver Albrecht
The Art of Star Trek by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Fashion Sketchbook (second edition) by Bina Abling

Dec
Warhammer 40K – Shield of Baal: Deathstorm by The Games Workshop Design Studios
Warhammer 40K – Sentinels of Terra supplement (6th edition) by The Games Workshop Design Studios
Firefly: Echoes of War: Thrilling Heroics by Margaret Weis, Andrew Peregrine, Monica Valentinelli, and Nicole Wakelin
Warhammer 40K – Militarium Tempestus supplement (6th edition) by The Games Workshop Design Studio
Warhammer 40K – Black Legion supplement (6th edition) by Games Workshop Nottingham
Warhammer 40K – Codex Dark Angels (6th edition) by Games Workshop in Nottingham
Butch Patrick’s Munster Memories – a mini coffin table book be Richard Maurizio and Derek Shimoda
Warhammer 40K – Index: Chaos (8th edition) by Games Workshop in Nottingham

Car Wars - sixth time the charm?

I'm really torn. I've played Car Wars from the pocket edition in the eighties, through the 5th edition. Playing both with friends and at conventions. Playing the highways, arenas, and races, Convoy, and The Car Wars Card Game.

I like the saving of investing almost $200 (Canadian) instead of $500 to get most of it. But the game seems so radically different from the versions I remember. I'm not sure if anyone I used to play with would play this version. I'm not sure if I need to be the one to buy everything from this version in order to play.

Based on the videos, I don't like the car design compared to what I remember. I don't like the control panel compared to the old record sheets. I don't like the forced upsizing and do not like the look of the cars (too much Battlecars compared to the old artwork). The game play in the videos with the special dice compared to the old modifiers seems a bit cold to me.

Still, it is a really good price.

Figure Painting Total - November

After Valleycon, I found out that there were some Barnes and Noble exclusive sets for both Blitz Bowl and Space Marine Adventures. I had to order them to keep complete. I also got a 3D printed figure of Sam, from Trick R Treat. It is a bit rough looking but has already been basecoated, so finishing it up should not be too hard.


Blitz Bowl: Halflings - 6
Blitz Bowl: Undead - 7
Space Marine Adventures – Recon – 3
Space Marine Adventures – Rescue - 3
Sam (from Trick R Treat) - 1 – 3D printed – already painted (basecoated).

Nov total - figures bought 20, figures painted 0
Running total 2019 – figures bought 149, figures painted 1

Stairway!

At my wife’s work, each department is decorating there area in different themes for Christmas. Her department was originally going to do a Die Hard theme, but decided to change it to Home Alone theme instead. She said that I could make the staircase – five feet tall, out of cardboard.

I mean, of course I can. But I didn’t have enough large cardboard, so I asked if I could make it out of foam core, which she was okay with. The key requirements would be that it had to be at least 5 feet tall, and it had to be transportable.
I worked out the dimensions and told her it would cost about $20 - $40, which she was again okay with. I would not add a railing, would have very fiddly to make in sections, and have added another $10 - $40 depending on what I made the rails out of.


It had worked out to 12 sheets of 20” x 30” foam core, which I got at Dollarama for $1.50 each. I picked up 14 sheets, in case I needed more or messed up, so $21 for that. I ended up mis-cutting the second sheet I worked on the other side of the first set of stairs. I used a lot of the scraps for reinforcing seams and adding supports.
I picked up 2 rolls of wood grain flooring stickers, which I also got at Dollarama for $4 each, so another $8. I only used it on the stairs for the part that shows on the sides of the runner, so only ended up using a bit more than 1 sheet. I have plans for the rest of the second sheet.
I found 36” square pieces of red felt for the runner at Oomoomoo, a Japanese dollar store. They were $4 each and I picked up 4 of them. I only ended up using 3 of the squares but I bought the extra so as to not have to worry about matching the color if I needed more.


Using the plans, I cut out the sides of the base. I had to glue a second piece of the foam core behind the first three steps to give them the proper depth. These first three steps are normal size. The first two steps have a rise of 6 ¾” and the third has a rise of 6 ½”. This way the first three steps fits nicely on a single with of foam core. The steps have a run of 10 ½” which leaves a ½” overhang and allows these three steps to fit together on one length of foam core. The steps themselves are 20” wide, the same as the width of a sheet of foam core.

The upper piece is 30” deep, but 50” high. The upper section has 7 steps using forced perspective. The rise of the next three steps remains the same as the first three, but the next four on the next sheet are 6 ½” high. The steps get progressively smaller – 8 ½”, two at 6 ½”, 4 ½”, and the last three are all 2 ½” deep.
I cut out all the steps and risers. Using white wood glue, I glued the risers on first to allow some time for them to dry. I put some braces across the backs to help support the sides.
Then I cut the wood grain into 4 sections – 3 at 5” wide and the remaining one at 4.75” wide. I cut each piece an inch longer than the step it was going on so I could fold it over the exposed end. I put them on 4 ½” inches from the sides, again allowing overlap. The narrower ones I put on the left side of the steps as that would be against the wall.
I glued the steps on next, pinning through to the foam below to help hold it while drying. I later went in and taped all the steps from behind.

I switched to tacky glue and glued on the felt runner. I was careful to line up the pieces under the overhang of the lower steps, and at the back of the steps on the upper ones.
I then went back and used hot glue from the inside to tack the corners of the steps as well as to strengthen the supports. The finished stairs are 20” wide, 60” deep, and 70 1/8” tall.