I got's me some questions damn it!

Sometimes when you are reading a comic, or watching a movie or TV show you have questions. Questions that are never answered. Sometimes it's because of time, sometimes it's because the writers didn't think it through, so here are a few of the questions that keep me up at night (well that and the insomnia!)

Gremlins-

So you cannot feed the Mogwai after midnight or it turns into an evil reptilan gremlin. but at what point is it safe to resume feeding your mogwai without having the little bugger become a cackling ball of teeth, claws and attitude? Is it sun up? Noonish? What, See now if someone ever give
s me a mogwai, I might have to let the poor little bastard starve becasue frankly I don't know when it's safe to feed it!

Highlander- 

So if they loose their heads they die right? what about if you chop em in half? exactly what portion of the body has to leave the cranial region to be considered adios immortal? if he looses his head and shoulders will he spend hours or days in agony as the rest of his body regenerates, or will he just buy the farm right there, what about if we Darth Maul him, then what? hey should I ever need to fight the Kurrigan for the prize this info would be damned important!

Star Wars (Episodes 1-3) 

O.K. so if midichlorians are the source of the force the micro organisms that literally do all the heavy lifting in the Star Wars universe, and we know that concentration of them in the blood is important (Obi Wan freaks when he finds out Anican's concentration is even greater than that of fabled Jedi Master Yoda. so then do amount of midi chlorians matter? Sure Yoda could put the smackdown on Anican just on the raw power vs skill in using. (I.E. if vader is more powerful he lacks Yoda's skill with manipulating them) Are some areas more or less force heavy (and would this matter?) when Vader lost about 30-30% of his body in Episode 3 did this affect his ability to use the force if he had less Midichlorians, and if not, Why not?

Field of Dreams-

How the F*** did they mistake this for heaven? I have lived in Iowa for most of my life, don't get me wrong it's a great place to live, but Heaven? really? Oh come on now! drive the boarder any time from any bordering state, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, take your pick! Do you hear choirs of seraphim or harps when you hit the state line? neither do I.

Transformers (Original cartoon movie, not the Michael Bay crap!)- 

how is it that when the Ark crash landed and left the autobots and decepticons in a massive scrapheap within, then some 5 thousand years later was able to build them all good as new from shattered parts. but about 5-6 good hits from Megatron, and Prime dies? Why the hell couldn't the ark/teletran 1 not just reassemble him from the damn blueprints? it makes no GODDAMN SENSE!

Anyway these are the kind of thoughts that plague me, Maybe I need to have a soak in the tub with some Mr. Bubble, and figure it all out...

random art: comic edition-

Review: Bolt Action

World War II is an era that has been popular with gaming for some time. It was a war where many feel there was a justification  for us to enter, and there was a real sense of unity and accomplishment that (at least for the United States) didn't seem to be there in wars after that point. Many great games have tried to capture the feel of world war II from many perspectives from the large scale games like Axis and Allies, and World in Flames, to the more tactical level of games like Memoir 44, and Flames of War. But recently I picked up a newer 28mm miniatures wargame that puts the action into a squad level war. The game is called Bolt Action, and it is written by Rick Priestly who had originally penned the first edition of Warhammer 40,000, and Alessio Cavatore, who is also a former GW employee who worked on their biggest titles. So in this review there will probably be some comparison to Warhammer for several reasons.

I had originally picked this game up with less than much in the way of intention to play it. I found it on www.thewarstore.com as a starter box. which comes with 40 miniatures, order dice, and Terrain as well as a rule book. Now here is the first place to compare it to warhammer (and flames of war for that matter) in most starter games, you get either an abridged rule book or a digest sized rule book, pushing for you the player to buy the "official" rule book later. In the case of Warhammer and 40k, this means after spending $120 on the starter box, they want you to eventually spring for the full rule book for about another $80.00. In the case of Bolt Action (and other Warlord games products) the Starter comes with a full freaking hardback copy of the rules. I had originally bought the game for the minis and terrain figuring them useful for a savage worlds WWII game I was considering and getting it through the warstore dropped the original $90.00 price tag to about $72.00 US. so even if the rules suck, at least the minis would be usable elsewhere.

In short, the rules did not in the least, suck. Bolt action is an amazing game, with simple and concise rules, that offer a plethora of tactical options as well as tactical obstacles. Initiative is at the heart of this game and it is handled with special order dice, which have the six major orders written on them- Fire, (don't move, and fire with no penalty) Advance (move standard, fire at penalty) Run (Move 2x, no fire) Ambush (hold at the ready) Down (not an action but a reaction, to force a penalty on a shooting unit) and Rally (pull demoralized troops into action) each unit on the field puts one die in the cup which is drawn randomly. If it's your color you assign it and it's capabilities to one unit of your choice. units that have gone (leave the die by the unit) cannot react. This makes order of your actions as well as choice vital to a successful strategy. Morale also plays a great part in game, not just the standard if you are less than 50% strength roll a morale check, or flee. but when you have been successfully shot at (even if you lose no troops, you gain a pin marker, representing your soldier's realization of their own mortality. Any unit with pin markers must make an order roll to perform an action after the action is declared. Each pin counts as a -1 to that check. Failure means they won't act and are effectively pinned down by fire. Success means you go for it guts and glory. this makes suppressing fire and timing more effective in game than in most minis games with firearms in play.  While each army gets some special rules based on their nation and the like (Russians for example get a free 11 man green infantry squad, and germans get an extra dice when firing light machine guns) The game does not rely on a litany of special feats or rules breaks that often go forgotten like in some games. The minis are mostly plastic with some metal and resin for most vehicles, and are well sculpted and very nicely detailed. Armies do take on an almost stereotypical look of each nation (US Troops chomping on stogies, the Brits with the Walrus mustaches, and so on.) They are distinct enough to recognize unpainted without being too over the top.

If there is a downside to this game it is in the same initiative system I mentioned before the more stuff on the field the longer turns will take. meaning this is not an ideal game for super large mass combats. In short Memoir 44 or Flames of War may be good games for running the storming of Normandy. This game is for more personal firefights. Taking a section of Stalingrad to fight a few blocks of door to door combat, vs trying to take the whole damn city.you probably want to keep your game around 1000 or so points or it can get out of hand. Mind you that is still a lot to play with for the detail, My 1000 points of russians inludes 55 men, a command staff, med crew, medium mortar, and a t-34 tank. Not too Shabby. Also Warlord games seems commited to bringing out all sorts of forces for the game. After Christmas I intend to start building a French army, just to be able to field a Char 1B. Players can also build Belgian Polish and Italian forces with either free pdf supplements or add on army books. The core book gives great starting lists for the US, Britain, USSR, and Germany. So you will have plenty to work with even if you don't rush out and buy every army book they make.

If you like games like Warhammer 40,000 or Flames of War Bolt Action is probably right up your ally. and unlike Warhammer the cost of units is still quite reasonable. $120.00 will put you into a full 1000 point army. where a 40k starter is maybe 1/3rd of a full army for game. So what are you waiting for man, join the war effort today!

Verdict - 5 out of 5 stars

no, really? Oh come on man!

When I saw this last week I just could not believe it. Seriously He-man, Smurfs, E.T.,  G.I.Joe, comic books all satanic? REALY!?!? is it possible that these things could be simply taken at face value? I mean you get upset because a 2 year old has more interest in He-Man than in reading the bible.  You know children also have more interest in playing with an iPad than they do with reading the great works of literature. Well at least this kind of right wing religious nut job bullshit is a thing of the past. Right.

O.K. I stand corrected. If this kind of film proves anything (besides a perfect example of Poe's law in action!) it is that religion can be just as dangerous to kids as any other fanaticism. if it's all the same I'll keep my He-Man toys, and not force my kids into a make believe Jyhad O.K.?