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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Dwarf Blood Bowl Pitch


Near the beginning of the month I posted some early pictures of my Dwarf Bloodbowl team, the Stoutheart Brewers.  I’m still working on getting the team fully painted but we aren’t focusing on the team today.  The last sentence in that update was that I’m also working on a Blood Bowl pitch for the team.  When you purchase a Blood Bowl boxed set it does come with game board.  But the Cyanide video game version has shown me that you don’t need to settle for a grass field.  Dwarfs prefer the feel of stone under their feet.  What you’re going to see below is still a work in progress.


When playing Blood Bowl each coach has a side board that contains their Reserves, Injured, and Dead Players.  Early in my design process I decided I wanted to have these dugouts located beneath the playing field.  For some reason it felt more Dwarf that way.  It was also a more complex build, which I thought was a great idea for someone who hasn’t done any wood work since my high school shop class.  Despite having to re-teach myself some basics of carpentry my frame came together pretty quickly.

The next step was to use foam project board.  Basically a piece of foam sandwiched between two sheets of poster board.  Using a rag I wet the paper down one side of the board and stripped the paper from it.  I did this for two full boards because I wasn’t really sure how much I was going to need.  That’s kind of a theme of this project, me getting more supplies than I really need.  Once the foam was cleaned I began measuring out the game board.  Using a T-Square, a pencil, and a sharp X-Acto knife I spent a lot of time creating the grid for the actual playing field.  After that I did turn trackers, re-roll trackers, a scatter template, and random stone work to fill the rest of the board. 


I purposely left some places bare.  In those places I brushed on a layer of watered down Elmer’s glue and then sprinkled cat litter on them.  Once that was they got two more layers of glue to make sure the gravel pits stayed in place.  The important thing to remember about working with foam like this is that if you use spray paint, it will eat your foam and all your hard work will disappear.  To avoid destroying my pitch I base coated it with two layers of black acrylic paint.  The picture above was taken after I had brushed on the first layer.  You can also see the glue hasn’t dried in my gravel pits. 


Once the layers of black paint had dried it was time to get some actual color on the field.  I was playing around with a few different paint options when I handed a can of Games Workshop Rough Coat and told to try that.  At first I thought that there was something wrong with the way it came out of the can, it seemed to hit the board more “wet” than the spray paint I was used to using.  It gave me a great base coat for my grey that varied a lot in how dark it was.  Once that was dry I hit it with the black patches. 

The Spring Training League I plan on using the pitch for won’t start until the end of April, so I have some time but there is still a lot more to do.  I plan on throwing a lighter grey on the surface.  After that I’ll add the white lines that designate the different zones on the playing field.  I’ll also add white text for the scatter template, re-roll counters, and turn trackers.  The big empty area near one endzone will eventually be where I build a scoreboard.  The scoreboard won’t be built in time for the Spring Training League though.  It is very likely that the dugouts won’t be finished in time for the League either.  Considering Blood Bowl is my favorite Games Workshop game every, these things will eventually be finished.  Stay tuned to That F’ing Monkey for future progress updates.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Kill All Monsters! Volume 1: Ruins of Paris


People who visit That F’ing Monkey often should be pretty familiar with Kill All Monsters! at this point.  It is the amazing web comic by Michael May and Jason Copland.  The Earth is over run by giant monsters and the only thing left to fight them is a group of men and women piloting giant robot battle suits.  Yes, it is a comic full of kaiju style battles and more. 

I consider Michael a friend, but it is not coloring my opinion on this book.  The story is full of that fun team dynamic. For some reason it reminds me of the adventure groups in a good table top RPG.  I can't fully explain why; it's something with the group dynamic.  Jason Copland’s art is beyond words.  The organic design of the beasts is offset by the mechanical battle suits.  His line work is so clean and precise that you’ll spend time just taking in all the details. 



Kill All Monsters! is in previews this April.  It’s located on Page 244, order number STK611039.  The first collection is 136 pages of black and white monster fighting awesome.  This isn’t a Marvel or DC book, your shop isn’t going to fill the shelves with this book.  Please consider pre-ordering Kill All Monsters!  It’ll ensure you get a fantastic book and it will help its creators make more!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The Tossers: Emerald City


The Tossers are one of my favorite bands.  Seriously, I went to see a solo performance from lead singer Tony Duggins the night after my wedding.  We were in Chicago at the time and the Tossers are very proud of their home town. The title track of their newest album is about Chicago.  Emerald City was released earlier this month, below is the first video for the album.


If you're already a fan make sure you grab their latest album.  If you're a new fan, you have a lot of great music waiting for you in their past releases.  Currently their tour information has them just playing in the Chicago area.  If you get a chance to see them live, I highly recommend it.  Stick around after the show; you just might end up drinking with the band.  

On a completely unrelated note, tomorrow marks the 800th update for That F’ing Monkey.  I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who takes the time out of their day to check us out.  I know Brandon wants to start updating again as soon as things calm down on his side.  

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Fossil Hand


Last year Brandon, Michael May, and I spent three days each talking about some of our favorite movies.  One of the movies I had talked about is Creature from the Black Lagoon.  It is one of those rare movies that I like more every time I see it.  My love for the movie is amplified even more because my wife and I started calling our house the Black Lagoon after we had a few months of pool trouble.  The name stuck even after the pool was cleaned up.



 Factory Entertainment has just produced a prop replica that has me double checking my bank account.  The company had already shown the Universal Monster line some love by producing a Frankenstein bust and replicating some of Dracula’s jewelry.  Their newest project is a replica of the fossilized hand featured in Creature from the Black Lagoon.  It looks like an absolutely stunning piece, one that would look fantastic in my house, but it also comes with a 300 dollar price tag.  So yeah, unless a winning lottery ticket someone appears in my pocket I don’t think I can justify this one.


 If you aren’t familiar with the Creature from the Black Lagoon you might not understand why I’d even want the hand.  At the very beginning of the film the hand is unearthed.  A group of scientists believe it could belong to one of the evolutionary missing links and decide to mount a full scale operation to unearth more.  It’s because of the hand that anyone even goes to the Black Lagoon in the first place.  Besides just looking cool, the hand is the catalyst for the whole movie.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

DuckTales Remastered


Yesterday a large portion of the gaming community went insane.  Capcom announced that they were releasing a remastered version of their 1989 DuckTales Nintendo game.  This summer it will be showing up on Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and the Wii U shop.  So why is everyone so excited about a video game based on a Disney cartoon that used to run on weekday afternoons?


DuckTales shared a lot of the same creative team as the Megaman games.  So you have non-linear game play, controls that were innovative at the time, and fantastic sound and graphics.  Again this was all for a game tied into a cartoon.  There is no doubt that nostalgia is coloring people’s excitement here, but make no mistake that DuckTales is a damn good game. 

That F’ing Monkey would like to apologize in advance.  We realize watching the above video once will have you singing the Ducktales theme song for the rest of the day.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Richard Cheese Indiegogo


I can’t honestly tell you how or when I discovered Richard Cheese and the Lounge Against the Machine.  I do know it resulted me in instantly ordering CDs.  And outside of the albums that just compile already released material; I’ve bought each new release since.  I’m a fan of his “swankifacation” of music.  So I was pretty surprised when I received an email asking for help.


Mark Jonathan Davis aka Richard Cheese aka Johnny Aloha needs a corneal transplant.  He was born with deformed corneas so he was unable to get any type of health insurance, which means he has to pay for the operation out of pocket.  His indiegogo fundraiser explains the whole situation far better than I can.  Here is the good news; with 10 days left in the fundraiser he has already raised 21,700.  So he’s reached his goal, but considering he had two surgeries last year all additional funding will still help a lot.

Check out the indiegogo fundraiser by clicking HERE.  There are great incentives still available.  I’ll be getting a signed copy of his book, but I’m pretty tempted to have him call me on my birthday.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Knights of Pen and Paper


As my days get more and more hectic I appreciate those games my phone can run more and more.  My latest phone obsession is the Knights of Pen and Paper.  Knights does something I’ve never seen before, you’re playing a group of people sitting at a table and roleplaying.  The concept enough was enough for me to want to check it out. 


You start out with one Dungeon Master and two players.  You get to pick who your players are and what character they get to play.  Each player choice comes with a special ability, things like the Jock having more hit points then other players.  The class determines what gear and powers the character has.  When you tap the DM you get a number of options; things like start battles, camp, shop, or start a mission.  Doing the missions marked with a star will advance the story line in the game. 


As your group defeats creatures and complete missions they’ll earn money.  Money can be spent on things for the characters or on things for the character group.   So do you spend your money on a new sword for your warrior or do you buy that dragon statue for the DM’s table that will increase the attack bonus for the whole party?  You’ll also need to save some money to purchase more players for your table.

Knights of Pen and Paper will cost you two dollars on the IOS or Android systems.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Coyotes Title Belt


Take it from the guy with an octopus tattooed on leg; hockey is a sport full of strange traditions.  A common one is to have some item that is awarded to the player of the game.  It could be something as simple as a hat or an object they have to hold onto.  The point is the other players on the team are saying the winner played fantastic.  It’s fun for the other players too, many times this item is meant to be worn during post game interviews and appearances.  The Coyotes have upped their game to impressive levels.


The Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera is a wrestling fan.  Last year he got with another team mate and wrestling fan, Keith Yandle and they decided that the Coyotes needed a championship belt.  They purchased one of those horrible looking John Cena era spinner belts and began awarding it to the player of the game. It is one of the worst looking professional belts they could have picked.


This year they had their own belt made.  That’s right, the Phoenix Coyotes have their own championship belt and it is absolutely stunning.  I’m not going to lie, if they started selling replicas I’d be pretty tempted to get one.  I’ve never been a Coyote fan, but this thing is just impressive looking.  And as you can see from the picture above, the winners are wearing them to after game interviews.  

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Shadowrun Returns First Look


Last year I shared with you the Kickstarter for Shadowrun Returns.  Shadownrun is one of my favorite pen and paper RPGs but also has a history in video games.  The Shadowrun Returns Kickstater was set up to fund a brand new Shadowrun video game.  This is a roleplaying game, so it will be nothing like the last game that came out for the X-Box 360.  The fundraiser was extremely successful and the team has been hard at work on the game.  Now we can see exactly what they’ve been working on.


The video above is almost 20 minutes worth of game play footage.  If you’re a fan of the Shadowrun setting I think you’ll be very happy with what they are showing off.  This is a game I’m very excited for so expect to see more on it as it gets closer to release.

One last note, I’m going to be taking some time off for Megacon and other things this week.  So That F’ing Monkey is going to take a break until next Tuesday.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Trip


Action Lab is really putting a lot of effort in The Danger Zone, their mature reader’s imprint.  We’ve already reviewed the first issue of “Ehmm Theory” and today we’re going to look at the graphic novel “The Trip”.  Action Lab sent a digital review copy to us last week, but it wasn’t able to sit down and read all 96 pages until the weekend.


The Trip is written by Jesse Grillo with art by David Brame, colors by Heather Breckel, and letters by Cary Kelley.  The story involves a group of college students who try a Native American drug that forces them to unlock their deepest fears.  The full book will run you 14.95 and is currently available for pre-order. 

The first issue of Ehmm Theory had a quirky humor to it like it was an episode of Tales from the Crypt; The Trip is a 1970s grindhouse flick.  It feels gritty and dirty in all the right ways.  It isn’t a nice story; it’s full of drugs, gore, and abuse issues.  There is a scratchy-ness to the art that fits the story perfectly.  The pages where the characters are hallucinating look amazing.  My only complaint is even at 96 pages it felt a little rush.  Once the drug really kicks in things escalate pretty quickly and I would have liked to see a bit more build up.  That’s a small criticism though; the Trip is an enjoyable one.

The Trip is not going to be a book for everyone, it lives up to that mature reader’s tag.  If you’re a horror fan it is a book you should check out.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Stoutheart Brewers


For the past few weeks I’ve been going over the numerous Games Workshop projects I’ve been working on.  Thanks in various stages of completion, sniper scouts, and my Necromunda Enforcers.  At this point all of those projects are on hold.  In fact I’m going to be putting them away so they aren’t even out on my hobby station so I can’t be distracted from my current task.  I have one project now and I won’t be working on anything else until I get some serious progress done on it.  You see Necromunda is fun, I love Warhammer 40k, but in my mind the best Games Workshop game ever made is Blood Bowl.


I’ve talked about it before, but Blood Bowl is a football/rugby hybrid game that uses the races of Warhammer Fantasy.  It is over the top, tongue-in-cheek violence with some sports rules thrown in.  Currently the video game version is getting some good exposure because a number of well known video game vloggers are in a tournament against each other.  I’m working on the table top version though and I’m rolling out the Dwarfs.


Not only am I putting together the team; I’m also working on a team coach who isn’t pictured in today’s update and this amazing beer cart.  I know there is a tank in the background, that isn’t part of Blood Bowl.  To be perfectly honest the cart doesn’t really serve an in game purpose either; I just think it will look really cool.  Eventually I want to add some musicians and an apothecary, but I already have a lot to start painting before I get any crazier. 

Oh, I might also be working on a Dwarf themed Blood Bowl pitch….  More on that later.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Mass Effect Citadel


The final piece of DLC for Mass Effect 3’s single player game hit this week.  Citadel is all about fan service, teaming your Shepard with his or her favorite team mates.  It’s a huge download too, on the X-Box it is actually made up of two separate downloads.  Below is the official trailer for the DLC.


I haven’t played it yet.  When ME3 first came out, I played through it one time.  Since then Bioware has released the Extended Cut, Leviathan, and Omega DLCs.  I bought them all right away, but I didn’t play. I didn’t want to start another game until everything was released.  I finally started the game up yesterday.  I can’t wait to explore all the new areas that have been released since the last time I’ve played.  

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Hangover Thursday: Mississippi Home Brew


It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head?  Mine is far too clear.  I haven’t been making it out to the bar nearly enough in the past month.  I miss it.  Of course more and more people are staying home and drinking their own beer now days.  And by that I don’t mean they’re staying home drinking beer they brought home from the supermarket, I mean they’re drinking beer they brewed themselves.


If you’re in Mississippi you could be legally brewing your own beer pretty soon.  A bill to allow home brewing is on its way to Gov. Phil Bryant.  There is a pretty good chance Bryant will pass the bill, last year he approved raising the state’s maximum alcohol limits on beer.  Currently you need to have a $1,000 commercial brewing license if you want to home brew, this bill will change all that. 


Currently Mississippi and Alabama are the only states where it isn’t legal to brew your own beer.  Alabama may not be too far behind Mississippi.  Rep. Mac McCutcheon has just introduced a home brewing bill.  It isn’t a sure thing for either state though.  Anytime alcohol is involved there are lobby groups ready to fight against it.  The big breweries also look down on home brewing; worried that it’s going to cut into their own profits.  

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

On Hold Again


Kid Largo is going on hold again; probably only for one week, maybe two.  I need to get the color range back to what I was happy with.  I know, I just came back from the break, but the new reddish strips are really bothering me.  I promise you that I will finish season 1.  While the individual strips haven’t all been scripted yet, I have already plotted out the full story.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

That F’ing Monkey Ranks 92


 I remember my first time I visited New Orleans.  I was in the Air Force at the time and feeling pretty full of myself.  One of the pan handlers walked up to me and challenged me to riddle in exchange for a few dollars.  In my youthful hubris, I was sure this homeless person couldn’t outsmart me.  And just like that I was out five dollars.  It wasn’t all for naught though, knowledge of that hustle helped me save Brandon a couple bucks a few years later in Atlanta.  So what does all this have to do with today’s topic and why does That F’ing Monkey rank at 92?

Last month I received an email saying that someone wanted to use That F’ing Monkey in an infographic about the top comic blogs to follow in 2013.  The internet is full of some pretty cool looking infographics and we’ve even reposted a number of the alcohol related ones.  My “Flash Field Guides” even ended up on a few different websites.  I envisioned this stylish picture with lots of crazy facts everywhere.  Deep down I knew we aren’t the first place you’re looking for comic news.  We don’t get the press releases from Marvel and DC.  Instead we talk about the things we love.  Things you might have missed. 

When the infographic appeared in my inbox my heart sank.  It was as exactly as advertised, a list of comic websites with That F’ing Monkey listed on it.  Instead of a stylish image with a handful of websites on it, it was 100 website headers crammed together on a super long image.  The fault is all mine, I didn’t ask questions.  I agreed almost instantly.  I couldn’t help but think I had been swindled just like I was back on the streets of New Orleans.  I am a man of my word though, and I’m running the monster image.  Because I’m not destroying the flow of my front page you’ll have to click the break to see it.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Necromunda Enforcers


Today I’m sharing more of my work in progress hobby madness.  Just to recap what happened; last year I was very disciplined.  At the most I would have two different projects going at once and for the most part I would be completely finished with one project before I started the next.  I am all over the place this year.  In the last two weeks I’ve shown you an unpainted tank, a half built tank, and a five man scout squad that needed to be based, primed, and painted.  You would think that would be enough. 


My local Games Workshop store has declared Sundays to be Specialist Game Sunday.  You see Games Workshop is famous for Warhammer and Warhammer 40K but they have put out other miniature games.  These games don’t get updated anymore, but are still a lot of fun to play and you can still buy the figures from the Games Workshop website.  The game pictured above is Necromunda.  Necromunda is a game full of gangs trying to gain land in power in the underhive.


Considering The Warriors is probably my favorite movie ever made you would think I’d have made a gang consisting of guys in vests or guys in baseball uniforms.  Instead I went with the police.  The picture above is missing one figure, but you can see I have most of them assembled, based, and primed.  These are old metal figures.  Most of today’s stuff is either plastic or resin.  I don’t miss working with metal one bit.  On figures that are all one piece it isn’t a problem.  These Enforcers were an utter pain to put together.  On the shotgun and bolt gun guys their arms end at the wrist.  The gun itself has their hands molded onto them.  Lining up both hands with the wrist stumps was a painful process.  Thankfully the building process is finishing and they just needed painted now.

You would think that would be enough.  There may be one more Games Workshop project in progress.

Friday, March 1, 2013

IMFDB


As Clarence Boddicker once said, “Ooooh.  Guns, guns guns.  C’mon Sal.  The Tigers are playing…tonight.  I never miss a game.”  Guns are a very important part to a number of my favorite movies.  And everyone knows the famous ones.  Sure Bond has the Walther PPK and Dirty Harry has his Smith & Wesson Model 29, but what happens when you want to know what gun Terry Crews uses in the Expendables? 


Enter the IMFDB.  The Internet Movie Firearms Database might be the coolest website I’ve seen in a long time.  Pick a movie, television show, anime, or video game and it will tell you about all of the guns that are used in that property.  Decide you really like one gun and want to see everything it has been used in?  You can do that too.


It has crazy amounts of information too.  So say you look up one of my favorite guns, the AA-12.  The IMFDB will give you where it was made, what years it was produced, who makes it, it’s caliber, cartridge type, weight, length, barrel length, rate of fire, range, and feed system.  Once the hardcore gun statistics are there it lists the films, TV shows, and video games it’s been used in. 

If you like guns, you can seriously spend a lot of time clicking around the IMFDB.