Hot Heart

Isn't the point not so much about how justified the killing is, but how it's a 'big jolly adventure' featuring over 700 deaths and a hero who merely cracks wise about it?

GoG is how Dean shortens it because he's northern: Guardians oot Galaxy. And another GotG sneak peek:

Heh, I'm afraid they're a bit 'stream of consciousness'. Related to that Sentinel Tactics post I made. The KS released some gameplay videos, and while it seemed like I might enjoy it because of the story and theme, I can tell that my friends won't. It might potentially become a bit samey too. So to spend £60-80 on it, with the international shipping, is a big no-no. However, someone mentioned a new thing called Heroes Wanted, which had a very successful kickstarter (which I missed, sadly) and it looks like a heck of a lot of fun. That has some proper gameplay videos, an elegant and interesting design, a funny atmosphere and tons of replayability. The theme itself seems very close to the SuperZeroes thing I'm writing at the moment, too... I think some elements are vaguely reminiscent of Small World, Smash Up and uh...cube/meeple management games but with a hex-grid tactical element, too; which I don't think any of us have played. So I went ahead and ordered that, seeing as the full game and expansions with more reasonable international shipping charges means it's £65 total. Probably an even better deal for US folks, since it's free shipping.

Did you see my post about it up above? I do like the Ninja, especially when you pull off an awesome surprise move, but I think they depend on a faction that can get a lot of minions out. I was also one turn away from winning with Ninja-Bears in my first game. I've not played it much, but it's definitely one of my favourite games.

I liked it. Mostly setup, but still good. I hated the previous actor who played Dario, but I'm not sure I like this one much either...

Oh, in case you haven't seen it, this Captain America 2 related image cracked me up.

You know what else you didn't include in your rankings? Taste!

Hehe. Shame, because it's a decent gag BUT DAT FACE THO.

Ah, I misremembered it somewhat, but the hints are definitely there. (link in case of vague spoilers)

Funny you should say that, because I recall watching a video where someone was asking actors on the red carpet at the Cap 2 premiere which comics they'd recommend new readers start with.

Oh, and since this is my thread now, I was going to share some updates on things. First one was aimed at Ethan, whether he'd seen that details were being released about the next expansion to Firefly. They've shown a bit on bounties that should certainly liven up the PvP element a whole lot more, and there's still more to be shown on Lawmen and Pirates and the new Leaders (Jubal Early!). Secondly, I've seen there is a kickstarter for a new hex-grid, tactical combat game based on/by the guys behind Sentinels of the Multiverse, that uses the TacDice system seen in Shlock Mercenary (I've never heard of it). If anything, I think it's a neat, lighter type of tactical combat game based around a theme I really love. My big fear is that, like the card game, certain characters/elements can bog the whole thing down with too many extra 'little things' on the cards that you have to keep track of. Besides those concerns, I'm currently holding off for a couple of key reasons. First being that, although it sounds cool and interesting (Player-controlled supervillains versus player-controlled superheroes! Scenario play!), I want to see some proper gameplay that, most importantly, I can show to friends and get an idea of whether I'd just be wasting my money by backing. That should be coming, as apparently they did some stuff for TableTop Day. Second is that, while the stretch goals have really added some value to the overall package, I want to see how much gets added for existing pledge levels. I do like the package with all the unpainted minis (especially if they're not using cardboard standups) and there is actually quite a lot in there, with a great deal of replayability, but that $50 for international shipping would still really sting. Otherwise, I could opt for no minis at all and perhaps use heroclix instead (got a massive bundle cheap on eBay), just so there will be more easily-trackable 3D markers. If you're in the US or Canada and the game interests you, though, that package looks like a very sweet deal.

So, it was International TableTop Day yesterday. Didn't actually play anything until very late in the day and it was a last minute invite, but we'd had some fun the previous evening with Ticket to Ride and Cards Against Humanity. First up, because one guy couldn't make it, we had a go of a new purchase that only supported four players: Legacy: Gears of Time. I'd read a little about it before, and the concept intrigued me. You are time-travellers who are...messing about with a timeline in order to claim inventions as your own and thus claim points. But the more complex the invention, the more prerequisites are needed earlier in the timeline (like tech trees, basically) and the more cards need to be discarded from your hand in order to place it down. So, already you get a sense that if you want to invent 'The Internet', you also need a couple of earlier inventions like the 'Analytical Engine' but that itself requires the invention of a few things like 'The Printing Press'...which relies on the fundamental invention (i.e. no prerequisities) of 'Writing'. Since you're limited to three actions a turn, four turns a round and four rounds total (points awarded at the end of each round and 'influence' points being reduced, therefore, requiring upkeep), you simply won't be able to perform/manage all this alone. On top of that, you can only go backwards in time during a round (it gets reset at the end of each) so have to be careful about going too far and not inventing those more valuable things with earlier prerequisites (though you can still claim points off those earlier developments that influence later successful inventions). Yes, you cannot go...back to the future. You really have to think long and hard about your potential moves...ahead of time. And the final catch is that each invention also has a cost, which means you need to discard other cards from your hand equal to that value (and it takes a whole action just to get 1 extra card), making it further unlikely that you'll get out every invention. Essentially, you really have to observe what you can of other players, getting a sense for what inventions they're relying on and what overlap there is. The real fun comes in when you can screw around with other people's plans by inventing things earlier in the timeline, therefore, making their own version redundant/worthless or using influence points to claim them as your own or simply share the credit so you both get the points. Nobody has influence during round 1, but at the end of each round, that 'degrading' mechanic happens, which means they get a point back from each of their owned inventions, thus, reducing their control of it or in some cases where the cost was only 1, the invention drops to 0 and will disappear at the end of the round should no one claim it. And as the game goes on, time advances, so earlier timeframes will support a greater number of inventions. I really liked it, because it may look daunting and there can be a lot to keep track of, the playing itself is fairly simple. You can pursue a few different tactics in order to yield points, though some are clearly more successful than others. It's very situational, and what happens in one round can alter what happens in the next (especially if player turn is altered as it has the potential to do each round, based on influence pool totals) For example, one player used his first turn to go right back to the very start of the timeline and invent a lot of the fundamentals. Now, it may have seemed like a stupid idea but these inventions gave him the biggest pool of influence points for round 2, which meant he could have tried to play them wisely and snatched away or shared some more valuable inventions made by other players. Of course, this strategy, like any, carries its own risk. People might not perform the upkeep on all the necessary fundamental inventions now sitting at 0 influence, thus rendering later ones obsolete. Whether it was bad fortune/situation (biggest legacy pool, meant he had to go before everyone else) or bad decision-making, he went very far back early on, which meant the rest of us found it a little easier to plan our own turns. The final round does get very tense, too. Even though I'd had a roaring third round, lapping two of the players on the score tracker and pulling away to a comfortable lead, I knew how much things could change in a round. The closest player could easily be nipping at my heels by claiming earlier inventions and racking up points that way (as I had done in 3) since the influence on those had degraded further (to 0 in many cases). I could've tried to repeat my actions from round 3 and hope to score that way, but I was worried that was too predictable, and there was definitely the potential for people to supersede a few key inventions and scupper it all. Overall, I made a mistake early on by contesting another person's invention of 'The Internet'. I didn't consider him a threat and was merely happy to share the points, plus I thought he'd be more concerned about the upkeep for his 'Space Flight' along with fighting back against the other player who was stealing some earlier inventions of considerable value. I misjudged it and he thought I was trying to steal it outright once he had moved away. Long story short, I spent too long on the internet (story of my life) and had to waste more influence (more actions!), that allowed the other actual threat to go back further and gain a comfortable grasp over all the big-scorers I'd had during the previous round. However, because that gave me a clear idea of what sort of prerequisites he needed, I could adjust strategy slightly and make use of the cards I'd been hoarding (part of the backup plan and to shut other players down) and spend my remaining influence wisely. I placed a very late 'Hospital' even though I had an earlier one (but at 0 influence) and invented Advanced Sciences a little earlier, both to save on actions and influence spend more than anything, and then stole 'Mining' off my competitor who was bound to steal the all-important 'Writing' that I just couldn't get to at the very beginning. So as the scores totted up, I was getting worried as blue player gradually moved ever closer on the score track and then overtook me by 3/4 points right at the end of scoring up his successful inventions. ...And then came the invention of The Internet. Whammy! Ten points to me, leapfrog blue player and wind up five points ahead. Winner! So, yeah, not a great fourth round, all told, but I'd done just enough to secure victory. Definitely a fun game, and I think once players get a better feel for what inventions link to others (there is a handy diagram on the back of the rulebook) and how many cards there are, it should play quick and more interesting tactics should occur. Perhaps people deliberately let earlier things disappear off the timeline simply because it costs their closest competitor more overall (things did disappear but only at cost to one person). Then, to put a dampener on things, we played Pandemic on 5/7 difficulty and lost after about 12 turns...

For many Americans, their understanding of French is quite hilarious.

Hmm, well, I've heard a few things and what I've seen doesn't really match up to that. Wouldn't rule out certain elements being incorporated though. Like Splinter originally being a test subject rat (and rumours that this fused with April's dad to become the new Splinter) at TCRI, a 'weird (alien) technology research' lab clearly owned by Shredder. I've also heard that the turtles themselves might be former humans (which further supports Mikey's 'confusion' in the "It's just a mask" gag), which is sort of like the newer comic...except not. But like I said, I'm intrigued to see what sort of revisions they come up with, so wouldn't write off anything automatically. However, I don't have any faith in the people behind it, and the turtle designs are bad, so...

See, it's like Oroku Saki but westernised! AREN'T THEY CLEVER. That's all part of a revised backstory, and to be honest, that doesn't bother me too much. The 2003 series made him an utrom - little brain-looking alien from the original comics that inspired Krang in the original cartoon - who has an exosuit and had existed as 'The Shredder' since crashing in Japan during feudal times. It was a neat twist and kept things new and surprising, particularly when they repeated the decapitation that happened in the comics. And in the new IDW comic series, that also puts his origin in feudal period Japan, and there's some weird mix of magic-like alien technology that has kept him alive for thousands of years. Meanwhile, there is a reincarnation angle involved with Splinter and the turtles. If you look at a few shots in this new trailer, he's got some ancient Japanese mural that presumably depicts the 'original Shredder' or at least suggests some link to that same past. Plus, it appears he's got some reverence for the Shredder outfit. So, it could be some 'possession' or reincarnation or mystical angle involved there as well. Especially since William Fichtner was allowed to come straight out and say, "I play The Shredder". Anyway, in conclusion, I'm not too bothered by any revisions to the origin story, because plenty of other interesting stories have springboarded off different ideas. I mean, in this version the foot soldiers are actual soldiers...who wear some weird kabuki-style masks, so they're doing something intriguing there. Still, I think they look dumb and it will probably be more about April and Shredder than them...

Well, [Captain America 2 spoilers]...

Yeah, Serkis plays monkeys, apes and people called Monkey, duh!

I'd seen people saying that they look like that because they need the faces to animate accurately for lip-synching in such high-fidelity. I say to hell with that, those redesigns look a hell of a lot better and most likely functional, and that was just one dude messing around in photoshop for a bit. Not that it would allay all the other concerns I have though...

I thought only 1 got recharged? But, yeah, that's how the game is. You need energy bars and such for the full recharge (yes, really). Otherwise, I imagine it'd be quite easy to cloak through the entire game or things like that.

My new favourite band. NSFW.

And you never should. http://deusex.wikia.com/wiki/Rescuing_Megan_and_Her_Team#Open_the_hangar_roof

If that's Ethan's order I suggest he GET A BRANE, MORAN!

Sooo, Captain America 2... And since I've recently caught all the released MCU films, except Incredible Hulk, I can do my order now, yaaaay. 1. The Avengers 2. Thor 2 3. Captain America 2 4. Iron Man 5. Thor 6. Iron Man 3 7. Captain America 8. Iron Man 2

Captain America 2: Winter Is Coming Really enjoyed it. Decent blend of comic book action and thriller. Probably my third favourite of the MCU films. Does a good job of fleshing out some of the non-supers a bit more as well as Cap himself. There are a few hokey moments/things, and I'm sure you could pick apart the plot if you wanted, but it's a very entertaining watch while it zips along. Compared to some of the other Marvel films, I think more is reliant on/there is more to gain from having seen the earlier stuff. We're not talking just Captain America 2 and The Avengers but also little connections to Iron Man 2 and even the One-Shots. Plus, a lot of important stuff happens and it seems to set up a fair few things for the future of the MCU (not just in the mid-credits scene). I'll put those more for general discussion in the appropriate thread though. p.s. Stan Lee cameo was great