August 24, 2012

Time for another Kick starter project

Its Kick starter time again - this time is a superpower hero deck building game called Heroes of Metro City.  Ive pasted a good section of the blurb below.  If you like Card games and like super heroes this game is for you.




Each player represents a super-powered Hero of their own design who must stop their Archenemy’s nefarious plan to destroy Metro City. To succeed, the Heroes must do battle with hordes of Minions, diabolical Villains, and the Archenemy who leads them! The more Energy and Powers a Hero develops, the closer they get to defeating their Archenemy. But time is running out! For every moment the Heroes delay, the forces of evil destroy more of the city the Heroes are trying to save.
DEFEAT YOUR ARCHENEMY! The first player to defeat the Archenemy wins the game... unless the Archenemy destroys so much of Metro City that there's nothing left to save!
CUSTOMIZE. DEVELOP. REPLAY. Devastate your enemies with thousands of possibilities and choices for your character.  The base game includes over 20 explosive Power cards and many iconic Energy Sources.  A randomized subset of these will be selected for each game. It's an exciting array of possibilities for your customized super-powered Hero.
TELL A STORY. In Heroes of Metro City, we encourage our players to name their Heroes and describe the action as they play their cards. No, it's not required, but it sure is a lot more fun. Instead of just playing five or six cards onto your Hero Placard, we think it's a lot more fun to play those cards while saying, "My Hero, The Phantom Panther, is avoiding Ella Moondust's gaze attack by shadow-teleporting directly behind her. Before she can turn around, he unleashes a flurry of kicks combined with slashes from the deadly bladed claws that his mutation created. Ella Moondust has been defeated, and will not trouble Metro City again."

Heroes of Metro City uses dynamic deck-building combined with our unique Energy Source slots to create a power management mechanic (using your Hero Placard) that lets you decide which powers and abilities are most important for each turn (see below). The Hero Placard also helps to guide you through the six action-packed phases of each turn.
Want to consistently draw more cards? Develop lots of Travel Powers likeSupersonic Flight or the Armed Super-Vehicle. Want to deal massive damage from afar? Nuke your enemies with an Elemental Blast or snipe them with a Long-Distance Shot. Want to dazzle your foes with strange abilities from another world? Use an Ensnaring AmbushWeather Control or the deadly Mind Spike to dominate your enemy. Developing more than one copy of the same card and adding it to your deck means you'll draw that Power from your Hero Deck more frequently on your turns. For instance, if you have three copies of Impenetrable Skin in your deck, bad guys won't often be getting past you!

Once you've completed your first turn in a game of Heroes of Metro City, you've learned everything you need to know. Each phase of your turn appears on your individual Hero Placard, so you won't ever forget what comes next. And yes, the game is easy enough for younger kids to learn, but deep enough for adults to find plenty of competition when they want it.
Here's what you'll be doing in each turn of Heroes of Metro City:
1. REINFORCE ENEMIES: Simple. Flip over a new Enemy card (face-up) if any of your Enemies were defeated during the last turn.
2. ACTIVATE POWERS: Now you get to slot all of your Energy Sources and Activate (play) your Power cards. You'll fly, teleport, leap across rooftops, swing a devastating uppercut, throw a bus, or watch as bullets bounce off of your chest.
3. BATTLE ENEMIES: Count up all the damage you can deal and see if it's enough to defeat one or more of the enemies. If you beat one, you can add that Enemy card to your deck, where it becomes a Storyline card that provides Plot Points.
4. STORY DEVELOPMENT: Add up all of the Plot Points from your Storyline cards and use them to Develop (add) a new card to your Hero Deck, chosen from the cards available in the City Supply.
5. CITY DESTRUCTION: Now it's the Enemy's chance to attack the city! But not before the City Defense has a chance to stop them. If you roll the City Defense dice and fail to roll high enough, the Enemies use their Destruction Powers to eliminate cards from the City Supply, placing them into the Rubble Pile.
6. CLEANUP: Take all of the cards you played, the cards you developed, and the cards you didn't manage to play and discard them. It's time to draw a new hand of five cards.


There is about 22 days left on the clock and they need another 17k to go ahead.  Check out the site and put in your pledge now.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/3some/heroes-of-metro-city-a-super-powered-deck-building

August 23, 2012

Back 2 Base - IX Brushes review

A few months back i reviewed a new painting station that i got from Back 2 Base IX - today i thought id do a review on the brushes that they produce.  (Please note ive used pictures from the Back 2 Base ix website rather than taken pictures of my own brushes purely to save time)



In my line of work i go through a lot of brushes and over the last 20 odd years I have used many different brands of brushes. Generally speaking you get what you pay for. Once in a while though you do get surprised and the brushes from back to base ix fall into that category. For their price i find them an excellent brush with some interesting and useful differences from your standard hobby paint brush.  Firstly they have a design which I can only compare to a woman compact make up brush that ive seen my wife use. The Brush it'self comes in two sections and when not in use the brush section screws into the handle section protecting the bristles from damage. There is a small hole in end of the handle to allow any trapped moisture to easily evaporate.  This ability to put away the brush makes transporting your brushes a breeze and since the handle sections are made from Aluminium they are extremely durable.




The bristles are made from pure Kolinsky hair and after 2 months of solid use im very happy to say they have survived wonderfully. (As a side not i always use brush soap ans Vallejo Brush Cleaner and Brusher restorer and this not doubt has helped prolong their life but at roughly 40 hours a week of painting these brushes are still in great condition and look set to stay that way for a long time to come.)



There are various common sizes available that should cover most if not all of your painting needs (even painting 10mm-15mm miniatures ive never needed anything smaller than a 000 brush).

At AU $9.95 per brush this puts them into the realms of the GW brush price bracket but the quality of both the design and the bristles themselves is superior I can highly recommend them.