Monday, March 25, 2013

Avengers Volume 5 so far

I am really enjoying the new Avengers Volume 5 run from Marvel so far. Issues 1-8 have not been a let down and harken back to good old days of solid writing and character development. Hickman as usual does a great writing job.

The Avengers team was torn down and started up again by Stark and Rogers, even expanded in case they needed more specialists. As they said at the start of issue 1:

"We had to get bigger"

There are some strange names on the team for sure this time around but Marvel has been clever to introduce the new members through certain issues. They even have a multi dimensional teleporter named Manifold. According to my wiki search Manifold didn't even appear until 2009. He is an interesting character. He actually provides the Avengers with the quick movement they need to get around the globe...and solar system. The first 3 issues are drawn by Jerome Opena and look terrific. They have swapped now to Adam Kubert and then Dustin Weaver. I wasn't a big fan of Kubert's art but Weaver is good.

The story is epic in scope as well with several cities around the world being virus bombed in the opening issue and then the story fades in issue 3 and picks back up in issue 5 as it ties loose ends and then exposes an even greater threat. Overall I am anxiously awaiting more issues to see where this goes. I have some reservations on some of the members though. They do not seem all that fleshed out and are rather bland (like Shang-Chi and Captain Universe). Maybe as it goes on we will get more filler. Members I love include Cannonball and Hyperion who just rocks.

The new volume starts out with fighting in Mars then proceeds back to Earth so be ready to buckle up. So far it has been a fun ride.


Monday, March 18, 2013

EA provides list of free games for Simcity troubles

Well it was what we thought. Not the pick of the crop. I already Mass Effect 3 which I got for 11 dollars during a sale on GameFly.

As for the rest...they kinda stink. I know EA apologists will say a free game is a free game but honestly I don't even count Bejeweled and the older titles as anything interesting.

Ah well make of it what you will but here is the freebie list:


Here is the list of games that you will be able to choose from once you are able to redeem. It’s a great list of games across the whole EA portfolio, so pick one and add it to your Origin library on us! 
  • Battlefield 3 (Standard Edition)
  • Bejeweled 3
  • Dead Space 3 (Standard Edition)
  • Mass Effect 3 (Standard Edition)
  • Medal of Honor Warfighter (Standard Edition)  
  • Need For Speed Most Wanted (Standard Edition) 
  • Plants vs. Zombies
  • SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition 

Sunday, March 17, 2013

GMT taking some of their wargames digital

This is a cut and paste from a cut and paste so take it with a grain of salt. 

In their recent newsletter GMT has given us an update on their progress on the digital front.

If you did not know GMT Games is one of the best wargame publishers on the market. Here is their website:


They make such hits as Command and Colors,Twilight Struggle, SPQR, Wilderness War and Combat Commander. All of these may necessitate me having to get a bigger tablet




"The program team for Twilight Struggle for Windows has just finished 
a new update/build, and Kai is bringing in some fresh testers now to 
go along with the alpha test team, so we make sure we continue to get 
unjaded perspectives." 

I got this on pre-order so I'm currently on the fence about either 
applying for a beta-tester position or just sit back and relax and 
wait until they're finished with it. 

"Manoeuvre for iOS - We just got some internal screenshots of the UI a 
few weeks ago. Still quite a lot to do here, but slowly making 
progress." 

"Empire of the Sun for iPad - To my knowledge we haven't had an update 
on this for a couple months, so I am unsure on exact current status. 
The last version I saw had the map and piece movement working, but not 
anything beyond that" 

"NightFighter for Windows - I haven't seen an update recently on this 
one either, but last I heard from Kai we were expected an alpha 
version of this soon. I hope we'll have screenshots to show you guys 
this spring." 

"Pacific Typhoon for Android - At last update, this one is making 
decent progress. We hope to have a playable version ready for testing 
shortly." 

"Winds of Plunder for iOS - This one's still in pretty early stages. 
More as we know it." 

"Commands & Colors (Playdek) - I had a conference call with the 
Playdek folks last week. I can't say much (NDA) but can tell you that 
we understand that this is absolutely on their schedule, but not for 
2013. More as we know it."  

"Fields of Fire - Just agreed to a few weeks ago."

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Ares is cast out from Olympus

Forced to do favors for mere Earth mortals. Some actions shots of my new hero and up against Warlord who proved to be tougher than Ares thought. Perhaps he might have to rethink how evil the super villains are and stay a while longer to help defeat them.

It took science and a suit of armor to finally bring Warlord down.







Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Mentallus joins the ranks

Born a mutant, Mentallus used his powers to influence the minds of others and manipulate people starting at a young age. 

In and out of boy homes from the age of 8 Mentallus managed to escape when he was 15 and join an underground super villain group in the city. Working up toward a big day his super villain group set about a master plan to rob all the banks in the city at once and teleport to another dimension. 

Alas they were stopped and during the battle Mentallus suffered such traumatic mental feedback it essentially put him into a mobile coma of sorts. Not knowing who he was or capable of feeling emotion anymore he was recruited by the authorities under a new ID and new concept: to help others. Given a mask and new costume he now patrols the streets fighting for good. The authorities hope he never remembers who he was. 



Thursday, March 7, 2013

Champions Online healer gets to 10 at last

Tonight I finally leveled a healer in Champions Online. He is actually an alien that goes by the name of Chosson. He has a rather intricate background as most of my characters do (even typed up in game in case he is inspected). He actually does quite well offensively as well as at healing. His primary stat is Presence. He is now level 10 and ready to go on and catch up with the rest of my characters.

He has been stranded on Earth for quite a while with no hope of rescue. What was left of his people were wiped out in their petty wars long ago. He has used what was left of his ship to fashion molecular armor for himself which gives him a shiny but elusive appearance. Since he is alien of origin he of course sticks out like a sore thumb but he is no weirder than some of the other heroes of Millennium City.

Chosson's race is capable of harnessing great mental energy and conducting it through their bodies. Through training and patience they are able to direct that energy to cause harm or healing at their targets. They embody the very celestial spirits they worshiped back home. Only a select few were picked to leave their home system and make contact with other races. Chosson happened to be one of them.

His healing abilities (which can also be used as damage) include two single targets and an AOE. I also have an AOE knockback that, when combined with a force manipulation character, can cause quite a bit of carnage.

He travels through electrical phasing.





Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The gang's all here - Champions Online

I have quite a few *cough* characters in Champions Online. Over time they have kind of leveled together and I have kept them all within the same range. I have tried to cover every class type but really cannot focus on a "healer" so to speak. I will be working on that next. Champions Online is my third most played game ever since I started on RAPTR a while back. It is one of those MMO's that I have played since launch but never really capped or done anything significant in. I just make heroes, log in and beat things up and have fun with it.

Here are the heroes that stalk my Hall of Justice:

Boulder seen here with Cherry Lotus about to take down some bad Lemurians




Manipulator master of force. Gets his powers from a circuitry suit he designed. Unfortunately it stayed grafted to him.



Cannonball. A meat head ex football player with super strength.


Talon the mutant that just recently mutated. Half man half hawk.


Coldsnap. Generally I do not play him too much but at one point I do want to level him up just because he gets around with ice slide.


Darkshot. The brooding Batman want to be. Uses gadgets and is primarily a tricky character to play.


American Patriot. Enhanced brawling character capable of in close fighting but not too strong in the health department.


Mysterium. Draws his powers from the moon and channels them into eldritch witchcraft abilities.


That is about it for now. I have a smattering of other characters that don't get too much playtime including an Iron Man ripoff named Battlewagon but other than I stick to the ones above. I still want to make a mental power using character but I am running low on slots.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Strat-O-Matic Pro Football

Found my Strat O Matic Football. Brand new never opened set. Year? 2002. Vick on the Falcons. It is hard to believe I bought this in 2003 (they always release last years teams in the current box set) and never even opened it. Probably lack of people to play it with much like my current situation in life.