Yellow Thunder #3 Little Brother

Little Brother to friends, The Thunder to enemies, Ototo is not a person you want to be standing against when he's angry. He is a true giant of a man (which is reflected by his Ht 3 and 40mm base). He has 12 Wd and is Hard to Kill. He can easily move through shorter models (which means pretty much everyone in the game except really big and nasty monsters). He can also heal himself but that's not always the best option for him as he gets significantly better when reduced to half of his wounds. And all of that without any upgrades... His relatively low defense of 5 and his SS cost (10) are considerable downsides but whatever the situation, he is always a force to be reckoned with (and to be shot at!).

The miniature is pure awesomeness. Probably the most dynamic one that's been released so far. I really like the positioning with the giant Tetsubo as it hits the ground,  creating some kind of magical effect. His hair flows nicely in the air and the material on his clothes is folded appropriately. 

I had lots of fun working on this one but struggled a little with the chest area. I generally prefer to put the miniature together and use GS on all the gaps before I start painting. In this case it caused some problems as his chest area and upper thighs were really hard to get to. Fortunately, I had no trouble reaching his mask with a brush and ended up painting it red to add an element of contrast. The eyes are bright blue to look like some king of magical glow but you can't really see that in the picture...

Mr Mercedes

Long before its release, this novel was billed as Stephen King's first ever detective story. While it's good advertising, I cannot agree entirely as he'd already written a short story ("Colorado Kid"), which definitely belongs to this genre.

The first thing that immediately drew my attention was the cover. Very nicely designed with dark background and only two colorful spots. A light blue, cold umbrella and a distant red light. I couldn't help but wonder where the Mercedes or the Mr were. The cover is thought provoking and interesting, and it definitely encouraged me to start reading (as if I needed any motivation - new SK book is always good enough encouragement for me). 

The novel starts with a bang. King gives readers a chance to closely observe a massacre as a Mercedes drives into a crowd of people waiting in line for the opening of a job fair. What makes this scene even more powerful is that prior to that we get some insights into who the people are and how desperate they must be to stand there. The conversation between a man helping a young woman (who at this point seem to be the main characters) with an infant is cut abruptly...

The following investigation is led by a veteran detective, Bill Hodges. Years pass but the murderer is not found. Now retired, Hodges tries to come to terms with his "new" life and as he struggles with coming to terms with it, the thought of suicide is never far away from him. Everything changes when he receives a disturbing letter from a person claiming to be the Mercedes killer. As a retired cop, his resources are very limited. However, he can still rely on his considerable experience, intuition, and some help from two very unlikely allies.

The story takes a while to unfold and for a significant part we follow the new investigation on a linguistic level. As Hodges analyzes the letter, he reveals his impressive deductive skills. Those fragments were very well written and they nicely moved the action on and built tension without too much actually happening. What I found a bit strange though, was the protagonist's proficiency in various linguistic forms. When he finds a misleading piece of information, he calls it "red herring". It's a name I remember from my university classes on literature comprehension and it seemed a tad odd that a policeman would use it. King has a tendency to set teachers or other academics as protagonists of his novels. It is a useful trick as it gives him freedom to use very nice language to reflect his characters' thoughts, and internal monologues are often present in his works. Here it somehow felt a bit out of place but then I guess a retired, elderly detective can have a flair for linguistics. 

As Hodge's research brings him closer to the Mercedes killer, the pace of the novel quickens significantly. New characters enter the scene and the final section is really gripping, making it very hard to put the book down. 

There are some fragments in the novel that are really disturbing and reading through them was hard. Following the story from Mr Mercedes' perspective and entering his twisted mind sheds some light on his motivations. As evil as he appears, there are certain haunting events in his life that almost evoke feelings of sympathy towards the main antagonist.

I found the ending very satisfying as King not only did a good job of wrapping up all the important plotlines but he also left enough of them open to make sure there is enough space for a sequel.

Dawn Serpents

The moment I saw Mako's article in Wyrd Chronicles #13, I knew I wanted to paint this miniature. I ended up getting two so I thought I would work on them using different color schemes.

Before painting I prepared the bases. I used some resin casts that had been lying in my bits box for ages. I really liked Mako's idea and I thought it added a more "magical" feel to the Serpent. With this repositioning it looks as if it was floating majestically instead of just flying up. 

As usual, my camera couldn't handle red and the color on the more fiery serpent looks off in the pictures. I think I actually like this version even more as it seems more "classic" with the choice of colors easily associated with dragons. At the same time, I have to admit, the color scheme I took from Mako's article makes the beast look interesting too. 

 In game, Dawn Serpent offers some nice anti-magic powers. Ca actions targeting it lose suit. As far as resilience is concerned, it is Hard to Kill and it can heal 1 damage for each model with Ca within 6' with a (0) Tactical Action. Obviously, it flies so with a Wk of 6 and 40 mm base, it can move around the board efficiently. Its melee attack has solid profile and automatically includes Poison +2 condition. It can also breath fire into enemies (with blasts, why not?) from 8' and set them on fire. The only downside is a relatively high cost. At 10ss you'll probably think twice before choosing it for an encounter. Still, it can work well against certain crews.

Monks of Low River

I painted up these three as part of my TT project. These guys are really well cast with some nice details on their armor and weapons. I'm not completely sold on their cloaks though, they look a tad unnatural to me. 

I used Zen base inserts for them. I like the fact that they turn out so bright. That helps liven up the whole piece a little. I typically paint using darker, toned down colors so doing the bases with brighter colors is what I might just try long term as it nicely sets the whole miniature. 

I played a little with brown glazes and silver highlights on their armors and I'm quite happy with the result. I used gold on their staffs on purpose. While I realize that it's a relatively soft metal and no one would use it as a weapon (especially a blunt one), these gyus are not really fighters. Read on to learn why.

The Monks of Low River are some of the cheapest models available for Ten Thunders. At 4 SS they bring in some mobility, debuffing, pretty solid resistance (they're immune to Poison, Burning and Slow) to damage and... no damage output. I can see them as debuffers and minions used to lock other, more powerful ones in melee. With their nice defensive tricks they could be used to tie dangerous opponents and buy time for the rest of the crew. Tricky models to use to say the least.

The Alloy of Law

The novel is set three hundred years after events presented in the Mistborn trilogy. The world has moved on and technology has kicked in. But magic is still there, and it has also evolved. New type of humans with magical skills are introduced here - the Twinborn. These people can combine some skills of Allomancer with those of Ferruchemist. I thought it was an interesting twist as it wasn't too much off the beaten track and the implications of a combination like that should be familiar enough to anyone who has read the Mistborn books. Also, combining magic that relies on manipulating metals with a world going through technological revolution is a nice choice. Firearms and trains fit well into the world of Allomancers and Ferruchemists. 

The plot doesn't strike as original and interesting at first. The protagonist, Waxillium "Wax" Ladrian, travels from the Roughs (a Frontier-like setting) to the capital city (Elendel - rings a bell, doesn't it?) after learning about his uncle's death. He assumes the duties of head of the house and gets involved in running business as well as finding his place among the city's nobles. Wax soon learns that life in this new place can be as dangerous and wild as in the Roughs and that he cannot really put his work as a lawman completely behind him. He is accompanied by Wayne, a young bandit-turned-lawman, who is also a twinborn with a very peculiar set of skills. I thought that Wayne was a bit too goofy and laid back to be treated seriously and I actually wished Sanderson had toned this character down a little.

"The Alloy of Law" offers some interesting insights into how progress affected the medieval-live setting of world presented in the Mistborn series. It's well structured and coherent with decently developed characters. I suppose anyone familiar with Sanderson's previous work will enjoy reading this one as well. Once again, he shows that he excels at leading the reader on, only to throw enough twists in the plot in the end to make them see everything in entirely new light. By forcing a new perspective on events that happen in the novel he also set things up for what might be a very intriguing continuation of the story.

Yellow Thunder #2

 Here's the second part of my ongoing TT project. The challenge that these minis pose on the assembly stage is legendary so I won't go into details about that part. Let's just say that the number of parts these models are made of is surprisingly large number of small parts. The good thing is that they fit together nicely.
TT archers are a very interesting option to support crews lacking shooting, such as Misaki's. Giving the opponent a Slow condition can be devastating with Ototo around (especially since these guys can fire into engaged models without the need to randomize the target). Hail of Hachinosu, their 2AP action, is another one where they can really cause some trouble. At Rg 12 they can inflict up to 4 damage (and that with 2 blasts!).

Two of these have very dynamic posed so I wanted to make them stand out even more. I used two pillars (resin casts I found in my bits box) for extra elevation. I like to do that, especially with miniatures that have a very static pose. I just think it adds a little bit of dynamism to them. At least that was my thinking while preparing the one on the left. The middle one is crouching so it made sense to put him on something that would give him a better vantage point. I had some problems with the right one. I knew I had to glue him in at least two places. I pinned him left foot but there was no way he was going stay put. That's why I used a 30 mm pewter base insert and glued his robe to it. I wasn't very happy with the result but at least the link should be stronger.

The color scheme is the same I've used on the Torakage. Painting them went a bit faster as I'd already had some experience of working with yellow. The Low River monks are up next. I plan to use the artwork color scheme which means returning to my comfort zone - working with darker. muted colors.

Mistborn

This series was recommended to me by a friend of mine who is an avid fantasy reader. I do enjoy reading books from this genre and it seemed like summer holidays were a good time to pick a series to read. I did enjoy following Vin's story and immersing myself in the world of the Final Empire.

The story focuses on Kelsier - a thief and an allomancer (I'll get to that in a second) who is attempting to cause the downfall of an empire that has existed for centuries. In order to achieve that he has to organize the needed military force from people who seem to be deprived of all their will to fight after ages of enslavement. He also needs to meddle with the complex political system. And last but not least, he must challenge the Lord Ruler who appears to be is a godlike being or immense power. Kelsier forms an elite thieving crew and begins his work.

The characters presented by Sanderson fall into certain types; an astute politician, a reckless and charismatic leader, strong and charismatic general, shy girl who hasn't yet discovered the depths of her powers, loyal servant. At first it seemed shallow and too standardized. However, the author manages to make them interesting and their interactions add an extra layer of complexity to them.
It took me a while to get used to how magic functions in the world created by Sanderson. It's not a force of nature or manifestation of faith. Here it's connected with... metals. There are two basic types of "magicians" here. An allomancer has the power to "burn" certain types of metals and take advantage of the effects they have on strength, stamina, sight. They can also manipulate the environment as long as there are metal elements around. In total there are 16 types of metals and each has different effects on the allomancer that uses them. And then there are the rare Mistborn - those who can use all types. Feruchemy is the second type of magic. A feruchemist can store certain powers in metals and use them when they're needed. Such a person can choose to stay ill for a prolonged period of time in order to store enough power to be able to heal instantly and cure even a deadly wound when needed. And there is also a third type of magic but I don't won't to spoil the fun of discovering it to those who haven't read through the first two books yet.
I also liked the description of Iron Inquisitors - some really mean dudes who have iron spikes hammered through their eye sockets. They are the ultimate law force and mst loyal servants of Lord Ruler. Their powers seem unlimited too... There are also the Kandra and the Koloss, other intriguing creatures inhabiting the world of Final Empire. But I won't go into details as to who they are and what they do as it would spoil the fun of discovering it on one's own.

Sanderson's writing is very dynamic and the books are written in a way that makes putting them down hard. I often caught myself going for "just another chapter" and reading three or four more. There are often various perspectives from which the plot is narrated and each brings something else to the whole. The cast of distinctly different protagonists also helps with immersing the reader in the story. I particularly enjoyed reading fragments that presented Sazed as his wisdom, vision of the world and sense of purpose was something that set him apart from other characters. The only thing that I thought was not explored that well by Sanderson were the male-female relationships. I don't expect interactions that are physical and perverse to the point of pathology, such as some that were shown in the "Game of Thrones" but it seemed to me that there was lack of strong emotions here.

If I was to describe Mistborn in two words, I'd say "clever fantasy". Everything is well organised here. The world, various castes and the way magic works. And the plot - even events that are seemingly unsurprising and should have an obvious outcome can add a new surprising twist to the story. The first tome ended with what appeared to be a hard-fought victory but there was one line said by the antagonist that made me think whether the protagonists have actually done a good thing. The consequences of their actions resonate heavily throughout book 2 and 3 and just when you begin to understand them, there's another twists that puts everything in new context. There seems to be a certain pattern to these books. Each one has a cliffhanger that is resolved by desperate actions of protagonists. Yet each time Sanderson manages to surprise the readers by creating circumstances in which these actions can be seen in a different light.

And just one more thing - from now on I'm going to refer to models cast in metal as made of pewter (not just metal). Anyone who's read at least one novel from this series will understand why ;)