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Awix (3310 KP) rated Blood Red Skies in Tabletop Games
May 18, 2018 (Updated May 18, 2018)
Warlord Games continue in their mission to entice Games Workshop's veteran players with an elegant and very engaging game of fighter combat from the Second World War. The system partly involves chucking loads of d6s, as you might expect, but also hinges around a very neat mechanic involving a tilting flying base which indicates your planes' status and places them at a state of advantage or disadvantage. The basic rules are very simple to learn; playing the game well is considerably more of a challenge.
Most of the components in the starter box are very appealing and well put-together; the planes come in different coloured plastic so even without paint they are easy to distinguish. If I had to sling a slight brick at this release it's that the rulebooks are very skimpy and don't cover a number of situations which are almost certain to arise in your first few games; it's easy enough to figure out what 'should' happen but it would be good to have official confirmation. The advanced rules for using bombers and other multi-engined planes are also somewhat confusingly presented.
There's also the point that even a week or so after the game's release, the general consensus is that the points values for some of the starting planes are a little bit hinky - the Spits and 109s seem well-balanced, but Russian Yaks seem generously priced while Japanese Zeroes cost too many points, for instance. However, many supplementary releases of other planes and so on are planned, so no doubt this will be fixed in due time. In the meantime this is a very enjoyable, attractive and extremely playable game.
Most of the components in the starter box are very appealing and well put-together; the planes come in different coloured plastic so even without paint they are easy to distinguish. If I had to sling a slight brick at this release it's that the rulebooks are very skimpy and don't cover a number of situations which are almost certain to arise in your first few games; it's easy enough to figure out what 'should' happen but it would be good to have official confirmation. The advanced rules for using bombers and other multi-engined planes are also somewhat confusingly presented.
There's also the point that even a week or so after the game's release, the general consensus is that the points values for some of the starting planes are a little bit hinky - the Spits and 109s seem well-balanced, but Russian Yaks seem generously priced while Japanese Zeroes cost too many points, for instance. However, many supplementary releases of other planes and so on are planned, so no doubt this will be fixed in due time. In the meantime this is a very enjoyable, attractive and extremely playable game.
The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) rated Lords of Scotland in Tabletop Games
Apr 26, 2019
Solid Decisions to be made (1 more)
Card have multiple uses and Values = Followers / Supporters / Actions
Enjoyable Card Game about Battling for the Throne... without a Throne.
I played this at game night a few nights ago and actually enjoyed it much more than I expected to. It's a small box and there's not much to the cards. But there's more to how you think about your actions, you only have 5 per round. Each round has valuable supporters you are trying to collect and you vie for the top selections among them. the art on the cards is good and doesn't interfere with the graphic design and the cards information which is key. I saw the older design which was a bit cleaner, but less pretty. Anyway, back to the game play, you start off with 5 cards and those are what you have to work with. Each turn you can draw a card, or play a card.... simple, but when you run out of cards you run out of options so there is a balancing act to it. But this makes turns relatively quick, which I love in larger player counts. There is some interesting intrigue with card being played up or down, up for the action, down for secrecy. Also the ability to swap out supporters by one clan or double up on pulling them with another makes for some interesting jostling, and a bit more take that..... It would be perfect at a Game of Thrones themed game with just a bit more depth.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Big Little Lies in TV
Dec 16, 2018
The best thing about good programming is good writing!
I just finished binge watching all 7 episodes of this fantastic HBO limited series featuring a mostly female cast (I'm sure everyone knows of this by now).
The story centers around three women, all raising children trying to lead "normal" lives, but have hidden scars and emotional baggage in their relationships they are trying to work through. Tensions continue to escalate through a series of confrontations and slow burn emotional scenes, but the payoff is ultimately worth it. I am much more a fan of vague endings than most people, so I would say I thought they could have left out the final scene and left us to wonder what happened, but I'm sure I'm in the minority on that.
The acting is certainly stellar all around; however, the real royalty here is the screenplay. too often great writing gets overlooked since it's not the flashiest of production values, but this one should not be ignored. It shows that everyone you encounter in life is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. You have to take the good with the bad sometimes, or make the tough choices to save your situation and make a better life for yourself.
After finishing I read they are doing a second season. Not sure how I feel about that. It would be all right maybe if it was a completely separate story, but this is going to be a continuation. They are adding Meryl Streep so I guess that's a good start.
I will have to wait and see!
The story centers around three women, all raising children trying to lead "normal" lives, but have hidden scars and emotional baggage in their relationships they are trying to work through. Tensions continue to escalate through a series of confrontations and slow burn emotional scenes, but the payoff is ultimately worth it. I am much more a fan of vague endings than most people, so I would say I thought they could have left out the final scene and left us to wonder what happened, but I'm sure I'm in the minority on that.
The acting is certainly stellar all around; however, the real royalty here is the screenplay. too often great writing gets overlooked since it's not the flashiest of production values, but this one should not be ignored. It shows that everyone you encounter in life is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. You have to take the good with the bad sometimes, or make the tough choices to save your situation and make a better life for yourself.
After finishing I read they are doing a second season. Not sure how I feel about that. It would be all right maybe if it was a completely separate story, but this is going to be a continuation. They are adding Meryl Streep so I guess that's a good start.
I will have to wait and see!
Marylegs (44 KP) rated Life of Pi in Books
Aug 14, 2019
So Life of Pi, a story of Indian boy castaway in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for 277 days. This is a story of human endurance and spiritual belief. The story is beautifully written and being a non-religious person I enjoyed that fact that this young boy embraces all religions he comes across and values them all equally and sees the best in each. I was slightly worried the religious aspects would be off putting for me but I believe they added depth and beauty to this story.
Unfortunately I came to read this book after having seen the film so I found it hard not to picture what I had already seen. Also, it meant I already knew how the story ended. I wish I had read the book before seeing the film as I think the story would have been better leaving the ending unknown. It was hard to get caught up with the revelations when they are revealed before you begin. I kept applying what I knew of the story’s ending to the book as I read.
I enjoyed that the story was written as if Pi himself were telling it to me, other than a couple of brief chapters were the journalist is making observations about Pi and his home. It isn’t hard to feel for Pi and knowing he survives to tell his story allows you to fully immerse in his pain and suffering. I would recommend this book, if you haven’t seen the film yet please read the book first so as not to ruin the story and how it unfolds.
Unfortunately I came to read this book after having seen the film so I found it hard not to picture what I had already seen. Also, it meant I already knew how the story ended. I wish I had read the book before seeing the film as I think the story would have been better leaving the ending unknown. It was hard to get caught up with the revelations when they are revealed before you begin. I kept applying what I knew of the story’s ending to the book as I read.
I enjoyed that the story was written as if Pi himself were telling it to me, other than a couple of brief chapters were the journalist is making observations about Pi and his home. It isn’t hard to feel for Pi and knowing he survives to tell his story allows you to fully immerse in his pain and suffering. I would recommend this book, if you haven’t seen the film yet please read the book first so as not to ruin the story and how it unfolds.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Green Book (2018) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019
This generation's Driving Miss Daisy
The 2018 Academy Awards were interesting. On one hand, I was very happy boring, pointless Roma did not win Best Picture; however i was really pulling for The Favourite to win. Neither happened and Green Book snuck in and captured the top prize instead.
The modern Oscars are free of epics like Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music or West Side Story. Instead, character-driven stories seem to be in favor recently.
In this true story, recently unemployed Italian bouncer Tony "Lip" gets hired to drive an African American genius concert pianist throughout his fall tour of the deep southern United States in 1962.
As the two men get to know each other, they are exposed to the very different worlds and set of values the each possesses. Initial hesitation is replaced by eventual respect as the men grow a bond throughout their southern adventure as they confront racism in various threatening or nonchalant forms as is happens.
Tony comes to the aide of his client, Dr. Donald Shirley, several times revealing his bigotry and denial for his race has begun to wane. Dr. Shirley as well begins to understand Tony's rough exterior and even delights Tony's wife Cyrano de Bergerac style assistance in writing verbose and eloquent letters to her.
The acting is thorough and top notch by both Viggo Mortensen (one of the great working actors today) and Mahershala Ali (hot off of Moonlight) with a screenplay to match. The characters are flawed, vivid, well-rounded and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this memorable film and well deserved of the big prize.
The modern Oscars are free of epics like Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music or West Side Story. Instead, character-driven stories seem to be in favor recently.
In this true story, recently unemployed Italian bouncer Tony "Lip" gets hired to drive an African American genius concert pianist throughout his fall tour of the deep southern United States in 1962.
As the two men get to know each other, they are exposed to the very different worlds and set of values the each possesses. Initial hesitation is replaced by eventual respect as the men grow a bond throughout their southern adventure as they confront racism in various threatening or nonchalant forms as is happens.
Tony comes to the aide of his client, Dr. Donald Shirley, several times revealing his bigotry and denial for his race has begun to wane. Dr. Shirley as well begins to understand Tony's rough exterior and even delights Tony's wife Cyrano de Bergerac style assistance in writing verbose and eloquent letters to her.
The acting is thorough and top notch by both Viggo Mortensen (one of the great working actors today) and Mahershala Ali (hot off of Moonlight) with a screenplay to match. The characters are flawed, vivid, well-rounded and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this memorable film and well deserved of the big prize.
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The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) May 18, 2018
Awix (3310 KP) May 18, 2018