Exciting times!

Hey everybody!
Exciting times are indeed around the corner! There’s usually a good amount of stuff around the festive season that I look forward to from the gaming world, and while this year seems to be a bit quieter than usual, nevertheless something huge dropped on Friday that I can’t wait to see:

Elder Sign is one of my favourites, and a new expansion is always to be welcomed! Staying with the “Streets of Arkham” game mode, we have a deck that features Alaskan locations as something out of left field, yet something that I really cannot wait to see! There is a heavy weight towards Antarctica in Lovecraftian mythos circles, it’s really interesting to see a snow/ice theme set somewhere else. Separating the game into stages, and an emphasis on seasonal adventure both seem like they should be a totally new way to experience the game. Not out until early next year, it’s nevertheless something to keep an eye on!

We’re also seeing the start of two new cycles for LCGs: the Endor cycle for Star Wars, and the Planetfall cycle for Warhammer 40k Conquest. They both seem to have been a long time coming, but will no doubt prove to be nice additions to the game.

Speaking of 40k, I finished reading the second Horus Heresy novel yesterday, False Gods. Written by Graham McNeill, it’s somewhat more straightforward than Horus Rising, but still an enjoyable read. I was particularly impressed by the way the story unfolded – despite knowing how the whole Heresy thing ends, I found myself actually shocked by the way the events happened, so that by the end of the book I had to remind myself that I was waiting for this to happen!

It’s the sort of book that occurs mid-way through a trilogy, where everything gets shot to hell. While Horus was actually a nice guy in the first book, he has since come under the sway of Chaplain Erebus of the Word Bearers, and a definite change has been wrought in him. Unfortunately, it’s a change that begins to transform the entire Legion, and while a certain inevitability is seen in the characters such as Abaddon and Lucius, you do begin to genuinely feel bad for the “good” guys Loken and Torgaddon. Horus Aximand emerges as a bit more grey, and you don’t know exactly which way he will go at this point. But for most of the book, I found myself thinking, “no, why would you do that?!” with a kind of impotent frustration. There were some weird bits, such as the whole spirit-journey type thing that Horus goes on, but overall, it was a good book.

I’m currently on a bit of a hiatus though, as I’m preparing myself for next week’s movie release…

Having found myself somewhat ambivalent about the new film for a very long time now, I booked my ticket last week as I still intend to see the film, simply because it’s Star Wars. But I’ve noticed that, as we enter into the “less than a week to go” period, I am getting a little caught up in the whole thing.

As long-time readers will no doubt know, I am a huge Star Wars fan, but the acquisition by Disney has left me a little cold, as the Star Wars I grew up with was removed from history in favour of their direction, which has been a little lacklustre for me, to say the least. As time has worn on, I’ve been feeling a bit meh about the whole thing, thinking that the new stuff isn’t that great, but is replacing much better stuff in my opinion. However, more importantly, I feel that the sense of importance around the Star Wars movies is diminishing as we’re being promised more. There has always been something quite magical about the fact that, for a long time, there were only ever three movies, and then there were only ever six movies. As more stuff comes out, we begin to reach a saturation point that takes away from that magic. Very soon, we’ll be talking in terms of “another new Star Wars movie” rather than it being any kind of event. So The Force Awakens will mark the last time we’ll be able to feel this kind of magic, because from here on out, they’re going to become so much more prevalent, it’s a little bit sad.

But hey, that’s just my opinion.

I’ve just come across the excellent Geekritique’s blog on the new planets of Episode VII, which you should definitely check out if you haven’t already, because the new worlds are often as exciting as the new characters who populate them. I won’t lie, in no small part has reading this helped to bring on that excitement!

My ticket is booked for 4.15 on Thursday afternoon, so I’ll no doubt have something posted here Thursday evening for you all to enjoy, anyway!