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Author Topic: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (latest update on page 61)  (Read 102857 times)

Offline BeneathALeadMountain

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #630 on: June 10, 2021, 11:29:57 AM »
Don’t panic, you’re not saying anything I don’t think  :) . The lenses and focus I found quite beautiful but it helped that seeing the making of show and how they were unique, old hand made lenses that were modified and housed to be used on the cameras (the son of two professional photographers typing). But it did make it slightly visually jarring as they change shot and the image was different, suddenly too clean. Also the American military lack of common sense issue was fine with me (I come from a mildly military family and I’m married to an Iraqi Kurd so I have no illusions to the competence of them).

I also don’t think a re-cut would help really, there was too much where I thought “ooh that’s interesting” and “cool, that be a nice twist” only for nothing else to be said of it - the first team with the similar gear/clothes/jewellery etc. But the edit/story in my mind made up for it (why I love make believe with toy soldiers).

The heist idea was dumb (you mentioned the vault) but I took it as Tanaka had just hired grunts and was hoping they wouldn’t think out any of the issues. I saw it as avarice blinding reason. I’d also love to be a pilot that could rebuild a knackered Huey with just bad language and presumably the multi-tool of doom she had hidden in her pocket?

I for one would have shot Mr.Dillahunt in the back the moment I entered the place! The zombies were different and that’s fine I suppose (I agree - ghouls), but nothing was really made of them and there weren’t any really tense hopeless, horde based shoot outs that couldn’t have been effectively run away from so not truly “of the dead” so much as “not well and pretty angry”.

But most importantly for me it wasn’t “Into the Woods” - a film that sounded like a true, nail biting, gut churning horror - and lived up to it!  lol (Chris Pine if you see a 6’2” Peaky blinder looking guy taking a run up at you I’m truly sorry but you deserve what’s coming)

I’ll stop digressing now (been rough for quite a while and miss chatting!) and let you continue to amaze and delight me with your never ending hobby progression.

BALM

Beneath A Lead Mountain - my blog of hobby procrastination and sometimes even some progress
https://beneathaleadmountain.blogspot.com/

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #631 on: June 10, 2021, 01:03:45 PM »
I was wondering what was going to happen with the eerily similar details of the previous team but the dialogue was enough to deal with that for me.  Weird but ok. It felt like a filmschool moment.

You may digress and chat away mate. Always happy to discuss things.

I have not seen “Into the Woods” though and I am not a big Chris Pine fan.

As for the US military… I am an old grunt but there are limits.
Home of the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

Offline CookAndrewB

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #632 on: June 10, 2021, 03:42:26 PM »
I don't have much to say as I haven't seen this movie. However, I've seen 28-Days and as this is one of my favorite movies I think I agree and disagree with your assessment.

First, a zombie is an undead thing. I think that it is important to keep our cupcakes and muffins separate here. Whether caused by government experiments, magic, or meteorites, a zombie is a dead person now alive. What happens in 28-days is a pandemic. It is a viral contagion that removes sense and sensibility and causes blind rage in those infected. The tearing apart of a person isn't so much a need to feed on brains, but sheer hatred. You can see people torn apart by attackers today. An angry mob can do some damage without knives or guns. To me, the infected are different than the undead. Perhaps the infected are scarier as they represent a real possibility where zombies clawing their way out of the grave feels safely on the side of fantasy.

To be honest, I'm not sure where ghouls fit into that continuum. I guess I assumed that ghouls were undead by D&D lore, though possessing of greater mental faculties than a mindless zombie or skeleton. I'm not sure what origin ghouls have in the real world, so it is possible that they are just creatures of nightmare who feed on the living. Things of the underworld which wouldn't make them changed (Bob into zombie Bob, or uninfected Bob into Rage Bob), but having always been what they are.

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #633 on: June 10, 2021, 04:07:33 PM »
You are quite correct mate, 28 Dass later was a poor example. They are indeed infected and not undead as they can be killed by normal means.

The movie version of World War Z would be a better example.

Here is Max Brooks briefly on fast versus slow and why he prefers slow, as in his book.

https://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/world-war-z-author-max-brooks-interview/

I find my fear of slow zombies different from fast, even if I would say fast are more dangerous. It is the implacable, unthinking and inevitable threat… like time passing to our inevitable demise by old age if nothing else.

Whereas fast zombies are scary in the way bestial vampires and ghouls are. Monsterous. Ferocious. Insatiable…. but not necessarily inevitable.

https://zombie.fandom.com/wiki/Differences_Between_Surviving_Fast_and_Slow_Zombies

https://screenrant.com/slow-fast-zombies-scarier-than-fast-zombies-comparison/

https://www.ranker.com/list/fast-moving-zombie-movies/ranker-film

It is to me a strictly personal reaction but not one I am apparently alone in feeling.

Apparently ghoul comes from the Arabic word ghul according to Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoul

In the earliest references it appears to be a demon but I have seen some sources reference ghouls having other origins including humans eating human flesh for too long and radiation (fallout game lore).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghouls_in_popular_culture


Offline Elk101

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #634 on: June 10, 2021, 04:46:19 PM »
Don't put too much on about Army of the Dead, I haven't seen it yet!  lol

Offline BeneathALeadMountain

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #635 on: June 10, 2021, 05:47:39 PM »
Sorry Elk I shall be quiet now (apologies if I’ve spoiled anything for you, I tried to be as vague as possible). Please watch and enjoy.

Rick: it’s nots the cogs I’m unsure about but rather the idiot/s operating the machine  :D. Anyone brave and conscientious enough to serve their country and uphold decency has my full support, my brother is a high ranking member of the Women’s Auxiliary Balloon Core - I believe he’s in charge of afternoon teas  lol

My father in law (born and raised in Baghdad) said that ghul (ghouls) are cursed/demonic from inhabiting graveyards and eating human flesh - sounds like a reference to an early prion style disease to me (I posed this possibility to both my Parents in law, who are also Biology post grads and they thought it reasonable) in the same way as not eating pigs as they willingly eat the human dead.

BALM

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 41)
« Reply #636 on: June 10, 2021, 06:12:52 PM »
Sorry Elk101. I intended to avoid spoilers but got a bit carried away.

I can not comment more on potential stupidity in the movie, intentional or otherwise without spoilers… but I will say this.

The best example of the kind of stupidity I would expect from the US Army when it comes to zombies was presented by Max Brooks. Here is a clever version of that which although short is much more entertaining to me than the movie version of World War Z.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQphbRo_Clk


And BALM, that is a fascinating theory on the origin, makes sense to me.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2021, 06:14:45 PM by Grumpy Gnome »

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 43)
« Reply #637 on: June 11, 2021, 12:28:23 PM »
Weekly update and a review…

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/06/11/well-thats-tabletop-world-a-review/

As always we love feedback, suggestions, advice and questions.

Do you use Tabletop World terrain? What do you think of it?

Offline BeneathALeadMountain

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 43)
« Reply #638 on: June 11, 2021, 02:31:09 PM »
Sir that looks positively bucolic. Fantasy is one of my favourite gaming settings as it can be whatever you want. I have a good number of chaps but little to no scenery (bar the 6 mighty fortresses I own - everyone should have their own fortified building!) and I’m now tempted because the range looks lovely. It’s a great feeling when a models is easy or fun to paint.

You’ve done an excellent job on the paint scheme and the vegetation is nicely done. Unfortunately gaming suffers from a frustrating disparity of what looks right to the eye and is actually realistic (a word I hesitate to use) and I think you’ve got a perfect balance there.

 In reality plant-life can be jarringly bright and dense but recreating this on the tabletop is hard to achieve or can look positively odd/wrong because nature’s ‘rulebook’ is complex, with the positional relationships of each species and individual being easily overlooked or misunderstood by the casual observer.

 I’m currently working on (read taking a lot longer than I thought!) my trees (new and reconditioning our joint old set) for just this reason, as a retired arborist I can look at a tree and give you a pretty good precy of its life story - it’s shape and form tells you so much, even just the direction of prevailing winds. It won’t matter to anyone else (and it doesn’t actually matter at all when playing with toy soldiers :)) but I find it really improves my immersion in the setting when my scenery feels like an actual place.

Keep up the good work my friend, you are a strong positive force in helping my modelling enthusiasm stay high when I’m not functional.

BALM
« Last Edit: June 11, 2021, 04:08:08 PM by BeneathALeadMountain »

Offline CookAndrewB

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    • 3d designs can be found at Thingiverse
Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 43)
« Reply #639 on: June 11, 2021, 05:26:17 PM »
Tabletop World is a company that I tend to think of as offering top-quality at a premium. I have to admit that I browse their selection at times, but have never purchased. Mostly that has to do with 28mm fantasy not being my overall interest and scale. Still, it is pretty and reminds me of Miniature Building Authority (which skews more towards my tastes) in terms of production quality.

For your hobby, I think they make sense. Heirloom pieces that will last you a very long time and bring joy on the table.

Offline Bloggard

  • Scatterbrained Genius
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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 43)
« Reply #640 on: June 11, 2021, 05:34:26 PM »
lovely piece of terrain, beautifully painted.

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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    • The Grumpy Gnome
Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (weekly update pg 43)
« Reply #641 on: June 11, 2021, 06:07:36 PM »
Thanks for the kind words folks.

They really help motivate me.

It took a long time to get the well piece “just right” but I really like how it came out.

I know very little about plants. I suspect my plant choices might make an arborist cringe the same way I cringe when I see an actor in a movie with their booger finger on the bang switch.

Miniature Building Authority has repeatedly been recommended to me but I have not got my hands on any of their stuff yet. I will keep trying.

Offline Grumpy Gnome

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Offline BeneathALeadMountain

  • Mad Scientist
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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (battle report pg 43)
« Reply #643 on: June 15, 2021, 03:11:44 PM »
Great stuff. You say your scenery is somewhat sparse but I think it looks spot on, the rocks and trees are very atmospheric even in limited numbers (my mind fills in the scrub on the forest floor and the understory - which might look great modelled but would be a massive faff to game through), so adding your upcoming dwarven forge cache can only make it even better. That poor mercenary, bit of a Pyrrhic victory for him “there’s good news and there’s bad news old chap”  lol.

BALM

Offline Sunjester

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Re: The Grumpy Gnome‘s Fantasy Projects Blog (battle report pg 43)
« Reply #644 on: June 15, 2021, 03:47:36 PM »
Yes I agree, an atmospheric table set up.

 

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