Super Dungeon Explorers! (and Ready Player One)

Over the last two weeks I painted up a bunch of miniatures for The Girl’s Super Dungeon Explore game. She was planning to play it at her birthday party (which was this past Friday) and I thought I’d help her out with getting a few more miniatures painted for it. I also submitted them as my entires for the last two rounds of the Lead Adventure Forum’s Lead Painter’s League (so I can only show you half of them right now – the ones that were posted last week – the rest are currently posted for this week’s LPL.

Actually the game she was playing with her friends was Super Dungeon Explore: The Forgotten King - but most of these characters I painted this week are from the original set. The Girl allowed me to paint these ones as she already had copies of them that she’d painted (metal ones she’d picked up a few years back before she had either of the SDE games)

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

The whole group.

Unfortunately In the LPL I was matched up with Curt, so, I totally lost…

A wider shot I’d originally considered submitting that showed some of the cards they are based one – but then decided to focus just on the figures.

Backsides.

Royal Paladin

Ember Mage

Deeproot Druid and his Angry Bear Form

Glimerdusk Ranger

One of the Spawning points from The Forgotten King (I think they’re called Bramble Knights…?)

The other spawning points from The Forgotten King. I forget what they’re called.

The game at her birthday party. They played the classic version where The Girl played all the baddies (there’s an “Arcade Version” which is totally co-op and the baddies are controlled by and AI). With both versions you’re supposed to have a one board – each with a spawning point  - for each Hero being played. I convinced her to, despite what it says in the rules, to use only three as it would take a REALLY LOOOOOONG TIME to play through FIVE boards and I figured the kids would have more fun if they were actually able to FINISH the game. They did finish – but one had to leave partway through and two other parents had so sit and wait for some time for them to finish…

In other news I finished Ready Player One this past week – for most of it I listened to the audiobook (Read by Wil Wheaton!) while painting all these SDE minis over the last couple weeks. A number of people recommended I read it – starting with William Bailie, who actually GAVE me a copy of the book. Others have since offered me copies or simply told me I should really get to reading the one I had.

I was quite reluctant to do so because the very title suggests it’s all about video games. I was never much of a video/computer game player. The last time I seriously played a computer game is was, I think Ultima IV – on my dad’s green screen Appolo (an “apple clone”). I did try to sit down and start the book and, as I suspected, the book is really is essentially about a computer game! I lost interest.

Then I heard Wil Wheaton had done the audiobook and I though, well that might be fun to listen to while painting – so I requested it from the library and waited… and waited… and waited… and eventually it showed up and I started listening to it over the last couple weeks.

Wheaton totally did it for me – he WAS Wade Watts. I would never have gotten through the book just reading it on my own. When Wade (the narrator) was explaining something that he was totally excited about you could hear it in Wheaton’s voice – the excitement was totally genuine – because, of course, it was probably something Mr. Wheaton himself is totally excited about.

Overall I thought the book was… Okay… by the end though I was getting into it enough that when I had to stop painting and take The Girl out to dance class, I took the paperback and finished off the last two chapters that way… 

I would definitely recommend the book to anyone really interested in 1980’s popular culture – TV, movies, music, RPGs and especially video games. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the 80’s they were, the saying goes, both the best of times and the WORST of times – and often that worst bit kind of overshadows the rest.

I did laugh out loud at a few of the things – the “time to make the donuts” comment when he was describing his daily routine and having to work at a tech support representative. Now, I don’t remember the commercial it’s from myself, but my partner Amanda, for as long as I’ve known her has said that in the morning whenever she was super tired and had to go off to work. And the names he gave a couple of accounts when he hacked… well, I won’t mention where (SPOILERS!)… Sam Lowrey and Harry Tuttle. Yeah. It was a 16 hour/372 page 80s nostalgia trip – which at sometimes felt like the author was trying to cram a mention of every movie, tv show, song/band, and game produced from the late 70s to the end of the 80s. A lot of it is explained – so if you aren’t familiar with the referred to material it won’t matter – but then there are the offhand, unexplained references (like the couple mentioned above) that only those who spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME watching tv and movies, playing games and listening to music in the 80s will appreciate (guilty as charged!).

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

The other batch of Super Dungeon Explore figures I did were some of the Forgotten Kings Billmen – anthropomorphic platypuses with halberds. I’ll be posting those in a week. 

I think I’m going to try and get back to some Irish for Montrose’s forces, or perhaps some Highlanders, for the next couple of rounds of the LPL.

After that I really will focus on finishing Ricks robot, then its onto some more JET BIKES!

Of course the Psi-Paladins and Lead Adventure Dwarves kickstarter rewards have shipped and should be here soon-ish... so that might provide some serious distractions... Reaper Bones III might also be shipping soon - but the kids are getting most of those...