Kingbeast's Lair

Welcome to the second annual Kingbeast’s Lair gift guide. Just like last year I will be presenting two lists. One is my personal wish list and the second is a selection of products that I think would make great gifts for that geek in your life. This year I will also add a board game entry to the lineup. The boys and I have played a lot of board games over the last year and I think we have found some winners. So for each selection I will limit myself to one RPG, one board game, one anime series or movie, and one fun read.

My Wish List

For the first time I have more board game entries on my Christmas list than RPG entries…and the only RPG entry is the lowest priority item! GASP! 😀

Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide To Campaign Management by Engine Publishing
Odyssey appears to be the kind of RPG meta-gaming book that I often enjoy. It has a focus for GMs and tends to be broad in scope. In this case it is also written by the fine folks at Gnome Stew including Phil Vecchione. Phil’s book Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master’s Guide To Session Prep was one of my favorite products of last year so I am hoping that same level of quality coverage will be founds here. You can get copies of Odyssey in softcover format at this URL for $24.95. DriveThruRPG sells copies in PDF format for $11.95 at this URL.

Memoir 44 by Days Of Wonder
As I mentioned earlier this year has seen a ton of board game play at my house and I could not be happier. We have several massive hits around home but probably the biggest is Memoir 44 from Days Of Wonder. The boys and I have collected nearly all of the expansion sets including the massively rare Air Pack and if our Christmas lists get filled then we may have everything. The number one entry on my gift list this year is a second Memoir 44 base set so that we can play Overlord scenarios. The Overlord scenarios use two Memoir 44 boards placed end-to-end to form a really wide battlefield. The boys are really looking forward to giving some of these longer more involved scenarios a try. You can get copies of Memoir 44 at lots of places online and at your FLGS. Here is a link to the Amazon entry where they are selling base sets for $49.48. Expect a longer review of Memoir 44 early next year.

Batman: The Complete Animated Series by DC Comics
I have been a massive fan of this series since it originally aired. Bruce Timm made a name for himself on this series for good reason. The stories are intricate and the animation quality is very high. The voice acting includes consummate professionals in the field. Mark Hammil playing the Joker and Arleen Sorken as Harlequin are off the charts fantastic. I’m such a huge Harley fan. 🙂 This box set includes the entire run of the show on something like 18 discs. Unfortunately I did not get it in the past so it sells for a fortune unless you want to pick up a bootleg copy on eBay.

For some reason this set is HEAVILY bootlegged. If you do an eBay search on the product you find tons of entries with low starting prices. Upon further investigation the sellers have no other sales and often include very strange buying guidelines. For example, they may have no returns allowed or ask to contact the seller to pay offline (i.e. NOT through eBay). Being a savvy eBay buyer the little hairs on the back of my neck start standing at attention. A quick Google search revealed that this product is HEAVILY bootlegged. Here is a fantastic video that I found that shows how to tell if your copy if a forgery.

100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition Book Two by Vertigo
In an earlier blog post I reviewed 100 Bullets Deluxe Edition Book One. I think this series is really great so I added the second volume to my list. See that review for all the good reasons why this sucker tops my list of fun reads. You can get copies on Amazon at this URL for $32.04.

Wish List For That Special Person In Your Life

Here are just three of the items on my bookshelf that I think would make great gifts. Note that the first two of these entries have not yet been reviewed on Kingbeast’s Lair.

Champions Complete by Hero Game
Hero has finally put out a condensed version of the Hero System 6th Edition rules that is reminiscent of the old big blue book (i.e. BBB). The format and content of this book is truly amazing. Derek Hiemforth really knocked it out of the park with this homerun product. Immediately upon receiving my copy I had it spiral bound so I could open it next to me when I work on adventures. Every gamer and Hero fan should get a copy. You can pickup copies on Amazon for $30.81 at this URL. For a paltry $20 you can get a copy on DriveThruRPG at this URL.

Ticket To Ride by Days Of Wonder
Ticket To Ride is probably the second most played game in my household right now. It is great fun to play and is simple enough for the boys to play along at full speed. It is also my wife Sermin’s favorite game right now…but don’t play with her…she is a Ticket To Ride shark! 😀 We have the 1910 and Africa expansions but really the base game with 1910 are enough to play for quite some time. One of the best board games I have ever played and the winner of the Spiel des Jahres in 2004. Complete board gaming served up on a golden spike. Amazon has copies for $37.29 at this URL.

Samurai Jack Season 1 by Cartoon Network
After Batman: The Animated Series my next favorite animated series is Samurai Jack. With Jack Genndy Tartakovsky created a nearly silent hero that speaks volumes with his actions. The series is cinematic in scope and quality. You can read my review of season 1 in my blog post earlier this year. Although maybe not as great as Season 2 this season put Jack on the map. You can get copies for $16.49 on Amazon at this URL.

All-Star Superman by DC Comics
All-Star Superman does something that I didn’t think was possible. It expands the Superman mythos in a glorious display of words and pictures. Anyone even remotely interested in comics will enjoy reading these personal stories that capture what it means to be the Man Of Steel. You can read my review of the first trade at this URL. Copies can be had at Amazon at this URL for $20.78.

Merry Christmas everyone! 😀

My boys and I have really fallen in love with Memoir 44 from Days Of Wonder. Over the course of the last year we have obtained nearly all of the expansions for the game. I think the only things left are for Breakthrough and Overlord sets. Those are on our Christmas lists. 🙂 As we have collected so much material I decided to invest in a storage device to hold all of our beloved Memoir 44 components. After much searching I decided on the Plano 787-010 3700 Size Angled StowAway System. This blog post is a review of this product.

(Click on the pictures to get a larger view.)

I’ll start my review from the front of the box and work my way towards the back. On the lid are two side compartments that are great for holding terrain tiles. On the sides of the front are two smaller storage compartments that come with clear plastic boxes. These side compartments fit an expansion box perfectly. We use the left side for the Terrain Pack box and more tiles. The right side we use for chits and airplanes. More on that in a bit. The main front compartment holds three smaller boxes and one larger one.

Inside the lid are four compartments. In the back there is a long thin cubby that PERFECTLY holds terrain tiles on their sides. Having the tiles sitting on their sides makes them very easy to search through to find the one that you are missing for your scenario. The top compartment can also hold four card boxes and all of the manuals pretty easily. From this front view with the doors open you can see how the clear plastic boxes slide into the main case at a slight backwards angle. This prevents the inner boxes from wanting to slide out. On the right are two smaller boxes that we use for chits and airplanes.

Here is a picture of the boxes that slide into the main front compartment. The one on the left is the thinner one. It works perfectly for figures. The one of the right fits on top in the main compartment. It is thicker that the other three boxes. This one is great for the larger Equipment Pack figures, dices, and larger chits.

On the back of the box is a pouch with elastic cords that can be tightened. This works great for holding the boards.

I think my only complaints with this tackle box are minor. One issue is that on one of the smaller clear plastic boxes one of the latches comes off sometimes. It is easily replaced but it is annoying. The side boxes on the top are also a tiny bit too small to hold the terrain tiles on end. It needs probably 1/4″ of height to fit them on end.

Overall I think this is a great product for holding all of our Memoir 44 components. It gets a resounding 9 out of 10 paws.

I got it from Amazon at this URL for $54.52. It is actually a bit more expensive now but still reasonable.

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 8th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play. The narrator is shown in italics.]

In this hair-raising adventure of Tesla’s Power Corp you can follow the exploits of the following heroes:

Ghosts Of The Past

After getting some coffee the Corp members head to the Metropolitan Museum to see why Trubee Davison, the curator, needs their help so early on a Sunday morning. When they arrive Trubee leads them into the Chinese Wing of the museum. There the group finds a police investigation in process. According the Trubee there was a break-in at the museum. The thieves not only took a jade artifact but also killed one of the museum security guards. After speaking briefly with a police detective Trubee asks the group to investigate the scene. Miles and Mike start by examining the body of the guard. The guard has been smashed in the head and right shoulder by something about the size of a basketball. At his side was his revolver with two shots discharged. Mike finds one shot in the wall and makes a supposition that the guard could have hit his attacker with the other shot. On the hand of the victim Miles finds a freshly burned scar. The scar is a Chinese character over three lightning bolts that converge together at the bottom. Miles makes a careful sketch of the symbol in a notebook. Next the group investigates the broken display case. Tommy takes the lead using his skills as a thief. Tommy discovers that the case was broken by a large object. Inside only a jade artifact is taken. Other valuables in the case have not been disturbed. The closest rear door appears to be the sign of entry. It is smashed open at the door jam with something spherical in shape around the size of a basketball. At this point Miles, Mike, and Johnny ask Trubee about the stolen item. Trubee takes them into his office and gives the trio a folder with details on the artifact. The details include a picture and a brief history. The item is piece of a jade pendent roughly 6″ across and 1″ thick. The piece shows part of a claw and scaled tail. Trubee explains that the artifact is from the first reign of the first emperor. Legend has it that the amulet is a dragon’s heart ripped from an evil dragon on orders of the Emperor. Of course Trubee believe this to be “poppycock”. Miles goes back to the case and detects the presence of an ancient magic. While the trio are inside Tommy looks for a street person who may have seen something. After some searching he finds a homeless man on the front porch of the museum. With a bribe of a hot dog and some coffee Tommy get the man to relax and open up. The man explains that he saw three men break in through the back door late last night. One man was really huge and was carrying a large stick. He was wearing a “sheet” and had a large tattoo of a lion on his shoulder. The other two men where smaller and were wearing “pajamas”. As Miles is not an expert on Chinese symbolism the group decides to head over to a friend of Mike’s to get some advice.

Mike’s friend from the army, PFC Eddie Chang, owns a Chinese restaurant known as The Golden Bowl. After knocking on the back door Eddie emerges. To the surprise of the Corp he tells them that trouble follows Mike like a shadow and wants them to leave. After some convincing Eddie ushers them into the empty dining room and takes a seat. The group shows him the symbol from the notebook. Eddie says the symbol is that of an ancient Chinese figure called Lo-Peng. Lo-Peng is a sort of Chinese bogeyman that is used to scare kids into being good. The symbol means literally, “He who lives forever.” He does not know what the lightning bolts mean except that they are referred to as “Lo-Peng’s talons”. As he hands back the picture it floats out of his hand then erupts in green flame and smoke. In the smoke the group can vaguely see two green eyes! As soon as the eyes dissipate, ghostly Chinese warriors emerge from the floor and start attacking! Eddie and Johnny jump for cover while the rest of the group goes into combat. Quickly the group finds that the ghostly warriors are nearly immune to normal weapons and are only barely affected by Mile’s deadly spells! As Tommy tries to move Eddie to safety he yells to Mike that the Spirit Warriors are only affected by bamboo. With that advice Johnny grabs a bamboo display and throws sticks to Mike and Miles. Tommy starts throwing chopsticks at the Spirit Warriors to deadly effect. Mike starts using two sticks in a pounding flurry! Once they are all dispelled Miles reaches out with his mystical senses. He discovers that the Spirit Warriors were summoned and quickly looks out the front door. On the street he spots a Chinese man in a black trench coat moving quickly away from The Golden Bowl. He alerts the group and races off in pursuit. Johnny quickly gains the lead and chases the man over an alley fence where he sees him enter a martial arts dojo.

HEE-YA!

Inside the dojo the man running from the restaurant appears to be reporting to a huge bald man and a group of martial art practitioners. The bald man is wearing a toga like tunic, is carrying a huge club with a large metal ball on the end, and is sporting a tattoo of a lion! He must be the killer! With that Tommy enters the dojo and asks the men to surrender. The large man says something in Chinese then they all move in to attack. Tommy jumps up onto a shelf over the office, Johnny lets loose with a pellet fire blast, Miles cuts loose with lightning bolts, and Mike rushes in with brass knuckles! The large man takes some swings but luckily does not catch Mike squarely. Realizing that the large man is his better he pulls his pistols and opens fire. The big man known as Ti-Lung takes the shots but is a bit taken aback. He then casts a spell that raises stone armor around his torso and laughs deeply! Mike continues to fire but it is not having much effect now! While up close Mike notices a scroll case on Ti-Lung’s waist. He yells to Tommy to grab it. Johnny lights the building on fire but goes down when several martial artists group up on him. In the back of the room Tommy spots some fireworks. He jumps down, grabs the scroll, then tells Miles to shoot the boxes. When a lighting bolt hits the boxes of fireworks they go up in a huge explosion of flame and light! Martial artists and Ti-Lung fitfully try to dive-for-cover! The members of Tesla’s Power Core grab Johnny and beat a hasty retreat.

Behind The Buddha

The scrolls from Ti-Lung says the following:
I have located two of three parts to an ancient artifact known as the Jade Heart. With it I will be able to return to my former glory. One piece is located in the New York Metropolitan Museum. Another piece of the Jade Heart rests near the Buddha Of Bamyan. Shen-Lung will be attempting to obtain that piece. It is imperative that you, my powerful Earth Talon, recover the fragment in New York. Once you have the item I will contact you for its delivery.

With that the group decides to head to the Buddha Of Bamyan which are near Kabul in Afghanistan. After a flight to the area Miles rents a jeep and hire a guide. The group then proceeds to the Buddha. Along the way they enter a small village that is holding a kite flying contest. The say hello then carry on to the site.

At the site they find three stone Buddha which are roughly 30 feet in height. After doing some magical detecting Miles says to look behind the head of the center Buddha. With that Tommy climbs up to take a look. Behind the head he finds a small tunnel. At the end of a short shaft the young thief spies a wondrous room full of wooden planks suspended on chains. At the far side of the room is a golden chest…

The remaining talons of Lo-Peng lead the way for the deadly immoral emperor to restore his lost power. Can the heroic members of Tesla’s Power Corp stop him?!? Stay tuned and find out!!!