Versailles

Magnificent debauchery.

Centered on the rise of King Louis XIV (played by George Bladgen) this series had some spectacular settings and production values, provided you make it through the very strange opening episode. The locations, outfits, and props are all fantastic. The acting is good, and the plot is decent though occasionally contrived.

Intrigue, opulence and a lot of nudity and sex are the main stay of the show - though there are a fair number of short action bits throughout. There are characters to cheer for, to hate, and in Louis' case both.

Nice hair, fantastic costumes and settings.

The show made me laugh and it made me cry, and while it is definitely not for everyone it was pretty good for me. That ending though, blargh! Give it a try if you want something a little different.

Unbreakable (2000)

One heck of a low key superhero movie.

After miraculously surviving a terrible accident, David (Bruce Willis) is contacted art gallery owner and comic book enthusiast Price (Samuel Jackson) who believes that David might actually have super human qualities.

Doesn't actually qualify as an action movie!

The entire movie is just character building for these two. There's very little action, very little in terms of special effects, but very good cinematography, acting and script. Definitely one of M. Night Shyamalan's better works and one I would watch again.

I give it 3 glass canes out of 5, and recommend it to everyone who doesn't mind very little action. It's a different genre but if you liked the Sixth Sense, you'll probably like this. If not, stay away.

Kindness Matters

Never throw away a dog.

This low budget movie is about a dog and two homes. In the first, a single father struggling to take care of his semi-special needs kid, and in the second a middle aged loner (Bill Wetheril) with no friends. All this changes when the loner takes in and looks after a discarded puppy.

Hmm that's not entirely true, the single father does solve his own situation separately but hey - why not put them in the same movie and plot device them together? Also, the audience gets to hear what the dog is thinking. Yep, it's that kind of movie.

It would help if the dog was smarter than the average dog.

But nope, it's just a dog.

While the plot and acting could be better (that's an understatement), I do have to note how nice the people are in this movie. Except one person who wins the "worst person" award, and that's amazing to achieve in a non violent drama. Still, not really worth going out of your way to see and one I'm not going to watch again - I rate it 1.5 cacti out of 5.

Now You See Me 2

Even more unbelievable than last time.

The dormant group of magician vigilantes from the last movie re-emerge with seemingly infinite resources, even more bogus magic powers, and have somehow retained their world wide fan base. The tables are turned when the bad guys have tricks of their own.

While it has decent acting, effects and comedy the plot feels quite lacking and required "filler"? One particular example is a complicated card passing sequence that could have been 90% shorter.

Cool, but not necessary.

Entertaining: yes. Better than original: no. I'm not sure who to recommend this to other than magic fans (I guess?) and it's not one I'd watch again. 2 throwing cards out of 5.

The Equalizer

It's always the quiet ones.

Robert (Denzel Washington) is a quiet man who keeps to himself and has trouble sleeping, which leads him to reading books at a local cafe where he slowly befriends a girl who is in all sorts of trouble. Eventually this "trouble" becomes too much for him to just sit idly by and he decides to do something about it. Violently.

While the overall plot has nothing too surprising, it is definitely entertaining - including the slow paced start. The surprises are more from answering how are all these goons going to die? I quite enjoyed that some kills just "happen", where bad guys are suddenly already dead and/or implied to have suffered. Basically Robert is Batman, without that rule of no killing.

I wonder if I can kill people... faster...

I obviously enjoyed this movie and would definitely watch it again, but stay away if vigilante righteousness is not your thing or if you want some depth to your plot. I give it 3 rolls of razor wire out of 5.

The Fate of the Furious

Suspension of disbelief in overdrive.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and crew are quite an accomplished lot now, what with having around 7 movies under their belt. It's for this reason Cypher (Charlize Theron) decides that the only way to best them is to simply turn Dom against them.

The result is a fantastical action packed movie with some crazy stunts, nice action sequences, many unbelievable plot points, graphical hacking (lol), and quite a number of very nice automobiles (which is mandatory in this series). Your suspension of disbelief will be well and truly tested, more so than any previous Furious movie.

This is far from the most ridiculous part.

It's also great that they have plot continuity from the previous films and that there are many returning faces. Definitely entertaining if you can turn your brain off for long enough. I give it 3 crucifix necklaces out of 5 and would definitely watch it again. For best effect, you should at least watch the previous 2 movies in the franchise though.

Strange Magic

George Lucas is off with the fairies.

The opening where a fairy sings an Elvis song is a good indication of what you are in for in this animated flick, as it is strongly in the "musical" bucket with at least 50% of it being sung.

If you can get past that, then you are treated to a very well animated story of love, hate and everything in between packaged for a young teen audience. The humor in it is alright too, though don't expect many surprises plot wise.

Definitely needed more of this fella.

All up I found it a decent and suitable for kids movie, but not a great one. It gets 2.5 primrose petals out of 5. I'd probably watch it again, but that's just me.

The Originals

"Always and forever."

This show follows the titular Original vampire family in New Orleans, and how despite their best intentions, they seem to pick the worst ways to go about their plots. For near immortal type characters who are even above regular vampires, they can be quite stupid at times.

Did he just call us stupid?

Still, this is a step up from the show they spawned from - the Vampire Diaries, which is great. They do continue the trend of bringing back dead characters, but I guess old habits die hard.

Alas unlike that show the ending here is a bit of a let down, with each season seeming to be worse than the previous one. Recommended for Vampire Diaries fans, vampire aficionados, or even Buffy/Angel fans. For everyone else, your milage may vary.

Brotherhood of the Wolf

Hunting the most dangerous prey.

This French film follows a knight (Samuel Le Bihan) and his native American companion (Mark Dacascos) as they hunt the beast of Gevaudan. Story wise, from a high enough point, it is good - as are the martial arts action segments and the beast (when it eventually shows up). That said there are a lot of issues with it too, the main one being pacing.

Who the heck wrote this?

Especially at the start - it just drags. Too many characters with speaking lines and weak actors who don't need to be there, an unnecessary love story subplot involving strange facial expressions, and general filler. Yep. It's like they have a good movie, but said "we need x more minutes" and just piled it on with lousy content which is a pity.

Not one I can really recommend but if you are feeling in the mood for a B grade foreign semi-action film this one might take your liking. I give it one and a half agents of Rome out of five.

Chronicles of Riddick

"He's the holy half dead who has seen the underverse."

How Karl Urban said that line with a straight face is amazing. Also, I'm not sure why he's and (the woman) are in this movie. Faced with galactic annihilation from the Borg Necromongers a race of zealot converts, prophecy dictates that the future of the universe is in the hands of one man: a convict on the run (Vin Diesel).

Riddick is in fine form for this sci-fi action flick (apart from the crazy wig at the start) as he ventures from world to world stirring up trouble as he does. The CGI is good as are the set pieces but it is the Necromongers who let this film down. I'm not sure they themselves (the extras) know what they are supposed to be other than "barbarian raiders".

That's a lot of axe heads... afraid you'll miss?

Also their whole motto of "you keep what you kill" is riddickulous (yes I used that word) and it just feels like they were thrown together from a bunch of half baked ideas. At least the final fight is sort of cool? Still, didn't need Karl Urban. So far this is the weakest of the Riddick movies, and I give it two and a half boob shots out of five.

Eador: Overlord of Worlds

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The wizard Arzang is hired to attack Erdu's magical shard (which is great for wizards) and does well with the initial sword rush strategy. Progress slows a little when he finds Erdu guarded by many centaur tribes and loses many adventurers fighting through the herd of horsemen.

Finally reached nuke level warfare.

Once he does reach Erdu's castle he unleashes a rain of brimstone (ritual) to soften up the defenses before attacking, and easily captures the enemy fortress. Erdu is captured and sent to magical facilities for study and experimentation. Who knows what one may learn from ancient physiology? Do they regenerate finger nails and sexual organs for example? These are important questions that Nesturs wants answers to.

With no other masters left, Nesturs easily rebuilds the planet Eador and becomes known to the general populace as the Creator and Protector God. For others, the Conqueror and the Overlord of Worlds.

Eador: True Colors

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

With only Erdu left, Shinordium is sent to assist his forces on a large unclaimed shard in completing "the talisman". Erdu's lands are encountered first but as allies, Shinordium just bypasses it - heading instead for the powerful local lord who owns 3 castles this time around!

Just to mix things up, the wizard hires a full squad of elven archers from a local mercenary guild (first time Nesturs has seen one) and finds them extremely effective - easily defeating all of the local lords strongholds. It is then, when Shinordium is farthest to defend Nesturs citadel that Erdu shows his true colors and declares war.

The firing squad is super effective!

Fortunately Erdu's champion is a bit of an idiot and Shinordium makes it to Erdu's lands - and castle - in good time. Erdu doesn't even bother defending - he just flees. Nesturs decides its time to end this coward once and for all.

Eador: Masters of the Universe

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

With the dragon dead, the next few masters seem to appear in quick succession: Ranadil, a cloud elemental whose only concern is creating a world of oceans, "Nameless" the mysterious shadowy douchebag, and Magnus - the most powerful of the current masters, interested only in knowledge and not in defeating the chaos (by recompleting the world).

I wonder if he "knows" how much of a ass hat he is.

Wizard Eineron is sent to deal with Ranadil and his barbarian and archer armies and achieves this task easily thanks to the magic crystal rich land the elemental has cultivated. Thellaphes has a harder time against Nameless who is guarded by dwarven clans with siege weaponry and a tricksy poisoner but he falls just the same.

Meanwhile the brothers Niredor and Mencor are sent to confront Magnus whose massive lands are tough to navigate due to the mountain ranges inhabited by manticores and hydras. After a long struggle they reach Magnus' castle where Niredor casts a ritual of mass hysteria so that the defenders damage each other and lose morale pre-battle.

Despite that, the archer and centaur guards led by a fireball casting ranger are very tough. Niredor is arrowed to death in the brutal battle and the army of both sides wiped out. Mencor's squad then attacked from the rear and with no decent troops left to defend him, Magnus could do little before Mencor beheaded him.

Eador: Untethered

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

Sensing Nesturs rising power, Dorikos sends his dragon cultists to attack the mainland and Thellaphes is on defense duty. He gets off to a good start by befriending a djinn and finding a fireball scroll early but is then hampered in progress by a large ocean flanked by lands occupied by boulder throwing giants.

It takes awhile to build a shipyard large enough to make the crossing and Thellaphes loses most of his units on the shore landing but makes it to the enemy castle himself where the javelin guards give him no challenge. Dorikos retreats back to his world and Thellaphes follows.

Dragons, more OP than magic. Also immune to magic!

It certainly seems that Dorikos sent all his best troops on the offense because there's nothing that can stop Thellaphes from marching right to his front gate and destroying the dragon master's tether to the land, sending the overgrown lizard hurtling through space into the chaos.

Now is a good time to note that all dragons on Eador are immune to magic and are very deadly, which is why Nesturs forces tend to just avoid them. Fortunately Dorikos wasn't really supported by his kin, and ironically it was the dragons godliness (and tether) that proved to be his weakness.

Eador: Light and Dark

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

With Ul-Dagan defeated, the master Dorikos - King of all Dragons appears and he takes an immediate liking to Nesturs. With Erdu still allied to construct "the talisman", Nesturs opts to attack Herskil next. Why go for a lesser territory?

The wizard Assagh, who had previously aided in Oinor's defeat, is sent and finds himself in a world of free settlements - perhaps the easiest type of world since they usually have weak defenses and can be bribed with gold. What its low in is magic crystals which forces Assagh to make do with weaker cantrips for awhile.

Even with higher level guardsmen and a centaur ally, Assagh still has to skirt around a Hydra and sneak past some vampires before reaching Herskil's castle - which ironically is guarded by a large band of thieves! Weakened by stone rain, they and their master are no match for the halberd wielders and are all cut down easily.

With Herskil's death, a devil named Adrageron appears as the new master in space - Nesturs sends forth Assagh again - this time onto lands of chaos (demons) where people have lousy morale. Fortunately Assagh is strong enough to solo most of the enemies here, helped out by the exorcism spell and a well placed shipyard. The devil's castle is guarded by strong orcs and a demon summoning scout but they all fall to Assagh's mighty power. The wizard then exorcises Adrageron himself.

Demon lands are not immune to rainbows!

Eador: A Voiceless Scream

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

With Dariol gone, two new masters appear in space. Herskil, the Emperor of the Sun (possibly the Lord of Light) and another ancient named Erdu who hates Ul-Dagan's guts. Sensing opportunity, Nesturs allies with Erdu and agrees to help him form his "talisman" that will help Eador somehow. In exchange, Erdu will send a strike team to Ul-Dagan's mainland, as he knows how to bypass the force field.

All that's left is to distract the ancient engineer, so Nesturs sends Cleeren and the wizard Thellaphes to a large unclaimed dead lands shard to try gain Ul-Dagan's attention and it works. Their "landing site" territory is lousy though - and surrounded by water.

Still, the swordsman rush tactic works well and lets them defeat the nearby local lord who seems to have a javelin fetish. Erdu's citadel is nearby and as planned, is so lightly defended it almost falls over on its own. With them gone only Ul-Dagan remains, and his lands are in such a hard to reach spot that it is easier to build a massive shipyard (bigger = more sea hexes crossed) to reach it.

Ul-Dagan's heroes are well prepared when they arrive though, and Cleeren is killed by a surprise fireball from a high level enemy warrior. Despite heavy losses Thellaphes manages to avenge the scout then push forward to Ul-Dagan's citadel and destroy it, evicting him from the shard and back to... nowhere.

Don't mess with Thellaphes!

The plan worked as Erdu's strike team captured Ul-Dagan's mainland, leaving the engineer screaming silently as he fell through space to his eventual destruction in the chaos.

Eador: The King and the Vampires

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

Olchyr had just returned to the mainland when Ul-Dagan attacked. The ranger hired the shaman Shelumu and allied with nomadic horsemen to help defeat the invaders, using his magic sword to dispel the evil spirits that stood in his way and finding a powerful spell scroll that would make Shelumu near unstoppable.

Indeed, Ul-Dagan's forces had no chance when the shaman began raising vampires on the field of battle and were quickly evicted from the shard. Alas, Ul-Dagan's still shield prevents any counter invasions so Nesturs attacks the brooding Elf King Dariol instead, to reunite him with Vianta. In death.

Yep, the backstabbing vampire is an ally!

Wizard Shinordium and scout Cleeren find themselves surrounded by elven forest lands - not rich in gold but rich in gems. It is tough to navigate those woods though as the elves are great archers and unicorns quite tough. Fortunately there is a small section of Holy Lands (loyal to the Lord of Light) who again agree passage for Nesturs proxies.

They eventually reach Dariol's castle, weakening it through use of an undead invasion (ritual spell cast by Shinordium) and then attacking it. The King is a gargoyle summoning archer (fortunately not the exploding type) and while he inflicts great losses on Nesturs troops, he ultimately falls in battle.

Eador: Misjudgement

[Interlude of the Masters of Eador Story.]

Just thought I'd put in an art post today, since it sort of deals with what happened in the latest story entry. When playing on low level difficulty (which I do for strategy games as I'm terrible at them) Eador gives you a gauge for any auto-combat events.

While all auto-combat is optional, I certainly used it a lot since the fighting does get repetitive. The only problem with it is...

The initial assessment is usually wrong! :P

Eador: Fairy Dust

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

In space, two new masters appear - the Elf King Dariol who clearly has a thing for Vianta, and an "ancient" one (green skinned elf?) named Ul-Dagan "the engineer". Ul-Dagan in particular is quite abrasive so Nesturs tries attack him immediately, only to find his world is protected by some form of force shield.

Due to this, Nesturs sends Olchyr to attack Vianta instead since she now hates him for what happened to Oinor. The sadist mage Eleran is also hired to assist. It is tough to progress on the Fairy Queen's shard due to the low mining (low gold) and the high number of powerful treants milling about. Indeed it's easier to go through the small pockets of demon territories here.

Eleran is feeling ballsy.

Fortunately Nesturs tech level has been going through the roof thanks to all the huge shards (of other masters) he's been collecting, and his proxies bypass a lot of fighting simply by constructing a shipyard to sail them beside Vianta's castle, which ironically is guarded only by simple militia. Eleran easily defeats them, captures Vianta, and uses her in his experiments until she expires.

Eador: Out with the Old

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

With Lan'sharr gone, the wizard Niredor and his commander brother Mencor are hired on a small unclaimed but "developed" shard, almost fully explored with large cities and easily take out the citadels of Oinor and Stenriya simultaneously. The two masters now openly despise Nesturs so Mencor is sent to her world of rust to eliminate Stenriya first.

While Mencor's gear deteriorates quickly here, his troops do not suffer the same penalties which lead him to victories against pegasi, centaurs and the undead defending the castle. Mencor is victorious, but Stenriya, having forseen the outcome, flees into space - vowing revenge.

Out numbered and out leveled, doesn't make a difference.

Meanwhile wizard Assagh is deployed to to handle Oinor, and finds himself in lousy lands with little to no resources (no wonder Oinor always loses). Scout Olchyr is recruited to assist and forms an alliance with the local lizardmen. After defeating a centaur tribe guarding Oinor's castle, the old mage is thrown out on the street and publicly executed.

Nesturs had thought about sparing the Oinor, but then realized only a fool would let his foes live.

Eador: Pendrainne and the Lich

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The mage Pendrainne and scout Farcol are sent to the next unclaimed land, a large desert one that also interests Oinor, Vianta, and Stenriya due to some mystic gear being present there. Pendrainne finds it in dwarven lands near Nesturs citadel, so he takes it by force before evicting the other masters off the shard.

At this point Lan'sharr the lich, another master, appears and openly declares his goal of exterminating all life while looking for allies. In his view masters don't count as "life", just their subjects. In response, Nesturs immediately send Pendrainne and the scout Slitt to kill the lich on his own shard and is surprisingly supported by Vianta who sends aid in the form of resources and troops: dryads and fairies.

Lich logic is awesome.

Lan'sharr has great defenses though. Driven by madness, the wizard Orongull now served the lich along with six powerful minotaurs at his castle. It was a bloody battle, with Slitt assassinating Orongull before being dismembered by the bull men. Pendrainne's forces met a similar fate, but the wizard still claimed victory with 1 HP remaining. That was all he needed to destroy Lan'sharr once and for all.

Eador: Warriors are Terrible

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

Since the current masters aren't openly evil, Nesturs decides to attack a small unclaimed land next for the pure purpose of testing the warrior hero Irthorn, who is so slow to achieve pretty much anything. Fortunately the only competition here is Oinor's own warrior Farien who is also very hesitant to go into direct combat, and instead focuses on killing quest givers (meaning Irthorn's quests autofail).

Top left: Irthorn attacking Farien's citadel.

Bottom Right: Farien afraid to move.

Despite the snail's pace, Irthorn does find a lead about one of the 7 keys "being on a land of the dead"  and saves a woman from being trapped in the body of a phoenix. He eventually reches Oinor's citadel and manages to trap Farien in a corner territory while he lays siege to the castle. It is a difficult fight against middling opponents, but Irthorn eventually claims victory.

Nesturs makes a note not to use any more warrior heroes in the future.

Eador: Orongull's Rampage

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

Orongull and the scout Dynrigg traverse Beleth's low population shard, with Dynrigg forging an alliance with the local lizardmen and finding some transcript about 7 keys of truth that can repair Eador. Meanwhile, Orongull and his double cast ability make him lethal to the Beleth's mounted knights and a worthy enemy warrior champion who almost reaches the mage but is ultimately fried by direct lightning bolts to the face.

Your cavalry cannot save you.

Orongull doesn't hesitate to disintegrate Beleth as he begs for his life, and continues on to another master's shard - a stoic mind flayer named Oumm. Despite losing his biggest spells, Orongull's power is so great that the level 0 cantrips eliminate all opposition - destroying Oumm with barely a challenge.

The destruction of two masters gains the attention of yet another, the ancient seer Stenriya, whom both Oinor and Vianta view as a cunning liar. Nesturs takes note not to trust the old and seemingly friendly hag.

Eador: World of War

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

Commander Gavion is sent to attack Doh-Gor's world of war, fully benefiting from the cheaper army upkeep the land provides. It is a huge land mass though, and soon the scout Scoarudd and wizard Orongull are recruited not only to handle the territories but to also defend against Doh-Gor's encroaching forces.

With his border guarded by tough cyclopses, Gavion's force takes some time to find a weakspot to sneak through and lay siege to his castle. Doh-Gor's troops are numerous, but fail to match Gavion's swordsmen who suffer no losses in the final battle. Doh-Gor is slain and his magic pendant brought to Nesturs.

Walls with holes are useless.

Beleth shows great interest in this artifact and offers to purchase it from Nesturs for astral energy. Nesturs ups the price to the point where Beleth is begging and then agrees. It turns out the amulet is the prison of some god, and when Beleth frees him - gains a permanent alliance with the orcs. Not that it matters, since Nesturs attacks his world of death next.

Eador: In Space, Size Matters

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

On the next shard Faeris meets the forces of a new master, the fairy Queen Vianta, who preaches all about love and joy - freely giving resources to Nesturs representatives. The good will is broken when she suddenly demands tribute in return, but at that point Faeris had developed the lands enough to accumulate lots of magic crystals (which power spells).

Getting crowded out here.

The wizard Pendrainne is recruited to use said crystals to flatten Vianta's citadel, followed by defeating Oinor's weak forces once more - the swamps he put his citadel in didn't leave him much gold for defenses.

Beleth, seeing that this victory let Nesturs mainland surpass that of the necromancers own suddenly becomes a sniveling coward, offering some form of "alliance" against the other lords. This is because Nesturs can now assault other master's mainlands directly. More land = more power. Nesturs is tempted to silence Beleth for good but first decides to return the favor to his first invader: Doh-Gor.

Eador: Annoying Invaders

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The wizard Phiruno competes against Oinor on the next small shard, and is almost defeated when Oinor's warrior champion Tharmun and his lizardman force manage to snake their way to Nesturs stronghold! Fortunately the adventurers hired to defend the place are worth their salt, driving Tharmun away.

Phiruno then makes use of the integrated Holy Lands to bypass Oinor's defenses and destroy his castle, achieving victory. His task isn't complete though, for as soon as the shard is captured, Doh-Gor attacks Nesturs mainland! On the defense, Oinor has the advantage of seeing through the fog of war but still needs to build up the capital and recapture territories again. Annoying.

Scout Faeris is recruited to help manage the populace (and even manages to ally with the rich halflings) while Phiruno learns a great AoE spell called Stone Rain. They once again leverage the Holy Inquisition for passage, and both manage to smash Doh-Gor's centaurs and arrow tower guarded castle, driving him off Nestur's mainland.

A better example of OP magic.

Eador: Exploding Units are the Worst

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

The scout, Dynrigg is sent to the next shard against Beleth's forces where he enlists the aid of dryads, fairies and finding that most of this land is faithful almost to the point of zealotry to "the Lord of Light". Since they still view Nesturs as "good" they do let Dynrigg pass through, but aren't as friendly to Beleth's evil champion.

Poison damages all opponents!

Dynrigg eventually lays siege to Beleth's stronghold there, and despite catastrophic losses to centaurs allied to the necromancer, the scout is successful, partially thanks to his success in poisoning their water supply before the battle but mostly thanks to the exploding gargoyles he learned to summon during his time with Archmage Kelaide.

Meanwhile in the void, another master appears - the barbarian Doh-Gor who wields a powerful magic amulet. He openly states his intent on destroying Nesturs. Soon.

September 2018 Status

Blaugust was pretty fun, and more than that it's filled up my blog list again to over 100! I'm not even sure I got everyone, just let me know if I need to link to you! I'll probably start culling the ones who don't have new posts every 3 weeks next month, as is the norm around here. :P

It's now back to working on these lists and some of these items are simply not budging thanks to my lack of focus. Playing 4 games at once is pretty bad for concentration, I just can't decide to either continue hammering them all and getting them out of the way (except Neverwinter since that just goes on and on) or cutting back and use the time for other things.

New for this month is a bunch of board game stuff, which technically also falls under back log.

    End the year with less weight (+1 kg from last month, running total: -1.9 kg)
    Draw 12 drawings of anything (7/12 - no progress)
    Make board game prototype (no progress)
    Complete web comic chapter 1 (no progress)
    Clean out wardrobe (no progress)
    Complete NWO: Ravenloft (2/2, done)
    Update Facebook pictures (done)
    Destroy Black Mold invading the house (done)

Backlog Update:

FROM GIFTS (or freebies)
Sims 3
Hand of Fate 2 (in progress)
Sniper Elite 4 (in progress)
Battletech (in progress)
Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown (done)

+Board games
Witcher board game redemption trial
+Finish Tomb of Annihilation
+Finish Mice and Mystics
+Play more Pandemic Iberia
+Play more Zombicide: Black Plague

Eador: Wizard Power

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

A new master, the necromancer Beleth, appears in space. His lands are a tier above Oinor's and demands in no uncertain terms for Nesturs to be his lackey. Nesturs refuses, and continues to attack the unmastered shards. The wizard Phiruno serves Nesturs next and blitzkriegs the heck out of the local lord with his spells, giving Nesturs a greater appreciation for mage champions.

Magic is OP.

On the next land, larger shard than any Nesturs previously conquered, the wizard Kelaide is enlisted and deals with the increased threats rather well and eliminates Beleth's champion quickly. The larger territories prove difficult to govern though, as some teeter near rebellion. The scout Dynrigg is hired to assist in this matter - expanding each territory through exploration as to avoid an overcrowding populace.

The slow pace lets Kelaide reach archmage status, and with Dynrigg bribing Oinor's troops to defect, has an easy time conquering the rest of the shard.

Eador: Too Good a Teacher

[Part of the Masters of Eador story.]

As masters were unable to manifest as themselves, they needed proxies to lead their crusades for them in capturing shards. Nesturs found his first proxy in an untested commander named Alleon, who was equal parts brash and violent - using sheer numbers of basic troops to overwhelm the local lords on the first two shards (basically zerg rush), which were then absorbed into Nestur's mainland. Power hungry, Alleon even destroyed Oinor's forces on the second land - an action the old wizard frowned upon.

The standard battle map.

Commander Marogund, Nestur's next servant was sent to a desert shard whose theme is stamina draining combat. Marogund is more of a pacifist, (very) slowly buying out the nearby settlements to increase his territory and resources, leading to a heavily supplied force when it comes time for him to lay siege to Oinor's castle. Defeating the adventurers employed to guard it, Oinor is once again forced to concede the shard to Nesturs whose mainland now equals Oinor's in size.

Through gritted teeth, the old wizard congratulates him and resigns as being his mentor.