Metallic Rouge

 Time for a new sci-fi series that aired during this winter season, and one with a Blade Runner feel to it.

Metallic Rouge is about Naomi and her partner, on a mission on Mars to take out 9 androids that are opposing humanity.

The world has evolved to the point androids and humans perfectly co-exist with each other, in such a way they form one society.  But as in every society, there are dissidents and as a result these are hunted down and taken offline.  Rouge is such an android that hunts enemies of the government, together with her partner Naomi.  

Rouge works undercover in the Canal Club for Sarah Fitgerald, a famous singer.  But one evening, a mysterious mechanoid suit assaults her mansion, as well as people downtown.  But there seems to be more to lady Sarah then thought, as she has a hitman as her personal protector.  Sarah  shares some of her past story with Rouge, as they get to confront each other.  But the mysterious armoured person, identified as Hell gallion, interferes.  He mimiced the red  suit, but soon after the "Red Gladiator" arrives on the scene engaging Gallion.  Sarah, whose real name is Viola, is one of the Immortal Nine, Purgatory Viola, and a duel with Metal Rouge begins.  And yes, that is actually Rouge.

Rouge defeats her (to an epic soundtrack btw), joining back up with Naomi for their next target.  As they travel together on a train, it gets attacked by soldiers looking for Rouge, her protecting the passengers.  An investigator, doctor Afdal, from Mars is send to look into the matter from the Bureau of Protection.  When she interferes with some armed guards harassing a Nean, Arfal intervenes bailing them both out trouble.  Joining him and his assistant into a Nean living facility, she learns how poorly Neans are treated, and how they hope to just live freely.

When a young Nean, Yuval, is killed, the other Neans decide to keep it a secret to prevent human interferance.  Naomi expects it is a set up by Altar, and it seems to point to Rouge, who is innocent.  Knowing she is being framed, she breaks out of her chains.  But not before saving the Neans that imprisoned her from a platoon of soldiers.  The assassin actually turns out to be Arfal, who believes freedom is nothing but an illusion, and is also one of the mechashifters like Rouge.

Rouge is taken into a sort of dreamworld build by their creators.  Here she gets insights on her past and what her purpose might be, as she is called the Betrayer of Neans and the Kingslayer.  It seems that they want to extract something called Code Eve from her memories, which could reform the world.  But when Naomi is threatened, she comes to her senses and saves her, and it is revealed Hell was mimicing Afdal.

A secret plan is devised around Naomi to try and lure the killer out.  But bigger things are at play, as it all resolves around the Venus project, to terraform that planet.  By using artificial black holes they move the planet to the orbit of Earth, Neans being used to do the labour.  Rouge, as a valuable species, is targetted for being investigated and see how her technology can be implemented.  She is freed from her captivity though by Altar, who want to make her see their ways: a free society for Neans, without the human curse.

 

As she discovers her Maker's diary, she learns what makes her so special.  But the facility is attacked, and Afdal's assistant is shot down as Rouge faces Viola, one of the Immortal Nine.   Pressed, as a second Immortal joins against her, a mysterious traveller that happens to be near her often steps in, turning out to be one of the strongest of the Immortal Nine, Noir.  But Aes also appears, turning against Rouge.  

The battle at a stalemate, Naomi intervenes telling Rouge to focus, as she discovered all the Nine are on the same frequency.  This allows them to escape, as we learn that Naomis far more then she initially seemed.  As they journey through the solar system, another one of the Nine, Cyan, has been stowed away.  Even though she told before she would be the one to kill Rouge, she embraces her older sister heartily.  They go to the base of their creator, where the system is already pulling information out of the other's ID's.

But their vessel is attacked by missiles on route to their destination, They manage to land, as the other's are discussing where the secret gift of their creator went.  The others decide to kill Rouge, sending Hell after her.  Rouge and Naomi discover a facility that produces Neans, and that Altar's leaders want to use as their loyal force.  As both sides face each other, lines are drawn and each must take a side depending on their believes and how they see humanity and Neans co-exist.

Rouge is impaled by Sylvia in battle, but when she asks Naomi for her hand the later runs.  Hell, grieveously hurt himself, lets her pass to reach the control room though.  But Naomi decides she is going to go with Rouge after all, giving her her own ID to restore her, as Noir reaches the Eve data.  The puppet master is revealed to be the creator, dr Junghart, himself.  

He reveals the whole truth, much to the shock of the Immortal Nine, who didn't expect their existence to have been created for these reasons.  Turning on their creator, this causes them to resort to more infighting and the demise of more of them.  This causes Rouge to have to stand up to her creator, who has taken over the body of Cyan.  Rouge eventually defeats him, even though it meant taking out Cyan, and averting the thread as she unlocks the source code.

So, the series clearly got it's inspiration from Blade Runner, which isn't a bad thing.  But at times, you really have this WTF is going on feeling during the episodes.  It won't become a cult classic like the mentioned movie, but it isn't rubbish either for sure.

Warhammer Underworlds Battle Report: Sharpening the Razors

 Time for another casual meeting week report, and this time we started the night by playing Cyreni's Razors in the Nemesis format, with a deck build of her rivals and the Force of Frost universal.

 

 

Now as this was a bit of a last moment decision to take them along, the deck is build around staggering and spellcasting objectives, so let's see how it goes.

 

The first game of the evening was against Michael and his Starblood Stalkers, who mixed in the new Rimewyrm's Bite deck.   The Starblood Stalkers are all about speed, and objective scoring, so my aim was to go for the little ones as soon as possible.  With the boards staggered, this did limit my Hammertide action though.

But that was never the less the first thing I did, and then a Thrall followed up, finishing of the first skink and first blood to the Idoneth.  However, his Saurus warrior quickly avenged the little guy, and getting inspired in the process knocked my warrior out.

Using it's superspeed ploy, the leader of the Stalkers raced over the whole board, scoring an objective in my half (and preventing me from scoring one for not having enemies in my half), but the first round ended with a 4-2 lead for Cyreni's Razors.

In the second round, my squid and thrall decided to make total idiots of themselves, as the combined attack failed to take out a single simple skink.  Luckily Cyreni did better, Pelagic blasting the skink leader out of the game.

But this left her exposed to the big Saurus, and even the thrall that came to the aid couldn't stop the big beast, leaving her exposed for the charge in the third turn, but we still barely led with 6 - 5.

 

I had to take a gamble though at the third turn, because to be able to play some ploys I needed to not be inspired, meaning I had to pass first turn to the Lizardmen and hope he would miss.  He duly did with his main attack, but the bite pushed me back into the lethal hex and took Cyreni out, damn.

With the thrall also being eliminated after some epic misses, it was poor Cephanyr now alone on the board to salvage the situation... and he failed to take out the chamelon skink even with his 4 dice and ensnare.

 

The result, an 8-8 draw in the end and a lot of internal cursing on my side of the many botched attack rolls.  But it was a fun game, and some lessons are being learned as we go.

For the second game I faced Peter and his Godsworn Hunt with Malevolent Masks.  He had taken this deck as the masks are easy upgrades to inspire his fighters, and again a staggered board.

The game started well, with a thrall immediatly taking down his javelineer, as the others advanced but didn't cause any more casualties bar some wounds left or right. Peter in return focussed all his efforts on Cephanyr, downing the squig.

But in return, as I could now activate again, I killed of his leader Thedra, and the second game where Cyreni takes out her rival.  Jealous little girl I have here on my hands it seems.

The first round ended at a 5-3 lead for the Idoneth as a result.

The second round saw Cyreni take down Grundann, but he returned from the dead, making a final attack and downing Cyreni.  This caused her though to unleash her Final Curse, and her fourth spell of the phase, scoring me big as Grundann also allowed me to score the card for three fighters out of action.  This means 5 points in her final moments, an honourable death indead for my leader.

With this epic dual, a massive 15-7 lead was now on the board for the Razors, and it would be a matter of holding on to this during the final turn.

A final turn that would be fought by the two lone survivors, Shond on his side, and Renglaith at mine.

Renglaith managed to wound Shond, but with some pushes coming into play could't avoid him and was taken down.  The Hunt / Masks combination started to use it's final activations to score some more cards, while I cycled through the remainder of my objective deck.

Peter scored all the way up to 14 points, but even while that was not enough, I could also score the no enemy in my territory, and ended with a 16-14 victory.  The Razors had held on, but only barely, in the final turn and brought back their first victory home.

What did I learn first and foremost?  Compared to Elathain's, they have far less effective defence, with only a single die for all the three Idoneth, wether inspired or not.  On the other hand, the fact they are more frequently inspired then Elathain's does give benefits.  They are also a lot less aggressive to play though, so I need to think a bit more carefully in future games, softening up big enemies with my reach attacks, while keeping an eye on the easy pickings as I do 2 damage across the board standard, perhaps stepping away from my Elathain tactic of grabbing the little one first...

But another fun night, and see you back next week for more Underworlds goodness normally.

 

 

Supersex

 Forget all those "Better then 50 Shades" and such rubbish advertisements on Netflix.

They have a soft-erotic series on there, it is more then decent, namely Supersex, based on the life of famous x-rated actor Rocco Siffredi.

And while it contains quite a lot of nudity (expected considering the topic) for some reason it never felt gratuit, which is quite an achievement in my book.  This seven part series is a tale about toxic adoration for an elder brother, about masochism, and of course about Rocco's entrance into the adult industry.

It starts in Paris in the year 2004, where he announces his retirement before a stunned crowd, telling his agent and cousin Gabriele he can see his dead brother Tomasso.  Returning to 1974, we find a young Rocco in his impoverished village of Ortano with his family, including mentally disabled Claudio and his older (bastard) brother Tomasso whom he adores, as a symbol of masculinity.  Tomasso has a relationship with the prettiest girl in the village, Lucia, even though he finds her cheating on him.  Claudio dies due to a heart attack, ravaging his family, as Rocco comes across a copy of the erotic magazine Supersex and decides he wants to become like the star of the book, Gabriel Pontello.

Tomasso marries Lucia though his family is not allowed to attend, and moves to Paris.  Rocco follows him as soon as he is 18, starting to work in his restaurant as a waiter.  But soon he learns about his attraction on women, sleeping with several of the patrons that come over for dinner.  When a girl, Sylvie, asks to go to the toilet, he starts his first relationship, but soon it starts to dwindle as she can't stand the smell of him sleeping with other women after he does a client.  This is the start of how his sexwork starts to affect his mental health as well as destroying any relational bonds he tries to maintain.

 

When he becomes a regular at a local libertine club, his relation crashes, but he meets Pontello who sees a future star in him.  While his first job on set doesn't turn out well, he soon starts to make a name due to the size of his equipment and the passion he performs with, and his star starts rising in the adult industry.  But slowly his point of view on unstable Tomasso starts to shift, especially after he finds out Lucia works the streets in La Pigale as well to fund their lifestyle, getting pregnant in the process.  He leaves the household after a fight with his drunk brother, and focusses on his career as he becomes a celebrity working with the biggest stars in Los Angeles.

 

When his mother gets sick, he returns home until her passing away, but back at work he reaches his highlight, winning the male performer of the year award under the eyes of his family.  Tomasso tries to redeem himself, even opening a restaurant named after his deceased stepmother, but the gipsys in the village burn it down after an argument and everyone thinks he died in the fire.  But then it turns out he isn't seeing ghosts back at Paris 2004, instead going on a last night out with his brother after he prevents Tomasso making a grave mistake when Lucia remarries, having left Tomasso after another drunken fight.

 

 

They share a last night on the roofs, and reclaim Claudio's helmet from the restaurant Tomasso used to run in Paris.  He leaves his brother behind, knowing he will be comitting suicide as soon as he leaves.  

This was a truly engaging series, and while Rocco Siffredi has been known for his more extreme tastes in sexual acts, something ommitted from the series and his rising career, it still offers a good insight into the trials and tribulations he went on to his road to becoming one of the leading male stars of the adult industry.

One tip though: watch it in the original italian with subs enabled.

The 600th anime

 Well, with Majo to Yajuu finished, that anime gets the distinctive honour of being the 600th finished anime on my MAL account.

Considering I joined the website on the 23rd of october 2017, that is one mean feat.

Over the years to this goal, I have been rewatching anime from my youth (better understanding it at age 40+ then I did at age 10 or so), discovered a lot of new series, and got reaquainted with old loves that moved on unknown to me past the Club Dorothee days.

While I don't have a specific genre, even though Mecha is my thing, my viewed list goes all over the place.  And I am very proud of not having dropped a single series ever, no matter how meuh I found something, I soldiered on and went through them.

With 84 anime currently still in the being watched (aka, I should watch them this year) and nearly 300 on the planned to watch, I still have a long list to enjoy, and every season something new comes around as well.  But if all goes more or less to plan, and I put in some extra time as well, I might even hit the 700 viewed anime mark this year, or at the very latest at the beginning of 2025.

Let's see how that will play out!

Majo to Yajuu

 A bit of a "this just looks cool, let's watch it" anime of the Winter season I selected, the series, called in english The Witch and the Beast" is an action fantasy series.

It follows a duo of adventurers out to look for the Original 17, withces of days old.

Guideau is cursed by the witches, and now seeks revenge and break the curse.  Joining her is chain-smoking Ashaf, a mage who constantly carries a coffin on his back.  During their journey's, they try to solve and face various magical events, while constantly on the hunt for witches.  In their first city they visit, a large sharkmonster is held back by Lady Ione, a witch that protects the city, and Guideau rushes in to attack her.

But a young girl defends the witch, telling them not all witches are inherently evil.  But during her anniversary party for her students, it is revealed she actually is truly evil as she wants to use their essence to free a portion of her locked powers.  Guideau and Ashaf intervene, and as Guideau gets hurt, the true nature of the coffin is revealed: Guideau has another form, that of a huge, brutal man-beast, the natural enemy of a witch.

 

 

Resolving that case, they have to do "menial" tasks for the Order of Magical Resonance, much to Guideau's chagrin.  But then they are called up to track down a serial killing witch... they join the police investigation to track down the witch.  They deduct the witch is after the chief inspector Kiera, a witch working for the Order.  But it turns out to be her two adopted boys, who found old grimoire's and became addicted to it's power, requiring life energy to feed the books.

 

Their next investigation leads them to a Necromancer, as the Order send someone to hunt him down.  But as her assistant is cut down, she is put before a dilemma: fight him, or have her assistant returned to her.  She chooses to oppose him though, even when he summons a heap of combat models he created.  She shows her power, unleashing her Death Knights, who make short work of all present.  It is revealed her assistant was also a Death Knight, as he ambushes the necromancer as he tries to flee.  

Guideau and Ashaf travel to a city under attack by a witch, with the Paladin Corps also present to contain the threat.  This witch, Helga, is apparently a direct descendant from the Origin witches, wielding a Demon Sword, Ashgan.  But Guideau and Ashraf are actually there to save her from the Corps, realizing she is innocent of the murders she is accused with.  But the Paladin Corps arrives, including a mage commander, Matt, that made a pact with the elementals.  As they are cornered, the sword is captured by the Corps.  

The Vice Commander though has been in league with others in the corps, and injures Matt to try and obtain the sword for their own goals.  Guideau frees herself and Helga, Guideau escaping with the Demon Sword.  As the Executioner, the man behind the betrayal, arrives at the scene with a mind-controlled Helga, he draws the demon sword, as he reveals what happened to Helga and why she was there with the sword.  He runs the sword through Helga, to release the seal on the sword.  He turns in a huge demon, resulting in Guideau and Ashaf playing their ace in the hole card: the beastform of Guideau.  Engaging in battle with the Demon Sword, and defeating it, causing the sword to acknowledge how strong Helga really is.  

Ashaf asks Helga to join them, but Guideau doesn't fully agree and goes to look for a witch rumoured to be in town.  However, she runs into an Executioner, who brings her before Angela the Origin Witch, the witch Guideau is connected to, and who he is using her body since the cursing.  Ashaf and Helga find her heavily injured, nursing her back to health.  Ashaf and Guideau look back on how they first met, three years ago.  So we get to see how they first worked together, foiling a plan by an Executioner, and decided to intertwine their fates together.

This was a welcome discovery, a series I really enjoyed and I hope there will be a sequel season!

Warhammer Underworlds Battlereport: Skaeth's Wild Hunt vs Fomoroid Crusher - Rampage

 Time for some solo Underworlds gaming, something I have been putting aside for far to long, as it has been years since my Zarbag's Gitz faced the big monster with mixed succes.

So now I'm going to start doing this some more, as I found a nice corner in the kitchen where I can play the little mini-game.

 

By the way, the rules are still available, just google Warhammer Underworlds Solo and you'll get a hit to the Warhammer Community site for "A Crushing Terror" which are these (Nightvault era) rules.

Like back in the days with the gitz, I'll be running a warband through all three of the battleplans, and the first warband to start the ordeal of trying to take this big monster down is Skaeth's Wild Hunt, the band I'm currently trying to get the hang off in Rivals format.  I'll also be using a Rivals deck tout court for these games.

 

Now, the Fomoroid is a slaughterer, it's third reaction, mainly used when he is in combat, hits automatically for 3 damage taking most models out in one go.  The "upside" in this scenario is that whenever someone falls, another fighter is immediatly inspired.  

 

Furthermore, you pick one upgrade for each model at the beginning, and the other upgrades are no longer used, so this is my starting line-up for the scenario. 

As the game begins, the Fomoroid Crusher automatically always takes the first turn, and charges at Lighaen, but the brave cat dodges the attack.  The crusher in return is charged by Skaeth, and gets hit for 2 damage thanks to the full support.

Lighaen is then taken down by the Crusher (what, an attack roll?  But I thought he auto-hit... yeah, bear with me), causing Skaeth to Inspire.

Brave Sheoch charges in, and thanks to his upgrade wounds the big beast for another 2 damage, before being smashed down as well (again, bear with me) after a gruelling roll from the Crusher, but inspiring Karthean.

At this point I realised I was forgetting the Breaker action of the Fomoroid Crusher, so playing Hunt In Concert, I pulled Skaeth out of contact.  I then used Fleet of Foot to move Karthean in as a sacrificial lamb for Skaeth, as Althaen would have her two shots and range to hopefully last longer then the wizard if needed.

Karthean strikes at the big beast, and wounds him again for three, meaning there are already 7 of the 10 wounds knocked off, before being smacked down himself (as it has been a long time, I forgot the maximum 2 damage unless a crit, but it wouldn't matter as you can see when you read on.  Surely some things have been refreshed for future games, but in my defence it has been 4 years since I used these rules).  Althaen then shoots off two arrows, wounding the big beast twice more and putting him on his last remaining wound.

So round one ends with three of the Wild Hunt already down, the other two now insipred, and the beast at 9 out of 10 wounds taken (so, technically 8).  I drew a new hand of power cards and the game went on!

 

The Crusher charges Skaeth as he is the closest model, but the Huntmaster defends against the attack.  In retaliation he throws his spear, but misses, playing Retrieve Javelin for another chance later on.

The Breaker action wounds the leader for 3, but with his spear he throws again, and it strikes home, knocking of the final wound (would have been two, so the oversight earlier didn't matter) and laying down the Crusher at long last.

So victory to the Wild Hunt in this first solo encounter against the Fomoroid Crusher, and it was actually not that hard to be honest.  As long as they could keep it in this scenario of any objective tokens, he wouldn't be hurling those around and probably take everyone out by the end of turn 1, suffering steady damage himself instead.

So, nice little quick game, taking about half an hour, and ideal for some quick late evening gaming!