Re: The Star Wars Thread

[megablast16]

I occasionally go and see a movie on my own, nothing wrong with it in my opinion.

[dste01]

My one word spoiler free review of The Force Awakens.

Meh

[cal_el]

Well that was everything I wanted and then some! I felt like a kid again and was smiling all the way through. That's all I will say for now.

[Wolvieware]

Just got out of the screening and enjoyed the movie. It's not quite the second coming as the hype would have you believe, and while you can certainly argue that it's better than the prequels, the film still has its problems of its own. 

Mainly I felt the action was derivative and not exciting. The lightsaber fights were lacklustre - nowhere near as good as Phantom Menace. 

Plot wise the movie wants to keep its secrets so well hidden that it leaves a negative impact on the story. I've left with far too many questions where things were poorly explained, or explicitly removed to create a false sense of surprise. 

But let's not be too negative. It's still brilliant to see SW back on the big screen. There are some great characters here who will be interesting to watch in later episodes. The dialogue is free from cheese and even has humour thank goodness, now that George Lucas Emporer like grip is now off the script! 

And the classic SW characters really liven the movie up and are given the respect they deserve. My favourite moment really was when Han turned up. Overall an enjoyable movie but quite literally just that and I think it was perhaps inevitable it would never match that hype

[cal_el]

My more detailed thoughts on the film now that I have had time to process things:


WARNING THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS!

For me it was everything I wanted it to be and then some. I love the use of the older cast members and how they handled the new characters. I was a bubbling emotional wreck for most of the film because I am a big baby like that. As soon as the crawl started the tears began flowing! 

I love that the film was basically the key story beats of the original trilogy mixed together to keep in with the circular nature of the other sets of movies. However they have pretty much completed that circle in one film which I hope means they will be doing something else with the remaining two films of this set. 

They even showed that they are pushing things in a new direction with Finn. He is great and unlike any other character in Star Wars. He just wants to do the right thing and will break all the established rules of the Star Wars setting to do so. (eg. Wielding a lightsabre when he is not a Jedi, being a stormtrooper with good aim, being a person of colour as a main protagonist, etc.) Kylo Ren also shows the newer angle on things. He is a better villain than Vader by the end of this movie because we know he is conflicted, full of rage (so much angsty tumblr blog post inducing rage!) and has committed a unforgivable sin in many fans eyes that will be redeemed and/or pushed for further acts of villainy. And Rey, she is so cool. She is just the best and Daisy Ridley pulls it off and turns her into such a likeable character. 

It is an experience that has stuck with me since watching it on Thursday night. I find myself in quiet moments mulling over key scenes and thinking of possibilities for what could come next. I can't think of the last film I saw that has impacted me as much, possibly the first Iron Man or Avengers movies. I loved pretty much every moment of The Force Awakens and when the final shot of the movie finished I just sat there with a huge stupid grin on my face. I have not had that much fun in the cinema ever. There were no people messing about on phones or talking all the way through the movie. It grabbed everyone and took us all on a unforgettable ride. It felt like the start of something special and that it has come from the legacy one of my favourite franchises only enhances that. 

The only mild disappointment I had with the film is that I felt Poe "the coolest man in the galaxy" Dameron was a bit underused. He was awesome during the first act of the movie then disappeared until the last act of the film. I'm hoping to see more of his amazing piloting and more of his character next time.

END SPOILERS

In other news I should be getting the new Force Awakens X-Wing Miniatures Core Set and a couple of extra ships in the post over the next few days

[megablast16]

I enjoyed it a lot, it's certainly better than the sterile, soulless prequel trilogy, but didn't quite live up to the hype, but what does these days. It great to see Star Wars back though and in good hands, great to see Han, Leia and Chewie again too. I thought the 4 main new characters of Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren worked well and show promise, and there's plenty to look forward to with the other forthcoming films. No spoilers but the final scene gave me goosebumps!

[CPC6128]

I totally loved it and I'm going to see it again....and probably again....and again. Kylo Ren rocks!

[cal_el]

Star Wars Miniature Games Update!

I've had a fairly Star wars filled Christmas with the new movie coming out, the continuing awesomeness of Marvel's new canon comics and Battlefront being a big focus of my nerdy time when I have it.
I've also decided to dive into the various Star Wars tabletop games to see which I like and could possibly collect. So I figured I would give some brief impressions for each and show off some pictures of the many cool looking miniatures I have acquired to play these games. 

The good news is they are all really good!
The bad news is my bank balance has cried out in terror, and was suddenly silenced because it looks like I will be investing in all three games for the foreseeable future 

First up is my first love, Imperial Assault which is still high on my list of favourite tabletop games. 
It is the ground level combat representation of the Star Wars universe and I've had it for nearly a year now and have loved it every time I have played it. I love the RPG style structure and campaign flow. It is just a shame that I can never hold down a group of players to keep coming back to make our way through the campaign. 

I also have an extra attachment to it because the figures come unpainted and being a perfectionist means I have to paint them. Progress on the painting project has been slow but I am around 1/2 way through painting all the figures I currently have.

My latest and probably best work happened today when I finished off my Imperial Officers,

and then spent the rest of the day painting my two AT-STs,

I'm hoping to use the motivation painting today has given me to power on through and finish off the rest of my figures over the next month or so but we will see!

Next is X-Wing Miniatures which is the most well-known Star Wars game, mainly because 1) It is really, really good! & 2) It has been around the longest. Buzzing from Force Awakens hype pushed me into giving the Starter Set a go and I haven't looked back since.

To put it simply: X-Wing is the war game I have always dreamed of playing! It is super easy to pick up and play along with being infinitely scalable and expandable. Unlike other games were a heavy money spend is required to get up and running all you need for X-Wing is the Starter Set and a couple of other ships if you want them. (IF is the important bit in that sentence!)

Competitive play is limited to 100 point Squadrons but in casual play you and your opponent just need to agree on a points limit and get going. The results are awesome and you can create some really cool scenarios. 

On boxing day night I sat down with a couple of friends and played X-Wing for hours. One big game that we really took our time with rather than rushing to the usual 60min time limit. We also had Star Wars music playing in the background while doing so which really added to the experience. It was worth every minute with everyone involved leaving with plans to buy some ships. 

Finally there is Armada which is the newest of the three games and perhaps the most interesting. 

 

On the surface it looks and plays similar to X-Wing but the different scale and the mechanics around how that is handled is what makes Armada unique. This is the big ships combat game while X-Wing focuses on dog fights between the smaller individual fighters. X-Wing is personal while Armada is sweeping in its scope. You are the Admiral maneuvering your forces into the best position to beat your opponent withing a game's six round limit.

The best bit about Armada is how orders are handled. The bigger your ship, the more orders you have to issue which allows you to do more stuff. However you have to issue these orders a turn or three ahead of when they are executed. If you are spot on you can use each ability to its full potential or you can save it for later and use it to less effect. 

Ship movement also handled well with your ships constantly moving the game's manoeuvre tool helping to give a sense of these huge ships arcing and turning through space. It is the most tactical out of the three games because you have to really think ahead in order to succeed.

All three are great games in their own right and the starter sets for any are worth a go. Be careful though you could end up in my shoes! Were I am slowly scape together the money to buy more ships and figures  Heck I'm even drafting custom rules to combine all three games into an epic campaign to help justify all the money I will be throwing at these games over the next few years. 

[cal_el]

Episode VIII has been pushed back a few months into December 2017. I'm guessing Disney feel that December should be the new home of Star Wars!

[megablast16]

Don't know what gave me the idea but I thought the main movies were always coming out in December every two years. Must of got my wires crossed somewhere, but they are now anyway so it's all good. 

[cal_el]

Don't know what gave me the idea but I thought the main movies were always coming out in December every two years. Must of got my wires crossed somewhere, but they are now anyway so it's all good. 

It's your fault then!

[cal_el]

NEW STAR WARS TRAILER TOMORROW!!!!!


WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[dste01]

The trailer was released a couple of days ago...  

[cal_el]

OH MY VARIOUS DEITIES!

Rogue One looks really cool!

[Wolvieware]

Indeed!

[aaroncupboard]

Looks wonderful.  That shot with the AT ATs....oh my.

[megablast16]

Only a week now until the Blu-ray release. It includes what sounds like a fascinating 80 minute making of documentary. I'm getting the limited edition "Darkside" cover. 


               

[cal_el]

Only a week now until the Blu-ray release. It includes what sounds like a fascinating 80 minute making of documentary. I'm getting the limited edition "Darkside" cover. 


               

I went for the equally pointless Lightside cover because I'm a good boy

[dste01]

Game near me are selling the Skywalker Strikes graphic novel for £1.99 if anyone wants me to pick it up to send on.

[dste01]

Watched Rogue One, thought it was awesome. Probably my second favourite SW film behind Empire.

Negatives: Wasn't impressed with Tarkin, should have just kept him in the reflection. The music was hit and miss and it ended on another X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter fight.

Saying that, I suppose it kind of had to with what was happening but it made for a more interesting fight with also having ground troops and being stuck under the shield.

That Vader scene at the end, hell yeah.

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