Friday 26 January 2018

The E14 Gamecast - Episode 34: "Near, Or Tomato?"

On this episode of The E14 Gamecast, Rob is joined by Blake Harmer and Brad Harmer-Barnes!

We get a few questions from listeners, including all sorts of stuff about conventions and collaborations!

We talk about a number of games, including:

  • Blood Bowl (the tabletop game)
  • Blood Bowl 2 (the videogame)
  • Terminator: The Miniatures Game
  • The Bunker
  • Nier: Automata
  • Near, Or Tomato?
  • LEGO: The Force Awakens
  • Divinity Original Sin
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Imperial Assault
  • Wrestling games
  • Gang Beasts
  • Mobile games
  • Dynasty Warriors
  • Earth Defence Force
  • A bit of stuff about 2018's upcoming games

Get Your Game On!

If you want to give us your thoughts on the games we talk about, ask us questions or even suggest topics for us to talk about, you can contact us by email using podcast@emotionally14.com, tweet @emotionally14 or find us on the Emotionally14 Facebook page! For our gaming videos, check out the E14 Plays Playlist on YouTube!

Rob is on Twitter @RobWadeVision, Brad is at @realbradhb and you can find Blake @FuckSakeBlake! You can find out more about the guys below!

The E14 Gamecast theme is courtesy of Deon Van Heerden, and you can find out all about him at DeonVanHeerden.com!


About The E14 Gamecast

A place to find the gaming content for Emotionally14. We'll talk reviews, excitement, upcoming releases - Hell, we'll even play a few! If gaining perspective on Team E14's gaming habits is your bag, this is the place you can get that fix!

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Thursday 25 January 2018

Aaron's Classic Corner - January 2018

Here we go again! This guy is voicing his opinions about some old stuff and why he likes them. Don’t you just love it? Of course you do. Why wouldn’t you? It’s wonderful. So with that being said, let’s knock this bad boy out.

The Film – Jaws

Watched this again lately and I have to say, it holds up like a motherfucker. At no point did I look at Bruce the shark 43 years after release and think to myself “that is some bad shark, Harry”.

It totally competes and surpasses most movies today when it comes to effects; much like how Jurassic Park does too; another Spielberg great. For me though, this is Spielberg’s masterpiece. The writing is fantastic, his direction brings in all the suspense that other directors could only dream of, and the acting is flawless, especially when Quint (played incredibly by Robert Shaw) tells his one-take monologue of the USS Indianapolis.

My only quaff with this film is Richard Dreyfuss’ irritating “boys…oh, boys!” line. And that score! One of the most iconic pieces of cinematic music and it sticks with you forever, because of what – catchiness? No. Two notes. You hum those two notes and people know exactly what you’re about. Boom. Genius. John Williams is officially a gangsta.

Other than that, not a movie to mess with. An all-round banger.


The Album – Black Sabbath: Master of Reality

Arguably their best album, though for me there is no contest. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the albums that came before or after, but for me, Master of Reality was when they really nailed the sound they seemed to be going for.

It’s heavy, it’s groovy, and just an all-round powerhouse with all four members really giving it all it’s got. This was the album that paved the way for what we know today as “doom” or “stoner rock/metal” or “sludge”.

Man, how many subgenres does rock/metal want? It’s ridiculous! Though I guess that’s the price you pay for playing your own instruments, right?

But yeah, this for me is definitely their standout album that was so ahead of its time that it hasn’t aged a day – musically or production-wise.

Classic!


The Game – Fable II

The best of the franchise for me.

It ironed out the problems with the first one and added a whole bunch of new shit to keep the player engaged.

This fantastic tongue-in-cheek swords & sorcery fantasy roleplaying game (Fuck me, that was a mouthful) is hours of fun with likeable characters throughout and possibly boasts the highest amount of replay value, especially for its time.

Do you go good? Do you go evil? Or do you go neutral? Who do you let live or die? And for what reasons?

This game is so good that a mere paragraph on E14 cannot do it justice.

Love it!

Well that’s it from me, folks! See you in February!


Aaron James Waters is a best-selling Pulp Fiction writer who has written more books than he's actually read.

He's also the rotten apple of the group who thinks this whole Star Wars thing needs to hurry up and die already.

You can find Aaron's debut novel on Amazon!




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Wednesday 24 January 2018

Tabletop Review - Legendary: Spider-Man Homecoming

Legendary: Spider-Man Homecoming
Designed by Devin Low, expanding on his original Marvel Legendary game design
Published by Upper Deck Entertainment

It’ll come as no surprise to anyone who followed by over on the now defunct Suppressing-Fire.com, or through my appearances on the E14 Gamecast, that I’m a big fan of the Legendary system of games. On top of that, the Marvel version of the game is easily my favourite. Now, Spider-Man has certainly been present in the game since the core set, and we’ve even already had a Spider-Man themed expansion in the form of Paint the Town Red, which introduced many members of the extended Spider-Family. Of course, Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s most popular characters, so its only natural that he’ll feature more often than Nova or Moon Knight. So, what has the Spider-Man: Homecoming expansion got to offer to the Legendary players?

Well, this expansion is the first to be completely grounded in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even featuring screen-grabs from the movie as the card illustrations. Whether or not this is a good thing is going to come down to how big a fan you are of the movies, and Spider-Man: Homecoming in particular. For my money, I generally enjoy the movies, but I’m not a fan of this artistic decision. Very simply, the photographic images look very jarring when you’re playing a game featuring cards from the core set or other expansions. I’d have much preferred they take their cue from the movies, but feature original artwork, as all of the Legendary Encounters series has.

Fortunately, the game is a good fit spiritually, if not visually. Heroes like High-Tech Spider-Man and Tony Stark slot in nicely along the other, previously released characters.

The shortage of villains is a problem as, while we’ve come to expect only two villains in a small-box expansion, this time we’re given a choice of “The Vulture” or “Adrian Toomes”, who are...you know...both the same person. I understand that the designers were limited by the concept of the set, but it’s still feels a little like being short changed.

Fortunately we get four scenarios included and they are all super fun, especially “Explosion at the Washington Monument” which feels like a good, old-fashioned, heroes rushing to the rescue scenario straight out of a Silver Age comic book.

Ultimately, it’s nice to a see an expansion that tries to do something a little different, both conceptually and visually, and I’d rather see one that does that and stumbles a little than stick to the safe format or churning out the same old stuff three times a year. If you’re a casual player, then there’s probably not going to be all that much to make it worth your time with this expansion. If, however, you’re a fan of the movie of Spider-Man: Homecoming, or would like some MCU characters and don’t think the different artwork will bother you, then this is definitely worth picking up. If you’re a Legendary nut, then you’ll appreciate the effort that went towards making something different here.


One of the founding members of E14, Brad Harmer-Barnes boasts an impressive track record in the entertainment industry. A comedian since the age of 12, Harmer created the comedy club Rock N' Rant which entertained the people of Chatham for over five years.

A recurring guest on the Crazy Train podcast, Brad published his first novel, North Sea Hunters, in 2017, and you can now find all of his books from Severed Press via Amazon using the links below!


Tuesday 23 January 2018

Tabletop Review - The Walking Dead - All Out War: Wave 3

Welcome once again to the wonderful world of Mantic's comic-based IP, and a setting which should be familiar to all fans of The Walking Dead... As Season 3 brings us "Safety Behind Bars" at Meriwether County Correctional Facility. Once again we have an expansion box and a cluster of character packs to rummage through, so it's on with the riot gear, out with the baton and always aim for the head!

The Expansion box contains the now-familiar list of components: the ten page expansion rule book, paper map/wave 3 checklist, heavy card scenery and counters, 18 supply/equipment cards, 4 event cards, 4 new survivor miniatures, 2 new walker minis, and 6 character cards. As expected, the whole set is themed heavily for the prison setting. The playmat is a snapshot containing cells, a guard tower, a communal area and plenty of yard space. There is also an armoury scenery overlay for use in certain scenarios.

The additional rules included involve opening, closing and barricading doors, plus specifics on using the unique gaming area presented by the prison setting. This includes using the inside of buildings for the first time, and the rules for movement get a hefty tweak to reflect this (Tip of the day: Don't get pursued by walkers through building interiors. You have been warned!)

The other brand new rule is for armoured walkers! These operate in the same way as regular walkers, but to represent prison guards who have died and risen in their riot gear, these rotters get an extra red defence die plus the ability to ignore the first headshot symbol (!) from each attack roll made against them! Formidable indeed, as this is the only way to remove them from the board! Using them is optional except in one of the scenarios, and they only cost 5 points more than a regular walker.

Two things hit me when I opened the box for the first time.

  1. The contents felt a tiny bit light. Only one sheet of scenery (the scenario rules call for less than usual) and with the campaign and character building rules all sewn up, the rulebook is mostly just the narrative campaign and some specific rules that you won't use outside this setting. But...
  2. The real selling point in this game is the miniatures, and once again we have not been let down. Crisp, clear, single piece sculpts with great characterisation, and just the right level of detail. Not too fussy to paint, but looking good enough to leave bare. If anything the sculpting is improving as the series continues! The box has the four prisoners encountered by Rick's party in the "abandoned" prison: Dexter, Thomas, Axel (You follow me?), and Andrew, plus two new walker sculpts. All of the characters are instantly recognisable, even without an orange jumpsuit paint job, each in a pose directly from the pages of the comics! Not only are you getting great figures, but it really feels like Mantic have done their research on this.

Miniature-wise, this wave is rounded out with upgraded versions of the main survivor party, to reflect their experience and roles at this point in the story. So we get Rick and Glenn in riot gear, Andrea with a sniper rifle and Maggie in a "Prison defender" support role. There is also a returning Morgan to make the numbers up (like Negan, it's a while before Morgan should strictly speaking be back...). It may feel a little bit of a swizz having to buy the same characters again, but between the miniature quality and the powered-up cards there's plenty to justify it.

The supporting cast for this wave include all the kids, Billy and Ben, and Susie and Rachel, each coming doubled up on stands as support characters, as well as a glance into the next lot of releases: Wes, Eugene, and Harold Abernathy all come with a "Governor" faction symbol on their cards... Look out also for additional cards packed in these boxes for Hershel and a stonkingly good Tyreese!

This stage of the story wouldn't be complete without everybody's favourite character making an appearance, and what an appearance it is! Probably the best mini so far, Michonne is dynamically posed, with samurai sword, cape, boots and bandana, and comes packaged with "Mike" and "Terry", (in)complete with missing jaws and arms. There is even a section of chain so that you can link them up! Superb!. The art of keeping the fans happy is to make sure you take care with the important parts of the IP, so this is the opportune moment to produce their best miniature in the range.

A minor drawback for me is the inclusion of another walkers booster pack, this time called "Roamers". One of my favourite elements of All Out War is the non-repetition of walker models. Every box has a new sculpt waiting to surprise you, but this box, like the previous walker pack, is just 6 repackaged from the starter box. It may just be me being picky, and I'm sure the ability to cram more walkers into the game is enough reason for people to buy it, but it's a little disappointing to not be opening a new and gruesome mix of monsters.

Just to compound the irritation, the pack comes with some of the equipment cards I was hoping would be added to the game... Crossbow? Check. Chainsaw? Check. Cricket bat...? Maybe that's pushing it. To be fair there are also 4 new event cards to ramp up the living dead menace, so not a total cop out.

Also in the bundle for this wave, we have a chance to look at the deluxe version of the gaming mat. This is a slip-resistant neoprene version of the 20" by 20" paper prison mat contained in the expansion box. The 3mm rubber makes for a sturdy base, certainly wheightier than the paper, and the slip-resistant pattern means your game isn't going to move easily on the table (or blow away in a stiff breeze, a distinct possibility with the paper mat...) The colours are vibrant, and brighter than the original mat, and the construction looks solid so it should stand up to repeated plays. Like the paper mats, the 4 current deluxe mats can be combined to make one big 4' x 4' game area as the designs all match up. Nice work on that one! At £20 each, not a bad purchase at all. My only gripe would be one which afflicts many game mats... the buildings pictured will really limit your game choice. The addition of terrain models to cover them up could be a solution, but it's a big area to fill.

Maybe I am being a little picky here and there, but it is hard to criticise such a well-presented and supported product. Seriously, take a look at their shop page, you can deluxe the hell out of this game! There are some really nice prone player/walker tokens, nylon rulers and counters, and mdf kits to cover all scenarios. With teasers all over the place for the forthcoming wave 4 (Woodbury!) expansion, this game keeps getting it right, and long may it continue. Still waiting for that cricket bat...


By day, David Mustill is a Human Workhorse for a chemical company, where he occupies his free moments visualising grisly fates for those around him.

Naturally, every possible moment away from this existence is spent gaming and painting miniatures.

A steady diet of rock, metal, punk, comics, gaming, miniatures and genre movies has moulded David into a nerd-for-all-seasons, a renaissance geek, for whom no gaming company or genre is too obscure, and no graphic novel is unreadable.

He is currently the Chairman of Milton Hundred Wargames Club, which affords him the privilege of running the Broadside Games Show. He will not let you down. Unless you're after selfies. He is rubbish at selfies...


If this game sounds up your street, why not take a look at purchasing a few items from Amazon using our Emotionally14 partner links? It costs you not a penny more, and it gives us a little love from Amazon. Not seeing the links? Please consider adding Emotionally14.com to your adblocker whitelist. We promise not to make you regret it!


Monday 22 January 2018

Tabletop Tips - How To Create A Double-Sided Game Board

Hello E14 tabletop fans! Our resident board game designer, Robbie created a video just before Christmas detailing a cool way to create double-sided game boards for play purposes. We thought it was awesome, and so we're sharing it with you today!


Robbie Munn is a designer of board games, game components/upgrades, a big DC comics fan, a photographer and a general maker of things of all things excellent. He joined Emotionally14 in 2018 after a brief tenure with Suppressing Fire.

You can find out more about his board game creation, "Summoner's Isle" Here!




Saturday 20 January 2018

Tabletop Review - Legendary: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“If the apocalypse comes, beep me”

When a game represents one of your favourite franchises you cannot help but get excited, but quite quickly that excitement wavers as you fear they may not have done it justice. With Upper Deck holding the reins I was feeling quietly confident though. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both Marvel and Alien Legendary in the past so was giddy to see how they applied the Legendary formula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Thanks to the magic of Spotify I swiftly found a Buffy playlist and sent myself back the the late 90s. Whilst looking through the cards which are made up of stills taken from the show*, I was transported back to a lively pub in South London and once again surrounded by lace, leather and fangs. A pub full of like-minded and suitably dressed people eager to watch the latest episodes of Buffy and Angel as they were streamed live from the US of A - It felt awesome!

*I think the artwork here will get a mixed response. It would have been nice to see some fresh new art, after all Dark Horse have produced some fantastic Buffy comics over the years. Yet the stills from the show did a great job of stirring up the nostalgia pot. I’d say for fans it works well, but for those that know little or nothing of Buffy, it may be less appealing.

Following the “Your first game set up“ was a straightforward process and on the whole, I found the rule book generally easy to follow. It does take a little while to set up first time around, but like most games, the more you play the quicker you get, especially when you no longer need to reference the rule book.

As you would expect, the whole gang is here from Buffy to Xander, each of them bringing their own tailored usefulness to the table, a crucial factor when deciding which five you want in your team for a particular mission - Combining cards to get the maximum effectiveness is a key part of the Legendary system, and to be expected, there are enough characters and combinations on offer to suit a variety of play styles. The mission? To put a stop to the Big Bad’s nefarious Scheme and save Sunnydale!

Each Big Bad is a classic enemy from the show complete with appropriately themed henchmen. Whilst each of them have their own particular flavour of evil to inflict upon you, it is paramount that you do not let them complete their Scheme, as this will spell certain doom for Sunnydale (and end your game prematurely). Schemes are not tied to any particular Big Bad and there’s some flexibility with which henchman can be used too, so you can really mix up the experience with each play through.

In its simplest sense, each turn you reveal a card from the Hellmouth which will bring more henchmen into play or activates the Big Bad. Then you get to use the cards in your hand to buy more teammates into your deck, take out some henchmen or knock the Big Bad down a peg, all of which may require you to be clever with the order you play your cards, as you’ll want to ensure you get the most out of any available combos or special abilities.

In addition to this, Legendary Buffy makes the use of a Light and Dark slider plus the addition of courage tokens. Courage tokens can be used to help you win fights or increase your Light standing. The Light and Dark slider adds a nice thematic element to the gameplay, a multitude of things can swing your Light / Dark standing. Generally being in the Light is good, whilst letting Sunnydale sink into darkness will benefit the Big Bad - Which ubersucks.

Upper Deck have done a great job at capturing the essence of the series. As a fan I think there is a lot to like and you’ll no doubt be saying things like, “What’s the Sitch?“, “Don’t wig out” and “Have a nice day, don’t get killed” in no time at all. If you're not a fan of the show, it’s still a well-structured deck builder that offers a lot of replayability and challenging gameplay, but the theme might leave you wanting.

Rating
Fang factor: Four by Five
Buffy who?: Three by Five


Robbie Munn is a designer of board games, game components/upgrades, a big DC comics fan, a photographer and a general maker of things of all things excellent. He joined Emotionally14 in 2018 after a brief tenure with Suppressing Fire.

You can find out more about his board game creation, "Summoner's Isle" Here!




Friday 19 January 2018

The Crazy Train Podcast: Episode 59 - "Don't Be A Basic Blake!"

On the first Crazy Train podcast of 2018, Rob is joined by Blake Harmer and Brad Harmer-Barnes!

Discussion topics include:

  • Monopoly and some of the more obscure irritation that can cause
  • Number 1 Superfan Paul J asks: What did Santa bring you for Christmas?
  • Brad has a new "Most Grown Up Moment" in life
  • The World's Hardest Jigsaw Puzzle
  • We talk about our minor New Year's Resolutions
  • What if Ozzy were to die while we were recording?
  • We talk a bit about wrestling
  • We talk a bit about Star Wars
  • We talk a bit about Harry Potter
  • We talk a bit about Crocodile Dundee
  • All these subjects creep into a chat about conventions
  • We pitch a new buddy cop comedy
  • And many more!

Rob is on Twitter @RobWadeVision, Brad is at @realbradhb and you can find Blake @FuckSakeBlake! You can find out more about the guys below!

If you want to give us your thoughts on the subjects we talk about, ask us questions or even suggest topics for us to talk about, you can contact us by email using podcast@emotionally14.com, tweet @emotionally14 or find us on the Emotionally14 Facebook page!

Intro music: "Outlaw", by Deon Van Heerden. Find out more about Deon's music at Deonvanheerden.com!

We are part of the Brit Pod Scene podcast collective, a group of British podcasts working together to help each other improve and grow. Check it out on Twitter by searching #BritPodScene!


About The Crazy Train

Welcome aboard The Crazy Train - Emotionally14's flagship podcast dedicated to one theme: there are no rails. Ever.

Encompassing a wide range of subjects, from movies to TV to gaming, we'll give you a piece of our minds even if there's nothing in them, and you'll bloody love it.

Where will the Crazy Train go?

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Thursday 18 January 2018

Aaron's Spoiler-Free Review of "Life" (2017)

Horror? I’m in!

Sci-fi? I’m in!

Sci-fi *and* horror?! You bet your sweet knees I’m in!

Life, not to be confused with the Academy Award nominated comedy starring Eddie Murphy & Martin Lawrence (or indeed just...a review of life), is an outer-space romp where 6 crew members bring a bloodthirsty Alien on board their ship with no real means of killing it and...hold on...I think I’ve seen this before? But yeah, let’s move on!

Though this film lacks originality, it is however filled with plenty of errors, both scientific and continuity (a flamethrower in an air-compressed chamber with no gravity? Yeah, good luck with that), but thankfully it doesn’t take anything away from the fast pace of the film and the story moves along quite nicely!

The gore in it is ruddy fantastic and the alien itself is bloody beautiful and, Ryan Reynold’s irritating shit-cunt face aside, the acting is pretty stellar (see what I did there? No? Let’s move on again). Once again, though, my boy Jake Gyllenhaal steals the show.

Definitely a film for movie night (even if you’re not a massive horror fan I reckon) but definitely not one for the ages, so don’t expect to see this film on any lists where it may be considered a classic as such.

Aaron's Spoiler-Free Verdict: Good fun all things considered, and has a wicked payoff. 6.5/10


Aaron James Waters is a best-selling Pulp Fiction writer who has written more books than he's actually read.

He's also the rotten apple of the group who thinks this whole Star Wars thing needs to hurry up and die already.

You can find Aaron's debut novel on Amazon!