Its become an addiction!

I realised something the other day, ... ive become addicted to black library titles. Ive always read them alot for the past two years but it was only while contemplating finishing my latest book (Firedrake) that i realised i NEEDED another to tyde me over until my next order came in from waterstones, which wouldnt be for another week or so. Its pathetic really, i mean i could not go seven days without reading one. I contemplated reading some other good books, Bernard cromwell is an author ive thought of reading for some time, especially as im a big fan of the Sharpe series of TV episodes that were an adaptation of his fantastic series on the napoliaonic war between britain and france. As it would have it, i could not find myself not being without a title from the black library, as it would come to happen i eventually bought angels of darkness by Gav thorpe. Now i think any 40k fan worth his salt has read if not one than quite a few titles from this awsome publisher and im sure im not the only person out there who feels the same way about thier books. There are worse things to be addicted to i suppose - smoking, alchohol or world of warcraft :)

Hunt for a Gaming club

Now i've realised in my years of flirting with several different games that Ipswich my home town is not a hotbed of gaming activity, frustratingly so infact which has added to the fact ive actually played far less than i would of liked the past few years.

New years resolution is to find a gaming club and make sure i play regularly, the search is on going but i have come up with a few leads. Dont get me wrong i enjoy games workshop, but i find some of their little rules a bit represive, end of the day we still all buy the products but they still enforce the rules of having an army fully painted.

Ok yeah i can understand it that it looks a whole lot better on the table and i would like nothing better than to have my army fully painted, but its not! ... If the store was open to the public when the ''club'' was playing i could understand it, but its not... its just the guys who turn up and play the games so why not just have an army with a few base coated minatures? it does not hurt anybody certainly not GW, and does not affect the way the army plays in the slightest.

sorry rant /cancel

its because of this i'm throwing my net wider to see if i can find a more lax (painting wise) gaming community. time will tell if i'm succesfull.

Ultramarines: a Warhammer 40k movie - collectors edition

Greetings, this is my first post for some time. largely down to time constraints of real life (shakes big mailed fist at the world) but as it is my first for a while it may as well be about something worth talking about... the first 40k feature length movie!

Like a good little geek, i had to get the collectors edition once they were available. this set me back about £25 if memory serves. good value i thought considering what you get.

-the Movie + bonus disc of special features
-special metal case with the film logo on one side and the imperial aquilla on the reverse
-graphic novel pre-qualing what happened to the characters in the film before the storyline in the movie.


The Movie
The film i thought was a very good effort for a first attempt! the story was slick and understandable to someone who knew nothing about the 40k hobby but was also involved enough for even the biggest fan boy of the 41st millenium - you will never please everyone though and i could pick some holes in the film myself but the boys at Codex pictures largely did good.
there is one main reason for this - Dan Abnett
Yes, the godfather of all 40k books was the writer of the screen play.
some fans of the ultramarines books would say hey why not graham mcneill? as he wrote the UM books... well i don't know. im sure he would of done a stella job but really DA for me if i was making a 40k film would be my choice.

The cast in the film are fantastic for such a small production, british acting legends of terrance stamp and john Hurt and solid actors like sean pertwee do a awsome job bringing character and depth to the characters. The film has to be watched just to hear john hurt yelling BUUUUUUURNNNN HEEEERITICS!!!

For an computer animated movie the detail and depth of the scenary, and especially the armour and weapons is outstanding, but alot of people online have complained and queiried about the detail and rendering on the faces of the characters in the film. Its does not look incredable compared to other details in the animation but there is a reason for this that is explained in the bonus disc... which you will have to watch for yourselves :)

Bonus Disc
you will find your usual DVD extras on the bonus disc, making of the movie, cast interviews and background on 40k for the people new to the 41st millenium. I enjoyed all of them for what they were and spent a good two hours messing about with the various things available

Graphic Novel
Writen by Dan Abnett - it gives you a little taster and background on the main characters in the film and explains to you how they arrived at their present postion at the start of the film. the artwork is not incredable and i found this to be the most disapointing aspect of the whole collectors edition bundle as a whole.

Overall opinion
Its a 40k movie! - what more could any fan boy really want when we get down to it, weve all wanted one for years.
I would recommend this to any 40k fan - it was made for the fans after all, but then also to bring people into the hobby.
If anyone has any friends thinking about getting into 40k, i would advise you to sit them down with this. this is the main reason why the ultramarines as a chapter were chosen. they are the generic, ginger beer, vanilla marines of 40k and not much needs explaining about them or their background, but they can also still continue to offer something to the hardened 40k enthusiast.

chances are if your reading this though - you will already have the film! or at least seen it.