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aadh

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Posts posted by aadh

  1. Posted

     

    I like your idea, I don't have one but I think I will bring it up to my friends.

     

    Oh and just a note for you, call signs are typically given by fellow pilots based on something that tells everyone how others see you, so I think you should stick with Scarlet and inform others its an old tradition to use only what others give you, and tell them the name is intended to boost moral so nothing derogatory, tradition started with WW1 aces and is still done today in every branch of the military.

    So enjoy the tradition.

     

    Scarlet! ;)

    This is quite true. And because the callsigns are used over the radio, they are usually kept short. Normally 1-2 syllables. It's quite often a spin on a surname, or to reflect a personal trait, but it's always a name given by consensus of fellow pilots. Pilots generally don't get to choose their own.

    Due to my consistently sad dice rolling, my fellow gamers would probably come up with "No Luck" or "No Dice" or something along those lines for me.

     

    @bubblepopmei: With your hair colour and passion for flying Kath, I think "Scarlet" is the perfect callsign for you. :)

     

     

    I landed "No Dice" and later just "Dice" from back in my Battletech CCG days. It wasn't due to my dice rolling skill (or lack thereof), but that I actually had a huge dice collection.

    Parravon reacted to this

  3. Posted

     

     

     

    perhaps I was spoiled by my love for the Belgariad and Mallorean.

     

    I enjoyed the Belgariad, but not the Mallorean.

     

     

     

    And as far as fantasy goes, the Black Company series by Glen Cook is some of the best stuff around.

     

    I enjoyed the idea of the Belgariad and Mallorean better than the books themselves. He was a skilled worldbuilder, for sure.

    The problem I had with the Belgariad and the Mallorean (and the Tamuli) is that it's the same bloody story three times. And that the characters were ridiculously powerful, it's hard to be sympathetic to a character who fights a god and wins.

    I like early American Gothic literature, so unsurprisingly I like some of HP Lovecraft (At the Mountains of Madness, The Rats in the Walls, The Colour out of Space) but I found the racism in some of his stories too off putting to get past. If you like HP Lovecraft I recommend Robert Chambers' The King in Yellow (better than anything Lovecraft wrote, imho).

    The British historian Tom Holland wrote a couple of good vampire novels which I really enjoyed- The Vampyre, and Supping with Panthers. Not the usual vampire-novel style, and based around historical events (the titular vampire of the former is Lord Byron, who was the basis for the protagonist in the very first modern vampire novel).

    Currently I'm on a bit of a le Carre kick; I've reread the Smiley novels, and read The Night Manager and The Naive and Sentimental Lover (the latter of which I highly recommend).

     

     

    Thanks. I actually started the King in Yellow a bit ago (courtesy of True Detective, actually), but I'm having trouble getting into it. 

  4. Posted

     

     

    We all want to see X Wing continue to flourish, but only releasing ships based on PC games we played in the 90s will only work to exclude new players, who identify with more recent (and canonical) media.

    Fresh players + fresh ideas = a game everyone can enjoy for years to come.

     

    I think this is gonna be the biggest problem of getting the majority of the Fourm readers to accept anything out of the box. There seems to be a very determined group of players who want X-Wing to play like the old 90 games. If you go though the threads you can see how many of them start with somthing from the 90's games or a few dozen posts of "well thats not how it was done in the computer game". Although since Disney threw out all the EU stuff doesnt that mean the computer games too?

     

     

    Disney didn't "throw out" all the EU stuff.

     

  5. Posted

    I'm almost embarassed to put my effort up after seeing some of the repaints on these forums, but I'm happy with how it turned out so...

     

     

    attachicon.gifHWK-EGL1.jpg

     

     

    I've never actually flown the HWK but may do so now just to see it on the tabletop.

     

    No, this looks great. I'd be glad to see more if you have any.

  6. Posted

     

    I prefer the modern ones, remakes like 3:10 to Yuma and True Grit. Got a soft spot for Tombstone.

     

    My absolute favorite is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford—and on no account of Brad Pitt, who was kind of a buffoon in that movie, but instead for Casey Affleck, who was an acting titan, absolutely defined that movie. Also the gorgeous cinematography and haunting soundtrack courtesy of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

     

    Runner up would be Seraphim Falls, which I think was sorely underrated.

    I really don't know how to ask this without sounding like a total d-bag, but are you a teenager or something? I know I'm just a grumpy old man and all, but all these modern western versus the originals make me think of comparing the original Star Wars trilogy to the prequels (not that I'm trying to be anywhere near on topic here), and proclaiming George finally got it right.

    Seven Samurai and Yojimbo are perfect films made by one of the greatest filmmaker s ever, Seven Samurai and Fistfull of Dollars are good and fun films, and they're still worlds better than the modern Western remakes.

    Mission complete, d-bag level ten reached!

     

     

    No, I'm not comparing here. I don't necessarily prefer the remake westerns over the originals; in most cases I simply haven't seen the originals. I just like modern cinematography. I actually love the Star Wars prequels, maybe in part because I don't compare them to anything. For me, it's additional Star Wars, and I'm glad to have that.

     

    But no, I am 35. I have a teenager.

  7. Posted

    I prefer the modern ones, remakes like 3:10 to Yuma and True Grit. Got a soft spot for Tombstone.

     

    My absolute favorite is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford—and on no account of Brad Pitt, who was kind of a buffoon in that movie, but instead for Casey Affleck, who was an acting titan, absolutely defined that movie. Also the gorgeous cinematography and haunting soundtrack courtesy of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

     

    Runner up would be Seraphim Falls, which I think was sorely underrated.

  9. Posted

     

    Blue, no red... Arrrggg!!!

     

    Aaand monty python reference less than 5 replies in. Well done! I was secretly wondering how long it would take for someone to post that.

     

     

    I would have, if he didn't.

     

    Why didn't you ask the harder questions, like "what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" Too easy.

  12. Posted

     

    I was never a fan of the VT-49 Decimator look, but its depiction in Star Wars Commander changed my mind and inspired the following scheme:

     

    Looks to me that in your reference picture the bits connecting the central fuselage to the spikewings are also black. Considered putting that detail in?

    It'd look something like this (made from your original image and five minutes in paint.net)

    kkBvrRU.png

     

     

    Nice job. I'm still mulling that one over, but it helps to see it like this.

  16. Posted

     

    Again for those of you claiming Disney has axed EU, I think that is not at all accurate.

     

    The new films are, what, 34 ABY? That overwrites the Vong.

     

    No more Vong.

     

    Also pretty sure they confirmed TFU's not canon any more.

     

     

    I agree with you on both points, and I'm personally grateful for No More Vong. Still it isn't impossible for existing EU to make its way into canon—it's already happened. Disney hasn't really axed anything. It's the difference between moving files to a Recycle Bin or permanently deleting them. 
     
    Let me be clear, I expect most of the EU to be ignored going forward, and I'm okay with that. The point I'm trying to make is people act like Disney went and actively erased every non-canon thing. But the reality is they simply made a statement to dissolve any obligation to it. Nothing more, nothing less. 

  17. Posted

    If I might chime in, while, the new vessel is always welcome, I partially agree that they EASILY had a nice simple already designed vessel to be the rival of the Tantive IV. And Honestly, I would have threw money at my screen till I got it.

     

    Meet the Victory II, made popular in the Battlefront II games...well, maybe popular isnt exactly a word I would use, but non the less, the vessel basically provided the EXACT same roll as an escort frigate / light cruiser that the CR-90 provided in game.

     

    And Honestly, I like it's shape a lot more too.

     

    Vic-2-frigate.JPG

     

    While in game it only had 3 or 4 turrets on it, I think between Lucas Arts and FFG they could have turned it into a great addition to the game.

     

    Other runner up choices I thought of are.....

     

    Tartan Patrol Cruiser (From RTS Game Empire At War, the empire's direct answer to the CR-90)

    Tartan.jpg

     

    and last on my runner up....

     

    the IPV-1 Patrol Craft (Also from Empire At War, built at Neutral Shipyards, same roll as the CR-90, though, a bit lighter in build and power, and yes, its lore does say it was part of the Outer Rim Fleets of the Imperial Navy.)

     

    Ipv1eaw.JPG

     

    I brought up the V-II and IPV a few times as well. The V-II was BF2's direct answer to the CR-90 just like the Tartan in EAW. 

     

    Still, I was also probably the first one to posit FFG coming up with their own design, and that was my preferred option, so I am happy with how this turned out.

  18. Posted

    It's a shame they're not used, they look cool. They simply have no real use in the game for the points they cost.

    I've mentioned before, a way to breathe some life into these ships may be through new scenarios. That is, a bombing run scenario in which a player must bomb a specific target whilst his/her opponents try to stop them. The attacking player must choose, more bombers to ensure a hit .. or fewer bombers and a stronger escort to ensure the bomber's survivability.

    I think this is a marketable product for FFG; Scenario packs. Each include some relevant terrain pieces (large Ion cannon or shield generator for example), accompanying rules and relevant tokens.

    Other packs might include turrets, ground based units, etc.

    I think it could be a fun variant to the standard Death Match games.

     

    Bombers will be great when FFG introduces a ground attack expansion.

    Conandoodle reacted to this

  19. Posted

    There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of pages dedicated to which existing ship FFG could have used for Imperial huge. Maybe you're new here.

     

    FFG was pretty clear with the rationalization behind why they created it.

     

    I also wish people would stop forgetting how new ships get created in the first place—EU, Legends, or non-film canon. Victory-class Star Destroyer. Immobilizer. Vigil. Victory-II frigate. At each point you could have asked "Why didn't they just use a Star Destroyer?" and at each point you would sound equally idiotic. The wealth of ships from the EU weren't carved in stone at some distant date in the past. It has always been an organic process; when a new design is warranted, with LFL's blessing, a new design is introduced. So it is now, so it has always been.

     

    Again for those of you claiming Disney has axed EU, I think that is not at all accurate. Disney necessarily removed its obligation to the EU, which is different from getting rid of it entirely. EU (now Legends) isn't canon. That's the only news. Guess what? It wasn't canon in the first place. Nothing's going to change except that the new movies aren't going to follow EU.

     

    Case in point, Star Wars Commander. This is a new game by Disney that features the HWK-290 and Decimator, Clone Wars-era tech for the Rebels, and units from The Force Unleashed and the old Kenner toys from the 1980's. This is a new game. 

     

    EU isn't going anywhere, it's just:

     

    • Called something different now

    • Not canon

    Punning Pundit, Norsehound, ForceSensitive and 1 other reacted to this

  20. Posted

    On my tablet, working my way through The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund and X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole. Downloaded and read The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key in a single evening this week for a nostalgia trip. Anyone remember that one from grade school?

     

    Simultaneously going through the collected works of H.P. Lovecraft (yes, again). I got the B&N collector's hardcover for Christmas, it is a work of art. Along with two H.P. Lovecraft graphic novels which are a surprisingly good format for his work. Never mind that I already own paperback copies of most of his stories and multiple digital copies of his complete library (collected them all in txt files years ago then spent 99¢ on the anthology later).

     

    Was also partway through LOTR and the Silmarillion, but have put those on the back burner for now.

  21. Posted

    There are many instances where artificial horizons and orientation are important in the EU and in plenty of other sci-fi, too. You can call it a cop-out if you want—of course it's all made up—but a lot of rationalization has been done already for those interested, so you don't need to sweat it.

     

    It's also worth considering that the B-Wing saw plenty of atmospheric combat where a real horizon was in play.

     

     

    IIRCC the race that developed the B-Wing lived in an asteroid belt and all their ships did this to avoid collisions with small rocks. The pilot had nothing to do with this rotation it was controlled by automatic sensors. Sorta like adapted cruise control on cars today.


    It was the Mon Cal that came up with the B-wing design, admiral Ackbar being the head of the project.

    The Mon Cal are aquatic so it makes sense to have a cockpit that can be set to a predetermined horizon, its important for an undersea vessel to know where the surface is at all times.

    This design is also fairly logical in space too and makes the B-wing one of the best star wars designs for real world physics, the pilot needs to be at the center of gravity during a turn and the B-wings design supports this design requirement
    The cockpit doesn't rotate, the ship rotates around the cockpit.

     

     

    It was manufactured by Slayn and Korpil, which is a Verpine company. The Verpine are an insectoid race that lived among asteroids as Rambler recalls correctly. Ackbar was the lead on the project, though.

  22. Posted

    I've just spent about three evenings powering through 'True Detective'

     

    I thought it was pretty brilliant and nice to have a self contained series rather than some rambling behemoth that only gets wrapped up when the ratings start to fall.

     

    Saw this thread title and stopped by to recommened exactly that show.

     

    True Detective is my number one fave on TV. The cinematography is gorgeous, acting is top=notch, and it has just a little undercurrent of Lovecraftian horror built into larger its mythos. I'm glad you're checking it out.

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