Monsterpocalypse Miniatures

I don't play Monsterpocalypse, but some of the miniatures are very nifty. Being a fan of HPL, I picked up the big Lords of Cthul monsters when the game first came out last year. Also, being a Lost World fan, I wanted the giant apes from the Empire of the Apes faction. The hyper form of the monsters come in clear plastic, while the alpha forms are painted. The miniatures came on big square bases with their stats printed on them, which I promptly snapped off.


The translucent pink plastic of Ultra Yasheth and Ultra Cthugrosh seemed ideal for representing Cthuloid monstrosities in semi-material form. Cthugrosh with its tentacular lower extremities looks like it is forming out of ectoplasm.


The alpha form Yasheth of course is used for a Star Spawn. I don't particularly care for the shade of green that they used to paint the figure, but I am not particularly motivated to repaint it. The giant ape is King Kondo. There is also another giant ape, Gakura, which I'll probably pick up at a later date. The alpha and hyper forms of King Kondo (and apparently Gakura as well) are being sold as a set. I don't have a need for a transparent ape, so I'll convert this particular miniature by modifying the hand so that it can hold a screaming captive and paint it up.


All of the Yasheth and Cthugrosh figures come from the first series, Monsterpocalypse Rise. King Kondo comes from the latest series, Monsterpocalypse Now.

Arcane Legions Released

Arcane Legions was released today, so armed with a 15% discount coupon from Pair a Dice Games in nearby Vista, I picked up a two-player starter set and a Han booster set. The starter set comes with two sprues of infantry and one commander for each of the major factions in the game. The figures are molded in a very dense gray plastic. Shields come pre-painted, with stenciled designs on the front. I was informed that CA glue works very well for attaching the shields and separate limbs to the figures.

Han Chinese

Egyptians

Romans

Commanders

Boosters come with one rare hero, and two rare/uncommon specialty units. The figures are painted, and come individually sealed. The painting was not quite as awful as I was expecting, though some of the color choices seemed rather questionable.

The hero figure is Zhongli Quan, a real-life Han Dynasty general who was deified as one of the Eight Immortals.


The specialty units I received were the Wu Tou Gui and Goryo. These figures come in linked bags of several identical miniatures. I think I am short one figure, since one of the bags for the Wu Tou Gui seems to be empty. I actually like these figures a lot. I don't know why, but translucent plastic miniatures just seem really cool. The Wu Tou Gui are molded in clear plastic, while the Goryo are molded in translucent green plastic.


I removed the basing pegs from some of the figures to do size comparisons. I'm still deciding whether to do so for each pose or not.

Zhongli Quan, Terracotta Spearman A, and Han Sharpshooter compared to Caesar Qin Dynasty Army.


The standard Arcane Legions figures seem more slender than the Caesar figures, but I think they go well together. I like the fact that there are a lot of infantry with ge-halberds, something that is sadly deficient in the Caesar set.

Cursed Swordsman and Cursed Spearman compared to Eagle Games Mummy.


Very cool, but why are mummies always so tall?

Arcane Legions Egyptian Archer compared to Caesar and Atlantic Egyptian archers.


Arcane Legions Formation Legionary compared to Airfix, LW, and Atlantic legionaries. Also, a Heavy Legionary at the end, in apparently what is some sort of powered armor.



Overall, I'll have to say I'm not disappointed. I like the Han and Egyptians the best. A couple of the poses seem a bit far-fetched (e.g. the Charging Han Infantry), and the sculpting is somewhat simplistic, but the figures are usable, and making them in 1/72 is definitely a plus. Images of all the figures can be found at the Arcane Legions website.

Спутник

Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957, and marked the start of the U.S.-U.S.S.R Space Race. The satellite was 58.5 cm in diameter (just under 2 feet) and weighed 83.6 kg. It travelled at a speed of 29,000 kph, with an orbital period of about 96 minutes. After three months in orbit, Sputnik 1 fell from orbit and burned up after re-entering Earth's atmosphere.


ArcLight's World Space Museum series includes the Sputnik (produced by Kaiyodo) as it's first model (WSM-10001). The set includes the satellite, a plastic stand with clear plastic support for the Sputnik, and a big glass marble with the Earth's landmasses printed on the surface. Also included in the box is a foldout information sheet describing the Sputnik, about a dozen trading cards, and another card that describes Tsiolkovsky rocket equation in Japanese.


The satellite body scales out pretty much to 1/72, but the antennae are too thick. Also, unlike the pictures that you will usually find of Sputnik, the model does not have a shiny mirror-like finish. Overall, it is a simple representation of the Sputnik, though a tad pricey for what is essentially a ball with four sticks poking out of it.