Episode 600

Read the comic here.

Longtime readers may wonder why the Minnesota Wash and Fox settled in isn't the one in the Cola-Zombie universe.

Simple answer: Brick World (the Cola-Zombie universe introduced back in Episode One) doesn't have a Minnesota. Ergo, they settled somewhere else.

Longer answer: At that point Wash and Fox had quit the strip, so they'd be living outside of that universe.

Episode 599

Read the comic here.

Out of town at the moment - strip will be integrated with the normal page flow late today.

Comic is now posted normally.

Episode 598

Read the comic here.

Episode 597

Read the comic here.

With today's strip we're back to a normal m-f schedule for Brick House.

Advent Madness: VS Day 25 - Part 3

Advent Madness Day Twenty Five - Part Thee - The FINAL EPISODE

VERSUS

The final of three Christmas-Day rounds.

As agreed to at the beginning of the game, the final turn begins with a die roll to see who will get to act first. To Player A's mounting horror, Player B wins the roll.

Santa is already in Player B's control (in the hands of her Jester HERO), but she's trapped in Player A's Staging Area - a great distance from the center of the table.

Remember: Whichever side of the center line Santa occupies at the end of this turn will determine the winner.

Player B sees an opening to end things quickly - she tries a HEROic Teleport with Santa back to her own Staging Area!

Player A uses her ZOMBIE HERO to mentally disrupt the teleport sequence - adding one die in opposition to Player B's teleport roll. She needn't have worried - Player A flubs her roll with a 1 - the final FEAT result is 1-6 - Not only did the Jester's teleport go wrong, but he lost his grip on Santa in the process!

Player A decides on the endpoint of the Jester's teleport - the unused Staging Area 2 on her side of the table. The Jester is effectively out of the game!

Player B has one last chance - The Knight moves to Santa ----

Worker: "Does it look like they're making out to you?"

AHEM. Player B declares that she's going to have her HERO Knight THROW Santa across the center line. It's an insane move - and just right for the climax of the Advent Wars.

Players A and B agree on a ratio of die-roll to inches of movement - and Player B picks up the dice...

---AND WITH A HEROIC EFFORT THROWS SANTA ACROSS THE TABLE!

There's nothing Player A can do. Her HERO has already used his FEAT for this turn. All of her forces are back in her Staging area. No one can reach Santa, much less get him back across the center line.

"I guess that's it, then."


PLAYER B: THE VICTOR

And there you have it. Twenty seven rounds of mayhem brought to you by LEGO's Advent Calendars and Reasonably Clever. I'd like to thank Players A and B for their willingness to drive over to my house and be photographed playing such a silly game.

If the rumors are true and there's both Pirate and CITY Advent calendars in 2009 maybe I can have them both back for a rematch...

The Stinger After the Credits

Advent Madness: VS Day 25 - Part 2

Advent Madness Day Twenty Five - Part Two

VERSUS

The second of three Christmas-Day rounds.

As the turn opens, Player B's HERO Knight has Santa in his grip - but he's deep within Player A's territory. And it's Player A's turn to act.

Player A, now at a 0-2 HERO disadvantage, tries a HEROic REVIVE on the sadly Mutilated Dead Zombie HERO. The roll fails 2-3. Player B, however, decides to let the Zombie revive anyway - but with the penalty of NO ARMS.

Player A uses her Movement Phase to adjust the positions of Emo-boy, Train/Construction Man, and the Crook.

The Crook and Worker combine their attack on the Jester - who falls to a roll of 13-25.

Player A also combines the attacks of Emo-Boy, Siege Cat, the Chef, and Grissom to take out that pesky HERO Knight. The roll of 22-11 means he's down yet again! Santa is blown clear again and staggers about until Emo-boy loads him onto the red cart.

It's a bad starting position for Player B - can she recover?

Player B begins her turn by trying a HEROic REVIVE on her Jester. A super impressive roll of 20-1 later he's back in the KAOS KART and ready to take action! He jets over to the fallen Knight...

Who ALSO tries a HEROic REVIVE. A roll of 4-3 and he's back in the action as well.

The Archery Cart tries a combined range attack with the White Skeleton - it's close, but Emo-Boy loses on a roll of 12-11! Santa Bounces free yet again!

The Jester is ready and scoops up Santa!

The Mind-Controlled Snoball-Gal uses a Grate-Smash on the Jet-grill on the HERO Knight - but it fails 14-18.

One round to go. And Player B has the ball.

Advent Madness: VS Day 25 - Part 1

Advent Madness Day Twenty Five - Part One

VERSUS

The first of three Christmas-Day rounds. The final battle between Castle and CITY for the FATE OF THE WORLD.

(Well, okay, really just the glory of having control of Santa Claus - but that's still pretty darn cool.)

As the turn opens, Player B has Santa loaded on her Maid's Hover Board - and is ready to jet towards the center line...and victory.

Player A wastes no time in stopping that attempt cold. Combined fire from The Snow-Mech, Grissom, Chef, Emo-Boy and Siege Cat take down both the Maid and her Board with a roll of devastating roll of 37-11. Santa is again thrown clear - landing Dazed and Confused amongst the loose bricks of Player A's Staging Area.

Sadly, none of Player A's forces are in range to pick up Santa, so she ends her turn.

Player B begins with a HEROic DASH to reclaim Santa. The roll succeeds!

Meanwhile the Jester moves up in the KAOS KART. The Archery Cart is already in range of the Snow-Mech however...

...and a combined attack roll from the Siege Arrow and White Skeleton Archer earn a 20-6 Knockout Blow.

The Snow-Mech is melted - and his hat joins the lineup of the fallen.

The Martian Commander, too far away to hit anyone with his lone remaining spear - decides to try a HEROic MIND CONTROL of the Snowball Girl. An 8-5 roll means he has gained control of her as a ZOMBIE!

The Alien-controlled Jet-Grill moves up and tries a Grill-Slam on the Knight - but it fails, 14-18.

With only two rounds left Player A seems to have a slight edge - even if Santa remains in Player B's direct control. It's a long way to the center of the table...

The next round will be posted at noon! See you then!

Holiday Episode

Read the comic here.

Merry Christmas to all my readers - may today be happy for you, no matter how you choose to celebrate it. Heck, have a happy day even if you'd rather not celebrate. Everyone could use a happy day once in a while.

Brick House picks back up tomorrow.

Advent Madness: VS Day 24

Advent Madness Day Twenty Four

VERSUS

If you haven't already, you'll want to check out the CITY and Castle daily reveals to see what forces our Players will be deploying today...

Turn 24 - the final found of reinforcements from the Advent Calendars. Player A pulls her tenth min-figure from her box - along with its Snowman Sidekick.

Continuing her trademark re-evaluation of the parts, however, that friendly Snowman becomes a formidable SNOW-MECH - armed with ranged attack Spear Gun and close-combat broom. The Snowball-Gal immediately replaced the fallen Aquaman on the Jet-Grill.

Player A was starting this turn at a disadvantage - Player B had just managed to wrest Santa Claus from her grasp. Could she stop Player B's escape?

Player A decides to forgo her movement phase - her vehicles and figures all have their targets in range. She starts off by launching a mass-attack at the Bomber Bucket's piloting Troll.

It's a massive roll - and the Troll falls with a roll of 23-10! More than enough to remove the Troll - and the excess damage carries over to the Bomber Bucket....and it's payload of BOMBS.

With a mighty KA-WHAM the bombs ignite - vaporizing the Troll. But what of Santa?!?

Luckily for both Players, Santa was merely flung from the exploding Bomber Bucket - and sent smashing into Player A's defensive wall! That had to hurt! For the remainder of the game Santa will be treated as "unconcious".

Last turn, Player B used her White Skeleton's turn to rebuild the Archery Cart. This turn Player A launches a small attack from the Snowmobile's Train-Construction Driver at the Skeleton. The attack fails to land by a roll of 3-16.

The Martian Commander, however, has better luck with his dice and finally regains consciousness. He'll be ready to take a part in the final Christmas Day rounds.

As agreed at the begining of the Advent War, Player B's ninth and final minifigure also gets the "HERO" status attached to it. Here we see the Jester emerging from his plastic cacoon.

And here he is taking command of Player B's Kaos Kart. His first action is to try a HEROic Feat and use the Kaos Kart's Chaos Gems to teleport over to the unconcious Santa.

Unfortunately, the dice aren't with Player B and the teleport goes awry! It's up to Player A to decide where the failed teleport ends up...

..and she chooses to leave him right by the Alien Commander. Too bad the Commander used this turn returning to life - he'll have to wait for next round to attack the Jester.

Player B now moves to "Plan B" - the Wench moves up on her Hoverboard and wedges Santa up against the Chaos Gem engine. This will slow down her movement rate to just 5" - but Player B has still regained control of Santa.

Player B finishes her turn by moving up her HERO knight and Skeleton to try and cover the Maid's retreat.

There are just three turns left - and no more reinforcements. Those final three turns will be posted tomorrow at 2:00 am, Noon, and 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Can Player B make it all the way past the centerline with Santa in tow? Will Player A regain control?

All that matters is which side of the table Santa is on at the end of turn 25-C.

It's going to be a hell of a fight.

Episode 596

Read the comic here.

I'm soooo glad to be done with the Advent items. There were some great things to come out of this year's run...stuff that's sure to make 2009 much more entertaining. But, wow, does December take a lot out of me.

Time for a drink...and it looks like Ian has that covered for me over in The Adventures of the S-Team...

Advent Madness: CITY Day 24

Advent Madness Day Twenty Four

CITY
(Open the Doors Here)

Snowball Girl and Snowman

You know, LEGO didn't do too bad with the CITY Advent this year. Sure there were a few repeat sub-themes, and there were days where the mini-models made no sense at all - but, looking back at the calendar as a whole... It was a fun trip.

And this trip comes to an end with Day 24 - a final self-contained sub-theme to keep everyone happy and busy while they eye the rectangular boxes under the tree and hope they contain more LEGO sets.

This year Santa is again strangely absent - in his place is a wintery duo of a Snowman and mini-figure. Maybe she's the snowman's sculptor. Maybe she's a random passer-by. All I know for sure is that the extra parts that don't go directly into the Snowman's construction leaves me wondering if the LEGO designers didn't end the calendar with some juvenile humor about snowballs.

As far as Snowmen go, this is an interesting take on their construction. It's certainly recognizable - while somehow remaining extremely abstract in form. The tophat and broom give the Snowman instant credibility - despite the fact that he has no face.

The accompanying mini-figure is pretty unimpressive - standard hair, head, torso and legs. An overall is probably not the best outfit for playing in snow, but I guess the designers had their reasons.

Leaked set information for 2009 suggests that this time next year we'll be wrapping up the 2009 CITY Advent. Will it improve on the 2008 release? Or will we spend the Holidays weeping for lost opportunities?

Tell you what. You show up again to read about the Advent next year - and I'll take the time to write about it. Deal?

Advent Madness: CASTLE Day 24

Advent Madness Day Twenty Four

CASTLE
(Open the Doors Here)

Jester

Here we are - the grand finale of the Castle Advent Calendar. The final door hides a new mini-figure - an awesome addition to any Castle Collection - The Jester.

I can't claim to be surprised to get this guy - he's figured prominently on the front of the Castle Advent box after all.

When news of this set was first leaked back in January it was a tossup which figure would generate more excitement - the Wench or the Jester. (No one really noticed the new Witch over in the corner - mostly due to the leaked image being too low-res to make out any details.)

Later in 2008 we would see the Jester hat turn up as part of the Batman line - recolored to Black and Red for Harley Quinn. But the blue-and-red version would remain a Castle Advent exclusive - along with an all new "Big Grin" face that wasn't shown on the box front!

Since today completes the Castle Advent, I wanted to close with a few observations about the calendar as a whole. While I regularly whine about the repetition of the CITY calendar, I'm sure I'd be equally grumpy if I were to see a Castle-only offering year after year. There's only so much you can do with one theme in the scope of an Advent run - you might get away with two years, but after that you're going to be sucking fumes, and the calendar will suffer for it.

But, fresh out of the gate, this calendar had just about everything you could want. New figures with unique and hard to find parts. A few interesting Mini-Models. Solid sub-themes. Sure, it had a few days where you couldn't help but feel cheated - but those days just helped the truly awesome kits stand out that much more.

From the news that's already leaked for the 2009 Advent Season it doesn't look like we'll have to worry about what a second year of Castle would look like. From what we've seen it isn't being developed.

But...there is word of an alternate to the ever-present CITY option. Just a rumor at this stage...but still....

Advent Pirates.

See you next year, Matey!

Advent Madness: VS Day 23

Advent Madness Day Twenty Three

VERSUS

If you haven't already, you'll want to check out the CITY and Castle daily reveals to see what forces our Players will be deploying today...

Player A was glad to add yet another vehicle to her armada - and luckily the Train/Construction worker was on hand to pilot it. Meanwhile, the cat climbs quietly back onto the Missile Launcher, effectively negating Player B's attack last round.

Player A also moves the Crook and Grissom mins slightly - but not enough to justify their own photo.

The action begins as Player A uses a combined shot from the Worker and Emo's Siege Weapon against the Witch. The dice are with Player A as the round starts - a 22-5 smashing victory!

The cart is destroyed - and the Witch melts away as if she were in Oz. What a world!

Player A's remaining forces open fire in unison on Player B's HERO Knight - but the dice turn on Player A and the Knight Survives 15-20.

Player B, meanwhile, has been busy creating her ultimate vehicle - the KAOS KART. It's a treasure chest powered by Chaos Gems and filled with bombs to chuck at foes. Too bad she's once again trapped without a pilot as her forces are all across the table attacking Player A's forces.

Here's a closeup of the KAOS KART. Note the jets on the chest's lid. Assuming she can get a pilot for it, this vehicle will have the max movement rate of 15"/turn.

Player B completes her movement phase - her forces have closed in on the Jet-Grill that protects Santa and are ready to combine their ranged attacks...

It's a 21-9 Knock out! Aquaman in Decapitated! The Jet-Grill's protective grill is blown open...

...And that means the Troll can scoop up Santa! Player B has regained control of Saint Nick! But can Player B get him back to her side of the table before the end of the game?

There are just four turns left - one more reinforcement round on the 24th - then three turns on the 25th to decide Santa's final fate.

Trust me: It's going to be a wild ride.

Episode 595

Read the comic here.

Boy, I'd have to be a real Scrooge to kill off a major character over the next couple of days, wouldn't I?

Episode 594

Read the comic here.

This strip suffers a bit from Mother Tango's lack of expression options - she's meant to be just as worried as Mary Sue is. Her feelings are clearer next episode, which should publish at the regular time. (Getting me back on schedule!)

Advent Madness: CITY Day 23

Advent Madness Day Twenty Three

CITY
(Open the Doors Here)

Snowmobile!

Okay, I know I'm a grumpy, grumpy guy when it comes to the CITY advent calendar. But I have to admit, LEGO is doing a decent job of bringing this year's effort to a close. Here on day 23 we have the end of the last two-day "Snow Guy" theme - and it's a pretty nice mini-model of a snow mobile.

True, there's nothing too challenging about the construction, but it looks good. And that, my friends, the key to a nice advent door. A model all ages can complete, but that you don't feel bad about pushing along the floor making Bruummm-Brummm motor-noises.

If I had to find a gripe I guess I could talk about how this is actually a sled - there's no motor or drive system apparent. But I didn't notice that until after I started in on the sound effects, so I'm going to ignore the whole issue.

Historically, the 24th door on the CITY Advent has held a fairly elaborate set. How much Holiday Spirit will LEGO be able to pack into that final baggie of parts? Enough to win me over so that I'll buy next years CITY advent?

I'm looking forward to finding out!

Advent Madness: CASTLE Day 23

Advent Madness Day Twenty Three

CASTLE
(Open the Doors Here)

Treasure Chest with Gems and Spider

We're down to the wire. Those of you who looked at the front of the box for the Castle Advent know there's one awesome mini-figure to go...and he didn't show up on the 23rd. So today's set is just a final place holder - and a finish to the Troll Sub-Theme.

As far as "finishes" go, it's not too bad. The treasure chest and loot fit the theme, as does the spider. On the downside there's no actual building to be done with today's items. These are just bits of set dressing and accessories to make the rest of the theme a bit more extravagant.

Heh. I suppose if I were to receive a chest of Gems for Christmas I'd be pretty happy about it. So let's call it a base hit and turn our eyes back to the Advent Calendar...to await tomorrow's big surprise.

Advent Madness: VS Day 22

Advent Madness Day Twenty Two

VERSUS

If you haven't already, you'll want to check out the CITY and Castle daily reveals to see what forces our Players will be deploying today...

For some reason everyone decided to call Player A's new Mini-figure "Emo Boy". I have the name here in my notes several times - but for the life of me I can't remember why we started calling him that. Maybe the hat?

Anyway, Emo Boy was quickly deployed as the pilot of the "Red Cart" vehicle Player A had assembled over the past couple of turns. He added another ranged Siege Weapon and a possible hand-to-hand attack to Player A's defensive line.

As you may recall, last turn Player B combined her attacks and shattered Player A's Ice Cream Girl to individual pieces. This turn Player A returns the compliment by getting rid of the pilot of the Archery Cart - a massive 35-3 Knock Out Blow that takes out not only the Black Skeleton, but also the Archery Cart!

Player B spends a bit of time figuring out the build for her day's model - it's not as tricky as the Palette Jack Player A abandoned a few turns ago, but it's not easy either.

The idea of adding a catapult to her forces is enough to keep Player B focused, though. Soon enough she's added it to her Staging Area - hoping that the snake can fire it off should Player A storm her castle.

Player B's forces continue their charge towards Player A's stronghold - and the Prize that is Santa Claus. The Bomb Bucket is close enough to launch a bomb at Grissom - but he easily defends 6-11.

The Mining Cart is quick enough to zip around the side of Player A's forces to enter the Staging Area! Choosing her target wisely, Player B unleashes some Force Lightning against the cat!

The roll is close - but a 3-1 victory sends the cat flying, and down to only 8 lives left.

Meanwhile, the Alien Commander struggles once again to rise up. Once again, he fails with a roll of 1-3. He's out until turn 24 - talk about waiting until the very last minute....

Episode 593

Read the comic here.

Today's Humor is a bit of a LEGO Meta joke. Despite the hoards of Trolls released by LEGO in 2008, every single one of them has the same face. Now, a sad part of racism is the statement "[whatever group] all look alike to me!" LEGO has made it true for the Trolls.

I know there's at least one new Troll face on the way in 2009 - the Female Shaman. Here's hoping the rank-and-file also get some individuality.

Oh. I should point out this cool gallery of Troll-alternates using existing LEGO faces. I've had several of these on hand for use with Scotch, but the opportunity hasn't arisen yet.

Advent Madness: CITY Day 22

Advent Madness Day Twenty Two

CITY
(Open the Doors Here)

Mountain Climber

As we enter the final days of the CITY Advent we see the welcome return of Winter-Themed figures. I'll admit it's a very Northern Hemisphere-Centric view, but, darn it, I expect to see some Snow and Ice as part of my Christmas Festivities.

Today's Mini-figure does seem decked out for cold weather - a nice knit hat, winter-y white backpack and warm sweater. And Ice Picks. Two of them.

None of the parts are particularly rare - even the white backpack has appeared in Star Wars and Mars Mission sets - but the combo is nicely assembled.

This should be a short-lived theme - one mini-model on the 23rd with a new "final theme" on the 24th. Are the ice picks a hint? Maybe we'll see an ice wall or something for him to climb. It'd be an interesting tie-in to the Sports theme. Well, whatever it is, I just hope it's something cool and different.

C'mon LEGO...we're all counting on you...

Advent Madness: CASTLE Day 22

Advent Madness Day Twenty Two

CASTLE
(Open the Doors Here)

Holiday Catapult

Who says that Trolls can't have holiday spirit? Just take a look at today's festive sub-model! Sure, you'd expect a Troll mini-figure to come with some sort of weapon of war - but note how it's been decorated in festive Holiday Red and Green! Why, it even comes with what I take to be a representation of a fragile glass Christmas Tree ornament as ordnance.

I didn't think there'd be much room for Holiday Themes in a Castle Advent - but LEGO has surprised me yet again. :)

Episode 592

Read the comic here.

Yes, I'm running a bit behind on the strip. I'll be caught up soon.

Advent Madness: VS Day 21

Advent Madness Day Twenty One

VERSUS

If you haven't already, you'll want to check out the CITY and Castle daily reveals to see what forces our Players will be deploying today...

Player A had an immediate idea of how to apply today's parts to her growing army. Having grown fond of the two-dice-of-damage of her Jet-Grill's Siege Engine Slam, she parts together...

...A missile launcher. "Manned" by her cat, Player A's staging area just became a bit more dangerous. Certainly more dangerous than if she had taken the Advent Box's suggestion and treated today's model as refreshing Soda for her troops.

Player A moves Santa behind her barricade and re-organizes her other troop's defensive positions to fend off the coming storm of Player B's forces.

Ice-Cream Girl arrives on her Jet-Cart. The assembled troops seems to say "Come Get Some."

Meanwhile, Player B adds a Troll Warrior to her forces. With the return of the Wench to the Staging Area this turn, she suddenly has a surplus of pilots for her Bomber Bucket (constructed last turn.) Her solution?

Create a hoverboard for the Wench. And be sure she picks up some extra weapons while she can.

At the beginning of her Movement Turn, Player B is ready to send some potent reinforcements chasing after her first wave of troops, who all move forward a bit in an action I neglected to photograph. (Whoops.)

The Hover Board has a movement rate of 10" from the Chaos Gem motor at the rear.

The Bomber Bucket has a maxed-out movement rate of 15" with the dual-gem motors and extra flaming spikes. Player A, however, is unwilling to let Player B use the movement sticks as a ramp and let the Bomber Bucket get a couple of extra inches due to "a cool jump."

It should be noted at this point Players A and B are both a bit annoyed at the survival of some mini-figues despite entire regiments firing on them in unison. We check the rules and find out that there's a rule to cover this that we'd been ignoring. A player can, if they desire, combine attacks from multiple sources to overcome high armor ratings. This, of course, is terrible news for Ice-Cream Girl.

Last turn Player A had a series of super lucky rolls that kept Ice Cream Girl alive despite all of Player B's forces taking a shot at her. This round they all open fire again - but this time in unison. The combined roll of 27-16 scatters Ice Cream Girl to the wind.

Sure, that sounds like bad news for Player A - but remember - she has her troops well deployed and can use that same "combined fire" rule herself.


I have a feeling she'll be doing just that in her next turn...

Advent Madness: CITY Day 21

Advent Madness Day Twenty One

CITY
(Open the Doors Here)

Pallet of Bottles

You know, for a mini-theme this one has been pretty interesting. The Train/Construction Worker who started things off was kind of bland (if mysterious in job description) but the mini-models have been original and fun.

Today's supplement of a pallet of bottles is simple in its construction, but still easily recognizable. The transparent-black cones will be easy to reuse in post-Advent creations and there a bunch of them, always a plus.

Looking at all three sets together you get an image of someone actually doing something. This man has bottles - and he needs to put them somewhere else. And he has just the tool to do it.

I love it when a plan comes together like that.

Advent Madness: CASTLE Day 21

Advent Madness Day Twenty one

CASTLE
(Open the Doors Here)

Grumpy the Troll

So, new theme. That's cool. We're back to the forces of evil with a Troll figure.

You know, why are tolls always evil? Maybe they're just misguided. Or, you know, culturally different.

What? Yes, I suppose their wanting to split open our skulls and feast on the delicious innards may have something to do with the "Evil" label.

And, yeah, that whole "rape and pillage" thing. Yes. he comes with a giant copper sword, all knicked and notched from heavy use chopping up babies.

Just trying to give these guys a break. You know, it being Christmas time and all.

No?

Oh well.

Advent Madness: VS Day 20

Advent Madness Day Twenty

VERSUS

If you haven't already, you'll want to check out the CITY and Castle daily reveals to see what forces our Players will be deploying today...

Player A is once again faced with a "what the heck" gift. Peering at the tiny picture of the completed model on the back of the door flap she wisely decided to skip the "as seen on the box" model and go directly to "creative fusion".

"Maybe I can make it into another cart or something."

Soon enough - she does just that. Another vehicle joins the Player A Armada.

In a move called "circling the wagons" Player A uses her movement phase to hide Santa behind her defensive line. She's determined to make Player B's life as tough as possible for the next few turns.

Maybe if Player B cleaned her room more often her Mom (Player A) would have given her a break. (This has been a paid announcement from Player A.)

To complete her turn, Player A races Ice Cream Girl back towards base.

Player B was a bit daunted by all the tiny bricks in today's model. "I'm not building a stupid table!" she cries - and takes a page from Player A's playbook and begins to create her own vehicles using the new parts.

"Yeeeeeessss. Chaos Gem POWER!"

Sadly, there's no one home at Player B's Staging Area and her brand new Bomber Bucket must stay put this round.

Player B's forces are on the move - and Ice Cream Girl is trapped in the midst of them!

Despite the massive forces arrayed against her, the Ice Cream Girl survives with increasingly impressive rolls of 6-9, 2-9, 4-20 and 3-24! Carrying that shield for extra armor really paid off.

Player B's Wench, meanwhile, is sprinting back to base.

The Martian Commander tries again to wake up with a HEROic Feat, and once again fails with a 1-4 roll. He's out until at least round 22 now. If the Aliens have any more impact on this game, it'll be in the final rounds.

Advent Madness: CITY Day 20

Advent Madness Day Twenty

CITY
(Open the Doors Here)

Palette Jack with extra bits

I've spent far too much time wandering around stock rooms - today's mini-model was an easy one for me to recognize. It's a palette jack - here's a video of one in action.

As far as mini-models go, I'm happy with this one. It's not a common item, but it's well rendered and has some non-standard construction to it. (The light-clip plates as wheels is a particularly nice touch.)

Now, what this has to do with Construction...or Trains....or the Construction of Trains...I have no idea. This sub-theme is still taking shape, I guess.

Advent Madness: CASTLE Day 20

Advent Madness Day Twenty

CASTLE
(Open the Doors Here)

Table, Stool, turkey dinner and glasses. And some wood.

Continuing the Maid/Serving Wench theme we get a much more satisfying mini-model than yesterday's vegetable crisper.

Today we have a fairly elaborate mini-table, a stool, golden plate and goblet (with spare goblet for a friend) and a couple of extra pieces. You know, in case a table leg breaks or something.

Is this a possible cross-time/space link with the CITY advent? Perhaps the Man-Eating-Turkey from Day 1 over there just left the Castle environment....nah. That'd never work. The turkey leg is still here. Maybe he came by and dropped it off, as it got cold and stale?

Maybe so.




...Maybe so.

Advent Madness: VS Day 19

Advent Madness Day Nineteen

VERSUS

If you haven't already, you'll want to check out the CITY and Castle daily reveals to see what forces our Players will be deploying today...

As we enter the home stretch, Player A adds yet another mini-figure into her army.

Since Mr. Orange didn't arrive with a weapon of his own, he picks up a stick from the debris littering Player A's Staging Area as a makeshift bat (or maybe spear.)

Seeing an opening, Ice Cream Girl is moved to the abandoned Jet-Cart.

The remainder of Player A's forces spread out to try and stop Player B's forces as they chase after Santa.

Speaking of Santa, the Jet-Grill makes a hasty departure from the center of the playing field. Luckily Aquaman is still manning the suplemental oar, keeping the Grill with a 10" movement range despite the extra passenger weight.

Player A's turn ends with Ice-Cream Gal re-claiming the Jet-Cart.

Player B has to make due to with a barrel and some fruit for her parts re-supply.

She decides to add the new ingredients into the snake soup she had boiling back in her Staging Area.

Player B begins her main turn by trying a HEROic Revive on her HERO Knight. (Knocked out at the end of last turn)

She's in luck! The dice are with her and the HERO is back on his feet.

The maid heads for Player A's forces. Meanwhile, the Witch gets back into the Mine Cart.

The Archery Team follows the Jet-Grill's path and chases them behind the Stasis Cell.

Player B has her bat attack the one remaining Martian: Blue Squid Alien. Sadly, it flubs the attack with a 5-6 roll.

The Blue Squid Alien counter attacks and with a roll of 3-2 knocks the bat from the sky! Unfortuanatly for him, though, this sets off the bat's bomb! The resulting 15-5 explosion kills both the Alien AND the hapless bat! Tragic!

Things are starting to look Grim for Player B - but there's still several turns to go...and the tables are turning so fast they might as well be mounted on a record player.

Episode 591

Read the comic here.

A full year of Mary Sue's life summed up in three panels - and I covered today's Advent item, too.

I know most of you have a love/hate (or just hate/hate) relationship with Mary Sue - personally I think that's great. It's nice to know you guys actually care about these characters enough to really dislike one of them. For those of you who are missing other cast members - don't fret. There are a lot of familiar faces slated to appear in early 2009.

Speaking of love/hate:
I've recently submitted Brick House to the comic review site Is It Funny Today. It's an interesting spin on the standard rankings site as it lets visitors rate a comic on a daily basis. I'm listed in the "Story Comic" section (with the more accurate question "Is it GOOD today?"). If you get a moment, please go by and register your opinion on the strip.

Advent Madness: CITY Day 19

Advent Madness DayNineteen

CITY
(Open the Doors Here)

Train/Construction Worker

Did you see the Aliens 3? Remember when the alien bred with the dog to create some sort of dog/alien hybrid? Apparently something like that is happening today as we have what appears to be a typical Construction Worker - but his insignia brands him as part of the train-sub-theme.

Clearly he is evil incarnate, just waiting to destroy the other CITY minifigures and drink from their severed heads.

Or not.

Advent Madness: CASTLE Day 19

Advent Madness Day Nineteen

CASTLE
(Open the Doors Here)

Basket, Apple, Carrot and extra stalk

Considering the generally high-quality of the Mini-models in the Castle Advent so far, today's swag is a bit of a letdown. It must have been a very rough year for produce - the only items in the bushel are a solitary apple, a carrot, and an extra bit of greens. Hardly a feast by any standards.

I like the LEGO carrots, but they were designed for the Belville theme. As such, they're woefully out of scale for the standard mini-figure. I mean, scaling up to human size these carrots would be nearly 3' long...not counting the stems. While carrots do get that big, it's hardly the common version. Recently LEGO has cast the base of the Carrot in brown and used it as a torch in the Indiana Jones sets. It's a much better use, in my opinion.

Eh. It could always be worse.