The Real Waltrop

Krüger and I are planning a campaign for HotT and Warhammer. It's going to take place on an island. The armies involved will probably be Hoplites and Orcs, maybe wild men wearing scary tribal masks instead of Orcs. (Hey Jörg, you can still join us! A pity you don't like Greek hoplites.) The island will be called Waltrop.

There is a place called Waltrop near Dortmund, the city Krüger and I are from. The real Waltrop is a little city in North Rhein-Westphalia. Our friend Jörg with whom we play 40K is from Waltrop.

To get some inspiration for our imaginary island Waltrop, a month ago Krüger and I visited the real Waltrop. We found out that they have panda bears, coffee, bananas, giant sea horses and an abandoned disco called "Pam Pam".

I just noticed I got kicked out of the blog network Tale of Painters, which is understandable because I haven't posted too much about GW products lately. Understandable, but it still hurts.

I hope I wont loose any of my 16 followers because of this blog post. Bear with me. Please.

Maleficent

I have watched "Maleficent" twice with my daughter and wouldn't mind watching it again. It's entertaining, sad and a bit scary, a horror movie for children. I like the basic idea, to tell the story of "Sleeping Beauty" from the perspective of the other side, the side of the witch that curses the newborn princess Aurora. It's "Sleeping Beauty" after 50 years on Freud's couch, who says: the evil witch isn't evil, she has good reasons for behaving the way she does. For a fantasy movie produced by Disney, you get a complex, rich narration. The original movie serves as an undercurrent which the spectator constantly relates to the remake. In this version of the story Maleficent is the queen of winged fairy creatures living in an enchanted forest. She falls in love with a human, is betrayed, hurt, but doesn't turn cold and egoistic like the human beings she gets into conflict with. Angelina Jolie plays her well. (I didn't even know Angelina Jolie could act at all. I guess I have to watch "Tomb Raider" again.)

The special effects are fun. Robert Stromberg, the director of "Maleficent", worked on visual effects for movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Pan's Labyrinth". The cinematography reminded me of old Czech movies in a good way. The only thing that bothered me was the orchestral soundtrack which played non-stop. Why do the Disney studios think this is a good idea? I like the slow, eerie cover version of "Once Upon A Dream" by Lana del Rey though, which plays through the end titles.

Ok. I know. This is a wargaming blog. I stop trying to sound like a film reviewer now. If you play Wood Elves in Warhammer or any other tabletop game, like I do, you might especially enjoy a combat sequence in the first third of the movie. The old human king leads his little army of knights and foot soldiers against Maleficent's tree creatures and is defeated. Here are two lists for Hordes of the Things, representing the armies:

Maleficent's Fairies (Defender): Aerial Hero General (Maleficent), 1 Behemoth (large treeman), 7 Beasts (fairy creatures)

King Henry's army (Attacker): Knight General (King Henry), 3 Knights, 4 Blades, 4 Spears

Anybody know a manufacturer who produces a 28 mm miniature resembling Maleficent?