Not-Transformers: Dr.Wu Evil Dragon is Something that Exists

I suppose I should preface this by stating my stance on the whole "Third Party" Transformers scene. Mostly, I don't like it. There's the obvious legal issues to start with. Third party is a euphemism, a better term would be unlicensed, and while we can argue about the details and relevant national IP law, a lot of this stuff lacks clean hands as it were. There's also the matter of price, these things being much more expensive than actual Transformers, although there's often a quality justification/argument for that. Finally, the whole Third Party sphere is characterised by a massive Geewunner bias and a terrible follow-the-leader mentality which makes it utterly boring to me. How many third party Devastator teams do we need, for example? There are however always exceptions, and these exceptions usually occur at toy events where I find myself seeing something odd or otherwise noteworthy in person. Evil Dragon is one such indulgence.

 

Evil Dragon is made by Dr.Wu, an enterprise known for making very small not-transformers of a collector's nature. It is based off a Transformer, if an obscure repaint of one in this case, a lad called Gigastorm whom was a japanese exclusive re-release of Trypticon, the Decepticon cityformer. Japanese Beast Wars did that sort of thing a lot, but that is kinda interesting. And lets be honest, having a small version of something famous for being massive is also interesting. But that’s not all that it is. In truth, this and its kin takes a lot from 52Toys' BeastBox line. Its got a box mode, a 5cm cube, the whole repaint/remould release pattern here is very beastboxy. Evil Dragon is (obviously) a repaint/retool of an initial Trypticon based release called Energy Dragon, and there's a few other repaints knocking about. Meanwhile the actual toy feels like a modern and refined BeastBox, with similar build quality and engineering. So it seems my third party preference is for it to rip off two things at once, OK. Something to be aware of. But, I went in this expecting curate's egg, a curiosity, something expensive, largely OK, that I could justify to myself as a bit of fun. I did not expect it to be this good. 

Evil Dragon has a total of 4 modes, but the battlestation mode is undocumented in the instructions. A little odd, given as it comes in box largely in that mode, but my research indicates that Gigastorm never used that mode anyway, so OK I suppose?. The transformation scheme hits the same notes as the 80's toy, perhaps not the biggest challenge, but its very well executed. Its size does work against it in a few places, like the side struts on the feet which will require a toothpick or similar to lever out, but that's the only actual criticism I have of the set. Otherwise your alternating between efficient design and characterful touches. The shoulder guns are spring loaded, and fiercely so. The little car chest plate has functional and separate wheels, and a robot mode on the underside. It helps sell the city and battlestation modes, rolling well, and just adding some sense of scale. It and the shoulder accessories play into the box mode so naturally you'd think it was always there. The dino mode is nicely articulated for its size and cutesy proportions; it's not as good in the neck as say Dio is, but I honestly can't say its lacking giving how much the head has going on. The mouth opens, the tongue guns are there, and the head has a very spikey horn on it. Its teeth are a bit sharp too, so don't consider this a child's toy. It's city and battlestation modes meanwhile are faithful to a fault; they are solid and nicely presented interpretations of the source material, but they unavoidably aren't as fun as a mechagodzilla type going stompy time. But, as I said, the little chest car helps.

Overall, Energy Dragon is very much the best version of what its trying to be. Its expensive by both the standards of Transformers and Beastbox, and its one legal challenge away from not existing any more. But it is shockingly good at what it does. I don’t know if I’d get another, and I don’t know if anyone else would like this, but this hit me right.

Gaslands: Morris Minor Roadwarrior

 

At the time of writing, Project Draftdodger has ended, and I am preparing to post regularly on Sundays again. I remain undecided as to what, if any, long term projects I wish to pursue. I was also trying to address certain real life issues to mixed success. My concern is: am I just distracting myself, or do I actually need those distractions/rewards as the issues I seek to resolve have no quick fixes? As such, I opted for something small scale and therapeutic, another Gaslands car. The modelling equivalent of a pallet cleanser.

 

As mentioned previously, I've collected a few interesting cars in passing, and my bits box is such that I can free-form this sort of thing on a whim. The basic idea was much like the Pain Train, an exercise in the techniques of kitbashing, sculpting, and weathering. Where it differs is in the base toy, a Matchbox Morris Minor Saloon. Something of a meme, Minors are roughly the British equivalent to the VW Beetle. You know, a friend-shaped economy car with a nostalgic following. As such using one of these for Gaslands is almost transgressive, and so it had to happen. I resolved to keep the basic shape of the car as much as possible, and equip it lightly so it could be used by a first time player. I bulked up the front bumper, added engine gubbins, and a few odd panels. Oh, and I added a gun.

While I didn't do anything clever here, people seem to like this one. I seem to be good at this. I suppose that's reason enough to do one of these.

 

Warhammer 40K: Some Thoughts on Guard Battleline Units

While the 10th edition Astra Militarum codex introduced many changes, a quickly overlooked one was the retirement of the basic, unbranded, Infantry Squad and its sister units. While seeing models dropped from their range has been a common thing in 10th, this was a unit that had been in constant use since 2nd edition, and a battleline choice to boot. We still have infantry, mind you, such as those associated with the three big name regiments, but this presents something a bit odd. Previously, Cadians, Catachans, and Krieg were reactions to or variations on the basic Infantry Squad, and now that no longer exists. An entire play style is now gone. Does this mean much for the Guard? GW has been working up to this for a while, after all. Perhaps not a lot, but let me explore the topic.

To start with the basic template, Guard battle line infantry are a Toughness 3, 5+ Save, horde unit, usually favouring quality over quantity. These have numerous peer units, think Chaos Cultists or Tyranid Termagants, although they are often outperformed by the likes of Orks and Alderi. Guard infantry are usually regarded as amongst the weakest units in the game, especially in the realm of melee. They don't shoot, stab, or absorb bullets very well. These limitations are however offset by the Order system, which allows for various useful buffs. Historically, a major strength of these units was the availability and variety of heavy weapons, but with the removal of the old Infantry Squad that's no longer a thing. You can't easily secrete lascannons and mortars amongst the rank and file to increase their effective threat. This means the battleline infantry now operate mainly in the 12-24 bracket, mostly using plasma and melta weaponry to offset the famously low-end lasgun. A consequence of this is that your infantry is somewhat more likely to end up in a melee than before, which likely won't suit them.  Furthermore, the Astra Militarum has actual variety in its detachments now, and in several them battleline units are actively selected against. Combined Arms, Recon Element and Siege Regiment can certainly make use of them, but in the others there's a preference for the more elite infantry. Part of that is the matter of transports, but I'm not getting too deeply into that today, its a lengthy topic. Battleline guard can get good use of Chimeras and such, but other units can use them better. What do these models excel at then? Well, objective control and screening. Guard infantry tend to offer a lot of OC for their price, and can cover a lot space on the table to frustrate enemy movements. These units can be surprisingly quick if properly managed, perform mission actions as well as anyone, and can be quite disposable. These are not your primary damage dealers, these are the unglamorous workmen or women of your force that score you points and contest the mid board. Where Cadians, Catachans and Krieg differ is how they approach those sort of tasks.

 

Cadian Shock Troops
Any discussion of these starts with a Cadia Stands meme, and then a discussion of the "Sticky Objectives" rule they have. This means that they do not have to physically be on an objective to hold it, and slows enemy attempts to flip such an objective. This is an undeniably useful thing to have in your toolbox, although it presumes that the unit will be both on foot and in motion. That's not a given in the wider context of this army, and it may be something you don't need a load of. I keep trying to use that ability, and it doesn't seem matter much given my play style. However, Cadians have the most extensive officer pool, including a pretty good Command Squad that now grants Cover when on an objective. The changes to medpacks in general meanwhile also make large squads more practical, and thus holding objectives. Shock Troops look like the generalist option at first, and I suppose they are by default, but I invite you to consider their name. There is a certain presumption of mobility there, especially in the context of the Castellan's fallback & shoot ability. Cadians are the ones most interested in objective play, with a secondary (actual/better?) function in maintaining the chain of command. However the other options here are more capable of either A) getting to an objective or B) holding it, if not both at the same time.

Catachan Jungle Fighters
Beloved of the tournament scene, the Jungle Fighters have a somewhat deceptive datasheet, and a good example of how raw damage output isn't the only metric. Due to them having a very old (awful) kit, this battleline unit has no real equipment options other than vox units & flamers, and a melee rule I'd describe as "well, okay then." They can beat up or burn alive similar costed units, but you feel the absence of melta and such. What makes them useful is the Scout rule, which gets them where they need to be that much faster. A Scout move, a Move! Move! Move! order, followed an by Advance averages out to about 18.5 inches of mobility on turn one. That's easily on an objective, and Catachans have a well-known role as Chimera passengers as a side effect of that. Where Catachans really benefit from the new codex though is the creation of their new Command Squad, which keeps the Scout rule while addressing the equipment issue adequately with similar options to their Cadian counterparts. And the Assault rule for all ranged weapons. This presents something of a dilemma with respects to unit sizes and investment, as there's a good case for disposable units of ten only, but you do have options that make up for the loss of named characters like Ironhand Straken. One factor to keep in however is the Scout rule is much more frequent in this codex, through various means, so you may find other options more appealing.

Death Korps of Kreig
Kriegers were told that the basic function of a guardsman was to die horribly, and responded by saying: "Yes please, more of that.". This unit embraces attrition like few others, as minor casualties make them more accurate, while a badly mauled unit will be punching up quite significantly with its surviving models. Also, while model regeneration is much more common in this ruleset due to the new medpack conventions, Krieg has that at the individual squad level and with greater proficiency. There's a strong/pull dynamic at play with this unit as a result, and of all the battleline options, the Death Korps make the strongest case for being actual damage dealers, having that buff ,and the small but important addition of power weapons and plasma pistols to their sarge equivalents. The unit does benefit from Orders, effects of those and Grim Demeanour stacking, but doesn't necessarily need them to work. The context they operate in has however changed around them, the loss of the Death Korps Marshal being keenly felt for example, and their datasheet is an obtuse mess. EDIT: Now fixed. The new Krieg Command meanwhile is inflexible but reinforces the attrition theme by largely negating battle shock and offering some redundancies. Krieg battleline are the spiteful ones, and work best in bigger squads doing a collective Necron impersonation while overheating their plasma guns. Squads of ten, possibly operating from a transport, are a touch less compelling to me. You do get more stuff, but it becomes more likely that the unit will be wiped before Grim Demeanour kicks in. I'm quite fond of Kreig at present, but I do feel their limitations.


Conclusion
I don't consider myself any authority on Astra Militarum tactics. Rather, I expect the issues discussed above to be worked through and analysed by better players. I do however mourn the loss of the classical guard gunline, and this document is me attempting to process this. So, for a practical conclusion? Choose the one you like the look of best, but maintain a squad of each other regiment just in case either the meta changes or your mind does. They are all pretty similar, but they do meaningfully different things once you get used to them. It may indeed be that having a mix of these is the way to go, but don't quote me.

Gaslands: The Pain Train

Yes, I'm back on the Gaslands bullshit again. However briefly.

Okay, the story here goes a bit like this. It was towards the end of Project Draftdodger, and things had gotten stalled as I awaited a parts delivery, and felt a bit annoyed at life in general. So I decided to do a Gaslands car again, if only so I had something to write about. Well, I say car, its more a train. Its a Hotwheels West Coast Flyer, which looks like an out of scale diesel train.

I made this mainly as a technical exercise, to see if my techniques hold up, and how easily I could sculpt scale appropriate details. I'd previously tried to do something similar last year, to limited success, and thus never posted about it here. That did however teach me the importance of using small and thin applications of putty. I carefully and slowly built up new panels and an orky face because old habits die hard, and added two big shootas from the Gorkanaut kit. Once the putty cured overnight, I trimmed it and filed it to give it a less blobby texture. It was then painted with assorted drybrush, stippling and weathering techniques, the short if thing I did a lot before discovering armymen. I went for an olive green, due to vague recollections of Ivor the Engine. Overall, about an afternoon's work, plus drying time. Then I noticed one gun barrel was askew, and I spent a bit of time fixing it.

I don't know if I'm gonna be playing Gaslands much in the near future, but this came out OK. People seem to like it. Call it a heavy truck with heavy machine guns and a ram. Call it The Pain Train.

Transformers: Legacy United Armada Universe Wheeljack is Something that Exists

 Well, I actually haven't done one of these for a while. I'll try to ease myself into it…

The 2003 Transformers Armada Wheeljack toy (Note that he's yellow.)

 

Wheeljack, no, not that one, is a character I have only a passing familiarity with. I never experienced the media he was in, nor had his toy. Armada's take on Wheeljack is however quite compelling to me on the conceptual level. There are a good few Transformers whom have switched sides, we tend to get one whom features that as a play feature every few years. Armada in fact already had one in Sideways, a character way too complex to get into here. But what you usually DO NOT get is a character that rejects the Autobots so completely and joins the Decepticons in the name of revenge. And you especially DO NOT get such a character carving a chunk out of their chest to make it official. Its a such a needlessly edgelord thing that I would adore it if somebody revisited in new media. Seriously, pay it straight or subvert it, either is good, but commit to it. And now there's a new toy of him? Fingers crossed.

Wheeljack is, as you can probably tell, the umpteenth reuse of the Siege Sideswipe mould from 2019. First off, fucking hell, its now 2025. Second, its not that much of a stretch TBH; the original toy had a Sideswipey look. While the new toy features much retooling, especially involving it's accessories, it's not the first time we've seen this specific iteration mould. Rather this was previously an exclusive release as Shattered Glass Sideswipe, seemingly part of Hasbro's "repaint every fucking thing" and "fuck Fun Pub" initiatives. Its release in Legacy United seems to be mainly one of filler, with wave 5 in general seemingly just keeping the seat warm before the new Age of the Primes kicks off, by reissuing stuff. Its nice to see him, don't get me wrong, the omission of the partner mini-con does tarnish the experience a touch. This is a shame, as they otherwise have done a decidedly non-trivial amount of work here. Not quite on the level of Cannonball, but this isn't a mere headswap. There's a new head with a slightly better neck, a new chest, a decorative approximation of the original toy's gull wing doors, and his baton weapons which peg in and store. Its a good likeness too, if to the Japanese version with the teal, maybe lacking the odd paint app, and this version retains the two piece missile launcher common to the base mould, but not seen on the exclusive.

So, is this any good, or merely something that exists? Well, even after so long the base toy is very good. The Sideswipe mould is more or less the platonic ideal of the carformer, doing an awful lot right even if its not doing anything too clever. Wheeljack has been happily positioned near my computer for weeks as hand candy, something the mould excels at. The changes to the accessories do work. On the other hand, long standing weaknesses in the design go unaddressed, and there's some minor QC issues. I had to thicken his "belt buckle tab" to secure his robot mode for example, and the paint on the missile was not a good idea; little fucker doesn't want to stay in. If you already own a Sideswipe, you don't actually need this version, but I seriously doubt you'd have a bad time with this one.

I swore a lot in this one, didn’t I?

 

The 2025 TFNation Manchester Mini-Con

So, for this mini-con, I was trying to do two things. 1) Minimise overall stress by making it a two-nighter, and 2) try to fit in a touch more socialising around the edges. I was again helping out Toy-Fu, so I was sure of my presence  being a net positive for the world, but I was mindful of how the last few conventions went. I.e. having a busy time, with endless travel difficulties on either side. So the plan was to take a direct lunchtime train to Manchester on the Friday, and return via Sheffield on the Sunday. I would enjoy buffet breakfasts, try to talk to people more, pull my weight on the stall, but not rush off on the Saturday.  I even got a new, bigger, backpack so I wouldn't have to faff with multiple bags. Did it work? Well...

Friday started with a quick haircut, and a breif walk through Nottingham town for supplies. Weather: lovely. Went to a chip shop too. Freshly made, also lovely. The train was however late to depart, they had to add carriages, which had me worried at first, but nothing major. I settled down to enjoy some super robot wars. After a brief battle with google maps, I found the Premier Inn, which was happily almost adjacent to the convention venue. I spent the evening with the Toy-Fu team, which would be a recurring theme of the weekend. They're good lads. We ended up in the hotel bar, and I ended up having an early night. It was noisey, and the bar was disorganised. I was then up in the night, yay.

Saturday was a pleasant but ultimately busy experience. My buffet breakfast was nice enough, and I joined the setup. Its always a bit of a blur with these events, but much good  was done for charity. I'm told that we took 2 grand in the course of the first 15 minutes, and generally shifted most of what we brought. I saw a couple of good friends, one of which I hadn't seen in person for a while. By the end of the day, things had gone sufficiently well, that packing the stall up was a stress free environment, and by about 5:20pm, we retired to the hotel bar. We were in a corner this time, so it was a nicer experience, at least to begin with. After comparing notes and indulgences, I called it a night 4 hours later, but I wasn't the first to do so. I was up in the night again, yay, but Sunday was a largely leisurely experience. I met someone for brekkie, and unfortunately the first train proved to be packed, but the second was quite chill.

So, did I manage to have a less stressful and more sociable time? Generally so, but I need to try harder. I'm still passive and shy, and this experience has reminded me how much I dislike noisy places, but I did try. The trains in England also remain a nuisance, although that's largely out of  my hands to influence. Going for two nights did take the pressure off though, so I can say its a success on that level.

So what toys did I get? Honestly not many. It's a small event, and the big retailers were not present. I did however get the following:

Transformers Studio Series Bumblebee Movie Ironhide: a somewhat unnecessary release, but I do like the design.

Dr.Whu Evil Dragon: a rare third party release for me, I picked this up as an expensive indulgence, and was honestly impressed by it. I mean, an unauthorized, cutesy Transformers toy that is also a Beastbox? Its surprisingly good for what it is.

Microman Kirrin: I like to buy at one random thing that I did not expect to see, and this defies easy description.

There may be articles in some of these, but I dunno.

Project Draftdodger: Part 10

See here for part 9.

Well, the convention went OK. I should have a write up on that posted on Sunday. In the main time: Pictures.

 

As I spoke a lot about the Artillery last week, I only have so much to add today. The gun barrels remain removable for ease of transport, and for potential use as a Heavy Mortar. My initial experiences suggest that might be the way to go, as while one of these did take down a War Walker in one go, its a fairly inconsistent weapon even if its the best looking one.

With the Artillery Teams done, I feel Project Draftdodger has come to a natural conclusion. I've expanded my forces, and built a few of the new units. I have 100+ assorted infantry, and a brace of vehicles. My guard force is complete enough that it is now a tactical experience more than a modelling experience. I will likely add to it further, but its no longer a weekly thing. What I need to do now is actually play a 2k game, but that will happen when it happens.

 

As to what I'll do next? At time of writing, I dunno. I've been tempted back to Orks again by that new More Dakka detachment. On both first impression and deeper analysis, its fucking broken in at least two ways, and somebody ran the numbers, so I'm not rushing to build models for it. I am however doing an inventory of my forces to see how easily I could field a 1k army. Its looking to be far easier than I thought, but there's a lot of stuff either obsolete or in need of repair. I've avoided doing this as I feared it would both be a slog and uninteresting from a modelling perspective, but there might something in this as an interim activity. Or as a trip to a charity shop.

 

But I also need to do real life stuff, so who knows?