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Miss Vampirella February 2015 - Arban Ornelas

This month's Vampirella model is the lovely Arban Ornelas. I mentioned last month how some of the Vampirella models got her iconic costume spot on and some didn't. Arban falls in the category of not getting it right. But it is not her fault. She was hired by Harris Comics to help promote the comic. This photo was taken at a comics convention. Harris Comics published the Vampirella comic from 1991 until 2007. They designed and provided Arban's costume and they really should have done a better job of it. The waist band is far too high up on her hips. Heck, it is so high it covers her belly button. As a consequence the gold bat logo is far too high as well. It should cover her crotch. The top half of the costume looks good but I really don't like the bottom half. Still, costume criticisms aside, I do think Arban is very beautiful and very voluptuous. I also think she was very brave to wear such a revealing costume!

Back cover of the A Touch Of Evil game

In hobby news I have been painting a bunch of figures unlike any other I have painted before. No, they are not more Chibi figures. They are 28mm scale early 19th century American adventurers. They are the heroes of a board-game called A Touch of Evil by Flying Frog Productions. You can see some of the unpainted figures in the picture to the right. I recently purchased this game after it was highly recommended to me. A lot of people have described the game as being Arkham Horror-lite. I don't see this as a bad thing. Arkham Horror is a very complex game so if I play ATOE first it will be a good introduction to preparing me for AH. Reviews of the painted figures, the game and its expansion sets will follow soon. It does feature the undead and the figures are realistically sculpted. No Chibi nonsense in these games!

Speaking of Chibi nonsense, I have been playing lots of games of Super Dungeon Explore recently. Indeed I have played more games this past month than in the whole of 2014. My New Year's resolution to play more games in 2015 is going very strong. I have been trying out various combinations of Heroes to battle the Consul. Some Heroes work together and individually better than others. Just sticking with the nine Heroes of the basic game my favourite is definitely the Hexcast Sorceress. Before I actually played the game I thought it'd be the Royal Paladin based on his stat scores and abilities. Don't get me wrong, he is a must have for any party. It is just that I have totally fallen for Miss Hexcast. I really must give her a proper name.

The stat card for the Hexcast Sorceress

When I first reviewed her I said that the Ember Mage was a more powerful mage than her. This is true. But the Hexcast Sorceress has two unique and awesome spells in her arsenal - Broken Bones and Hobbled Hands. These two spells have been the bane of Starfire, Rex and Reg in every game that I have used the Hexcast Sorceress. Here is how best to use her in a typical game. Try to keep her away from the thick of the action at all times. She is at her most effective from a distance. If ever you find a relic that adds to a character's Will score give it to her. Will is what she uses to cast Magic so try to boost that as much as possible. Twice I have been lucky enough to find a relic that added a +1 green die to her Will. When Rex or Reg or Starfire appears have her cast Broken Bones on them. Keep casting this spell until it succeeds. Why cast this spell first? Well, Fragile forces the target to discard the highest roll it makes for its Armour roll. Doing this makes the target much easier to hit for every Hero. Once you have done this then cast Hobbled Hands on the same target. With the target's defence drastically lowered this should be a lot easier to cast. Weak works in a  similar fashion to Fragile but instead it forces the target to discard their highest roll for their Attack roll. Remember the aim of the game for the heroes is not to slay all the monsters but just to slay the Dungeon Boss, which in this case is Starfire the Dragon. The Hexcast Sorceress makes that job so much easier. Oh, and her ordinary Magic is usually good enough to smite most other dungeon denizens and minions, especially so if you boost her Will score. Plus, unlike normal ranged attacks, Magic can be cast on an opponent if they are in an adjacent square. Pretty damned nifty! I think she is an absolute babe. I will leave you with this line drawing of her that I found on the internet showing what she looks like if realistically rendered. I am definitely in love with her!

Hexcast Sorceress beautifully and realistically drawn by female artist, Sionid.