Geekly Roundup, May 3rd: First Looks Edition

On this week’s Geekly Roundup podcast, Mike, Mark and Dave talk about Robotech, e-sports and the Final Fantasy bro trip picking up a lady! Don't miss it!

Lots of first looks and casting news this week, so let’s jump right in!

Star Wars Celebration Day Two: Battlefront and a Bad Batch

Star Wars Celebration is rolling in full force now, and we're here to bring you everything we saw on Day Two. It was a day of video game debuts, continuations of great stories, and of course, tons and tons of great cosplay. Here's the breakdown:

Fantasy Adventures (IRL!) Level 1 by Justin Rhodes

Greetings nerdlings,

Justin checking in after my first week in New Zealand. I've come over to have an actual adventure and in the event you wanted to live vicariously, I thought I'd share my initial impressions and thoughts on the Land of the Long White Cloud.

My journey started at San Francisco International Airport, where I arrived much too early and spent two hours killing time at the airport. Thank you, LOTR Return of the King Extended Edition. (+100xp) From there we crammed into our Air New Zealand flight which was surprisingly good. Plus, there was an empty seat next to me so I had some wiggle room. Airplanes themselves are sort of magical in my opinion. It's like you hop into a tube and it teleports you to another world. It's just that, in this case, the spell took 13 hours. I finished up my movie and arrived with sufficient sleep.

In Memoriam: Monty Oum

I never met Monty Oum. Not through professional or personal contacts, not at a convention to get an autograph. But I, like so many others around the world, was completely shocked by his tragic passing. This is because I, like so many others around the world, was so fully inspired and motivated by his work, by his passion to create, by his stubborn tenacity to make the art he wanted to make. I will be the first to admit that RWBY isn’t the greatest animated webseries out there, far from it. But it was the show Monty wanted to make, and without ever looking back, he got it made. That kind of drive is powerful. More than that, it’s inspiring. For every hundred people out there that thinks they don’t have the guts or the right idea or the next big thing, if I could get at least one single person to throw caution to the wind and follow their dreams, I would consider myself a success.

And Monty Oum inspired millions.

Because it’s never about having the next big thing. It’s not even having the next good thing. It’s about putting yourself out there and just making art. Even if it’s bad art. Especially if it’s bad art. Because with every finished project, we improve. With every finished cartoon, we inspire others. We push others to be better, and in turn, we are pushed to be better. I think Monty Oum understood this more than anyone. A man with an absolutely legendary work ethic, he just kept getting work done. Again and again and again, with the discipline of a warrior and the momentum of a steam engine, he kept getting work done. I’d like to think that he never even watched his films after he’d published them, that he was far too busy with the next episode to worry about what people thought about the last one.
So I think we should all take to heart the commitment to creation he wanted us all to have. Let us all celebrate his life the way he lived it: by just getting out there and making art.

Thomas Tan is an animator and stuntman working in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Guillermo del Toro is creating a dark Victorian Series for Amazon?

Credit to THR for the photo

Yes folks, you read that right - Guillermo del Toro is co-writing a dark Victorian series that will be exclusively streamed on Amazon.

A Killing on Carnival Row was the original title for the piece back in 2005 when New Line had grabbed it, and it was intended to be a feature film.  It was a risky production, which resulted in a 10-year game of hot potato.  Recently however, Legendary has picked up the hot potato and is working with Amazon Studios to bring us this new series which has been shortened to simply: Carnival Row.

Carnival Row is based on a script by Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim) and co-writer Rene Echevarria. The show is set in a steampunky Victorian-style London in which humans live alongside faeries and other magical creatures.  In THR's interview with del Toro, it's revealed that "the original script told of a detective investigating a serial killer who is preying on mystical creatures, only to find that he has become the prime suspect in the murders."

In regards to making the jump from a movie to a series, del Toro seems more than happy to do so.  “We always had too many ideas to fit into the feature,” he said. “We can now really focus on the world and the politics of what it is to be a magical being in a Victorian steampunk atmosphere where you are seen as a lesser being.”

There is no release date for Carnival Row at this time. If you're looking for your del Toro fix, he has quite a few other projects in the works that you can look forward to.  Season 2 of The Strain on FX will be premiering in July, his romantic horror film Crimson Peak will be hitting theaters in October, and if you have a PS4 you should definitely check out P.T. for free if you haven't already.

BLADES OF GLORY - An Interview with Shondo Blades

     My first introduction to Shondo Blades was on ABC's The Quest. Initially, I was interested in the idea of a fantasy reality show. As the show progressed, I became slightly disappointed with the show's 'slight of hand' trick played on the audience. The show claimed to be a test to see who the 'one true hero' was. However, it appeared to be more of a Big Brother type of popularity contest where lemmings determined both the public perception and fate of their counterparts. (We agree. - Ed) But I digress....I'm happy to say that I came away from the show inspired. The inspiration did not come from the gorgeous landscape. Nor did it come from the fantastic makeup. It also did not come from the amazing actors who gave near perfect performances as the lands inhabitants. For me, the inspiration came from one person...Shondo Blades. Why? Because here is what I saw on the show from Shondo: He always gave 100%. He didn't complain. He didn't tear anyone down, and always lifted people up. Especially himself. I think that's what was most inspiring. It was nice to see someone speak well about himself without an excessive amount of hubris. That's why when I had a chance to speak with Shondo on that sunny Los Angeles afternoon a couple of weeks ago I was more excited than I've been in a while to speak with someone. Little did I know that I would find out he was even more powerful and direct one on one than on television.

So, I hear you played football? 
Yeah, I played football all through high school and college. At the tail end of college, I decided to do something that I had wanted to more in control of, and that was MMA fighting.

Wow. It was just that simple. And you seemed to excel at it as well. 
Yes, I did excel in MMA. I think it was the athleticism of football which aided me. That and YouTube. I had YouTube accessibility so I would watch videos of technique and fighting styles. I really do need to give a shout out to YouTube! You can learn pretty much anything on there. Anyway, I went on to do my first fight and I was hooked. Went on to win in the men's division.

A Music Video Featuring Shondo Blades.

So how did you make the transition to acting?
I was training for a fight in LA and I was encouraged to try acting. So, I went back to Texas, packed everything up, and I was in Hollywood a month after that.

And you even booked some national commercials? 
Yes. Nike, Chevy, some music videos. In one particular music video for Wilkinson, I even played a twisted version of a black cupid. After that the deal with ABC to do The Quest went through and it was all good.

That's awesome! How was it auditioning for The Quest? 
Auditioning for The Quest was like any other audition. The best part of the experience I had was when we each had to stand up and say why we belonged in a show like this. I announced my love of GhostBusters and whoever wanted to challenge me on GhostBusters trivia could go down there and then. Afterward, I was told that I hadn't filled out something correctly on my paperwork. So, I needed to stay for a minute while they had me fill it out. Little did I know, that was their way to slyly get me to stay and do another 30 minutes of audition.

So, what's the next step for you? 
I want to be the next action star. When I watch the movie rush hour I feel like I have the ability to deliver a combination like the film: laughs and ass whooping. Almost a new era of Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop.

That's really awesome and I can definitely see that. So, your powerfully positive attitude...where does it come from? 
Definitely from my Mom. She's a motivational speaker and always taught me that the glass is half full. She had a simple approach to everything, and now I have a simple approach to everything. I'm very self sufficient because she taught me from a very early age that nobody's gonna love you like you. Positive self talk is vital. It's what I do because the spoken word is powerful and can manifest itself.

Do you feel that minorities can benefit from this positive approach? 
Yes, they can definitely benefit. Especially if they are feeling like they are 'less than' someone or something.

Being a minority in Hollywood, have you experienced adversity or challenge? 
Let me just say that I don't see it that way. I just see myself as a person. Now, keep in mind, I'm not blind to understand the current state of affairs in the industry. However, I feel like that can often be a handicap for others because that's all they see and it ends up stopping them. When I went into the audition room for The Quest, I said to them that it would be beneficial to have African Americans represented, and I would like to be that person for them. You see, I don't see it as a challenge. I see it as something to empower me.

That's really fantastic. So, what are you working on next? 
A show for Bravo might be on the horizon, although, I can't say much about it. I'm currently shooting a pilot for a show that follows me around as an actor/performer in Hollywood. I want to clear up any misconceptions that people might have about me. I've even heard some think that I have childhood issues, but I want to show them the other side. I had loving parents, a good childhood, and I want people to see that and disperse with those misconceptions. Because I'm just normal. Of course, I've been called so many things I can't even count. But the best is when they call me delusional. I'm Shondo, baby, and I was delusional enough to be on ABC on Saturday nights!

Thank you, Shondo. It's been a real pleasure! 

So, as you can see, Shondo is an amazing human being. He doesn't let people or circumstance define him, and does it via positive perception and the celebration of the human spirit in all of us. This kind of positive energy is what we all need. Not just in the entertainment industry, but in all industries around the world. I wish that more people subscribed to this school of thought. Because we might not see the amount of hurt and destruction in the world today. Let's get everyone to let their inner "Shondo" shine and howl  at the challenges that we face.

I have a feeling that you're going to see some VERY BIG things from Shondo in the years and even upcoming months.

Brian J. Patterson is a writer, producer and actor that splits his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles. His house is a shrine to Wonder Woman and Xena.

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What's shaking in the Largest Warhammer Fantasy GT on the West Coast

Saturday and Sunday of the July 19th and 20th weekend saw a great deal of violence in San Francisco at Fort Mason. Blood was shed, brave warriors fell, and cries of great beasts were heard throughout the land. You did well to avoid this conflict if you are 28 mm high and made of plastic, resin or pewter. However, if you are closer to 6 feet, flesh and blood, and interested in the game of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, you may have missed the Quake City Rumble.

I’ve written about this game before, so skip this paragraph if you know what’s going on. For those of you new to my column, Warhammer Fantasy is a tabletop miniature game played by two or more players. Each player selects an race and builds a force from the rules governing that race. Armed with tape measures and a fist full of dice, they do battle by moving their models over a battlefield, resolving cannon shot and monsters breathing fire by comparing their die rolls to unit statistics and charts. Armies are comprised of several different sorts of troop types: Characters, the great leaders, mages and fighters that command units; Infantry, the grunt troops that slog into battle on their own two feet; Cavalry, units that ride into the fight atop all manner of mounts; Flyers, units that are able to travel great distances over the heads of their foes; Monsters, including monstrous infantry or monstrous cavalry, whose presence alone can make troops turn tail and flee; and War Machines, engines of destruction that lob great stones, or launch spears through the air. Each unit has a point cost and an availability, so for this tournament, players put together 2500 points worth of models and deploy them on the battlefield. Games last for 6 turns, and the winner is typically the one who destroys the most stuff. At least, I assume that’s true, since I wrote it last time, and no one called me out on it.

"Yeah, that guy's right!"

The Quake City Rumble (QCR) is one of the big names of Grand Tournaments in the country, and organized by the gaming club Leadership 2. You might recognize this name from a host of finalist lists around the country. These guys get around, and place highly pretty much everywhere they go. They also have one of the snazziest websites that I have I seen for a gaming club.  By the way, the name is a play on the Leadership stat from Warhammer. A Leadership score of 2 is the lowest in the game. For a bunch of guys that make goblins look disciplined, they sure know how to put a tournament together.

A Grand Tournament is a minimum of 2 days, 5 rounds, but they usually run extra days with events before or after so people who come in from out of town get a few more games. The Quake City Rumble is no exception. I talked to Jared and Rex, members of the Low Comp Crew, who played a team tournament Friday night against their rivals, Bizarro Hammer. LCC went 1 for 4 in that match up, and continued the friendly rivalry between their two clubs. These sort of competitions build friendships and bring together people from different areas to see new armies they haven’t played against before. LCC pulled no punches laying the blame on each other on Sunday when I spoke to them about it. Wherever gaming goes, good old fashion shit talking is never far behind.

The primary reason they are called the Low Comp Crew

That was one of the motivations of the players that I talked to: you go to a tournament, meet other like minded people, and play against people that you haven’t seen in a while. In the first round of the tournament, no one has any standing or score, so (in theory) everyone is on an equal footing. QCR is set up to allow you to request a specific opponent for the first match, in what is called a Grudge Match. Some players request friends from other clubs, people they played against in the past, or someone new they might not get a chance to play against. I also heard talk of last round grudge matches. These keep things interesting for people who have taken enough losses to knock them out of the race for prizes, and would like to play a game against a friend, or another interesting army. Maybe you played 3 games against Elves, and you can’t stand to face another pointy eared bowman, you can request to play empire with cannons, or daemons with 100% fear causing models. Ok, maybe I’m not selling it, but you get the idea.

I got a chance to talk to Mike Hengl, the tournament organizer of QCR for the past 4 years. Along with Ivan Jen, Josh Frick and Jeff Suess, Hengl rents out building D at Fort Mason. They bring in dozens of tables, game boards filled with terrain, a concessions stand, and two or three kegs of beer. If you were one of the lucky first 60 people to early register, you are given a commemorative pint glass and a bracelet that entitles you to all the beer that you can drink until the kegs run dry. Ages 21 or older, void where prohibited, please drink responsibly, alcohol may inhibit your ability to make sound tactical decision and in some cases handle models safely. In case there is any question about the nature of this pre-registration policy, it has a really convenient title: FREE BEER.

He wants some Free Beer.

Hengl said that they received 107 sign-ups this year, and that this is pretty typical for them. Over the course of the 5 years he has run it, they have stayed steady at 90-100 people. Their limit is 112, so they shoot for a fairly precise target. After a few cancellations and withdrawals, they had final scores for 99 people. What makes QCR so big is the draw of people from across the country. Leadership 2 has a rivalry going with Hangover Heroes of Texas, a club that runs The Alamo GT in San Antonio, Texas. HHoT sent a contingent of 8 armies out to try to take the trophies of LD2. Hengl said they had gamers from South Carolina, Wisconsin, and in past years Alaska. One of the downsides to having this many people, Hengl said, is that they can’t run a 40k tournament at the same time. They have some players that mainly play 40k but dust off their Fantasy models once a year to play QCR. They would need another set of organizers, and another location. The only other one that would work is three times as large, a little too spacious for a start up tournament.

Like SAWS Challenge and the other North American Indy GT’s, QCR has no escalation or official participation to other tournaments. These are all done for the love of the game, bragging rights, and a handful of prizes given out to the winners. Hengl does talk to the organizers of SAWS, West Coast GT, and other GT’s to coordinate a few details, like tournament rule interpretations, and composition scores. He says that he wants to keep a diverse tournament environment for players. While QCR has comp score awarded by the decision of judges, SAWS Challenge uses an objective scoring sheet that players score on their own. Other tournaments say play what you want, as long as it is legal. For QCR, they back this score up by sending the “Best General” award to the player with the highest combined Battle Score and Comp Score.

Prize support from the manufacturer, Games Workshop, is non-existent. Endgame of Oakland helps out with prizes as a portion of their sponsorship of the event, and some of the registration money goes to paying for prizes, while other prizes are donated by people who want to see the tournament continue. This is one of the primary reasons that GT’s like QCR continue: people want to play Warhammer Fantasy as a community, not as a strictly competitive sport. To that end, QCR is considering a paint requirement in the future. Hengl is tossing it back and forth: on one hand you don’t want to invite a club from 2 states over and have them turn up and play against a bare plastic army. On the other hand, there are players he knows that started their first tournament with half unpainted models, and are now serious contender for the painting awards.

I talked to some of the players about their experience in Warhammer Fantasy and in the tournament scene. Jared Briscoe of the Low Comp Crew says that the number of people playing stays about the same. New people will show up, older people will leave, but the game lives on. He noticed more and more people are coming in from further away. Hengl mentioned this as an attraction for a lot of players: QCR is one of the few tournaments set in the middle of a tourist city. Fort Mason is a national park, and if you step outside the venue, you are deep in the heart of San Francisco. West Coast GT is an hour out of Los Angeles. SAWS Challenge is a 20 minutes drive from downtown Sacramento. A tournament set up in the middle of a city with an over the top nightlife is a draw for a lot of players.

Jen Starling came up from Orange County with Club Capri. When I spoke to her at the end of the 4th round, she was 3 and 1, and looking for a good fifth game. Her Daemons of Chaos list is called Attack of the Poop Monsters, and thoroughly disgusting to look upon. I asked her about the game and the tournament scene, and not surprisingly, she enjoys it. She used to play Warhammer 40k until a few years ago when the game became more competitive. She noticed a very different attitude between the 40k and Fantasy players, and didn’t really like the spirit of the game any more. She’s been playing Fantasy for 4 years now, and performing decently at it: 38th of 99 in QCR, 54th of 100 at Waaaghpaca in Wisconsin (yes, that is a real tournament, and no, it is not easy to find if you have never seen it spelled before), 54th of 68 at the Alamo GT in San Antonia, Texas, and 16th of 54 at the West Coast GT, local to her in Southern California.

Hengl is hitting up a bunch of these tournaments as well. Crossroads GT in New York had 102 players, Lone Wolf if Dallas Texas had 82, SAWS Challenge had 60 players, and Bragging Rights Team Tournament had 72 (18 teams of 4). There are also a ton of smaller 3 round tournaments all over the country, to numerous to name. If you want see one covered on Ace of Geeks, let us know.

Seth Oakley is an educator and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who lives in Daly City, CA. He loves costuming, analog gaming and role playing games. He got this job in a bar after making poor life choices and has to work through 93 more articles before Mike will give him his soul back. If you would like to see the complete album of photos taken, tell Mike in the comment box. I took 60 photos, so a gallery or slideshow would be cool, right guys? Right? (Please also leave a note telling Mike how to DO that on Blogspot. - Ed)

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