BOOK PUBLICITY: Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs - Palaeo Games

 

With so many D & D 5e books out there, finding something that will allow you to take your games in a different direction can feel quite hard, however we were lucky enough to come Dr Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs,

Here you can take your games in a totally new direction as you'll be able to bring the Savage lands into your DnD game without worrying about players knowing all the stats and immunities of what they'll be facing. Its nicely put together, has wonderful illustrations and of course stats so that you can throw some real surprises their way, we will be reviewing this book in full in the future, however here's our thoughts on what we've seen so far as well as letting you know the various links so you too can join in.

Paleo Games: Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs

Professor Primula’s Portfolio of Palaeontology Kickstarter

VIDEO BOOK REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide - Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe - Dorling Kindersley

Here at Totally Pawsome we love the dark 41st Millernium of Warhammer 40k so when we got a chance to finally put our words to paper on the fabulous Warhammer 40,000:  The Ultimate Guide by Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe, we jumped at the chance.   Here is our video review of this book:

MONTHLY MINIATURES: Imperial Commando: Lost in the Jungle - Heroes Infinite.

 

Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
Here's our first post for this month of mini's that we're already in love with and that we'd recommend to others that you can print at home.  These ones from Heroes Infinite will add quite a lot this month to a those who have Imperial Guard 40K armies, especially with so many fine Catachan to add.  We've also added a new feature this month, our first YT video where we cherry pick our personal favs.

This mini, from the Imperial Commando, Lost in the Jungle is pretty cool and would make a fab leader for any Catachan unit in its beautiful glory of colour as well as design.


Alongside this, they have a whole range of other mini's out there with two price ranges, where under the Leader Tier ($10) you get:

9-10 Heroes

3 Dynamic Troopers

1 Epic Centerpiece

14+ Scenic Bases

2 Monsters

Whereas if you take out the Overlord Tier ($16) you will get in addition to the above:

Additional 15-20 new Troopers

to create 5 different units

Exclusive alternative versions

of Heroes and Monsters

Mind-boggingly extensive

Modular / Scatter Terrain

Exclusive additional models

for our Heroes Infinite Overlords,

such as Mounted Heroes, Monsters, and more.

Each tier is pretty fab and we also wanted to link to their YT vid where you can see the full range for your money.

Finally if I were to pick one item from the range to call my favourite, I think it will have to be the fabulous Bulldog, featured in our own YT video with plenty of space to transport your soldiers and of course would look great to either transport a kill team or even just as a centre piece for your battlefield.


Please join us in celebrating everything to do with the joy of mini's.

And as we continue the series please remember that some of these will only be available at the prices cited for this month, so if you like them, get them now.  

There are plenty of others that we don't have the space to feature so please watch the YT trailer so that you can see everything to decide if there's some that you really want.

MONTHLY MINI'S: Eclipsed by Darkness: Inquisition Vs the Void Elves - Heroes Infinite

 

Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
Here's our first post for this month of mini's that we're already in love with and that we'd recommend to others that you can print at home.  These ones from Heroes Infinite will add quite a lot this month to a fair few armies, whether you love the Druhkari, the Aeldari or the Inquisition/Sisters of Battle.  They all look pretty cool to paint as they add something a little different to a lot of others out there, so without further ado, lets get to it:

This mini, from the Inquisition Vs Void Elves range (this set is known as Eclipsed by Darkness, is pretty cool and would make a fab leader for any Sister battleforce in its beautiful glory of colour as well as design.

Alongside this, they have a whole range of other mini's out there with two price ranges, where under the Leader Tier ($10) you get:

9-10 Heroes

3 Dynamic Troopers

1 Epic Centerpiece

14+ Scenic Bases

2 Monsters

Whereas if you take out the Overlord Tier ($16) you will get in addition to the above:

Additional 15-20 new Troopers

to create 5 different units

Exclusive alternative versions

of Heroes and Monsters

Mind-boggingly extensive

Modular / Scatter Terrain

Exclusive additional models

for our Heroes Infinite Overlords,

such as Mounted Heroes, Monsters, and more.

Each tier is pretty fab and we also wanted to link to their YT vid where you can see the full range for your money.

Finally if I were to pick one item from the range to call my favourite, I think it will have to be the fabulous Skiff, plenty of space to put a fair few of your Druhkari and of course would look great to either transport a kill team or even just as a centre piece for your battlefield.



Please join us in celebrating everything to do with the joy of mini's.

And as we continue the series please remember that some of these will only be available at the prices cited for this month, so if you like them, get them now.  

There are plenty of others that we don't have the space to feature so please watch the YT trailer so that you can see everything to decide if there's some that you really want.

URBAN FANTASY MARVEL FICTION REVIEW: What If... Mark Spector was Host to Venom? - Mike Chen

Publisher:  Del Rey

Release Date:  22/10/24

Book Blurb:

Marc Spector and Venom engage in a battle of wills in the next adventure of an epic multiversal series reimagining iconic Marvel origin stories.
So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched Marc Spector cheat death in the name of the Egyptian god Khonshu. But…what if Moon Knight was subsumed by a Venom from another universe?

Marc Spector is used to voices in his head. He’s used to waking up disoriented, unsure what his alters, Jake and Steven, might have been up to. He’s used to having an Egyptian god command him as Moon Knight, his avatar of justice and revenge. What he’s not used to: staring into the face of a literal, out-of-body doppelganger.

Another Marc, crash-landed from an alternate reality, begging for help? Yeah, that is a new one, even for him.

But before he can really process anything beyond Khonshu’s incessant alarm bells, it becomes clear this other Marc didn’t travel solo. Some kind of alien ― a symbiote named Venom― casts off its current host and begins to merge with Marc, forcing Khonshu away from his chosen champion and claiming Moon Knight for its own. The formerly stark white suit that struck fear into the hearts of criminals now looms as a jet-black shadow over friends and foes alike. Marc’s lethal prowess fueled by Venom’s penchant for violence carves a trail of chaos as they comb through the vigilante’s torturous past.

Yet a sliver of hope remains: Finally free of Venom’s control, the other Jake and Steven re-gain consciousness to find themselves in a strange reality, without their Marc, but with a strange bird-like god insisting that “they will do.” Desperate, lost, and running out of time, the pair make a deal: become Khonshu’s new avatar to track Venom’s path of destruction, save this universe, and just maybe figure out a way back to their own

Review:

I've always loved the "What If..." TV series so to get chance to read a Venom/Moon Knight crossover was pretty exciting for me, especially as I got to love the character in the Marvel series as I didn't know anything abou the character beforehand.

This book is pretty faithful to the TV series versions of the characters with the reader being able to easily see the various personalities as the actors involved.  It worked wonderfully well for me, although that said I don't know how the comic fans will take to it.  For me, I loved the visual writing, I loved the chance to get to see a different side to all the various characters involved, the prose that kept the action moving at quite a pace and of course a story arc that was a pure joy for me to savour.

All round I was very happy with this title and I will be noting the authors name as I like the writing style, as well as looking forward to the next "What If..."  Magic.

FANTASY BOOK REVIEW: Blood Over Bright Haven - M L Wang

Release Date:  29/10/24
Publisher:  Del Rey

Book Blurb:

The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen.

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fuelled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to become the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.

When Sciona finally achieves her ambition and becomes a highmage, she finds her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome – and, instead of a qualified lab assistant, they give her a janitor.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realise is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago, he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power.

At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together, they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever – if it doesn’t get them killed first.

Review:

So, you're after something a little bit different.  You want solid worldbuilding, cracking characters and of course a story arc that will keep your fingers dancing over the pages as the story unwinds.  Well look no further than ML Wang's latest Blood Over Bright Haven, its a fabulous read with characters that you want to spend time with, solid prose and a story that as it develops really helps not only flesh out the world but also give the readers the chance to get into the nuances of the events within.

Add to this delightfully hidden real world narrative that will keep you asking questions long after the final page it turned and all round you're in for read that will stay with you for quite some time.  I really can't recommend enough and if you're a fantasy reader looking for real escapism during the holiday period, then this is one of my top reads of the year.  Fab.

MONTHLY MINI's - Grove Haven - Biting the Bullet

Here, at Totally Pawsome, we love finding mini's that have multiple purposes and this months miniature releases from Bite the Bullet are not only fab to use on the tabletop but also for games like Magic the Gathering (the Bloomsburrow releases) where you can use these to represent your tokens and have them there on the table looking fabulous.

Whilst not every mini will currently make it to your table for Bloomsburrow, they are all totally ideal for the wonderful Humblewood D&D setting.  Each of these are unique and really quite fun.

There are so many to pick from that its going to be hard to choose especially when you start going through not only Bite the Bullets Grove Haven range, but also through other releases from there such as the fabulous tabaxi ranges.  All are available through your usual 3d independent printer or you can buy your files direct from them.

For fun, we've written our own paragraphs to accompany each of our top picks for quirky characters and hope you'll enjoy them just as much as we have (please be aware that there are many more mini's in this set than we have time to write for unfortunately.)

(Hopper) The Frog Wizard

From deep within the mystic waters of the pond, magic brews and is flying randomly into all directions as our epic Wizard, Hopper, hopes to see what mysteries lie deep within the Wyrdwood.  Each spells colour denotes a portent on whom he should have accompanying him on his quest to find the cursed item within the wooded haven that is poisoning the other animals that call this home.

(Harry) The Hedgehog Bard
Harry, our epic bard, upon hearing of Hoppers quest and spotting a few of the known heroes of the woods, decides to accompany him as he thinks that a song can be made out of the adventure, never knowing what they will face, Harry is always there with witty retorts as well as jokes to keep the other adventurers spirits up.  Oh wow betide any who would seek to undermine his work...

(Tinker) the Ferret Thief

Hearing of a chance to find fame and adventure (but mainly the clanking of coins), Tinker (sometimes known as Tinker the Stinker because of her penchant for diving into rubbish piles looking for loot) feels that this quest could be the making of her (or rather her fortune) as any chance to become the most famous Ferret in the forest would help her lead a life on easy street.  At least thats what she thinks,  will happen without being wary of any magical warnings to be careful of what you wish for...

And finally rounding out our party.

(Mousekateer) the Mouse Cleric

With so many on the journey, signing up to restore the balance of the land, every party needs someone with the mind to keep them all on the right track, acting as everyone little conscience as well as the one to "bop them on the head" if things start going awry in their less than pious thoughts (especially that damnable thief Tinker.)  

Mousekateer is the Cleric for that role.  Filled with her ideals of social justice for all and a need to help the less fortunate of the woodland creatures, some injured by fires and unable to make a living on their own or Orphans, she sees this as her chance to find some money to help fund her activites.  But what shall she find along the way...