Monthly Archives: April 2017

Mando Beskar’gam

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Boba Fett’s armor was good, but it could have been better. There are gaping holes on his chest, arms and thighs where a single shot could do some serious damage. His jetpack is so useless it couldn’t handle being hit by a blind guy with a stick. Jango Fett had less gaps in his, but his jetpack failed him as well; not to mention the neck part. Pre Viszla  had somewhat better armor, but it wasn’t very refined. Maul beat him. While Rebels season 3 gave it some nice upgrades, Sabine’s armor is also full of gaps.

So what does the perfect Mando armor have to be?

  • It needs have full protection. Commanding it all from a capitol ship sounds like fun, but you can’t lead ground troops on the frontline if one enemy round pierces your armor.
  • It needs plenty of weapons and firepower. Flamethrowers, projectile buzzsaws, conc missile launchers, grappling hooks…walking around with a blaster just isn’t that effective.
  • The jetpack has to work. A powerful, reliable jetpack that can actually fly can come in handy.
  • It needs to be accurate. Whatever built in weapon you use, there has to be some kind of targeting system.
  • It has to be comfortable. Temp control, for example, comes in handy on planets like Hoth or Tatooine.
  • It absolutely MUST be lightweight. You can’t fight in a heavy armor. Sacrifices will have to be made.

It also has to look cool. That’s kinda the point.

Here’s what I came up with:

V1.0, made with a  Mandalorian armor designer program (http://mandalorianmercs.org/downloadables/MANDOMAKER23.swf):

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“Armor doesn’t make a Mandalorian. Armor is simply a manifestation of an impenetrable heart.” — Kal Skirata

Fun to make, but it doesn’t solve any of the problems Boba’s armor had.

V2.0, a sketch I just finished:

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Of course this isn’t perfect. There are still issues. There isn’t space under the armor for temperature control, and the sniper rifle might not fit over the jetpack. But it’s a start.

To be continued with V3…

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Batman vs. Vision

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The Caped Crusader vs. the Purple…um…android. Speaks for itself. (Literally and metaphorically).

Weapons: Batman has Batarangs and tons of high-tech weapons in his belt, not to mention his cape/wings. For this fight, he does not have his Batmobile as that would be too much of an advantage. Vision has superhuman strength thanks to his density manipulation and can project a beam of energy from the Mind Stone someone stuck in his forehead. These are very different types of weapons for fighting very different types of bad guys, but both are very effective.

Defenses/weakness: The Dark Night has a nearly impenetrable suit, and can use his cape/wings as a shield. Vision is made of vibranium and can manipulate his density to be nearly indestructible. He can also phase through just about anything. Vision is better here by far, but he has one weakness. More on that later.

Skill: Batman is trained in and masters 127 forms of combat, which he uses to take down lunatic super-villains regularly. Vision is also very skilled with his powers, which is due partly to his programming, but the Dark Night has an edge here.

Mindset/intentions: Batman is fueled by a passive rage at crime in general for the murder of his parents. Once he sets his mind on something, he will get it done. Vision can be somewhat disoriented at times due to only having existed since Age of Ultron, and while he knows what he’s doing, he isn’t entirely sure of the purpose of is existence, not to mention his intentions. Batman easily wins this category.

Use of surroundings: Batman is good at this, but Vision tends to rely on himself and his powers in battles.

Both can fly, but that’s where the similarities end. Vision is powerful and strong, but untested. Batman, media’s most famous detective who has all of DC Comics (Detective Comics) named after him, has been in the game since his childhood. Again, power is up against experience, but this time the newbie is so powerful that even the legendary Bruce Wayne would have trouble staying alive even in his armor, not to mention winning. He will have trouble when his nemesis tries to blow him away with the energy beam. His Batarangs will be useless because of Visions fazing. His armor would protect him from being crushed under Vision’s density, but it wouldn’t stop him from being hurled around by a vibranium android with no intention to let him live. He can use his training and hit home, but Vision wouldn’t even budge. The Caped Crusader has finally met his match.

But Batman has a chance. When Vision reaches a certain density, he is unable to move. Until he lowers his density, Batman can just pluck the Infinity Stone right out of his forehead and take Vision’s power with it. I have absolutely no idea how he would be able to force Vision to take on such a density, but he’s the Dark Night; he’d figure something out. Maybe.

But probably not. Vision would beat the crap out of Batman, and there is not much he can do to use Vision’s weakness against him. As much as I hate to say it, Vision wins. RIP Bruce.

Why Thrawn is still the best Star Wars villain

Star Wars, , , , ,

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Mitth’raw’nuruodo, more commonly known as Thrawn, was first seen in Heir to the Empire, but has come a long way since then. He was the villain in the Thrawn Trilogy, Outbound Flight, and now Star Wars: Rebels Season 3. How Disney convinced Timothy Zahn to sell Thrawn to them after having trashed his life’s work, the expanded universe that he started–his expanded universe–by replacing it with the Force Awakens is a mystery, and a kinda pointless one. The point is that Thrawn’s here, and he’s awesome.

But why? Why is he such a good villain when he’s just another colorful alien who thinks he has a right to rule every other being in the galaxy? We’ve seen plenty of those (I’m looking at you, Jabba.)

  1. He’s a “friendly face.” And I don’t mean that he has a friendly-looking face. I mean that we’ve seen him before, and he’s proven himself. He has an instant reputation the second he walks onto the screen.
  2. He’s a capable commander. This one’s pretty simple. He’s been in one army or another since before the Clone Wars. He knows what he’s doing.
  3. He’s a genius. It’s obvious, but it’s important. He always seems to figure things out early. He’s always a step ahead of the rebels, as well as other Imperials.
  4. He keeps his head. Really, who prefers a bad guy who smashes machinery when he’s mad over one who can keep his head and tear his enemies apart piece by piece, even when all seems lost?
  5. He can see the bigger picture. When it comes to military tactics, he can focus on the entire war, not only the  battle at hand. He takes everything into consideration, not just what he can see.
  6. He can fight. He took down two assassin droids with his bear hands, and beat Agent Kallus in seconds. Understanding strategies is one thing, but being able to fight hand-to-hand is always good.
  7. He has a really cool voice. Seriously. Watch the show and you’ll see.
  8. He knows more than just battle tactics. He understands his enemies before he attacks them, and can use that to predict their movements and take them down more effectively.
  9. He’s original. He invents his own strategies. He comes up with new and interesting ways to crush the rebellion instead of the old “shoot and charge” approach everyone else seems to enjoy–and fail at.
  10. He knows his place. Sometimes, it’s nice to see a villain who’s not a hot-headed glory-seeker who wants to dethrone the Emperor and rule the galaxy.

Star Wars, rewritten as a TV show

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Season 1: Sidious murders Plagueis, Qui-Gon trains Obi-Wan, Maul gets more character, etc. Sith reveal themselves in the last few episodes, and the duel in The Phantom Menace happens in the finale.

Season 2: Anakin grows up, the Confederacy (Seperatists) is created, the clone army is created, Padme becomes queen and then senator, the Jedi try to track down the Sith Lord. Concludes with the battle of Geonosis.

Season 3: The clone wars begins, General Grievous, Savage Oppress and Asajj Ventress’ backstory is shown, Ahsoka is introduced, Maul returns, and the Clone Wars TV series starts.

Season 4: The good parts of the Clone Wars happen (the boring parts are left out), but in longer and fewer episodes.

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Season 5: Omega Squad and the Nulls from Karen Traviss’s Republic Commando series are introduced. The Republic Commando storyline develops.

Season 6: The Republic destroys the Separatists, General Greivous is hunted down, the Clone Wars ends, the events of Revenge of the Sith happen. Also shows Han Solo’s childhood. Ends with the final battles of Revenge of the Sith.

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Season 7: The Rebels come together, Star Wars: Rebels happens, the Rebel Alliance is formed, and the backstory of Rogue One characters is shown.

Season 8: the Rebels timeline continues and ends in the finale of whatever season will be the last.

Season 9: Luke and Leia’s childhoods are explained, the events of Rogue One and events leading up to it are shown, Obi-Wan and Yoda get attention, Han shoots first, A New Hope happens, and the Rebels destroy the Death Star the in the last episodes.

Season 10: The Empire plans it’s revenge, Rebels expand their fleet, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi happen, but with more detail about Jabba and his bounty hunters, the race for Han (why Boba was the best), how Boba lives, etc. Ends with teddy bear party on Endor.

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Season 11: Leia builds a New Republic and mops up the rest of Imperial forces, Thrawn takes control, the Empire is reorganized and makes a last stand against the New Republic, Luke forms a new Jedi Order and hunts down the last of the Sith.

Season 12: Rey, Finn, Poe are introduced, the First Order rises, corruption becomes a problem in the Republic, Snoke trains Kylo, and The Force Awakens happens.

To Be Continued…

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What do you think? Is it better like this, or will infinite spin-offs be a better way to expand the universe? Comment your opinions below!

Sidekick Battle: War Machine vs. Winter Soldier

Duels, Marvel, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Weapons: Lieutenant James Rhodes uses his somewhat-legally acquired Iron Man suit. It has various lasers, missiles, projectiles and guns, the most prominent of which is the machine gun/repeating cannon on his shoulder. Bucky Barnes also carries a remarkable amount of guns on various body-parts, as well as grenades, knives and the sniper rifle. And that brings us to the arm. Yeah, that arm. The one that withstood a repulsor blast a point blank range, held it’s ground against Cap’s shield and has beaten the crap out of a lot of unfortunate people over the years. It’s a cybernetic prosthetic with increased strength and reaction speed, near indestructibility and an electric shock feature. As cool as that sounds, War Machine has more firepower, and is better in this category.

Defenses/weakness: The Iron Patriot has a suit that’s *almost* as good as Tony Stark’s. It protects him from virtually anything anyone can throw at him, and saved his life in a thousand-foot free-fall. His weakness is his suit’s heart. Bucky can use his arm as a shield, but it really doesn’t compare. His weakness is his Winter Soldier activation code. War Machine wins again.

Skill: Iron Man’s renegade sidekick is not kidding around with the suit. He has effortless control over it that translates to deadly accuracy on the battlefield. His weakness is that he isn’t good at hand-to-hand combat. Bucky has the cold precision of a Nazi super-soldier. Combined with Russian sniper accuracy and martial arts skill that rival Bruce Lee, he is a force to be reckoned with. The Winter Soldier wins here.

Mindset/intentions: War Machine is a dedicated patriot, and does everything for his country. The Winter Soldier has been a spy, assassin, sniper, commando, and has done every other unsavory job the Nazis had to offer. Even now that he is free of the mind-control, that mindset stuck, and there is nothing Rhodes can do about it. Rhodes has no intention of taking Barnes alive, as he was a Nazi spy. After seeing Bucky fight, I doubt he intends to spare Rhodes. This is a tie, because it’s basically the same mindset with different motives.

Use of Surroundings: War Machine usually stays focused on his armor, and gives little thought to his surroundings. The Winter Soldier on the other hand not only uses the location as a tool, but manipulates it to fit his style.

If we give back Bucky his left arm and Rhodes the use of his legs, or have this battle before the events of Civil War, this is not an easy win for either. War Machine has more firepower, but lacks the close quarters skills. Bucky could evade and block his fire for a while, and would probably make some sort of leap-of-faith onto War Machine’s back, where he wouldn’t be able shoot him. He would probably go for the guns, so he is forced to land and face him hand to hand. This would not slow War Machine down, but Barnes might be able to throw him on the ground long enough to rip off the mask part of the suit, giving him a target to shoot for. War Machine would fly away, then fly straight at Bucky. Bucky wouldn’t miss–he never misses–and he would kill War Machine.

But whether Bucky survives or not is a completely different problem. His main guns may be damaged, but Rhodes still has plenty firepower, not to mention force of impact. Unless Cap shows up to save the day, this fight may be a double-death, and the last we see of the Winter Soldier.