The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

What better way to introduce a yet unfeatured artist here at The Download Munkey than to overload your senses with lots of delicious eye candy Let’s just say all this is a brillant masterstroke by artist Steve Argyle to win the hearts of new minions (as he affectionately refers to the subscribers of his mailing list like me).

With his recent release of 65 wallpapers featuring 55+ different pieces of Steve’s awesome work for the likes of Legend of the Five Rings, Magic : The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, I’m pretty sure hordes of new minions will be eagerly flocking to his website and mailing list

A preview of some of my favourite wallpapers.

© Steve Argyle

Chuda Ruri of the Snake Clan from the Legend of the Five Rings.

© Steve Argyle

A gigantic samurai gets his moustache cleaned in Return of the Shogun.

© Steve Argyle

The Kaiu Wall which guards the Crab Clan from the beasts beyond.

© Steve Argyle

Nightlife in Scorpion City.

Don’t like samurai? How about some Star Wars instead? Perhaps Darth Vader suits your taste better

© Steve Argyle

There’s more in the Star Wars section including an awesome Rohlan Dyre commissioned for the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, a Star Wars RPG supplement.

© Steve Argyle

Maybe, sci-fi’s not your cup of tea? Good old fantasy should do the trick then, like this lithe Naya Battlemage from the Shards of Alara expansion set for Magic : The Gathering.

© Steve Argyle

Age of Tyranny (above) and Dwarf Barbarian from Dungeons & Dragons.

© Steve Argyle

This small selection of artwork is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s plenty more eye candy at Steve Argyle’s official site. And if 1600×1200 wallpapers are not enough, you always have the option to purchase prints of your favourite artworks

Check out Steve Argyle’s official website or head down right to the wallpaper collection.

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Wallpapers from Crimson Gem Saga, a PSP game published by Atlus in the US.

© Altus U.S.A, Inc

Download the wallpapers from the official American site for Crimson Gem Saga.

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© Fantasy Flight Games

A brand new board game from Fantasy Flight Games based on Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy universe, Warhammer : Chaos in the Old World pits four players against each other in a quest to corrupt, control and destroy the nine major regions of the Old World as one of the four Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

© Fantasy Flight Games

While it isn’t practical for me to buy this board games since it’s rather hard for me to find another three disciples of Chaos to play the game, the plastic figures designed by Michael Jaecks to depict both human and daemonic followers of Chaos are a constant temptation to order Warhammer : Chaos in the Old World as an (expensive) collectible

© Fantasy Flight Games

Coloured in blood red for Khorne, diseased green for Nurgle, eldritch blue for Tzeentch and decadent purple for Slaanesh, these plastic figures are just part of the beautifully crafted game – just check out the game board which was intentionally designed to resemble a map of Old World stitched together from pieces of skin flayed from some very unfortunate humans.

© Fantasy Flight Games

© Games Workshop

Interestingly, the banner a the official site uses the cover art from the Warhammer 40,000 : Chaos Daemons Codex instead of the Warhammer : Daemons of Chaos Army Book.

The other recently released board game by Games Workshop, Space Hulk, didn’t hold the same attraction for me despite the lovingly-detailed miniatures – Space Hulk loses much of its immersion and appeal when playing with unpainted or badly-painted miniatures

Download the rulebook for a peek at the game mechanics or watch the introductory trailer for the game at the official Warhammer : Chaos in the Old World website.

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Downloaded this free Falcom game Lord Monarch at the same time as Vantage Master Online (two years back!) but didn’t get the hang of it until recently. It’s actually quite fun once you understand how to effectively command your troops in battle.

Lord Monarch is essentially a grand strategy game where you have to defeat and destroy your opponents by conquering and holding to their territory. More territory means more troops for your military maneuvers and troops are the only resource that is important in Lord Monarch. Everything else is pretty much abstracted out in its depiction of military power since the army with the most troops always wins.

The modelling of war might seem simplistic but this is what makes Lord Monarch so fun because only the strategic skill of opposing commanders will make or break their armies fighting in the field. By default, settlements in friendly territory will generate troops at regular intervals who will then expand your territory by building more settlements or rush to the nearest skirmish in scattered little units. While this automatic behaviour is usually sufficient when there are no huge enemy armies rampaging nearby, challenging an enemy with superior numbers in this way is akin to throwing eggs against a stone wall. You can adjust the default orders by right clicking anywhere in the map – you’ll also need to click Start in the same menu to actually commence each level too

A competent commander will assemble troops behind the frontlines into larger armies to defend chokepoints, open multiple fronts, conduct raids or simply as a reserve for future operations. Raiding is particularly effective as it diverts enemy troops from the front lines and temporarily disrupts the quantity of enemy reinforcements from the captured settlements until they are retaken.

Building up an army to assault the enemy stronghold

Securing the bridge

To amass a huge army, left click to select one of your units, left click the location where you want it to assemble and then select Standby from the popup menu. Troops moving towards that unit will then join the army while it waits for your next order.

Once the army is large enough, select it and give a destination by left clicking and choose Standby to advance to the new position while your reinforcements mop up all resistance in its wake. Alternatively order it to Build or Destroy, the latter commanding it to wipe out all opposition before settling in.

Blocking reinforcements from the enemy castle while another army destroys all in its path

Supply is equally abstracted in Lord Monarch. An army isolated in the midst of enemy territory will eventually bleed itself dry from prolonged combat as it can only receive reinforcements from settlements that are not blocked by enemy armies. Also, troops that are not in a settlement slowly lose strength.

Lord Monarch is not always about war in the traditional sense – this stage requires you to dominate over 3 other rival fast food chains

To advance to the next stage, you need to complete the map within the alloted number of days. If you find the days run by too fast, adjust the game speed by moving the slider to the left in the progress window (below).

Download Lord Monarch. Remember to create a SAVE folder in the game folder, otherwise you will not be able to save your games!

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A look at several booklets of weapon factsheets accompanying Kerry Plowright‘s military novel Shotgun One. This rather engaging novel about a fictional conflict pitting Australia and the US against new military powerhouses China and Russia after the discovery of oil near Vostok Station in Antarctica, has yet to find a publisher but the 600+ pages PDF version of Shotgun One can be freely downloaded from the book’s official site at www.vostokstation.com.au.

© Kerry Plowright

These supporting booklets provide more in-depth information on the weapons and equipment featured in Shotgun One together with details on a few fictional near-future weapons like the highly capable F-111S flown by Squadron Leader Lance Hamilton in the book. Some information are taken directly from Wikipedia but at least it’s consolidated together for handy reference.

© Kerry Plowright

Nothing new in Australian Army Weapons and Systems since most of the Australian military equipment are similiar to that used by the US or her NATO Allies. The Long Range Patrol Vehicles (LRPVs) used by the Australian SASR (yes, the Aussies have their own equivalent of the famous British Special Air Service) are rather interesting modifications of the original Land Rovers though.

© Kerry Plowright

The RAAF Aircraft and Weapons and Systems follows in a similiar vein as the first booklet with details on the aircraft in service with the Royal Australian Air Force.

© Kerry Plowright

The next couple of booklets deal with the ships serving with Chinese PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) and the Royal Australian Navy. There’s quite a few good-looking ships and boats in these two booklets, two of my favourites being the Australian Armidale class of patrol boats (above) and the Chinese Houbei class of missile boats (below).

© Kerry Plowright

The last booklet contains information on the TNI-AD, the Indonesian National Army which is equipped with an interesting mix of arms from both Western and Soviet/Russian suppliers. Not much information on the operational use of these weapons by the TNI-AD though.

Download Shotgun One and its accompanying resources from the official site @ www.vostokstation.com.au.

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