Pre-what a huh now?  Shhhh.  I will explain all

I have had a spraygun for a couple of years now (you can find some previous posts here), and I have finally upgraded to a proper airbrush/ compressor set up.  Some details on the setup at the end of this post, if you’re interested, but I thought I would stick up a couple of photos of a model I have been working on recently.

The model on the left is the Brass Coffin, a resin model costing £9 from Ramshackle Games.  It is in the 28-32mm scale, and so fits perfectly with steampunk games like Malifaux (Malifaux doesn’t have any vehicle rules as such, but it can always just sit there as some cool terrain).

I won’t be painting mine as weathered as this, as I want to try a technique called pre-shading with my airbrush.  Basically, this involves using an airbrush to set down dark lines and dark areas on the vehicle that then show through a later base coat, provided the base coat is applied thinly enough.  You can see a very good demonstration of this technique here (Youtube link).

You can take the basic pre-shading technique a step further and add some pre-highlighting.  This involves using the airbrush to lay down white highlights which, again, will show through the later base colour layer.  Obviously, with black shading and white highlights the model needs to be primed in grey.

Brass Coffin

The first model I bought from Ramshackle Games was not impressive – behold the Killdozer.  I am not a novice with resin models, but I could not find any way to fit this model together in any way that would resemble the picture.  I contacted the manufacturer to see if I was missing any pieces, but I was not.  He explained that this model was one of the very first ones he made, and the quality had gone up a lot since then.  Not a great deal of comfort for me, but I ended up with some bitz for my Orks, so – well.

Is the Brass Coffin really an improvement?  Yes – massively so.  It is not perfect, and there are areas where the mold is clearly struggling to replicate detail (esp on recessed areas), but this is a sizeable model which comes as one massive chunk of resin and four separate wheels.  It needs some clean up, but while I could not recommend the Killdozer to anyone, I could recommend the Brass Coffin.  Not without reservation, but provided you don’t mind getting out the files and hobby knife this is a kit you will like.

Probably best to pin the rear wheels, btw.

Pre-Shading/ Highlighting

This was my first outing with the airbrush, and I think it went pretty well.  I added some Vallejo Retarder Medium to the paint to prevent the paint drying on the tip, and that seemed to work well, meaning that I was able to keep spraying over an extended time without needing to strip the airbrush down or run any cleaner through it.  Here’s the pics:

Airbrush Setup

For those who are interested, I picked up the AS186 Compressor from Ebay, which comes with two airbrushes (both double action, internal mix, and one is side-feed while the other is siphon feed).

Here is a pic of the airbrush in an airbrush cleaner/ holder I bought from Ebay as well, and then a pic of the compressor itself.

I am very pleased with the compressor.  It is very simple to operate (an on/off button and a regulator to select the air-pressure), small and quiet.  I have young kids and this can run at midnight in the house without bothering them.  It has an airtank, meaning that the motor only runs until the airtank is at full pressure (50psi) and then turns off.  You then have completely silent airbrushing with a steady, moisture-free air feed.  It has auto-on and auto-off, moisture trap, standard airhose fittings, safety valve, sump valve and a UK plug fitted.  For the price, it is a steal.  Given that it comes with two excellent airbrushes – best deal of the year, as far as I am concerned.

One thing I need to get is some good, bulk cleaning solution.  Cleaning could be a pain in the neck without it.  I did buy the airbrush cleaning pot/ holder you see in the pic above, as well as Vallejo Airbrush Thinner and some cleaning brushes.  I am really looking forward to really getting to grips with this kit over the next few weeks, but a good start so far, I think

Trawling through my attic with my eldest kid, and I opened up an old cardboard box.  Not only did I find a tonne of my old Runequest stuff, I found an issue of The One magazine from December 1993.  The One was an Amiga magazine.

The problem I had with games back then was the same one I have now: they cost too much money to buy them all.  I remember at the time looking at all these cool games coming out and wishing I could afford them (piracy was a lot harder in those days, since we had no internet, but on the other back in those days we had shops up the town centre who openly sold pirated software).  One such game was called One Step Beyond.  It was a marketing tie-in that is doubtless long-forgotten, featuring a character called Clumsy Colin from a series of TV adverts.  I forget the product.  Let’s say it was socks.  I read previews of One Step Beyond, featuring Colin in his endless, puzzle-based quest for more socks, and I remember thinking how badly I wanted to play this game, based solely on the previews.  I studied the screencaps.  A lot.  I read everything I could about it.  Which in those days meant buying one of three monthly Amiga magazines.  Oh, internet, how you have spoiled us.

You see, back in those days there was one program I had been able to afford.  This little beauty was called AMOS (AMiga Operating System) and it was a BASIC programming language with a compiler.  And, I had got pretty decent with it.  So, instead of buying One Step Beyond, I made my own version.  Screw you, capitalist pig-dogs!  I won’t play your game!  I’ll write my own

I left out the socks, though.  That would have been silly.

And once it was done, I sent it into a couple of Amiga magazines to review.  One gave it 4/5 stars and the other gave it 83% (I was pleased, but I did wonder what the 17% was I had got wrong)

So, in a dedication to bedroom coders, to the UK games industry as was, to the spirit of Just Making Shit and, lastly but not leastly, to the joy of rummaging around in dusty attics and finding time capsules you left yourself, here is the review I got in The One magazine.  And, yes, they spotted my, err, homage…

Not a technique I have seen used before, and one that is very easy on the paint budget.

The model on the left was painted with a combination of Vallejo and Citadel Foundation paints, including Citadel washes, having been through a process of serial dilution making the paint to water ratio 1:1m. The model on the right was painted with the same basic paints, but this time further diluted to make the paint to water ratio 1:100m. I think we can all agree that the vibrancy and depth of colour in the second figure more than proves the worth of this painting technique.

Deadline was Monday and I emailed the story off on Wednesday at 1am.  I count that as being ahead of schedule, since editors always lie about their deadlines (only kidding, Dan, Nathan ).

This last story was a real challenge, as I had to write it in the middle of the busiest period at work in ages, which has included working several evenings, as well as being very busy at home.  Mrs Sholto came up with the idea of getting up an hour early so I could get some words done, and that worked well.  It is something I will use in the future, as nothing takes the pressure off like knowing that come what may, you at least got a few hundred words done before breakfast.

In total I have done five stories for Wyrd’s next book, and at 8,000 words per (approx) that is 40,000 words of Malifaux goodness coming your way.  Read every single one of them, dammit!  That’s an order!  Actually, for one of the stories, you probably are going to want to read it twice.  Do I get paid double for stories like that?  No.  It’s totally unfair!

40,000 words is just under half a novel.  I don’t know what that means, or if it is relevant in any way, but there it is.

The fun news is that several of the characters I dreamt up in my stories have been turned into new models for the game.  Three in total will, I believe, make it into the next book.  It is going to be a special kind of wonderful to see a model of something I invented all painted up on a gaming table

Finally, as a special reward for reading this far, I will give you another ace movie recommendation.  Easy A.  Watch it.  It is not a chick-flick, it just happens to be about a girl.  It also happens to be witty, bright and full of great characters and actors.  If you liked John Hughes movies, you’ll love it.

…might just be the best movie I have seen from the whole of last year, or even in the last few years.  I can’t remember the last time a film left me feeling actual excitement (no, not like that!).  The creativity and energy is infectious, but it is creativity to a purpose, and in service of a story worth telling.  It all adds up to a bit of a masterpiece.

I will now make other people watch this film, in order to improve their lives   Starting with you.

Tutorials are great, but there is nothing like a good Youtube video to show you how to do something.   Here are the channels that I subscribe to, and why:-

How-To Videos

Awesome Paint Job.  Les Bursley’s production quality is top notch, with well-shot, detailed, high-res vids.  And he can paint!  Loads of Space Marine How To Paint videos, as well as some back-to-basics stuff.  He’s been focusing on using airbrushes to paint miniatures recently, and I am loving what he is doing.

Girl Painting.  Alexandra (from Germany) has produced hundreds of quality videos, from speed-painting ones to lengthy, in-depth tutorials on master painting minis.  Plus, I love her accent!

Dr Faust’s Painting Clinic.  This guy’s website has been in my bookmarks for ages.  His tutorials are top-notch and he has loads of great painting advice stored there (eg. painting oxidised metals)  and I was delighted when I found he also had a Youtube channel that continues the quality.  A detailed two-part video on painting Cassandra from Wyrd Miniatures, brain-smackingly good advice on making wooden textures in plasticard and a 36 minute video on painting flesh tones.  Go check him out.

Terrain Makers

These guys are prolific and/ or fantastic terrain makers.  Either way,  sources of inspiration:-

Rubbish In Rubbish Out

Terrainaholic

Terranscapes (check out this one, for example)

General Hobby Channels

Some Youtube channels cover all aspects of the hobby, and include painting, terrain, conversions and battle reports.

Beasts Of War.  This one has the production qualities of a decent cable TV programme.  It even has sets.  Shame their Daily Tips on 40k rules are so frequently full of mistakes, but the rest is good.

Blue Table Painting.  Shawn at BTP has been making these videos for years, and in addition to showcasing some great painting, conversions, terrain and batreps we get a behind-the-scenes look at a large commission studio going about its business.  And dancing.  Don’t forget the dancing.

Mini Wargaming.  Lots of batreps and good terrain articles, as well as unit tacticas, usually delivered with a slice of humour.  Also, a Daemon Prince that talks.

40k Tactics

Some channels focus on playing the game, with tactics and list discussions and/ or batreps.  Not to say they don’t cover other aspects:-

Jawaballs

WayOfSaimHann.  Used to focus on Eldar, but has branched out into other armies, and the general principles are applicable to all armies.

Tau of War.  Lots of good Tau tactics here.

So – anything you can recommend?  Any great channels I am missing?

I run for around 3 hours a week, so that (along with train journeys) gives me a good chance to keep my podcast listening up to date.  Here are the ones I currently have on Google Listen:-

The D6 Generation (link)
Russ, Raef and Craig produce a fantastic show, with terrific production values but also plenty of solid content.  They cover all manner of miniature and board games.  I especially like their in-depth discussions and reviews which frequently delve into the underlying mechanics and how these work, or don’t.  The three have a broad knowledge of gaming tropes and standards, and it was, for example, their enthusiasm for Malifaux that led to me getting into the game.  Some of the segments are a bit hit or miss (The Hollywood Minute has taken a foray into roleplaying that I am not interested in and the new one, Hype Or Tripe, represents the first serious mis-step by the guys since I’ve started listening*) but mostly these podcasts can be listened to from beginning to end with me enjoying every minute and eagerly awaiting the next one.

(*I really hope they ditch this.  Talking about upcoming products or games is fine, but rating the hype around incoming new goodies seems an odd thing to do, especially when one of your two ratings is offensive – ie. ”tripe”.  Rating hype in a game review show is like rating a movie ad-campaign on a film review site - an exercise in pointlessness.  Case in point was a fledging company whose new game was up for discussion.  I would expect the D6G to discuss the game itself rather than the marketing budget, but instead they spent their time be-moaning the lack of professionalism on the website and how it didn’t make them want to play the game.  Two of the hosts clearly had problems with the segment, struggling to actually pronounce the company’s efforts as “tripe”, but they did it anyway.  It was misguided and mean-spirited, and I hope that’s the last we see of Hype Or Tripe)

PrecinctOmega Hobbycast & Battlecast (link)
When Robey Jenkins mentioned he might be doing a podcast about the hobby side of gaming, I thought he was a bit mad.  How do you cover assembling and painting miniatures (and all the stuff that surrounds that) in audio form?  Isn’t Youtube the proper channel for this?  The answer is that he has managed to do it in a way that completely exceeded my expectations.  While video is still tops for showing, not telling, Robey has an assured, meticulous approach to his podcasts that ensures the listener grasps the concepts he is describing, and as this podcast covers everything from basic to more advanced techniques, there is something for everyone.

The Battlecast is brand new (a prologue edition only so far), but promises to cover game design.  I am eagerly awaiting this!

The sound quality of the podcast is a little poor, as I think Robey is still recording into his laptop’s built-in mic, and there are times when he could use a co-host to provide some variety and dialogue, but these issues aside these are brief podcasts (less than an hour, usually) which are well worth listening to.

World’s End Radio (link)
Luke and JJ are two affable hosts from Oz who cover all things GW, albeit with an unseemly focus on non-40k GW games   They have reviews of new codexes and models, as well as rumours, news and tournament coverage.  They introduced me to the wonderful comp argument that “winning is a theme”!  An enjoyable podcast with some good banter between the hosts, although it’s not in my top tier.  They’ve been off the air for a good few weeks now – hope they come back soon.

Dice Like Thunder (link – goes to The Eternal Warriors)
Loud, obnoxious and NSFW, DLT is (was) the bad influence of 40k podcasts.  After 105 episodes they stopped DLT for unspecified but definitely not IP-breach related issues and rose like a phoenix from the ashes as The Eternal Warriors.  Yeah, not sure what all the drama was about, frankly, but who cares?  These guys bring some welcome trash-talking and humour, with Dan in particular being one of the highlights.  Host Tricky Dick doesn’t really have a voice for radio, but other than that this is (was) (will be) one of the best 40k podcasts out there.

Gamers Lounge (link)
I picked up on this one following a link over on the Wyrd forums.  It is the only podcast I have found that has a regular discussion of Malifaux.  Bill and Jay have a good dynamic, and the Malifaux section (the M&SU Bar) is worth the download.

The Independant Characters (link)
Carl and Jeff do a great job with this one, full of energy and good humour, and it is quickly becoming a tier 1 podcast for me.  These guys share my interests in the Forgeworld books, and their indepth reviews and discussions keep the miles flying by on long winter runs.

The 11th Company (link)
A much more strategy-focused podcast than the others listed here, while I enjoy the 11th Co., it’s not a must-listen for me.  One of the problems is Pat, whose voice is the least interesting one I have ever heard on a podcast.  He has a dull monotone with little to no energy or inflection, which is death on radio.  Sorry, dude – nothing personal.  The IG codex run-down was great, though.

The Tabletop Hooligans (link)
It was the Precinctomega Hobbycast that put me onto this one.  I haven’t listened to enough episodes yet to form a solid opinion, but it’s promising so I’ll keep listening.  NSFW.

Any good ones I am missing?

Left and right; two of the Coryphée and centre, a Mannequin. All are from the new Colette du Bois Showgirls crew.

I got my copy of Book 2 a week or so ago but, due to one thing and another, it has taken me until now to read it all.

(Full disclosure: this is not really a review.  Since I contributed some material to the book, I don’t think that would be appropriate)

What is it?  It is an expansion book for Malifaux (and if you want to know more about Malifaux, see here).

So, new rules and stuff?  Well, yes, but not many.  By far the bulk of this book is given over to new models for the five main factions.  The only new rules are the new Encounter rules, which greatly increases the variety of missions available, and the new Henchman rules, which lets you use certain models as quasi-Masters.

So this isn’t Malifaux v.2.0?  What about the Errata?  The core rules remain unchanged, so you will need the original Malifaux rulebook to play the game.

Are you really going to go with a hoary old Q&A format for this overview?  Well, yeah, I thought I would.  You object?

A little.  I don’t want to be typecast, you know?  Huh? You’re a narrative fiction.  Shut up and keep asking the pretend questions.  You don’t want me to resort to using bullet points, do you?

Jeez – anything but that! Alright, alright.  Can I do the answers next time, though?  I’ll think about it.  Now, quick – ask another pretend question.

Well you still haven’t answered my last one. What about the Errata?  Right.  Because the core rules remain unchanged, the Errata (and the Extra Errata) are not included.  Eric Johns has said he wants to flush all the gremlins out the system before updating the rules in print.

If it’s only new models, how big is this thing?  This thing is big – 256 pages vs 215 pages in Book 1.  And while the new models take up a great deal of real estate, there are two other elements which fill out the book;  the Encounter rules and the background.

Ooh!  Background.  Tell me more.  Malifaux is a character-driven miniatures game, with a focus on the “character-driven”, so the characters from the first book return (with some notable exceptions – the Victorias and Leviticus don’t feature at all, and a few others get just a walk-on) and all the new characters are introduced. There is clearly an overarching story at play here, and there are a few twists and turns – especially at the end, which ramps up the tension to something of a real cliffhanger.  There are a lot of threads to keep a hold of and, as Wyrd introduce more and more new characters in future books, giving them all some page-time is going to become increasingly challenging, but I am sure they know what they’re doing

No spoilers, but what can you tell me?  Well, Hamelin, who was a Mercenary Minion in the last book, has an unfortunate encounter with something much older than he is and acquires new and dreadful powers.  As his plague spreads throughout Malifaux, other Masters hunt for clues to the mysterious symbol of the serpent wrapped around an eye.  Meanwhile, the Guild Governor is seeking to clean up a mess in his own house, with some terrible consequences for all involved.  It all culminates in a crashing climax at the end of Book 2, which looks set to change things for a lot of the Masters as we look towards Book 3.

You know!  You know and you’re not telling!  Actually, I don’t.  I have no idea what the overall story nestling in the fiendish brains of Nathan Caroland and Dave Bowen actually is (although I have plans to get Mortimer to steal their brains so I can find out), so this is just speculation on my part.  Or … is it?

Yes.  Yes, it is.  Damn it!  I forgot you were just an imaginary construct.  I can’t outwit you.  Or … can I?

No.  Damn.  Ask another question, then.

The new characters.  Who’s your favourite?  Oh – nice one! Well, the Guild get C. Hoffman, who is a cross between Isembard Kingdom Brunel and Doc Ock.  I play Guild, but I love steampunk constructs, so he is right up my alley.  I played his crew a few times during the Beta test of Book 2, and I really enjoyed his style.  The Resurrectionists get Kirai Ankoku, along with a host of Nipponese spiritual and/ or J-Horror themed nasties and a handy pronunciation guide for those of us who have no idea how to say, “Kirai”.  Which includes you, by the way.  However you are pronouncing that word in your head right now, you’re doing it wrong, but don’t worry – when reading Harry Potter I pronounced Hermione “Her – mee – own” for the first three books

Really?  Yes.

You’re dumb.  I know.  Moving on-

No, I mean, really dumb.  Moving on, the Neverborn get the Dreamer and Lord Chompy Bits.

Who the Lord what now?  Yeah, you read that right!  It’s the Dreamer’s name for him, and LCB is not the sort of person who cares much what people call him.  He is more interested in frightening the bejessus out of them and then ripping them limb from limb.  Everyone except his leetle fren’ the Dreamer, a wee kid with some freaky powers.  Brilliantly, all the Dreamer crew has on the table at the start of any game is a model of a little boy wearing a white nightshirt :)  After that, bad things happen…  The Mercenaries get the new, vermin-charged version of “check out my funky evil powers” Hamelin as well as the leader of the Freikorps, a mercenary sub-faction.

Sub-faction?  Well, they are actually called “Special Forces”-

That’s a lot cooler than “sub-faction”.  Call yourself a writer!  Hey, you wanna do this bit?

Yes.

…

Well, you can’t. So there.  All the factions have Special Forces, each of which has a theme.  Some of these are scary-clown weird, like the Doll Special Forces, and some are just odd, like the Guild one which lets you basically put a force of civil servants on the table.  Deadly civil servants, including lawyers :)  Regular faction crews can take up to two of these Special Forces models, but if you include one of the new Henchmen in your crew, then you can take a lot more.  A case in point are the new Gremlins Special Forces, the Kin, led by Ophelia Lacroix.  If you like Perdita Ortega, you are going to love these mean, green, rootin’ – tootin’ machines.  Plus,  Pork Barrage.

Pork Barrage?  Yup – best new name for an ability in the game.

Cool.  You forgot the Arcanists.  No, I didn’t.  I was structuring this so I could answer your original question, but do it under cover of an overview of all the new Masters and their crews.  See, planning.  The Arcanists get my and what seems to be a lot of people’s vote for favourite new Master and crew in the game – Colette Du Bois and her Showgirls.

I can tell so much just from the name.  Graceful yet sassy.  Bold as brass and as sultry as midnight on the Mississipi.  Yup.  That, too.  Plus, you get mannequins and dancer automata with blades that spring out from their arms.

Squee!  All of the above, but with freakin’ blades that spring out their freakin’ arms?  Gimme!  This seems to be the considered opinion of most of the Mali-fans on the web, although the other Masters (especially the enormous LCB and the beautifully sorrowful Kirai crew) are getting plenty of love.  The new models look fab.

Mali-fans?  Yeah, doesn’t really work, does it?  Thought I would give it a try.

Anything else you want to tell us?  The artwork is stunning, as usual.  Every new model has artwork to go with it, although in most cases there are no miniatures for them yet.  The new boxed sets are Kirai, Colette and Ophelia Lacroix.  From Book 1, players finally get a box set for Leviticus.

All the new Masters feature heavily in the storyline, so you get plenty of information on them, but to return to something I mentioned earlier, I think what will be most appreciated from Rising Powers are the new Encounter rules.

Seriously?  Yup.  People forget sometimes that while the game mechanics are essential to ensure depth and enjoyment, the actual missions get overlooked in a surprising number of existing games.

You mean, games where you line up your models on your side, and he lines up his, and then it’s first to kill ‘em all wins?  Exactly.  Games Workshop.  Silverfish hand catch.  Only one of these is a non-sequitor.  Anyhoo – the new Encounter rules massively increase the Scenarios and Schemes available.  Just to take one example,  you can try to frame your opponent’s Master for murder.

How?  Have him kill one of your nominated models.  Cool, huh?  Of course, your opponent doesn’t know you’re trying to do this for sure, since you don’t announce it, but he will know it’s a possibility…

I like it.  So, time to wrap it up, bud.  Take us on home.  Book 2 is just what Malifaux needed.  The game got off to a great start at Gencon 2009, and has been growing since but, like any miniatures game in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace, keeping that momentum going is critically important if the game is to last.  Plenty of others have fallen by the wayside, but Wyrd seem to have a very clear roadmap and the ability to scale their operation, and Book 3 is already well underway.  There is a risk that with all the cool and powerful new models in Book 2 that some of the models (or even crews) from Book 1 will find themselves underpowered and out of favour, and while only time will tell if that is the case, from my experiences during the Beta I don’t think this will happen.  I can’t wait to get my hands on the Colette box set

I love the Peacekeeper model, but I am not so keen on the ‘menacing hands’ pose that the model defaults to:-

I wanted to try and bring out the Arachnid characteristic a bit more, as well as trying to pose it as dynamically and threateningly as possible. That meant a sizeable base, so that the model would be looking down on all the other models in the game. It would also allow me to have the model gripping the base rather than waving its arms around in the air. Here is what I found:-

The base is a 50mm resin base, costing £4.17 from Micro Arts in Poland. There was some clean up to do, and some bubbles to fill. There was also a couple of rivets/ bolts missing, and I fixed those by adding sections snipped from a 1mm diameter plastic rod.

The model is now assembled ready for painting. Although all the joints are pinned, they are not all glued yet. The only glued joints are the hip joints – the rest can be pulled apart to make painting this monster easier. Here are some photos of the WIP so far (the Convict is just there for scale):-

The hips joints were pinned with 1.2mm pins (large paper clips), while all the other joints were pinned with 0.8mm pins (small paper clips).  The hip joint for the right leg started badly when my drill-bit broke off.  The part in question was too thin to properly drill another hole in, so I fudged it as best I could and added some greenstuff to stiffen the joint.  With the two arms on that side also being pinned to the base, I don’t expect any undue stresses on the right leg, so the hip joint should be fine.

I strongly recommend this method of pinning-but-not-gluing, since as you can see, if I had glued everything in place, painting this model would be a task and a half.  As it is, I can work on all the parts (including that awesome base) separately. 

I hope to get this model painted next week.

Review

I might as well review the model itself while I am here.

The model comes in many separate pieces – I will stick up a photo showing them all laid out, but three of the four arms come in two parts and the body itself comes in three parts (smoke stack, main body and a small section underneath to which the legs attach).  All the parts of this model bar the main body required clean up and filing of mold lines.  This took a while, due simply to the size and number of parts.

I assembled the body first.  The smoke stack (and, to a lesser extent, the lower body part) fit snugly but do leave a gap which needs filled with greenstuff.  The arms and legs fit on by way of ball and socket joints.  There is no way you can pose the model like it appears in the box art (see above) without pinning the arms and legs, so some careful thinking is needed about how you will pose it before you start drilling holes.  I used blutac to try various looks before I found one I was happy with.

The harpoon gun needs the two halves pinned, and that joint is easily the most fragile in the whole model, as well as being the limb most likely to snag on something and pull apart.  Take care.

The Peacekeeper is really the sort of model that gamers blessed GW for doing in plastic, once GW started going down that road.  The only comparable metal GW model that is this tricky to assemble is the Penitent Engine, but even that has much meatier joints with much more room for pinning.

Not one for beginner modellers, then, but a terrific model once you get it built.

I got up early to watch the conclusion to Lost.  Not sure why, since I haven’t followed the whole show, but I wanted to see how they wrapped it all up.  As luck would have it, both The Prisoner and Ashes To Ashes finished last weekend as well.

SPOILERS follow.

Major ones.

(Here’s some more words in case previews of this post contain more than they should, and you get served some spoilers without asking for them. Blah, blah, blah.)

That should do it.  On with the show.