STAND BACK! Be silent! Be still!

John Boorman's 1981 epic, Excalibur left quite an impression on young master Awdry.  Whilst familiar with the Arthurian legend, albeit in the sanitised form that was freely available to schoolchildren at the time, nothing had prepared me for this this dark, often harrowing, interpretation based of the 15th century, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory.  The was a visually stunning piece of work, but I remember being as confused as I was amazed, not least because they used the Old Spice theme tune to ride into battle!*

*Carl Orff's O Fortuna

With a formidable cast of British and Irish talent a stand out turn has to be that of Nicol Williamson as Merlin.  Mesmerised by the metallic skull cap, Williamson's Merlin steals every scene he is in, his comedic timing combined with a genuine screen presence giving the role true gravitas.  Perhaps not surprising then that a Merlinesque miniature would appear as part of the Zombicide Black Plague Kickstarter.  

Morgan, to give him his correct Zombicide name, was one of the randomly selected miniatures that the 'Dark Templar' fielded on his recent excursion to 'Awdry Towers', but what a revelation he soon became.  Armed with dual magic spells, Mike was rolling in excess of six dice at one point with devastating effects on the undead hoard.  With the ability to hold a third, longer ranged spell in the armour slot, Morgan was fast becoming an indispensable addition to the team.  

His official Zombicide blurb reads as follows, The third son of a knight, Morgan was always too poor to be a knight, too strong to be a scholar, and too smart to be a thug. What magic he could find was second-hand stuff, gleaned from sneaking into old castles and stealing from necromancers. He knows enough magic to get by, but in a pinch, his staff is a wonderful mace and his dagger will slow down even a zombie. Morgan always dreamed of advising a king. Now his best bet may be saving one’s life.

So, again in homage to his efforts on the board, Morgan/Merlin becomes the latest addition to the team and seeing how effective he was when loaded with spells, I am hopeful that he will continue to perform this roll when deployed in similar missions.  

"Look into the eyes of the dragon and despair!"

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