An interesting experiment

July 20, 2026life, the universe, and everythingDarren

Last Wednesday Stonemaier Games launched two new games and an expansion on their website.

The games went live whilst I was at a family meal called the cousins meal. This was the first one I’d been invited to.

So obviously come the magic launch time I was on my phone and logged into the EU webstore.

I selected 3 copies of Duel of Meloch, 3 copies or so I thought of Wingspan Pocket, a copy of the Original Story expansion Heroes and Villians, a set of the metal mechs for Duel, and a plastic airship.

About forty minutes later in my car I checked my email and discovered in the order confirmation email I had only put 2 copies of Wingspan Pocket. I’d also forgotten to order a copy of the Viticulture Bordeaux expansion.

So I quickly went back on line and ordered them. Paying postage this time.

I should not it’s always worth buying at launch from Stonemaier because for the initial 5 days of sale it is discounted, and then discounted again if you are a champion.

I thought this will be interesting which order will arrive first? Will it be at the same time?

Well I got the answer Friday afternoon.

Spiral Galaxy had shipped the single Wingspan Pocket and Bordeaux expansion. Not a whiff of my “big” order.

As expected the “small” order turned up this morning. Which is great because I’ll be able to show Wingspan Pocket at The Angle this evening.

But I can’t help feeling a tad disappointed that the big order wasn’t sent at the same time.

I know Jamey says when you place your order makes no difference to when it gets sent. I think this kind of proves it.

But I’m thinking maybe the size of the order does. Do small orders get sent first by Spiral Galaxy?

Being a Stonemaier Champion is meant to have an impact. Champion orders are meant to ship first. I’d love to know how Stonemaier checks that the third party distributors are doing this.

So that was my unintentional little experiment with Stonemaier shipping. I just got to wait for the “big” order now.

July 2026 Gaming Roundup Part 1

July 16, 2026Gaming roundupDarren

A pretty good start to the month again.

Star Wars Unlimited Twin Suns: still fine tuning the All the Vaders deck. Giving some serious thought to the inclusion of the high cost cards. However I did get to take part in an Ashes of the Empire prerelease. Which I wasn’t expecting. Despite not starting on time and only getting to play two rounds of the swiss (I went 1-1) I had a great time. Plus got some useful pulls that will go in the Twin Suns decks.

West Story A Town Building Game: a three player game, and it played just the same as the two player. Love the game.

Pili Pili: yep. ‘Nuff said.

Slambo!: great fun and so easy to teach to new players.

National Economy: what a great game. So glad I watched that Rahdo video and went to the trouble of importing it from Japan via eBay.

World Order: the follow up to Hegemony. It’s a nice deck builder with some area control thrown in. I played China and won. But the deckbuilding element was nice, with the purchased cards going to the top of your deck. So you are playing them straight away on the next round. I like that.

Marvel Skirmish! In New York: had a two player evening with Dave and it was great to get this two player to the table.

Tokaido Duo: a great two player version of the game. Was a little rusty but a couple turns in and you get the game.

Norsewind: an interesting game. You are kinda engine building. It gave me some Imperial Settlers vibes but that’s all. But still a nice game. I liked that when you place your card in one of five rows you get a bonus of some sort. Some of those bonuses are based on the number of a specific card type in the other rows. Which is something you have to balance out, when deciding where to place the card.

Fearless: an interesting trick taker. You are not just trying to win the trick, but also trying to track the running total of the values of the cards. You want to win with a score as close to zero as possible. You have to win a trick other wise at the end of the round you get an automatic 15 points. Lowest score at the end wins.

New Arrivals

Sniper Elite Operation Kraken expansion, storage box, and Escalation mini expansion
Win
SWU Ashes of the Empire spotlight decks
Wondrous Creatures Winterfall expansion
Gale Force Nine – Hextech – Rivers & Lakes
Battletech Battle of Tukayyid map pack
BattleTech ComStar Command Level II

Operation A Dog Named Sue! #20

July 14, 2026#littlemonsters, #MonsterSquad, #SuicideSquadDarren

Whilst playing in a SWU prerelease last night some new photos and a video came through of Ace.

“This is the last report of Ace but he looks a lot better. I don’t know how they’ll do the kennel but it would be nice if he can get used to the kennel so the flight is smooth for Ace.

Other boots were bought for Ace as he ended up making some holes while picking at his feet

Here’s the new one they bought”

So I’m not sure if this means no more photos/ updates until Ace is ready to make the journey to join us.

I hope not and that we will see more photos and video over the next couple of months.

First Half of 2026

July 9, 2026bgstat, by the numbers, gaming stats, statsDarren

I think for me this post is a first. I don’t think I’ve ever done a mid year round up before.

If I have then the memories are fading faster than I thought.

Looking back through the fog of time and hazy memories. Hey I’m not getting any younger. I’m way closer to the finish line than start these days. It’s probably why I get frustrated by slow players.

There have been good months, bad months, and even average months during this first half of the year.

But it seems to have evened itself out seeing 75 games hit the table. Of those 75, 45 of them were from my collection. And 45 were new to me games.

Looking at the top 9 games, a third are tcg/lcg games. Which is great. Another third are trick takers. Roughly 80% would be considered a card game of some type.

I was asked by Gavin on the Fenland Gamers discord server what my favourite game of the first half of the year was?

If I limit the decision to those games that are new to me, then at the moment I’d have to say it’s a three way tie at the moment between, Heat Peddle to the Metal, National Economy, and West Story A Town Building Game.

Let’s close this post like all the monthly stats posts with the raw data.

It’s been a day or two…

July 7, 2026#morningbrew, Brew kit, Camping/hiking gear, hiking/backpacking/camping, life, the universe, and everything, outdoors, still aliveDarren

… since the last post.

Naturally life has been happening. The respite between heatwaves seems nonexistent.

However having the basha setup, plenty of water available, and a cold tile floor, the dogs are able to cope with the heat.

I did get a 1977 printing of the Scout Handbook. I had one of these in the late seventies when I was a Boy Scout.

I’m trying a new coffee supplier who had a deal on some Brazilian beans, and I threw a packet of coffee from Peru in as well. Because Diogo.

Games have been played. But they will be covered in the round up post.

I got a new folding mug, a Dutch Army Surplus Folding Cup.

I’d seen these used in various YouTuber videos. So was curious about it.

A Dutch Army surplus model can be picked up cheap enough. As can the Wildo civilian version. The only difference I can tell is that the civilian one is available in a variety of colours.

It’s smaller than I thought it’d be. But folded up it’s tiny. I can see the attraction. In fact I like this form factor a lot.

However with liquid in it seems flimsy.

Having a cup of coffee for me is an experience. I like my coffee. It’s not just about using a great coffee. It’s how you brew it, and for me the drinking.

I didn’t find drinking from this cup a great experience. That flimsy feeling of the cup with the coffee in. The handle was just too small, and felt even flimsier! In contrast I love drinking from both my Kupilka cups. I find the experience of using them fun, they invoke almost a pioneer/explorer/viking feeling.

I really want to love this cup. But if that drinking experience isn’t pleasant, it doesn’t matter how great the coffee is the enjoyment will be diminished.

Bgstats for June 2026

July 1, 2026bgstat, by the numbers, gaming stats, statsDarren

Well June turned out surprisingly good.

Back to playing SWU on a regular basis, and hoping in the near future I’ll be saying the same about Netrunner. I just need to get something going for Ashes.

So this is how the top 9 for the month ended up.

Let’s finish as tradition dictates with the raw stats.

June 2026 Gaming Roundup Part 2

June 30, 2026Gaming roundupDarren

Some cracking titles hit the table this later half of the month.

Star Wars Unlimited Twin Suns: I have to tip my hat to FFG their Twin Suns precons are fun to play. Is it really a surprise when their spotlight and starter decks have also been fun to play? I finally built a new deck. I call it All the Vaders. I think the title describes it best. It’s very thematic. I have got to play it at a Twin Suns night, and it was fun to play. The Twin Suns playmat is gorgeous. Larger than expected. But amazing value.

West Story A Town Building Game: a 2 player learning game. Which means we went all in and used the expansion stuff as well! Plus the advanced rules!! Ok they added little to no extra overhead to the game. I can see the Machi Koro similarities in the building your town and activating it. However that score track mechanic is something else. Having the zones on the board only accessible based on where you are on the score track, genius. Making victory points optional inspired. Definitely need to get this to the table at higher player counts.

Pili Pili: chaotic fun as usual.

Ginkgopolis: I think my experience of the game was ruined a little by a key rule not being explained properly. Need to possibly play again.

Tropichaos: becoming a go to filler.

Magical Athlete: great light fun asymmetrical racing gaming. That’s a bit of a mouthful but it sums up the game really well. Love the asymmetrical powers, and the drafting.

Bolomaze: this game doesn’t even have a bgg page yet! So the tactic of gathering cards and waiting for the right moment to play them was the winning strategy. So I stayed at the start, got a swap places with another player card, two cancel cards, and move cards. Waited until an opponent got to the top. Swapped places, countered the counter, and moved on to the finish to win. It was an ok game.

Slambo!: wow! Anthony and I played a couple of games while waiting for Marcin. We also played a three player game later. It’s a very quick, fun filler. You are trying to not bust the running total by either going below zero or over ten. Each turn you play a card that even adds or subtracts its value from the running total. First person to collect three cards of shame looses. Quick to teach. Simple quick fun.

Big Shot: a nice auction area control game. It was over due a return to the table. It gets very tactical about where you place the cubes you win in an auction.

Skyrise: an auction area control game that has been over produced. But does look good on the table. It is an interesting game. Definitely would play again.

Big Top: a small auction game. Plays fairly quickly. A nice light auction game.

New Arrivals

More SWU singles
Big Top
National Economy
Excalibur
Slambo
Gamegenic Twin Suns playmat

Operation A Dog Named Sue! #19

June 25, 2026#littlemonsters, #MonsterSquad, #SuicideSquad, life, the universe, and everythingDarren

A brief post with a short video of Ace playing.

At time of posting it’s an estimated 116 days until he joins us.

Too hot to handle

June 25, 2026life, the universe, and everything, still aliveDarren

We are currently in the middle of another heatwave. What’s that the fourth or fifth this year?

Having the tarp up has been a genius idea. With the picnic rug, and about 4 litres of water also out, the garden is dog hot weather friendly.

I can confidently let the dogs decide how much time they want to spend outside, and whether it’s under cover or not. The back door is open. They are in control.

It’s the only way to handle this heat with them.

The old sheds contents is still in the garden.

I thought I’d found a reliable person to take it to the landfill. But like the previous guy, a time and date gets set, and then it becomes a no show. The only positive is no cash had been handed over.

Looks like I have several trips to the local council dump in my immediate future.