The title says it all really.
I’ve discussed in previous posts long ago my early experiences of the Alien franchise.
But I can look forward to the very first Alien tv series coming out this July. Plus it’s coming to Disney+ over here in the UK.
I’m pretty excited about it because finally we venture into the territory covered by the Dark Horse comics in the late eighties, early nineties.
Here it is the brief footage I took of the mysterious underground “shelter” yesterday.
Easter Day the store is closed so I have the day off.
I had planned to take Dolly out yesterday but I did some overtime instead. With three expensive kickstarters all finishing within a month I needed the money.
So today I was really determined to go out somewhere with Dolly. I even prepared the bags the evening before.
I didn’t have a destination in mind as I threw stuff into the bag. But as I woke up I knew I wanted to avoid bank holiday honey spots. Which meant the coast was out, as was Roydon Common. I wanted to get away from the crowds and find somewhere Dolly and I could just chill.
The plan was to go to the woods near to Roydon Common, Whitehills Wood.
It’s actually a bigger wider wood than that at Roydon Common. On paper easier to go off path to find that quiet spot.
The parking spot for the woods isn’t sign posted at all. It comes up on you suddenly. Which means the cars behind you are getting little notice you are about to slow down very quickly. It doesn’t help that the entrance to the car park is very pothole ridden. Making for a very bumpy stop!
The woods themselves is a mixture of coniferous trees (the majority) and deciduous trees. There are also a lot of rhododendrons amongst the trees. Which provide some nice cover deeper into the woods to do bushcrafty stuff, or just chill.
Dolly and I followed the main path that we found out was not going to take us anywhere close to the pond shown on the os map.
We were going to have to go off path to find the pond.
It also turns out the main path also missed out a chunk of the woods. Undiscovered woods to discover at a later date.
Not long after going off path along a deer track I saw what looked like a small wooden door in an embankment.
Ignoring all the lessons learnt from watching numerous eighties slasher flicks, such as (the classic Friday the 13th, and Halloween series of movies) Dolly went to investigate.
With the moss well established this had been here a while.
As I got closer I thought maybe this was some bushcraft underground shelter.
Lifting the door open to see inside there wasn’t much space inside.
If this was a shelter it was for a very small person. I’d say it was at most three feet deep, by what two feet?
Things got more mysterious when I found a hole going down into the “shelter”. It didn’t go straight into it but curved at the bottom going into the back of the “shelter”. Was this a chimney? Was this some sort of bushcraft oven?
After the brief exploration of the mysterious “shelter” we continued on following the deer path hopefully to water.
Instead of finding water we found what looked like some eco vandals aka bushcrafters had been building shelters and making fire.
I decided to use this as good as any spot to stop and have our lunch.
Todays lunch was cooked on my BushBuddy.
Yes that is a Fire-Maple Dandelion Buddy Camping Table in the picture below. You will also notice titanium chopsticks (yes I’m that guy) plus a folding chef knife from Hector Knives. I obviously used the knife to slice up the salami. Naturally Dolly and I had to taste test the salami as I was slicing it.
I started the fire using the BCB ferro rod with paper thin birch bark. None of the wood burnt was from these woods. In fact it was kindling I bought at a garage.
The ingredients I took were the following:
I basically put everything but the soy sauce and Furikake seasoning in the pot, bought to the boil. I’d like to say I them simmered it but that would imply I had some sort of control over the heat!
Once everything was cooked and rehydrated and I was ready to eat, I then stirred in the soy sauce and sprinkled on the Furikake seasoning.
I have to say this was pretty tasty. I did not share this with Dolly.
After having a drink of squash I packed up leaving no trace we’d been there.
We then retraced our steps back to the path and continued our circuit back to the car.
This was a very nice woodland walk. It felt like a woods where you could get lost exploring its depths. Something missing when you walk round the Roydon Common woods. It’s too thin.
In a previous post I mentioned I had bought a few of the LotR lcg standalone scenarios that were done for Gen Con.
I did end up splashing out for the Murder at the Prancing Pony scenario, plus one or two others. The full list of new arrivals is the following:
The last three have only just been purchased and will arrive before the week is out.
What this means is that I’m two short of having all the standalone scenarios.
A situation I hadn’t planned on being in.
But now the completionist in me is whispering “go on you might as well get them all”.
These do make great one off game night scenarios.
I’ve played two of them now on our lcg/ccg/tcg club night. Murder at the Prancing Pony was fun but we ran out of time the evening we played it. We nearly played The Battle of Lake-Town last Tuesday (there is no write up of this evening) but the Dunedain deck I was playing that evening was a very poor match up for this scenario. Instead we went with The Massing at Osgiliath.
The Massing at Osgiliath kicked our butt twice that evening. In the first attempt I lost a hero in the first round! We quickly reset a couple of rounds later when it was clear we were doomed.
The second attempt we did a lot better but in the end we were defeated.
A plan that formed in my mind is to add the Old Forest and Fog on the Barrow-Downs to the campaign when we start The Fellowship of the Ring saga. They apparently fit in nicely in telling the story of the first book.
Just need to set up when to start the campaign.
It’s the second week of good weather here in the UK.
I originally planned to take Dolly to Thetford on my day off. But plans change, the lure of staying in bed that little bit longer too strong.
In the end the choice I made was to go back to Roydon Common.
We were just going to take it easy in the “heat” and just wander round what I call the upper field.
This time we walked the part of the previous walk in reverse. Which meant we did the height gain early, and make use of a water stop for Dolly.
By the time we got to the water trough Dolly was ready to climb in for her drink. I got her bowl and scooped out some water for her.
As we continued round the upper field I saw three hares doing hare stuff like chasing each other. But Dolly was oblivious to them.
We found a shaded spot to stop and chill.
I felt it was too hot for coffee. So I didn’t break out my BushBuddy stove. Instead I had my Crystal Lite squash powder.
Dolly had more water, some biltong, and I had cheese and biscuits. Naturally Dolly also wanted what I was having too.
After our chill break we continued on with our walk.
Once back at the car I gave Dolly some more water before heading off home.
Club nights always seem to sneak up on me.
This week it looked like there was just going to be five of us.
So we started off with a game of Tokaido.
We were just about to start playing after doing the teach for new players when Charlene and Ben arrived.
Ben and Charlene played one of the Azul variants while we worked our way along the road between Kyoto and Edo collecting experiences along the way.
It really is great getting Tokaido to the table once again. Playing the “second” edition is a great excuse for doing so. The game is quick, almost serene, and looks beautiful. Sadly the whole experience is ruined by Marcin winning!
While we waited for Charlene and Ben to finish Dave went home not feeling too well.
Luckily I had a couple of six player games.
The first, Rebel Princess. A very popular game at the club.
We had such a laugh playing this game. Especially during the last round. That round had pet cards also counting as proposals. Marcin collected a lot of pet cards and a few prince cards in the final round. Twenty five points worth in fact. A record epic fail. It was safe to say Marcin was not even close to winning. Who won? Anthony.
It will come as no surprise that I’ve preordered the new expansion and promo tile for this game.
Our final game of the evening was another new club favourite filler, Flip 7.
It was this game that we learnt how to trigger Ben!
Marcin acted as the dealer for the game. While waiting to flip a card for a player he’d regularly shuffle the deck!
Wow did this get under Ben’s skin.
You play the player not the game is often said by gamers. This is filed away for later use.
Despite the constant triggering and surrounding banter Ben won the game.
This was a great social evening. It was great to see and play with Ben and Charlene again.
Finally it was time to get The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game to the table.
But what scenario were we going to play?
I did finally cave and pay eBay prices for the Murder at the Prancing Pony standalone scenario for the LotR lcg.
I thought just like the other standalone scenarios I’ve purchased (some more expensive than others) I thought this would make a good “one shot” to play with others.
Heck they were designed to be played at conventions.
“There are some folk in Bree who are not to be trusted.”
–Strider, The Fellowship of the Ring
Released in 2015 as part of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game Fellowship Event, Murder at the Prancing Pony is a standalone scenario that has you solve a mysterious murder.
The premise of this scenario is the following:
“You have arrived in Bree to find the village abuzz over a recent crime.”
“Someone has broken into The Prancing Pony, murdered a guest and made off with the victim’s belongings. Barliman Butterbur begs you to find the killer before the trail goes cold.”
Yep the Murder at the Prancing Pony scenario turns this lcg into a card based Cluedo or for any American readers Clue.
Dave and I used starter decks, whilst Marcin used a deck (I think) he got off the internet.
“..there was trouble right here in Bree, bad trouble. Why, we had a real set-to, and there were some folk killed, killed dead!”
Barliman, The Return of the King
Our starting staging area had two Chetwood Outlaws. We were not going to take them on anytime soon in our investigation. But at some point we would have to. It was inevitable.
Our investigation into the recent death wasn’t going that fast (thanks to those Chetwood Outlaws). Too few locations were appearing for us to dig around in for clues. The hand full of times we were able to find any clues enabled us to narrow the suspects down to two possibilities.
Dun dun
We were just not getting anywhere on finding the hideout. Eventually we got a breakthrough and were able to eliminate Bill Ferney’s House.
The big issue we found was controlling our threat levels. Each round while the quest card 1B was showing saw our threat going up by two or an extra encounter card drawn. Our choice.
It’s not as if we could blitz through the quest card. We were restricted to putting a maximum of four questing points on it a turn. Those Chetwood Outlaws made it so we had to commit a lot of heroes to do anything.
There was an eventual reckoning with those Chetwood Outlaws that did involve Gandalf making an appearance to defeat them.
It then became a bit easier in making progress.
“Just one more thing…”
The clock was against us. I really needed to be heading home and getting some sleep with work the next morning.
With only one hideout eliminated from our investigation and two suspects left, we made a wild guess.
Our deduction skills told us it was Todd the Troll at the Staddle Hiding Hole.
Amazingly we got the hideout correct, whilst sadly getting the wrong suspect. Susie the Spider had successfully point the finger of suspension onto an “innocent” sap.
We didn’t have any time to play through the fallout of our wrong decision.
This really was a fun scenario to play. It’s just a shame that it’s not easier and cheaper for people to get.
This is how March ended up for me on the gaming front.
Yesterday the weather was perfect for me.
Not too hot, not too cold.
A perfect spring day in fact.
Made more so with the fact it was my day off.
So after what can best be described as a relaxed start to the day, Dolly and I made off for destinations unknown.
Well I had possibilities. A return to Roydon Common? Maybe the coast? If the coast where? Heacham or Holkham?
Eventually as we drove round Kings Lynn a decision was made.
Apple Maps was instructed to guide us to Holkham beach.
The last time I was on Holkham beach it was with Strider, over a decade ago.
It was when Strider and I spent the night on the beach. The morning was magical. I took my favourite photo of Strider (see above) as the glow of the dawn sun began to start warming us up.
Since that magical time with Strider I have not been back.
But yesterday was about Dolly and introducing her to this beautiful piece of the Norfolk coast.
After leaving the car park and crossing into this national nature reserve Dolly was off the lead.
We followed the path that put the woodland between us and the beach.
Dolly was amazing off the lead. Even when there were other dogs.
We walked about a mile, which took us to the second hide, and the farthest edge of the woods, before we followed the path to the beach.
It was rather windy on the beach. A complete contrast to the sheltered path we had just come from.
We walked towards the sea. Which was out. Way way out.
We didn’t make it to the sea, maybe three quarters of the way before heading back.
But Dolly did really enjoy being on the sand.
There was no way we were going to walk along the beach into a head wind back to the car.
Instead we used the woodland to give us shelter from the wind a provide a rest spot.
While Dolly topped up on water and beef jerky. I too had water (no fires – Kelly kettle out, or camping stoves allowed to protect the nature reserve), and cheese and biscuits.
After that brief stop we followed the some of the many paths that cut through the woodland. The majority spanning the width of the woodland connecting the beach and dunes with the path on the opposite side.
Back at the car park we dropped our stuff off at the car and made our way the very short distance back to the ice cream van. Where I bought Dolly and myself an ice cream.
Dolly was unsure about her ice cream to start with. But she soon over came that uncertainty and decided she really liked it.
On our drive home on the road boarding the Holkham hall estate I saw a massive red kite. Such a beautiful buzzard.
I think Dolly enjoyed her afternoon at the beach.
I recently bought the Pathfinder Canteen Trail Kit. Which is basically the Pathfinder 39oz or 1.153 litre wide mouth stainless steel canteen, and 25oz or 739 ml stainless steel nesting cup (with bat wing handles).
This is primarily something to take on the longer walks with Dolly.
The just over a litre capacity is better for Dolly and me than the nato/osprey canteen. Which is a litre. That 153ml is massive! Ok maybe not. But having that little bit more water is handy. I am finding a litre tight for the two of us.
I could have bought it with the canteen stove and canteen cup lid.
To be totally honest I forgot about the lid which would have been handy to have. So I have ordered one separately.
However I’m not a big fan of the canteen stove. The Boundless Voyage Titanium Cookware Set has a similar stove, which is fine as a pot stand and windshield for a stove like a Trangia. But I’ve seen YouTubers use twig fires with this. Which it’s clearly designed for. But not a way I’d want to use it. There is nothing to stop the fire damaging the ground and leaving a scar.
Now this trail set does fit nicely in the BCB Mk2 Crusader cooker which I just so happen to have.
The Mk2 Crusader cooker obviously has one or two advantages over the Mk1 (which I do like, a lot).
The main one being it’s better suited for use with a Trangia.
I think it’s also a better option for use with this trail set than its intended stove.
The options for fuel to cook with are greater.
I actually used just the canteen during a two day training course. I can’t believe how much I drank. Nearly three litres in total. Which is very unusual for me. Naturally it was not plain ol’ water I was drinking. I need a bit of flavour so I was using Crystal Light on the go packets. Which are basically powdered squash. I’ve used them a lot in the past on backpacking trips.
Look I’m not a bushcrafter. So this single walled canteen being able to use boil water on a heat source of some description is not a major selling point for me. A “useful” feature. But for sure not something I think I’ll be doing.
The wide mouth is more important to me. It makes filling the canteen from a water source much easier.
Yes it’s heavier than a Nalgene bottle, or a plastic water bottle. But it’s robust, and for me the weight is not an issue.