All posts by Darren

No Snazzy Title

deck building, star wars, Star Wars Unlimited, Twin Suns

So here we are with my first Twin Suns deck, and also my first ever deck for Star Wars Unlimited.

Unlike building a Commander deck where I have a rough idea of the number of cards of each type I need to have in a deck, such as the amount of removal, ramp, etc.

I have no idea what is optimal for a Twin Suns deck.

Just under half (22 cards) of this deck are events. It has a single upgrade. Only seven space units, and twenty ground units.

Oh before I go any further I do need to issue a boiler plate DISCLAIMER. At no point should this post, the deck, be taken seriously. I have no idea whatsoever if the deck is any good, or even works. I’m still in the process of getting the cards needed. I then need to play it a few times. Contemplate on how the deck did, make changes. Rinse and repeat. In other words like all other decks I’ve built in other games, it’s a living deck.

Let’s start with my two leaders for this Twin Suns deck and the base.

So the theme of this deck is trying to get as much secondary value out of an attack as possible. Particularly targeting opponents bases. Sabine gives me that. Jyn and the base I hope works well with her by allowing me to keep Sabine (and other attackers) out doing their thing for longer by reducing or even eliminating the damage taken in attacking another unit. So I can remove threats and whittle down the bases health.

Let’s get started with the showing you the initial cards that make up this deck. I’ll start with the ground units.

Ground Units

I’m not expecting to get a chance to play the Krayt Dragon. But if I do it’s going to be hilarious. Especially if I bounce back everyone’s battlegrounds to their hands before hand. But there is no ramp in this deck. So eight rounds before I get to play it.

Space Units

If there is an area I think I’m light on it’s here.

Events

I like that there are “board wipes”, and “targeted removal” cards. I have both types in this deck. I can’t wait to combo Evacuate with The Chads of War. That will be hilarious. I’ve also got a little discard action going on with a card or two. The shenanigans these cards will cause are me, and the sort of thing I like to do with my decks.

The basic idea is disrupt my opponents enough to put my plan into action.

Upgrades

My one and only upgrade, and it’s a bounty.

Obviously the idea is to play it on an opposing unit.

Card Cost Curve!

All cards

I’m happy with this curve. With over half the deck being cards I can play turn one, by turn four approximately ninety percent plus of the deck is playable. By turn four also it’s possible to play up to three cards depending on the hand I have.

It should come as no surprise that breaking the cost down by the three card types that the spread matches roughly the overall pattern.

Ground Units
Space Units
Events

I have high hopes that this is a good basis to build from. But only actual games with the deck will prove that now.

I’m waiting on six cards to arrive and then the deck will be ready.

What do you think of the deck?

P.S. you can view the deck on SW Unlimited DB here.

Pimped Out

ccg/tcg, lcg/ccg/tcg game night, star wars, Star Wars Unlimited

Well that’s the way it felt playing Star Wars Unlimited last night.

I’d finally sleeved the starter kit decks. I used the Gamegenic matte sleeves. Which to be honest about I felt a little underwhelmed by the quality of them. They were no Dragon Shield sleeves. But they were cheaper than the Dragon Shields. I used my usual Mayday Premium sleeves for the leader and base cards.

Obviously we had official Gamegenic playmats, a two player and single player. These have the various play areas used in the game marked out on them. Great for teaching the game. But also handy for more experienced players too. Cuts out any confusion.

Finally after what seems like an age we no longer had to play using the bloody awful tokens/counters from the starter kits. Instead we had the much much better official acrylic tokens from Gamegenic. So that I have enough for our sessions I did buy three sets.

I also have two extra acrylic tokens that I got off Etsy from a UK seller, a Blast and Plan token. These two tokens are used when playing Twin Suns. Something we plan to do. However as you will read further down also useful for last night.

Once again it was Marcin, Dave, and myself playing the starter kit decks as if they were from a Game Night Kit.

Obviously we used the same Twin Suns rule for the game ending as last time. But this time we added in the Twin Suns counter rule.

With the Twin Suns counter rule “the “Take the Initiative” action has been replaced with the “Take an Available Counter” action.” taken from FFG Twin Suns counter pdf.

So how does this work? “a player may still take the Initiative counter in order to go first at the beginning of the next action phase. However, two new counters provide additional options. You may put your opponents on notice by taking the Blast counter, which deals 1 damage to each enemy base. Or if you need to dig a bit deeper in your deck, take the Plan counter, which allows you to draw a card, then put a card from your hand on the bottom of your deck. Remember, you can only take one counter, but you may choose any of the three which haven’t been taken yet.
Choose wisely! Taking a counter means you are finished taking actions for the round.” taken from FFG Twin Suns counter pdf.

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere, and for the life of me I can’t remember where. That when setting up with the counters in Twin Suns for a three player game it was suggested that you only use one of the counters. That during setup players vote for the one they want to keep.

Dave had a cunning plan last night. Let Marcin and I beat crap out of each other, and then as one of us lay bloodied on the floor swoop in and deliver the winning blow. It was a pretty successful plan really because he won all three games that we played.

Playing with the acrylic tokens really did enhance the whole experience. It’s a tactile thing.

The two extra counters were a great addition. They worked really well. End your turn in a phase now had a meaningful decision attached to it.

Finally I did spend yesterday afternoon putting together a Twin Suns deck for the Sabine and Jyn deck. I’ve no idea if the deck is good or works. I won’t find that out until I play it. I’ve ordered the majority of the cards for it from Magic Madhouse. There were about ten they didn’t have in stock. I might just use proxies for the missing ones until I can get them. There will be a post about this with the deck list etc in a day or two.

Four Winners, Two Losers

Game day

Saturday afternoon saw Charlene, Ben, Dan, Anthony, Marcin, and myself gather to play Cosmic Encounter.

I think it’s fair to say Cosmic Encounter is considered a classic board game.

We were playing the core game rules with the rewards decks added in.

Earlier in the day I had sorted all the alien cards by difficulty so that we would only be playing with the green (less complicated) ones. My thinking was for the majority of us this was our first game. We didn’t need to complicate that experience with potentially confusing, and complicated aliens.

Using the bgstat app to select the first player and not the draw of cards from the destiny deck, Ben was chosen as the first player.

I did enjoy my alien power as soon as other players started using artefact cards. It meant I got them, and could then use them myself. In other words the cards potentially came back to haunt them.

I’m not going to bore you with a long winded account of how Ben, Charlene, Dan, and myself all ended up on four points (aka colonies on other planets), and Marcin and Anthony trailed way behind.

But that was the situation after much negotiation, banter, and alliances as we ended up on what was to be the final encounter.

The final encounter of the game was for Dan. He had to choose who to attack. After much deliberation he chose Marcin.

Charlene, Ben, and myself were invited to join him on the attack. We threw in the maximum number of ships possible. This attack needed to succeed. I helped it along by playing an artefact that switched off Marcin’s alien ability of swapping played event cards. Oh and for some unexplainable reason Anthony threw in with Marcin.

But still Marcin was quietly confident of victory with a kicker card he was playing. However under normal circumstances he would have every right to feel that way. Indeed his play would have worked. But it didn’t take into account I had another artefact in hand that allowed my to cancel his kicker.

So smugly Marcin revealed his trump card that would remove everyone’s ships and deny us victory. Then my big reveal in response his reveal. His hopes and dreams shot down in burning flames.

He got smashed and his planet was colonised.

Sadly for Ben he was at the bar getting refreshments as the drama unfolded missing it all.

We had a four way win between Dan, Ben, Charlene, and myself.

What a blast the afternoon was. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Loved playing Cosmic Encounter.

Growing trees

Fenland Gamers, game night

Last night was the fortnightly club night. For the middle of Summer having eight folks turn up was pretty good.

On the table I was on we were learning and playing a four player game of Undergrove.

This was Charlene’s deluxe kickstarter edition.

Wow! The production on this deluxe edition is phenomenal.

The wooden tile holders in the shape of trees just take a beautiful looking game with an eye catching table presence to another level.

The tiles are I think wooden, beautiful artwork, really nice feel to them. The wooden mushroom first player marker is overkill but still impressive.

There is a great learn the game mode that takes each player through their first four turns. Each unique and doing something different. Then at the end of the fourth turn it gives you advice on your next turns.

I like the flow of the game with each player taking it in turn to do one of the possible actions. Plus it is possible with the right tile(s) out on the board to combo or get more than one action on your turn.

With several goal cards to choose from each game, and a reasonable number of tiles the replayability is there.

There is a bit of decision making and tactics involved in where you start to grow your trees. Its location, location, location. You have to factor in not just the points the tile will give you but also what action the tile will allow you and anyone else with roots on it to do. It’s almost like you are building an engine in plain view of everyone.

I will say the iconography took a few rounds to get used to. But once it clicks.

Yeah I liked the game (and not just because I won). I’d happily play this again. Would I add it to my collection? I’m not sure. It’d depend on how much the deluxe edition and the tree tile holders (they are a separate purchase) are. It’s the only edition of the game I’d want.

Twin Sun Leaders & Bases Early Deck Thoughts

Deck tech, Star Wars Unlimited

So the other night I went and bought all the current leaders and bases for Star Wars Unlimited. Which is approximately 35 leaders, and 20 bases. It was actually 31 leaders I bought because Magic Madhouse didn’t have the starter set leaders in stock as singles.

I didn’t really need them anyway. Which saved me money. Plus those four cards it appears are the more expensive costing pounds each instead of pence each.

That was the surprising bit that these cards were so cheap.

Using the Star Wars Unlimited DB deck building feature I browsed leaders to come up with some pairings for some initial Twin Suns decks.

What follows are some initial pairings of leaders and bases that I think synergise or compliment each other.

My first pairing is Chewbacca and Fennec Shand. I’d like to use the Energy Conversion Lab base with them. But I’m not sure the deck building rules allow that (need to look into it more).

The current thinking for this deck is all about getting out units and using them straight away to attack, or protect the base.

Grand Moff Tarkington and Darth Vader, paired up with the Tarkintown base make up an “aggro” deck!

Hopefully Luke Skywalker, Hera Syndulla, Spectre Two, and the base Security Complex will give me the counter to the aggro deck by spamming out shield tokens.

Finally the deck I’m excited about because this is kinda aggro as well but will be all about doing damage to bases as the result of doing an action. Sabine Wren paired up with Jyn Erso and the base Jedha City should allow that. I see Jyn and the base removing the amount of damage taken, and keeping Sabine alive.

Now I have to choose which cards the decks need. Then try and buy them. That’s where the real cost will come in.

Multi player Star Wars Unlimited

lcg/ccg/tcg game night, Star Wars Unlimited

Tuesday night was our weekly lcg/tcg/ccg game night. This week Marcin, Dave, and myself played a couple of games of multi player Star Wars Unlimited (SWU).

SWU has a multi player format called Twin Suns. Twin Suns is basically the SWU Commander. Like Commander it’s a singleton format, ie only allowed one copy of a card in the deck.

Sadly I have not built any decks for Twin Suns. I’d love to see FFG copy WotC and release Twin Suns precon decks just like WotC release Commander decks but not as frequently as WotC release them. But I digress.

So how did we play a multi player game?

I used the starter decks like they were decks in the MtG Game Night Kit. Which was the inspiration for this idea.

So we each chose a starter deck (Dave went Vader, Marcin went Mando, and I went Luke) and played the game as a free for all.

The one rule I borrowed from Twin Suns was how the game ends.

“Once one player is eliminated, the game will end once the current phase ends. The player with the most HP remaining on their base at the end of the current phase wins the game.” taken from the Comprehensive Rules by FFG p46

We had a blast playing SWU this way.

It had that Commander vibe to it. But you are very much aware how much damage your opponents have on their bases. It’s a deciding factor on when or if you try and take out an opponent. Obviously you don’t want to knock someone out if you have more damage than the other remaining player. So you are hoping that you’re not too vulnerable to get knocked out, whilst the other player hopefully gets some damage to their base putting you in a potential winning position.

I won the first game, whilst Dave won the second. But in both games could have been won by any of us. They were that close.

Obviously I’d like to try the Twin Suns format. But I don’t have the cards to build some for us to use. I’d also like to have some “battle decks” but I suffer from the same issue as that for the Twin Suns decks.

Maybe that’s a project to put on the to do list.

Tumble weeds

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Wow I don’t think I’ve had this long between posts for like ever.

I’m most definitely still alive.

Gaming has taken place but I’ve been so tired from a six day tour of duty at work.

I’ve been getting home and barely getting the will power to do anything.

The times I have played something I’ve been limited to how late I could stay out. My curfew being earlier than Cinderella’s.

The having to get up about 4:30am each work day does take its toll if I’m not out like a light by 21:30 the latest.

Usually I get Tuesday and Saturday off. But holidays at work meant this week I had no Saturday off.

Six days without a day off is taxing. It drains you.

So that’s why I’ve not written anything for a few days. I wanted to. But the energy just wasn’t there.

Normal service will resume asap.

Knots for tarps and other bits!

#backtothehills, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors

I think one of the things I miss about living in Farnborough and thinking about it Crook, is being close to land you can wild camp in, practice setting up hammocks etc.

Back in Farnborough I could be walking the wolf pack, stopping for a brew in a quiet spot within 10 minutes of leaving the house. 30 minutes or more and I could be at Frensham Little Pond doing the same.

My old stove talk videos were filmed in the woods around Farnborough. And I often just chilled out in a quiet corner with the wolf pack and a brew.

In fact back in 2008 when I was told I was at risk of being made redundant, and because of this shocking bit of news given the option to take the rest of the day off. I didn’t even think twice I took them up on the “kind” offer.

Within an hour and half I had taken the train home, thrown a brew kit in the car, found a quiet spot at Fleet Pond with the wolf pack and was contemplating life, the universe, and the days events over a hot brew.

In fact apart from one other occasion during the redundancy process for signing some papers I never returned to the office. I wasn’t required to. That bit was a blessing because it was at this time Kate decided she no longer wanted to be married to me. It would have been hard to go into the office each day, concentrate on work, and pretend life was good. When it obviously wasn’t. The redundancy process spared me from all that.

But here in Wisbech I’m not so lucky on that front. I’ve yet to find those spots of refuge.

Up to an hour away is Sandringham which I think if I wild camped there might see my sleep interrupted by armed officers. My other option is around a similar traveling time, possibly a bit longer Thetford.

I do plan to explore Thetford a bit more in the future. It does seem to be a popular spot for some YouTubers to show off their bushcraft skills whilst wild camping.

There are some interesting wooded areas nearer (but still not local) that need to be investigated for suitability.

But it’s only when you no longer have it that you truly miss what you once took for granted.

In the meantime as I try and find spots that I can do a quick on the spur of the moment wild camp I’m practicing my knots.

When it comes to using a tarp and hammock I don’t like using cord with plastic (or metal) tensioning bits on them. They break, limit what the cord can be used for, etc, etc. I’m of the school that prefers to tie knots.

For me the knots I need to know when using a tarp or plan to use with my hammock are the following:

  • Bowline
  • Clove hitch
  • Prusik knot
  • Trucker’s Hitch
  • Tautline hitch

So how would I be using these knots when setting up my tarp?

The bowline I’m using to attach the paracord to a tie on point of the tarp. Or giving me a loop to use for tying one end of the paracord round a tree for creating a ridge line between two trees.

The clove hitch I use to secure the paracord to my trekking poles.

Whilst I use a truckers or tautline hitch to go round the tent peg (or tree) and tension the line.

Where does the prusik knot come in? That’s for when I’m using a ridge line I can use this knot to attach a tarp or bug netting to it. I do carry a couple of pre-made prusik loops for quick and easy use. I know these prusik loops are not intended for mountaineering and climbing ropes. So the knot I’ve used for them is the common overhand knot instead of the more appropriate double fisherman’s knot for joining two ends together.

For me those 5 knots allow me to do everything I need to do with a tarp or hammock.

I’m also in this downtime prepping meal ideas.

My current experiment/idea involves soaked, then cooked, and then dehydrated beans! Which I will added freeze dried garden peas, dried carrot, dried sweet corn, dried shiitake mushrooms, and/or sliced dried mushrooms (that I dried in the dehydrator).

The idea is that these packets can be added to vegetable stock and some herbs/seasoning to make either a bean soup or stew that requires minimal cooking.

New look?

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Here we are with yet another I’m still alive post.

I have partial posts about recent gaming sitting in the draft folder of the blogging app that I use.

But tiredness and apathy stop me finishing them off.

I get home and just want to shutdown.

Guilt hits me as I try to switch off.

I know there is stuff I could or should be doing.

But motivation is lacking.

I’m not going to go into the reasons why on here. But last Friday after finishing my shift I walked into the instore barbershop and had them shave off not only my hair but also my beard.

It’s been something like 15 years or more since I last was clean shaven.

I’m still not used to the face that looks back at me in the mirror. It’s taking sometime to get used to.

At work my friends and colleagues have been positive, agreed it’s a major change and I look younger.

For one or two I had to speak first before they realised it was me. Which was kinda funny.

The car is going to cost me more money because it needs new brakes. An expense I could do without with the purchase of the house going on.

I did have a good long chat with an old friend who I hadn’t spoken to for a long time the other night. It was good to catch up. There will not be such a long gap before our next time.

I am trying to work it so I can get out and spend a night under canvas (or should that be silnilon?). But not having consecutive days off makes the logistics and being able to go somewhere somewhat challenging.

Think I’ll call it a day there and catch you in the next post.

July 2024

bgstat, by the numbers, stats

Well I certainly played more this month than in recent months.

It has felt I’ve played lots more than I actually did.

The Tuesday lcg/tcg/ccg evening is back. And I’m loving it.

There have been some great moments through out the month. I’m lucky to have such great friends willing to share those gaming moments with.

Here are the raw stats for July.