All posts by Darren

New Arrival Hanabi

new arrivals

Long ago I swore I wouldn't use Facebook, I'm a Twitter person. But with me getting into Dicemasters I started using Facebook more and more. What drew me in was the Dicemasters community. Where I have made some good friends, met and played online people from all over the world.

Since then I joined one or two other fan based communities for games I enjoy playing. One of the groups I joined was a UK boardgame and rpg trading and selling group.

I keep my eye on this group because it's possible to get a bargain. Other times the person selling wants too much and with postage I'd be better off buying the game new on Amazon with free next day delivery (I have Amazon Prime) because the difference in price is soo little. A lot of the time I'm too late to the party and stuff has sold before I even see it.

But last weekend I was online and looking at Facebook at the right time. I'd been hearing good things about Hanabi. It was on my radar, but not high up on my to buy list. Well we know my current addictions. However opportunity presented me with a bargain. Hanabi for a fiver and a quid postage. BARGAIN.

I was going to save about a fiver from the Amazon new price – cool!
Anyway the game arrived today. I was shocked I was expecting a bigger box. This is a nice small package, easily carry around able. So something you could easily pull out down the pub! The game is in excellent condition as the photos show. I'm really happy with this purchase and looking forward to playing the game.

 

TGOC Minifig Project Part 3

lego minifigs

The minifigs.me stuff arrived this morning. It consisted of two torsos for the main figures of Alan and Lord Elpus, an acoustic guitar to use as prop for a particular photo for the project. A variety of heads, one or two will be used for the project the others I ordered to build up my library of parts. The Jaws tile is a present for a friends child who likes Lego and the movie Jaws.

With the excitement of this order arriving I used the bits I already had in to make the initial version of Lord Elpus.

My Lord Elpus minifig will play up the Lord side of the name, but have a hard on his luck feel. Hence getting pieces that have scuff marks. The top hat at the moment doesn't have any of those markings on. Mainly because I ordered the top hat before thinking to look if I could get one that had the scuff marks on it. Then browsing the other day I came across one that did. So that is on its way. Which means that this Lord Elpus is pretty close to the final version.

The Alan figure is still a work in progress. But here is the early “sketch” of him as a minifig.

I've not found any suitable hair yet, and I can't decide if I will give him a hat instead. And if I do what type to go for. So the hunt is still on. I may decide to go with a different head too.

As I said this is still a work in progress and still has a way to go before I'll have something I'm happy with that I feel captures Alan.

 

 

Another Present From Past Darren

dice masters, new arrivals
Past Darren sure is a kind and thoughtful person, and knows Future Darren really well. Past Darren thought that Future Darren might just like the new Dungeons and Dragons Dicemasters set, which should also be coming with a promo card for the game too. Wow was Past Darren right. How did he know Future Darren loves Dicemasters, and would definitely love the latest release of the game?

So Future Darren opened up his present from Past Darren that had arrived today. There inside well padded was the new starter set, but no promo card. Maybe it was inside the starter set? I know it was nieve to think that it would be, but still I opened up the starter hoping to find it inside. Sadly the hope was ill placed. There was no promo inside the starter.

With my disappointment still fresh I decided to contact Wayland Games about it. Well it seemed right to let them know how sad I was inside that there was no promo card, especially since I had pre-ordered the starter from them.

So for your reading delight I've included my email to Wayland Games. I'm not expecting a favourable response to this email. But I do feel better after writing it and sending it.

“I received my order today, which I had pre-ordered with you. One of the reasons I pre-ordered the Dicemasters D&D starter was to get the free promo card that was also being given out with it. I was very disappointed that the promo card was not included with my order.

It's a shame as tonight my post about receiving the starter will be mainly about my disappointment of no promo card now, instead of excitement and wanting to challenge other players via Google hangouts. I hope my fellow dicemasters players in the UK have been luckier than me. I'm sure when they read my tale of woe there will be those that will gloat and say I should of gone elsewhere. I can't wait to read those responses on Reddit and facebook. Maybe one will take pity on me and have a spare that they can let me have for an extortionate amount money.

As I'm pressing the send payment button in PayPal to pay for a card I should of received for free as part of my order I will try and think of you in a less than favourable light and not be too bitter. But I fear that I may fail at that as I look at the virtual digits flow from my bank account to the bank account of another.

I would say thank you for the prompt service in dispatching my order to me. But my disappointment stops me from showing such gratitude.

Darren Christie”

 

 

Dear Future Darren

new arrivals

I'm sending you this present I hope you like it. I think you will enjoy it a lot. The preview tracks we heard were awesome, and the movie From Bedrooms to Billionaires was amazing. Which made me so glad we pre-ordered this gift.

I'm sure we will get endless hours of enjoyment listening to this in the car.

 

Love

 

Past Darren

 

 

Fallen At The First Hurdle Again

online play, star realms

This week I took part in the “March Madness SR Tournament” that was organised on the Star Realms Fan Created Community Page and run by Ben Jochum and helped by Nathan Jochum.

Apparently March Madness is something to do with the sport basketball in the US. Not exactly a very big sport in the UK. And we definitely don't have college teams for the sport like they do in the US. This of course is where some-one in the UK will comment “oh contrear Darren, we do have college basketball over here, and it is very popular”. Which would basically mean it has a middle of the night spot on one of Rupert Murdochs pay to view sports channels (also popularly known as Sky Sports) straight after a Monday Night RAW rerun.

I find this whole college sports thing the U.S. has fasinating. We naturally in the UK play football (the real football that actually involves teams from around the world in its World Cup, not that big commercial break that is broken up with minor moments of people slamming into each other like sumo wrestlers in body armour that is called football in the US). Football is our passion here. We follow our clubs whether they be Premier League goliaths, or non league minnows like Wisbech Town Football Club. This is what we get passionate about, followed by cricket and rugby. But even so there is none of this college sports phenonum here in the UK. And to me it seems odd, the nearest I can come to understanding it, is to equate it to supporting your local non league football team from which ever town you happen to live in.

Anyway the rules of this tournament were simple, sign up saying which college basketball team you were representing, your current level in the app. Umm college basketball team? As I've pointed out they don't exist over here (probably, if they do they are more elusive than the Lock Ness Monster, or a Tory Cabinet Minister without their hands in the pockets of bankers and big business). I did point this out and asked if I could represent my football team (Liverpool for the record) instead. This was politely rejected. However (and I do apologise I can't remember their name) it was pointed out that there was Liverpool in the US and that their local basketball team was Syracuse. So I went with that suggestion as the team I would represent.

The rules for the actual games were single game, single elimination, “for fun”, and Gambit expansion optional.

The tournament was being limited to 68 players, and the winner of this “for fun” tournament would have their team's logo displayed for the cover photo for the site for about a week.

The draw for the first round was made on Tuesday, it was Syracuse vs Ohio State. JoeC was representing Ohio State in this tournament. JoeC and I started with a our opening moves first thing Wednesday morning (UK time). However the majority of the games turns took place between 3:30am (GMT) and 7:30am (GMT) this morning. So yes you read that right I was playing this match at stupid o clock, and have little naps between plays!

I was pretty happy with the way the game was going. I was whittling down JoeC's authority, getting a good mix of ships and bases that were working. I felt I was in a good position. As the screen capture shows above. JoeC was down to 8 authority, I had a healthy 26 authority and an outpost camped to remove the sting from JoeC's next attack. Adding up the attack on my drawn cards I had 14 points to attack with on my next go. Enough to remove an outpost if one was played and the final 8 authority. Surely I was looking at my first tournament win here?

I left the app and awaited for the alert to say it was my go. I had a little snooze, woke up and checked the app. I'd lost! WTF how? It hadn't sunk in, I had left the game in a good position. What had gone wrong?

Feeling sick as a parrot I went into the app and pressed the replay last turn button. JoeC Hit me for 28 points of damage, but not before using the Blob Destroyer he played to knock out my outpost. That enabled the full 28 points to be delivered in one massive knock out blow. That Blob Destroyer allowed JoeC to snatch the win. Without it I'd have been left with 2 authority and the win.

Once more like an also ran horse at the Grand National I had fallen at the first hurdle. But JoeC played really well, and deserved that win. Star Realms is just full of these sort of moments. The “I was stearing defeat in the eyes, and managed to steal the win, against the odds stories”. You have to love a game that just gives you consistently those sort of moments.
To the victor JoeC I wish you all the best in the next rounds, and hope to see your team win. And a big thanks to Ben and Nathan for organising this tournament. My short lived stay in the tournament was a hoot. Roll on this weeks casual tournament, hopefully I will do better and get through the first round.

 

Krosmaster Arena the App coming Soon

iOS, krosmaster arena, tabletop

I came across Krosmaster Arena on last years International Table Day when on the live feed that was being done by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton they played the game.

The instant I saw the game being played it struck me as a table top version of Final Fantasy Tactics. Wow how cool was that? I love Final Fantasy Tactics. I have the game on the PSP and Gameboy Advance. Only being a cheapskate has stopped me getting it on the iPad.

Despite loving Final Fantasy Tactics and finding a table top that I was sure I’d love, and that I thought Nath would enjoy playing too. I never bought it.

The thing that stopped me jumping on the Krosmaster Arena bandwagon was I was already at the time spread pretty thin across three or four games that had lots of expansions. And I really can’t afford to add another of those games to the collection where I knew I’d want to buy the expansions for.

At regular intervals I’d drift back to looking at the game, and nearly caving in and buying it. I’m so weak when it comes to this sort of thing usually.

Recently I found out that Krosmaster Arena is based around a French Anime called Wakfu (now on Netflix, so you can guess what I’m working through at the moment).

So why am I bringing this up now?

This morning on the Boardgame Geek Youtube channel they had the following video from Pax East.

UPDATE! For some reason the app I use on the iPad to write posts decided to go all foobar on this post. Putting multiple copies of the YouTube video in the post instead of just one, and deleting my final words.

Basically my final words went something like the following, and I can only say like because I can’t remember them exactly but I can remember the point I was making. So the sentiment is the same!

Anyway I thought that it was a mark of share evil genius, and cunning planning my the Krosmaster Arena folks to hook me in. I know I’ll but the app, and from the app crumble and want to get the board game. Finally they would have me in their evil gaming clutches.

I also made comment that it was ironic that a game so similar to the video game Final Fantasy Tactics but in the meat space was now becoming a video game which obviously will be compared by some if not most reviewers to Final Fantasy Tactics.

One aspect I also liked about the app is that figures bought in the meat space for the physical game have code numbers that can be entered into the app which would then allow you to use the characters in app. It sounds like a simple way to give the app Skylanders/Disney Infinity/Nintendo Amiibo like functionality And collectibility. Will we see app players also collecting the figures to use in game?

So I think that about sums up everything that this ipad app managed to trash. Hope you thought it was worth adding back in to the post.

TGOC Minifig Project Part 2

lego minifigs, new arrivals

Technically this is also a new arrivals post. But it ties in with the new minifig project also.

What we basically have here are parts to be used in one costume minifig of Lord Elpus (the top hat), while the other bits are to be used in a minifig caricature of a well known (well in the outdoors world) personality. It probably won't be a very flattering caricature. But I can handle the heat.

I've also heard that minifigs.me have also posted today my order with them from two weeks or so ago. A few of those parts ordered are for this project. So the order should be here in a day or two. I'm sure many of you will find that this news excites me a very sad thing indeed, and a sign that I need to get out more.

 

New Minifigs New Minifigs

lego minifigs, new arrivals

New figures. I got the unicorn costume one at the weekend. I do like this one a lot, like the hotdog costume one it's very whimsical. They are such fun figures you can't help but smile when you look at them. It's a side of Lego I like seeing.

The other figure I got today. It's a female oriental warrior. Another figure I like. It's nice to see a woman being portrayed in a strong way. When I got the genie figure I wasn't too happy with that and it's facial expression. It seemed a bit sexist. Not a great portrayal.

Looking forward to the pizza delivery guy arriving, and hopefully my minifigs.me order.

 

First Games of Pixel Tactics

pixel tactics

 

This evening I played my first couple of games of Pixel Tactics (the game came last week) with Freddy using the magic of Google Hangouts.
I lost the first game, and won the second. So broke even. It's an enjoyable game, and interesting. Both players are basically playing with decks that have the same cards. It all comes down to the cards you draw and how you play them. Decisions, decisions, decisions, with a bit of luck.
I like the mechanic of taking turns going first through out a game. It's a nice way of over coming a player having first turn advantage.
Pixel Tactics won't replace Star Realms as my current addiction. However it is certainly a game I want to play a lot more. There is a lot of depth and tactics I haven't explored yet or scratched the surface of. It's also a game I think Nath would also enjoy.
I'm looking forward to my next chance to play Pixel Tactics.
 

 

Stealing the win

star realms

My slump has hit rock bottom, it's time to turn this around with a winning streak. I thought earlier in the week it was ending when at the start of the week I did what I wasn't able to do on Sunday in the tournament, and that was win two games back to back against TheCutter.

During the week I have won the odd game, however they were little thermals doing little to stop the free fall that I was in.

Of course as I've written already about my better performance in the meat world in yesterday's post I won't rehash yesterday's news.

My regular Star Realms playing partner Fredo aka Freddy has had a better week than me. He made it through the second round of the tournament for starters.

However in one of my games today with him I stole the win from him. I'd decided to try a bases strategy with my early purchases being bases, with federation ships to keep topping up my authority, I had hardly anything to combo up to do lots of damage. It wasn't long before Freddy had me down to 30 authority then my bases started kicking in slowing him down. Then I was down to 20 and not long 11. But my federation purchases kept me fluctuating between 10 and 20 authority, the bases protecting me taking the stings out of Freddy's swings at my dwindling authority.

All the time I was chipping away at Freddy's authority and buying the odd big hitter to give me a bit more fire power to chip away faster.

At any moment while I was hanging in there I feared Freddy was going to get a massive combo and just wipe me out like one of those massive tidal waves you see in disaster movies. Just had a feeling in my bones it was going to happen.

After each of my turns finished I was expecting to see the message that Fredo had defeated me. Going back into the game and watching the last turn replay showing Freddy's tidal wave attack demolishing my last authority points. But all that happened was Freddy chipping away the odd authority point. Freddy was obviously having a hard time getting the cards to finish me off. Oh how I know that feeling being in Freddy's position. You've done all the hard work. But the cards just won't fall right to do that finishing blow. It is so frustrating, because it gives the other player that window to get back in the game.

The screenshot below shows the situation at what turned out to be my final turn.

I played the cards, this was going to be close. Freddy had an outpost I needed to go through first before I could do any damage. That meant I had to have an attack that added up to 16 points or more. I hadn't done my sums, but I knew it would be close, would I be leaving Freddy with one or two authority so he could take the win he had been working so hard to get? It was all or nothing I played the cards, scraped everything I could to increase my attack. It didn't matter now, this was the time to throw caution to the wind. If I didn't there wouldn't be another chance.
I feel like the great escape theme music should of been playing as I played out my cards. I blew away the outpost, 4 points down. I then played my remaining cards the attack points built up. I hit 14 points. Wow I was going to win! I delivered the finishing blow. Somehow I had won. I felt guilty as this was definitely a stolen victory.
I'm optimistic now that the only way is up. Here's to a weekend of victories (touch wood).