After the flurry of gaming that happened at the expo it looks like the Summer gaming drought is now upon me.
Sunday gaming has dried up. So I’m planning to cancel those. No point leaving them on the discord server and having to face the disappointment each week of them not happening.
With the first Expeditions expansion Gears of Corruption (Ironclad edition) dropping through my letter box tomorrow. Who knows when I will be able to get this to the table.
On life and all the stuff that that covers. I’ve really missed Nan in the last week or so. I’ve missed talking to her, and her counsel. It’s really hit me hard her not being here.
I think it’s moments like this when I feel the most alone.
Normally I’m happy with my solitude. The attack chihuahuas are happy. I look after mum next door.
But there are times when I really do miss her. Like now.
My aunt and uncle are over from New Zealand and I will be getting to see them in the next couple of days. There will be more visits during their stay in Blighty but for now this first one is brief.
Yes I’d love to visit them in New Zealand but like returning to the TGOC the circumstances that this would be possible are not ones I want to contemplate. Basically it’d mean I’m no longer needed as mums carer.
They’ve been very supportive over the years and done a lot for me. Which I really appreciate and am very very thankful for.
There is an amazing offer been made by them to me which I’d love to be able to take it up. If Nan was around and not ill I’d be discussing it with her. I’m trying to work out how I can get into a position in which I can take up the generous offer.
If things work out I’ll share with you what is happening.
If I was a tv weather person I’d be predicting that the month of May would be a washout. That is how the month a head is looking for me gaming wise.
It’s possible that I’ll have played less games than during lockdown!
Looking at the discord events for the Sunday gaming I’m the only person down to play. So has this fizzled out?
Obviously nothing is happening on a Tuesday at the moment.
The only planned gaming is this Saturday with Diego. Which I think will be a BattleTech Alpha Strike game. And that’s it.
Will the Friday at the UKGE be me going round all sad and desperate begging people to play games with me? Trying to make that last minute attempt to squeeze some gaming in for the month.
It crept up on me Monday night as I slept. I woke up with the beginnings of a soar throat. That gradually got worse.
To be honest it was more Monday evening that it started to hit.
Yesterday I’m glad I was doing my actual job and not used to fill in on a more physical demanding job. I had very little energy. The cold was really hitting me hard. Despite being dosed up on cold medicine and sore throat lozenges.
If you had cut me I’d have bled lemsip.
Somehow I made it through my shift and home.
A cough medicine induced nights sleep, and even more sleep this morning (I must of needed it). I’m feeling a bit more energetic than yesterday. But that could be just the cold luring me into a false sense of recovery.
As I write I’m trying to get the will to get up and ready for work.
Especially when you are given a shift pattern that is nine days without a break.
The upside is I get three days off at the end of it. Which will allow me to get along to a Friday club night.
What has made this time more difficult is getting the car repaired last Friday. Meaning an early start after a late finish. Plus squeezing in a prearranged gaming session the next day before work.
So you can see why I say I’m knackered and just surviving.
On the upside I got to play some games this month. I’ve just not written about them.
Diego and I are building up to play BattleTech Alpha Strike. Now with the full Alpha Strike rules in my possession we can use the full games hex maps on Diego’s table. This means for the other starter box sets they are even better value, as I can use more of the contents. We just need some hex maps now! Which Diego is ordering.
After having three days off where I got to game with Jonathan. Which was the first time in a longtime. Plus attend a Fenland Gamers club night (something that is a rarity these days). At which I got to game with more friends I hadn’t played with in a while (hello Ben).
Games that saw the table in these two sessions were Dandelions, Can’t Stop, Senso: Battle for Japan, Macao, Ship Captain Crew, and Sea Salt & Pepper. Plus two games that Ben owned No Mercy, and Come Sail Away!
It was back to work and a pretty full on four days that were quite frankly draining. Especially after one shift I didn’t have any real recovery time because of union meetings I had to attend. I actually ended up having a snooze in the car between the last union meeting and the start of my shift.
The knock on effect was I was too tired to write anything about the gaming I mentioned above. Or get to mention that it came to light Jonathan has been playing trick taking games wrongly for a very long time. Basically the mistake was playing a trump card when you could follow suit. You have to follow suit. If you can’t then you can play a trump card (if you have any) or “dump” a card from another suit.
As I write this life update I have two much needed days off. Followed by a day back at work. Followed by four days off. What am I going to do in those days off? It’s not long enough to visit Nathan and give mum time to recover! Yes mum needs recovery time after I go away. I’ve factored it for UKGE for example. Apparently looking after Nico and Loki the two attack chihuahuas can be very taxing.
I’m in the process of buying a small dice masters collection. Which will help with the cube building. More on this once it happens.
Until the next big expansion for Marvel Champions Age of Apocalypse comes out (tomorrow/next week?) I now have a complete set of cards. I ordered the final three hero packs that I needed (Venom, Gamora, and Drax) that arrived at the start of the week. The nice thing about getting these older hero packs is the fact you don’t have to pay full price for them. They get nice reductions.
I just need to get the game to the table, get a storage solution, and sleeve the thousands of cards!
Having Tuesday as a dead game night at the moment is killing me. It was really cool that on a Tuesday those of us that liked ccg/tcg/lcg type games had a regular evening where we could play these style of games. I need to be more proactive in my efforts to find somewhere.
Oh I did get a quick chance yesterday to play around with my fire starting kit! I need to start playing around with this more. Get more confident in using it, and develop my fire starting skills.
So yesterday using a piece of fat wood (resin rich pine wood) I created some tinder to start a fire with. Then using a fero rod and striker to create sparks managed to get the tinder to light. This little exercise did not involve me building this into a roaring fire. Its aim was to get the tinder going. I followed this up with using the fero rod and striker to start a tinder wick. Which started first strike! Wow that was impressive.
My final little play with fire for the afternoon was to start a trangia burner with the fero rod and striker. Which worked really well. Why hadn’t I done this back when I was doing all the meth stove reviews?
My Kelly Kettle Trekker also arrived. Looks a lovely bit of kit. Although the pot and lid look too small to be of any practical use. I can’t see them being used at all, and replaced by one of my titanium pots.
Hopefully I’ll get to try out the Kelly Kettle on one of my days off. Who knows I might even film my initial efforts with it!
In a recent post I’ve said plans are forming to get back outdoors this year.
Wow how the online scene has changed since my days as one of the early UK “pioneer” bloggers on the trail.
Back then in 2008 the technology was very restrictive and it was just about possible to live blog as you hiked through the wilds of Scotland. Blogs were a lot more popular back then. YouTube was a thing, just not the monster it is now. Heck I even did stove reviews on YouTube.
Now there are so many YouTube channels for the outdoors covering bushcraft and backpacking.
There is some crossover between the two skills and equipment wise. But one thing that winds me up is the bushcraft tarp videos. And to be fair there are some outdoors videos that have the same fault. The bug bear is the pitching of the tarp. A good 90% of them are in woods/forests and use trees, and a ridge line. Something that being in remote locations you won’t have.
I also query just how far they hike with all the gear they have for a camp. Sometimes I suspect it’s not more than a few feet from the car. It’s obvious they have not hiked several hours with the kit, or done a multi day hike carrying it.
Oh and the formulaic videos, starting with the hiking montage. All meant to establish that they are in the outdoors, far from the beaten path. So staged. I almost want to say these montages are a cliche now.
Having said that there are bits of useful information I can use from these new sources. And I’ll discuss those bits in future posts.
Obviously there will be a gaming element to my return. Whether that involves just a pack of cards and some d6 dice, or maybe Pocket Hive for those social moments on the trail. But gaming options too are subject of a future post.
It’s just me. Nathan is apparently in Cornwall with his Mum, Dan and newest addition to the family Chloe.
I’ve still to meet Chloe. One day. I was just over the moon that Dan told me of her arrival at the time. Small steps.
I’m staying at the Fort Dunlop Travelodge. I’ve stayed there before. It’s nice as Travelodges go.
I’ve gone for three nights so that my start on the first day isn’t so early. It can be relaxed and stomach bursting from the all you can eat breakfast.
For the first time ever I’m trying their standard plus room. Which includes Wi-Fi (I’d be getting this anyway) plus a Lavazza coffee pod machine, hot chocolate and tea. Never used one of the pod machines so expect me to ramble on about my experience at the time.
I nearly went with the evening meals. But that ties me to the Travelodge to eat when I could be meeting up with others to play games if they are elsewhere or at the expo.
So my plan is to travel to the Birmingham area on the Thursday and get to whatever accommodation or campsite I’ve booked. Have a relaxed, chill evening.
Then the day of the expo itself have a relaxed not so early start to the day. If I was traveling on the day of the expo (which I have done before) I’d be having to get up damn early. It most definitely wouldn’t be as relaxed a start as traveling across the day before.
I’m still waiting for Nathan to get back to me about coming along.
On the Fenland Gamers front I’ve created the event for the expo with those club members there on the Saturday to have a group picture taken. It’s bit of a club tradition.
But next week I’ll be booking my accommodation for the expo.
