Category Archives: still alive

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

gaming on the trail, gaming outdoors, hiking/backpacking/camping, life, the universe, and everything, outdoors, still alive

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.

The Road to UKGE 2024 #2

life, the universe, and everything, still alive, UKGE

The hotel has been booked.

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.

Camping at the expo will be next year I think.

The Road to UKGE 2024

life, the universe, and everything, still alive, UKGE

The holiday request at work has been approved.

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.

Happy Mario and Mothers Day 2024

life, the universe, and everything, still alive, UKGE

Happy Mario Day everyone! And to all the mums out there happy Mother’s Day.

This year Mario Day and Mother’s Day in the UK coincide.

A double celebration.

That’s why as I write this post I’m watching the Super Mario Bros movie.

Mum has got the perfunctory card. But I did get her a cake (photo to be shared on social media later) and a bunch of tulips.

Plus from mum and me some daffodils to put next to nans ashes. They were her favourites.

Oh and mum gets to spend even more time with her favourite two little masters of mayhem as I’m working this evening until 2am. So I’m going to get stories of how they kept her awake all night tomorrow.

Happy Mario and Mother’s Day…

It would appear once more I am leaving the booking of accommodation for UKGE to the last minute.

I can’t book the days off until the start of April!

At which point I need to sort something out booking wise. But any affordable rooms will be long gone. Even if it was earlier there seems to be less and less affordable rooms each year. Are the hotels etc finally catching on to the popularity of the expo, and exploiting that new knowledge?

I am toying with the idea of camping instead of a hotel. It’s been years now since I’ve spent a night under canvas.

I know in previous years some attendees of the expo have used a camp site. And it does just fall into the affordable price range.

Camping at UKGE was added to my bucket list for the expo of things to do years ago when I first heard of this being a thing.

Plus it would give me an excuse to update some of my equipment. I am tempted by the Kelly Kettle for instance. There are three versions! Even though my initial use would be for camping I’d want to be able to use it on backpacking trips also. So out of the three available “models” I’d go with the Trek version.

I already have an army surplus 100% wool blanket in the car, along with a poncho liner. Yes to be totally honest these have been recent additions. Which is the start of a sleep system idea I have. I think these would work well with the backpacking quilt I have. Obviously not the lightest of systems but definitely warmer and more flexible. Plus as a car camping system as it initially would be used the weight side would not matter. Nor would the fact it is more bulky.

But this conversation should be for another post if I decide to go this route for UKGE.

Having raised the topic of camping and backpacking on what is now essentially a boardgaming blog. I have given mum notice that later in the year I will be returning to the hills for one or two trips. Which means on one or two of future posts this blog will return back to its roots.

Yes although the posts are no longer on this blog (they are archived on a backup) this blog started life back in 2008 as an outdoors/backpacking blog!

But life events meant I have had to take an extended break from doing that sort of thing. Over a decade now. I really do love backpacking and hiking in the remote areas of the UK. And I think it’s about time I rekindled that love of being outdoors.

The aim is to get a couple of weekend trips to the hills in over the summer. It will be a while before I’m back to applying for the TGOC. Which I really do want to take part in again. But being a carer puts restrictions on how long I can be away. Three days is the limit at the moment. Two weeks is out of the question.

As some of you know I have reached an age where in the UK if I have a personal pension I can start taking it. I’m at least a decade away from being able to take the state pension. Well currently. The UK Government like to keep moving the goal posts so it gets further and further away.

But what this means is that I have as an option the possibility of taking a short career break of about 5 months.

Which is an idea I’m mulling over.

It would allow me to get some stuff sorted for mum. Do the afore mentioned backpacking trips and spend a bit more time with Nathan. Maybe even volunteer sometime to a charity.

I never thought I’d be able to do something like this. So now I know it’s an option I think it needs exploring and looking into the feasibility.

Let’s talk about six baby

bgstat, by the numbers, gaming stats, life, the universe, and everything, stats, still alive

I couldn’t help quoting Klopp after Liverpool won their sixth Champions League title for the title of this blog post. It just seemed apt.

February saw some gaming. Not much though. Even less than January.

In total six board games made it to the table.

I was glad to get three of them to the table with a higher player count than my initial plays of them. They did not disappoint.

Getting Zombie Dice back to the table was cool. I really do need to leave this in the game bag, along with Sea Salt and Paper. Two nice little filler games for a club night.

With my upgraded dice cups for Liars Dice I need a better storage solution that would allow it with the neoprene mat for tracking bids to also be in the bag.

But as the search for that elusive bag continues I’m grateful that I got some gaming done this month.

Sadly I won’t be able to play any games tomorrow and record some rare plays for that once every four years opportunity.

But that just sums up my new normal. Hopefully Sunday will keep being a thing gaming wise, and with a bit of luck Tuesday will be a thing too.

Until then here’s hoping for a better March.

Survive

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

It’s my penultimate shift at my current store today before transferring over on Sunday. But what a penultimate shift it will be. It’s going to be an eleven hour shift instead of nine.

There will most definitely be a knock on effect for the final shift tomorrow. I’m going to be knackered to say the least.

But the thought of playing some games on Sunday is helping me get through these final two shifts.

Especially since my copy of Wyrmspan and the deluxe components upgrade arrived yesterday.

Earlier in the week two new games also arrived, Tournament At Avalon, and Senso Battle for Japan. Both games where trick taking is the core mechanic.

These ended up in the collection due to me mistakingly watching a couple of YouTube videos, and seeing they were not too expensive on Amazon.

My get to the table list (image above) has been updated to reflect their arrival and addition to the collection. Whilst doing this I realised I didn’t have Fuji Flush on the list. So it’s been added to.

I’ve kept the games I played with Diego Tuesday evening on the list because I want to play them with a higher player count. They were fun at two player but sometimes at the higher player counts the experience will be different, more cut throat, frustrating (as more chances of others blocking what you want to do).

The plan on Sunday is (and I’m hoping Charlene is cool with it) to play Wyrmspan. Followed by, time allowing, one of the two new trick taking games.

In the meantime I just need to survive these last two shifts.

Decisions, decisions

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

With a planned gaming session imminent (tomorrow night) and one next Sunday the hard decision arises of what to play.

So I carried out a brief exercise in the bgstat app of tagging some games that I’d like to get to the table.

It’s a combination of new additions to the collection (which will hit the unplayed challenge when played) and one or two games I’ve played recently that need to get played again.

Dune Imperium Uprising is the plan for tomorrow evening. Time allowing one or two of the smaller quicker games on the list might also get played.

There is the obvious elephant in the room can’t get played yet, as it hasn’t arrived, Wyrmspan.

Then Sunday because at the moment it’s just Charlene and myself it might be a chance to get the roll and writes on the list to the table.

I’d like to complete Welcome to the Moon and its story based campaign. Yes it’s not on the list. But still it’d be nice to get it to the table.

Enough of the blue sky thinking. Let’s see how well this plan holds up when it gets put into action.

Wyrmspan delay gets me all political

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

As I write this latest “hey I’m still alive, sorry to disappoint” post I’ve not long woke up after a late shift and enjoyed my morning coffee.

We are ten days into February and I’ve played one board game.

There is some gaming planned for Tuesday evening with Diego. I think Ben is coming along as well. I’m really looking forward to that. Plus a week Sunday there should be some gaming taking place as well.

Neither of these two planned sessions will see Wyrmspan hitting the table. The UK and EU won’t start seeing their copies dropping through letterboxes for at least another week. Jamey on his latest live stream explained that this delay was due to “current events” in the Red Sea area. That’s the polite way of not getting political about the whole genocide and war crimes being committed by Israel in Gaza at the moment. Which despite the pathetic attempts by the UK’s most corrupt Government to justify their involvement in attacks on a sovereign nation Yemen, is linked to why there are any delays in shipping via the Red Sea.

Knowing this is the reason why I’m not playing or about to play Wyrmspan helps. It’s an inconvenience. Which doesn’t even register when you think of the horrors and suffering going on by those in Gaza at the moment. I’d gladly put up with even longer delays if it meant that this genocide stopped. And you know what? I feel so bad even mentioning this inconvenience in the same sentence as the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

I suppose whilst I’m going all political one of the surprising things about the most documented genocide and war crimes of the last one hundred years is the silence of so many in the boardgaming space. Many spoke up (rightly) on such issues as BLM, trans rights etc. But now with genocide, war crimes, and apartheid going on right in front of their eyes. All of a sudden they have lost their voices.

Their silence makes them complicit in those acts as far as I’m concerned. And most definitely hypocrites.

After the Second World War and the horrors of the holocaust came to light many over the following decades asked questions such as “how could the German people let this happen?”, or “what would I do if this was going on?”

It breaks my heart that we are now in the situation that every single one of us can now answer those questions.

For so many its remain silent, justify the atrocities, attack and try to silence those speaking out. All actions that enable those deplorable acts to be carried out.

At least with those supporting the genocide you know what horrible examples of humanity they are, and I know who to avoid.

It’s the silence I don’t get. I can only assume that it’s out of self interest they aren’t saying anything. That they think that if they speak out against it they will lose work, free games, etc. from those that support it, and vice versa.

Hypocrites.

I’m getting off my high horse now and my simplified views on this emotive subject.

Regular content to resume soon.

What’s new pussy cat?

bgstat, by the numbers, Fenland Gamers, gaming stats, life, the universe, and everything, stats, still alive

January was a slightly better month for me gaming wise than the previous two months. But still the numbers weren’t great.

However I should be grateful that I got to play some games. Especially that some of those games were with Nathan.

Now I am hoping now that Nathan is driving, and has a new car. That Nathan will be able to navigate the British roads to find his way up to mine. Enabling us to play some of the bigger games that are not an option at his due to the clash between game foot print and the size of his table. Or in simpler terms his table isn’t big enough. To be able to at last share my favourite game of all time Scythe with him will be amazing.

My top 9 games for January 2024

What I do find incredible from last months stats is that I played 10 (not 11 as Knock Out Whist aka Trumps was not a new to me game) new to me games. That’s two thirds of the games I played in January.

I have ordered twenty new custom d6 dice for Fenland Gamers members to have. It’s a new design for the six face, that has the club name and year.

Like the previous design (which I still have some left) I’ll be giving them out to regular club members for free.

I even have a design ready to go for UKGE this year to give to club members that make it to the show and the annual club picture that gets taken there.

Plus I want to do a club poker chip. But I have to buy them in quantities of fifty to get them at a reasonable price. They are also a bit more expensive. So they will have to wait until later in the year.

There is only so much I can finance out of my own pocket for this sort of stuff. I’m not on some CEO banker salary.

I like being able to do stuff like this for members.

Whilst I’m talking about Fenland Gamers and this ties in with the last life, the universe, and coffee post, I am testing the waters on the viability of Sunday sessions. At the moment I have created one club event to gauge interest. I’ll write more on that in future I’m sure.

Payday was Friday. Which was just at the right time to enable me to order the latest offering from Stonemaier Games, Wyrmspan, along with the optional deluxe component kit. I’ll leave the neoprene playmats until the next payday, along with the Rolling Realms promo packs.

Interesting enough this release of Wyrmspan has an initial print run of 100,000 copies. That’s a crazy number. Usually (I think I’m remembering this correctly) publishers print twenty to thirty thousand copies of a game initially. Then if the game does well do a second print run.

We know Wingspan sold an insane number of copies (well over 1.5 million by now I would think). But does that incredible success translate to Wyrmspan?

I can’t wait to see the next state of the nation post/email from Stonemaier Games where they give the total number of copies sold for each of their games.

Until Wingspan, Scythe was the bestseller. I’m just curious to see if Apiary and/or Wyrmspan have it in them to challenge Scythe for that number two spot. I am expecting them both to do well.

When I was sharing with a friend at work Friday morning that I had ordered Wyrmspan she said my face lit up. I guess I’m pretty excited about getting the game.

Once more with feeling

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

It’s another one of those posts where I let you know I’m still alive.

Obviously writing one of these posts means I’ve done no gaming at all in over a week now.

My free day yesterday was an opportunity to play a game or two. But alas no one even responded to my post on the clubs discord server.

It’s probably for the best.

Not sure how good an opponent I’d be.

At the moment I’m feeling very bruised emotionally.

Thinking about it I’ve been this way for three months or so now.

I can’t wait until I swap stores which should help on that front. The three weeks can’t go fast enough.

The little bits of gaming during this time have been but brief rest-bite from it all.

I don’t think my new shift pattern will enable much gaming. Not unless I can fix the Tuesday evening gaming location or hope folks are free Sunday afternoon.

Will have to see how it works out on that front.

So I’m still here. Just a bit battered.