A week and a half ago I somehow ended up negotiating for a copy of Space Hulk Death Angel the card game plus two of the rare expansions.

I already had the core game, and was only really interested in the two expansions.

But unlike the others that had expressed interest in only the expansions if the seller was going to split the lot up. I reasoned buying the lot would be easier and make me a more attractive to the seller.

I guessed right.

There wasn’t much negotiating to be fair as we both were not that far off in the price we were thinking of.

So a deal was made.

With the arrival of Space Hulk Death Angel the card game and the two expansions (see photo below for which) it got me thinking about my other grail expansions.

A grail expansion or game for that matter is a game/expansion that you would love to own but for the following reason don’t. That reason is because the game/expansion is out of print, never likely to be printed again, and going for silly money on the second hand market. In other words difficult and expensive to get.

My grail expansions are the following:

I could add the Tannhausen expansions possibly to the above. But at the moment I’m not sure.

If I ever get any of these grail expansions it will be by luck, and I had some spare money at that precise moment in time. I’m not actively hunting them down.

So if anyone is interested I do have a spare copy of Space Hulk Death Angel the card game for sale ;)

I think it’s time to rectify the glaring omission of mine that I pointed out in my post on the new official Stonemaier Games scoring app.

All of us at Whitespider1066 Towers (basically me, and the two attack chihuahuas Nico and Loki) would like to wish Jamey and all those that work for and with Stonemaier Games a happy tenth anniversary.

It’s no secret that I’m a Stonemaier Games fanboy.

There is banter about me being so at our club game nights from time to time.

Now I don’t own every game by Stonemaier Games. That might come as a big shock to one or two of you out there. Which means I haven’t played them all.

An even bigger shock for everyone (unless you have been reading this blog for a long long time) is I actually don’t like one of their games! But it would count as two because if I didn’t like the original then I wouldn’t like the themed version of it either (which I haven’t played).

Have you guessed which game it is?

Yep Between Two Cities. Back when we played Jonathan’s copy it just didn’t jell with us. So if I didn’t like that game then sadly when Stonemaier released Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig there wasn’t much chance of it finding its way into my collection.

But enough of the negative vibe this is meant to be a celebration of Stonemaier Games.

The seven games I do own I absolutely love.

Do I really need to state once again that Scythe is my all time favourite game? I absolutely love the game. I think the only thing I need to add to the game at some point in the future (when finances allow) is the metal mechs.

I’m not sure how a new top 100 games would shake out using paired comparisons but I’d be surprised if a quarter of my top twenty weren’t made up of Stonemaier games.

But what is it that attracts me to Stonemaier games?

Firstly and I don’t think anyone would dispute this, is the production values. For a few years now I would argue Stonemaier have been setting the standards others try to achieve. From the components to art, and even the rule books. They are of such a high standard.

Then game play. The games are so accessible, usually easy to pick up, but offer depth as well. Plus they usually have an interesting twist on the core game mechanic.

Considering the high production standards of the games, the rrp is amazing, and surprisingly cheaper than expected. Often before release I’ve tried estimating what the game will cost and always I’m way over.

Then there is the support of the games via expansions, accessories, and easily accessible promos. Let alone the actually very good customer service.

I’m looking forward to the next ten years and the fond memories it will bring playing my current Stonemaier games, and future ones to come.

Nathan has been in the US of A on a family holiday with his biological family the last couple of weeks.

Before he left I had asked if he ended up in a Target, if by some fluke they had one in stock, could he get me a copy of the new D&D Starter Set Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.

Until I think October, this has been a Target exclusive.

Nath got home early last week, and when we finally managed to speak yesterday he said he’d managed to get it. He’d got the stores last copy. Which was a miracle really. I’d seen elsewhere that people were going to Target only to find it had sold out.

Yeah I know not much of a getting it early. Especially by the time I get to visit him. But still.

Nath and Josh (one of his older brothers) did buy some Pokémon cards over there. Much to the chagrin of other biological members of the family. I don’t get that attitude. But I’m glad they didn’t let it put them off buying something that brings them joy. There was a bit of education for Nath from his brother as he discovered how much some Pokémon cards can be worth. Do they play the game? No. I think they just enjoy the collecting side! Which is cool.

Nath nearly bought Alien Fate of the Nostromo from Target that also came with an Ash mini. When he finds out that in the base game Ash is just a standee not a mini he’s going to regret being talked out of it.

But at least I know what to get him for his birthday now. And I look forward to playing this with him.

Whilst we were chatting on the phone I was telling him about new games that I’d got. Sadly we won’t be playing Twilight Inscription together unless I take a folding table with me. His circular table just isn’t large enough. So it joins a growing list of games we can’t play on our visits.

However I do have new arrivals that we can play like Brazil Imperium. With its modular board the two player setup will fit easily.

Nath did request I bring Wingspan with me on my next visit as he really likes the game. That really does make me happy.

I love that we can share a love of board games.

Obviously we have more than that in common. We are both geeks. We like the same sort of movies and tv shows. We love video games. You get the idea.

However it’s when we play board games together that I feel we are getting some deeper more meaningful quality time together.

It’s just a shame his biological family don’t want to share in that sort of time with him. I think they’d all benefit from it. I know Kate sometimes tries. She even owns Wingspan (but hasn’t got to grips with it yet).

Anyway I’m hoping to get to see Nathan real soon. Assuming my rota for next couple of weeks doesn’t change.

I just wish we lived closer together.

But between visits I’ll take our phone calls.

It’s been a year since Nan passed away.

We all miss her so much.

It still doesn’t seem real that she isn’t here.

Nan was always there for me when I needed her. She was there for everyone.

The time caring for Nan for the few years before she left us, didn’t even come close to repaying Nan for all she has done for me over the years.

But I was glad I was able to be there for her.

Definitely my little monsters Nico and Loki miss her. Loki was her little guardian Angel. Probably he was more hers than mine.

I don’t know what your beliefs are but I like to think whatever awaits us that my Wolfpack are there looking after Nan.

Love you Nan and miss you so much.

It’s been eight days since I last played a game.

But that’s the drawback of having shifting days off that may or may not coincide with the weekends or when others are free.

However this Friday sees what will be a two week gaming drought come to an end with a club night.

I’m hoping to get my two new arrivals (see below) to the table that evening.

Naturally both games have been added to the bgstat app, and to the unplayed games challenge. I am looking forward to playing both.

I also have a couple of new D&D related purchases (one still in transit) but they will be talked about in a relevant post later.

Twilight Inscription, the Twilight Imperium themed/inspired roll and write has been preordered. So that will be turning up sometime next month.

Over on Instagram I shared the following piccy showing my current roll/flip and write collection.

Which I’m quiet happy with. Some great examples of the genre here that cover a wide difficulty spectrum.

By the end of the year it will have grown. You already know about Twilight Inscription. But the third in the trilogy and follow up to Three Sisters and Fleet the dice game, Motor City should be (touching wood, crossing fingers) be with backers before the end of the year. That will also come with a third pad for Three Sisters, adding a rock garden!

And who knows I might even get Hadrian’s Wall. But there is a second Dune Imperium expansion out this Q4. Which will be a must buy.

What are looking forward to getting? Have you any new games?

Thought I’d give you a little breather from the yearly hash tag shenanigans on here with a little update on the collection.

Last week I finally got my hands on a copy of the Portal boardgame.

I bought this off a friend. There was only one way I could address the envelope with the agreed sum within (see below).

The plan is to finish off my posts on the video game (I’ve not forgotten, just not had the time), then write about playing the boardgame.

I did order a copy of Santorini New York via Amazon.com. Which should arrive by next week.

I had to order it from the US of A because this rethemed version of the two player classic never got a release on these shores. Copies have found their way here. But never in any quantity.

GenCon has been and gone (just, it finished yesterday). The FFG in-flight stuff was very uninspiring. Their big surprise/teaser at the end was a Star Wars deck builder. But obviously no more details on that at the moment.

However finding out Twilight Inscription was a roll and write set in the Twilight Imperium universe got me interested in this when it releases next month.

From what I can gather after the in-flight chat about the game, and watching a GameBoy Geek video on the game, it most definitely falls on the heavier side of the roll and write spectrum.

Heck each player gets four player boards to manage! Which are double sided. One side is identical for everyone. The other unique. So you get to decide how everyone plays the game, whether every starts off the same, or with slightly different boards.

So I’m totally sold on this.

I just needed the Genesys Twilight Imperium source book to be released. It’s nearly a year late at the moment!

It’s been a long and crazy nine days of work.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I have two days off after today.

Two days of gaming.

I’m so excited about it.

Friday is the Fenland Gamers fortnightly gaming night.

At the start of the week the boardgame Bloody Inn arrived and I’m hoping that I get it to the table as a learning game tomorrow.

Saturday sees Battlestar Galactica the boardgame hit the table with the Pegasus expansion. We’ll be playing a seven player game! Which means one person will be playing the cylon leader from the start.

In the meantime I am sleeving up all the cards in the game. Got to protect this classic out of print, never to be printed again, going for stupid money game. With that in mind I also have a three feet by three feet neoprene playmat coming. Which I’m hoping will arrive before we play Saturday.

Other arrivals this week sees the latest Vampire the Masquerade Rivals expansion Heart of Europe drop through the letterbox. This expansion consists mainly of a new City deck, one or two updated errata’d cards, and some new cards to expand the card pool a little bit more.

Also the second Alien novel Alien Inferno’s Fall arrived. The physical version has an exclusive mini adventure in it for the Alien rpg.
That’s about it for now. More over the weekend as I play some games.

With having my weekend at the start of the week whilst everyone else is at work. Followed by four days of working evenings. Obviously there has been very little gaming this week, none in fact. This weekend I had to cancel the planned D&D session due to the fact I’d be working.

If I also tell you I’ve been finishing at midnight each day so far. Plus one of those days saw me starting at 9:30am (for a bloody long day). You’d be right in thinking I’m feeling a tad tired.

But I’m taking any opportunity at the moment to do overtime. Well overtime that fits in with my scheduled shifts.

With the new overtime system at work, plus the number of hours the store has available being cut. I’m not guaranteed the minimum number of hours I need a week to meet my bills.

So when overtime shifts come up that I’m able to do, I do them. Even if it means a longer working day. I need to have that cushion in case I have a week (or dread the thought weeks) I can’t hit my hours target in a month.

I hate that uncertainty that has been introduced. I’m not the only one.

Each month you are now wondering if you will have earnt enough to pay the bills, get to work (my petrol costs have doubled), eat!

You have to love deliberate corporate inflicted FUD.

On a positive note I know I am definitely free for the next Fenland Gamers club night, and also the planned Battlestar Galactica session.

What state I’ll be in is another story, as I’d have been working nine days solid at that point.

Anyway thought I’d give you a little life update in lieu of any gaming update. I’ve been too tired this week to finish my fourth post in the Portal series. It will be done. But sleep and stuff!

I’ll leave you with the inspiring words used by Stevie Gerrard (way back in 2014) and also the title of this post, “we go again”.

I should be trying to get to sleep. After all I’ve been working all night.

It was during my break at work that I found out my friend Ben had died.

I took the news pretty badly. My eyes did leak.

Ben was a good friend. Some-one that understood and relate to my personal situation in the last few years. It’s a connection we had and he’d lend a sympathetic ear during our conversations. Not many understand what it’s like to be a carer. Ben did having done it for so many years for his mother.

Ben and I had been battling it out in Star Realms for a few years now. As you can see he’d won one or two more of the games than me.

Sometimes we’d have three or four games on the go. After a particular good run of wins there would usually be a victory phone call to gloat. Often Ben would answer the call with some humorous comment such as “Star Realms helpline”. He indeed was my Nemesis at the game.

I felt in recent games I’d been getting the upper hand and a comeback was on the cards. Now we’ll never know.

Ben will also be credited forever with renaming Takenoko as Bastard Panda. Which he rocked at playing. I believe he had played quite a few games of it.

Ben had health issues. And had recently completed a course of chemo. There had been issues afterwards. Which as you know meant Ben couldn’t make some of our Scythe Rise of Fenris episodes.

We had been planning to get his Kickstarter edition of The Great Wall to the table. Something he’d been wanting to do. Maybe I can find some one with a copy and play it in his memory.

I think all that knew Ben are still trying to come to terms with the loss.

He will be missed at the gaming table and as a friend.

Rest in peace my friend.