With all the pieces sitting on my table I put together an initial version of the “Death and Taxes” deck this morning. Which was followed by punching cardboard for Civilization: New Dawn. But there was a reason for this flurry of holiday activity. I was going to be testing the Magic deck, and playing Civilization in the afternoon with Justin.

At Justin’s I had him play my R/G Dino deck. If this new deck did well against that then I would know I’m onto something. But sadly it got its butt handed to it. I just wasn’t hitting the cards I needed. So back to the drawing board, and looking into how I can be more consistent and draw the cards I need.

After being given some food for thought about the new deck. We set up a two player game of Civilization: New Dawn using the suggested tiles and layout for a first game.

I thought this worked out pretty well as a two player experience. Naturally there are elements that would work better in three or four games, such as the diplomacy cards. But combat was not an issue for me as it has been for some of those that have reviewed it. Like many similar style games, the combat isn’t the main act. It’s sharing the main headline with other mechanics. And like those other games the combat is a simple, it’s a streamlined affair. Yes in this version there is a little bit of randomness with the use of dice. Is that much different to the tides of war/battle cards that are optional in the A Game of a Thrones board game? But there is also a little bit of predetermination before you even get to the dice rolling.

I loved the focus track, and the way that works, which is the main driving mechanic of the game. The decisions you have to make, or are forced to do just so an action you want to do is more powerful, or you even have to do at that moment despite it being a lot weaker than you want.

Yeah this is a nice Civ like game or even Civ like lite to be more accurate, that gives a taste of that experience in a much shorter time span. A gateway Civ game? Possibly. Plenty of replay ability with the variable map tiles, 7 races/leaders, 5 different goal tiles (that you randomly select 3), different routes to upgrade your technology.

Despite winning I liked it as a 2 player game, and looking forward to playing it again with more players.

5 player Twilight Imperium 4 tomorrow ^_^

Well apart from the fact that the postman was delivering at 7am this morning. We don’t get that any other time of the year. But the early copy of Mint Deliveries arrived!

Also my main order from CardKingdom also turned up. So now I have to put together the main spine of my Death and Taxes deck.

Spent the afternoon playing Magic with the newest member of Fenland Gamers at the local Wetherspoons. It originally was meant to be The White Lion, but there was a slight flaw in the plan. It was shut! But we played our own decks, then put a couple of battle decks against each other. After a few games, I was asked for some deck advice. So I passed on what little advice I was capable of. I’m not nowhere near close to being an expert. So I’m not sure how good my advice was. But as far as I could see, the mana curve needed fixing in all three decks I looked at. There needed to be play sets for some of the cards so that there was some consistency to the card draws. Also one or two of the decks needed a win condition, or to focus on achieving the win condition. I did apologise that they would have to go away and do some research into cards and possibly buy some. I did point out one tip of if a card was too expensive that there should be a cheaper more costly to play/weaker version that could be affordable.

I particularly like the decks that Strictly Better MtG comes up with. I want to build some of his pauper decks to play with, they look good fun.

I know I’m very late to the party but I have been trying Hearthstone on my iPad. I was going to wait until the new MtG app was launched. But WotC scared me off ever investing in their digital products when they correctly banned a Youtuber for harassment. What I didn’t like was the confiscation of the digital stuff he’d purchased without refunding his money for the cards/tickets he’d bought. I don’t like the fact they can take away something you have paid for, and from what I have seen by a tech lawyer covering this aspect on his YouTube channel something they are on very dodgy ground legally, because even by their own terms of service, contracts the cards and tickets are owned by the player when they purchase them. So I’m very scared by this action of theirs. How can I invest time and money into their digital products, knowing that they can seize them whenever they like, especially if they don’t like something I write online?

There are a lot of other issues associated with this “magicgate” as it has become known. I’m also very concerned that at the moment I’m only seeing WotC banning people who seem to have a differing political view to theirs. I’m not seeing them ban those that share a similar outlook on life to them politically. Despite them using the same tactics, language as those that they have banned for harassment. And that’s worrying. There is not a single way I can be considered right leaning. I am very much a left leaning person on the political spectrum. However I expect to see WotC be blind to political views of people and apply their terms of service blindly. Harassment is harassment no matter who is doing it, and to whom. It should not be tolerated whatsoever. And I expect WotC to be even handed and ban anyone who commits any harassment no matter who they are. So I’m waiting to see WotC prove that they are indeed against harassment, and not just using this as a smoke screen to even scores with people that have voiced opinions they disagree with.

If I’m really lucky UPS will make their delivery before midday tomorrow, with enough time to throw the cards together to make my take on the Death and Taxes deck.

“‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin

Why midday? Well I have an afternoon of casual play organised and it would be nice to take the deck out for a spin. One of my tests would be against that Red Rookie deck from CardKingdom. I’d also like to see how it handles against the Uproar Battledeck. I can’t describe how excited I am about putting it up against that students burn deck. Although the Kor Firewalker cards won’t be with me until mid January, and these are there deliberately for a red burn deck. But having said that I’m also keen to see how my R/G Dino deck does tomorrow as well.

Yeah looking forward to tomorrow’s casual Magic.

Talking of deliveries, neither the Tao Long or Mint Deliveries made it before Christmas Day. Now the clock is ticking for whether they will make it by the end of the year. I’m not convinced. I know Mint Deliveries was posted at the end of last week. So the creator/publisher has technically sent it before the end of the year (Although late due to illness I believe), and some in the US had theirs by Christmas, I think it’s disingenuous to say they met that deadline. Shipping is not meeting the deadline, delivery is. Tao Long only shipped yesterday or today. The publisher was working on Christmas Day to get stuff out! They have been moving heaven and earth to get the game to folks before the end of the year. I’m still not convinced this will be the case, and that they had been a bit more realistic in their estimates. I was pessimistic when I commented on the community section of the Kickstarter page, and they were over optimistic, but even the delays last week were longer than even a pessimist like me considered. Apparently the shipping is about 4 days. So it may make it to me before the year ends.

Totally off topic for the blog, but if you are struggling for a good movie to watch today while trying to survive the after affects of over eating, here are some recommendations.

First up…

This first recommendation is probably in my opinion the best movie Jackie Chan has done in years.

The Foreigner is a revenge movie at its heart. It has the odd action sequences that harp back to those classics that Jackie is famous for back in his younger days. I can’t watch Pierce Brosnan in this movie without thinking Gerry Adams, his appearance, character etc just screams the guy. Almost biopic performance! I also like the grittier tone this has. This movie should have been promoted more.

The biggie for Netflix this Christmas is the Will Smith vehicle Bright.

A cop buddy movie, that on one level reminded me of Alien Nation. But mix in fantasy elements and you have a great movie that looks at some interesting themes.

A couple of weeks back Netflix added…

Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It wouldn’t be Christmas without a Star Wars movie, and I really like this first entry in the new trilogy.

Yep Netflix has all of the Back to the Future trilogy for you to watch. A classic, still enjoyable.

Now onto the film that for me rebooted Keanu Reeves. It was most definitely his best movie for a really really long time.

John Wick is a modern action movie classic, great twist on the revenge movie plot. Oh and ultra violent, you have been warned.

“Classic” eighties tv remade/rebooted as a movie in general haven’t been amazing. Dire would be more descriptive. But oh boy did The Equaliser deliver. It is a really great, gritty, violent take on the tv show.

Ok onto…

I only have one recommendation here.

A weapons deal that goes horribly wrong. Great acting, violent, twist ending. This is a gem of a movie.

Ok not a single seasonal movie here, but I think you will be glad that you did watch these.

Or if you are in the mood to binge watch something try these…

On Amazon prime…

Have a great days viewing!

Just wanted to,post a big thank you to all the long suffering readers of this blog, and also the new readers too (I think that covers everyone). I hope you all have a great day with loved ones.

Yesterday Jonathan messaged me about going to the first Tabletop Gaming Live expo/show next September. I’d thought about it when the show was first announced a couple of moths or so back. And had been put off really by the fact it was in London. I was convinced accommodation would be expensive and hard to get, after all its London. I’d even thought of investigating the cost of air bnb. But still it’s in London! I hate London. I always have. So I try and keep my visits to the place to a minimum.

Anyway Jonathan pointed out that the hotel he’d found was still cheap at the moment. I had a look at the link he provided, and £40 for the night was good. Sadly the breakfast option at this Travelodge was not tempting at all. It’s basically a packed breakfast, not a cooked full English. So I booked for one night. Which means I have to get up early on the Saturday to get to the show.

After booking, which Jonathan was doing at the same time as I was. Jonathan very generously said we could car share using his car. I was thinking train. If I hate London I really do hate driving in London. Jonathan making this very generous offer means that I’m not limited to what I can carry on a train for purchases. Although if the last couple of UKGE have been any guide, I’m not one of those that go to the shows to spend lots on binge purchasing of games. Particularly this year I went with no list of stuff to buy at all.

I’ve just got to buy the show tickets now. I have accommodation all sorted for both. I’ll sort show tickets out in the new year.

I know this blog has a small but exclusive readership, but hopefully I’ll see one or two of you at the shows next year.

It’s the run in to the Christmas holidays. I picked up my Christmas cake yesterday from Doreen (she makes amazing cakes, you have seen them on here in the past, like that minion mummy Halloween cake a couple of years back). I risked sharing it with work colleagues at our bring and share lunch, but luck was on my side and no one had any. So I have the whole thing to myself, well I’m sharing it with Nan and mum, but the majority of it will end up with me.

Before our lunch yesterday Dale and I did some “team building” or as it may have appeared to anyone looking in, playing Magic the Gathering. We started off with playing a couple of games using the Mind vs Might duel decks. I like duel decks, for us casual players they are great. However sadly Wotc don’t seem to like them, and have decided that with the new one coming out next April, that it will be the last of that product range. They are instead bringing out Challenger decks (a name some have linked with the tragic shuttle disaster) aimed more at players needing a “competitive” deck for playing at Friday Night Magic. I’m guessing that the Wotc logic goes if you are a casual player that just wants to grab a couple of decks to play a game of Magic with a friend with you can grab the Planeswalker decks and use them. I suppose you could grab the Challenger decks, but two of those will set you back $60 ($30 each). Not exactly a casual priced solution. My recommendation that is actually cheaper, and fun, is get two battledecks from CardKingdom, or build the $5 pauper decks that Strickly Better MTG built to play with (something I plan on doing).

After those initial couple of games, we moved on to playing some games with a couple of CardKingdom battledecks (Uproar and Dino Might). Dale was trying the abuse the etb effect deck of Uproar, while I was stomping everywhere with the dinosaurs. My win ratio for the mornings “team building” was 4-2.

There is a clock ticking for one or two kickstarters that were aiming to deliver before the years end. As you can see the Kickstarter exclusive expansion for Flash Point: Fire Rescue arrived yesterday. However my hand made early copy of Mint Delivery may or may not be on its way. There has been very little communication from the creator about what is happening on that front. The Tao Long creators have been trying to move heaven and earth to get the game out to backers by the end of the year. However that seems a very remote possibility. With the reality that it will more likely be within the first couple of weeks of January. If they turn up in the next couple of days I’ll be amazed.

The death and taxes deck I’m building is in full build mode, with an order of needed cards winging its way from the US from CardKingdom. I have to say their 2-3 day international shipping cost is a bargain when compared with a lot of US board game companies. Companies like Plaidhat, Dice Hate Me really do take the piss on that front. I’m getting 2-3 day tracked delivery for half the price those companies charge for standard 2-3 week delivery.

Right I’m off looking for the Amazon delivery van. I have some card sleeves, a deck box, and a couple of MtG art books to look out for.

Yesterday Justin and I had an initial look at Gloomhaven. After punching out all of the cardboard, we went through the first scenario to learn the game. Justin died turn two of the scenario which with the clock running out for the day, was a convenient point to call it a day. I think we achieved the main aim of the session to get familiar with the basic rules. We now need to find some fool hardy adventurers who are able to commit to a regular gaming session. Which we will probably do early in the new year.

Today was the last day of college for our students. So for those that were due in I ran a Magic the Gathering tournament. I put up four Ixalan boosters as prize support for the top three, then a couple of land packs from bundles as prizes for like the saltiest player, or the friendliest player.

We used Challonge to keep track of the tournament and results. For this tournament we used a round robin (ie each player would play everyone else once) structure, with each round being a single game. After 11 games, I ended up second with a 8-3 win ration.First place won with a 9-2 record, and was running a mono red burn deck. I was one of the two loses it suffered. Which if I had won my last match would have given me first place. But so many times when my opening hand is lacking and I don’t mulligan and chose to play with it saying “I’ll risk it for a biscuit”, it usually doesn’t work out. I really must stop doing that.

The students had a great time, one even bought in his pimped out gaming rig and his HTC Vive. So there was some vr stuff going on at the end of the tournament, plus one or two multiplayer games of MtG. I played a couple of games of Magic using a couple of the Battledecks from CardKingdom. I really am enjoying the latest one I have from them Uproar, which is designed to abuse the etb ability of cards. To be fair I’m enjoying the Battledecks more than I enjoy the official preconstructed decks (excluding the Commander ones). The Dino Might Battledeck is also a fun red/green aggro deck that I played against the Uproar deck. The great thing is the incredible price of $9.99. Playing a couple of these decks afterwards was a fun way to finish off the days tournament.