Well that’s another month gone and we edge just that little bit closer to Christmas (Christmas chocolates etc have been on sale for over a month now in the supermarkets).
It’s been a below average month for gaming thanks to getting vertigo, and others in the group also having health problems.
Right here are the raw numbers.
That’s it for another month. I’ll do a post summarising the games I’ve played and what I thought of them in another post.
I recently bought a second hand out of print (never to be back in print) copy of the James Wallis board game The Witches.
The Witches is based on the Terry Pratchett books set in the Discworld universe and specifically the books that cover The Witches.
I knew getting this game would lead to further expense. But more of that later in the post.
First I want to talk about my relationship with the Discworld books.
I first started reading the words of Terry Pratchett way back in 1986, maybe 1987 with the his very first book in what can only be described as one of the all time classic fantasy series, The Colour of Magic.
The book was hilarious. We got introduced to Rincewind, a “failed” wizard who only knew a single spell, Twoflower the first ever tourist, the luggage made from sapian wood that followed its owner everywhere.
And then there was the Discworld itself. A giant disc supported by four giant elephants, riding through space on the back of a giant turtle. Taking flat earth theories to their logical conclusion if you ask me.
The Colour of Magic it would be fair to say was wonderful, funny, used fantasy tropes and was influenced by D&D (well roleplaying games). Perfect for a geek like me.
Then the Light Fantastic the follow up book continued the adventures of Rincewind and Twoflower. It too was a delight to read.
Since that introduction to the Discworld buying each new book in the series when published was a must buy and read straight away.
I even got to go to two or three book signings and briefly meet Pratchett as he signed the hard cover copy of whichever Discworld book he was promoting. If memory doesn’t fail me there was a signing while I was studying in Brighton. Followed by a couple at Waterstones in Guildford while was living there. One of the Guildford signings was for Good Omens and had a surprise for me when I went. Because there with Pratchett was Gaiman. Which at the time for a fan of the Sandman comics pretty exciting and cool.
So being a Pratchett and Discworld fan, having bought The Witches. I knew that some point in the future I would want to try and get Discworld Ankh-Morpork.
Discworld Ankh-Morpork like The Witches is also out of print, never to be printed again. However it has been reskinned and renamed as Nanty Narking, and set in Victorian London. Fun fact I’ve backed it on Gamefound to get the game and the new Cthulhu expansion.
However a couple of weeks of getting The Witches an opportunity arose to get a copy of Discworld Ankh-Morpork for a reasonable price. Well reasonable in relation to what the game tends to go for. Definitely towards the lower end of the price range. But still not cheap.
Now with both games in my collection I need to get the cards sleeved before I get them to the table. Because like my other expensive out of print games (Battle Star Galactica, StarCraft, to name a couple) before they hit the table they need protecting.
This news broke yesterday. However I didn’t want to distract from remembering Nan with this post.
Yesterday I got a WhatsApp message telling me that Diogo will be arriving between 10th and 12th November.
A couple of weeks before the last estimate for Diogo’s arrival.
Luckily I was at work and able to get my holiday moved from the start of December to the the middle of November.
I’m getting very excited now that I have an actual date. It somehow seems more real and is actually happening.
It’s four years to the day and damn near hour (as I write this) that Nan left us.
There’s not a day I don’t miss her.
In the post remembering my dad’s passing I dedicated a poem called Epitaph by Merrit Malloy to both him and Nan.
I’m keeping the post short because it’s hard to keep writing through leaking eyes.
I’m not sure how I started down this rabbit hole.
I remember getting the odd Z80 assembly book in, even the odd ZX Spectrum specific assembly books.
Then thinking it would be cool to try and write a fractal music program in Z80 assembly as my goal to achieve. Tracking down and printing out the Byte article that inspired Jeff Minter on fractal music, plus a maths book with a chapter on the subject.
Whilst looking at the Byte stuff I also downloaded and printed off one or two Byte articles on Conways Game of Life for a bit of light reading. I’ve always been interested by this branch of cellular automata. Whilst teaching one year I showed students how to code it in C#.
Next thing I know a thought had entered my head about using procedural generation to create a tile map for a game.
I remembered I had the kindle version of Procedural generation in game design and thought I’d get the physical version to read in the bath.
There is even a chapter in this book on procedurally generated music. So a link to the fractal music that got me looking down this rabbit hole. But I’ll look at the similarities and differences in another post.
Next thing I know I’ve ordered Yu’s book on his game Spelunky because it’s mentioned in one of the early chapters.
Then I thought I’d pull the trigger on one or two other books on the subject.
The Rust one although about a language I don’t know or intend to learn. Does apparently have some good stuff on generating a dungeon. So I can use the code in this book like pseudo code.
The procedural storytelling sounded interesting and a natural follow on once I get to it.
I thought the One-week Dungeons although not a “technical” book would be interesting to give some insights into developing a roguelike game.
The light reading list:
I’m sure there will be other books added at some point but this is enough for now.
It would appear 2025 is going to be the year that some past lcg/ccg/miniatures games that I got out of, and moved on, return.
Over the years I’ve been into games like Netrunner, X-Wing, Star Wars Destiny, Dice Masters, Ashes, to name a few that come to mind.
But I also sold out of a handful of them for one reason or another. But one thing that was common for all of the ones I moved on was it wasn’t because I didn’t like the game. It was the opposite. I really enjoyed playing them. However poor decisions by the publisher was usually the factor that helped move them on.
Earlier this year I got back into Dice Masters. I even came up with one or two formats for playing it.
Afterwards the Ashes Reborn kickstarter with its complete all in tier convinced me to part with a not insignificant amount of currency to get back into playing the game.
I’ll be playing Ashes hopefully in November or December when the kickstarter is due to start shipping backers pledges.
Which brings me to my latest return that has started today.
It started with a couple of my friends wanting to move on their X-Wing collections. And I to the bait.
I thought why not? I can build some teams/squads or whatever they are called in X-Wing, take them with me when I visit Nath and play with him. Or play them with others at Fenland gamers, choose a build and away we go.
I do need to get the second edition upgrade kits for one of the collections.
Where will this end?
Don’t be surprised if I jump back into a certain cyberpunk lcg before the year is over.
A very short post giving a brief update on the ETA for the arrival of Diogo.
Earlier today I spoke to Kate who is handling all the bits to do with bringing Diogo over from Peru.
The unveiling of Diogo to the world as a full on member of the little monsters has been put back from the start of October to the end of November.
Which is ok because I’m also due to have some time off from work around then too.
So yes a little disappointing that I’m going to have to wait a little bit longer. But all good things come to those that wait.
September is such a shit month for me anniversary wise.
Today (as I write this) is the anniversary of my dad taking his life 37 years ago.
It doesn’t get easier.
He regularly is in my thoughts. Particularly when situations arise and I think the people involved are lucky I’m not like my dad. Well in some ways I am. But in one important one they are lucky because they are still standing. They would not like the combination of his short temper and para training.
Yesterday evening for some reason YouTube threw up a clip from NCIS (s18e09) where Fornell’s daughter dies from an overdose. In the clip Vance is asked to read a poem he had been given after the loss of his wife to the NCIS team.
I thought the poem was lovely and would be a suitable tribute for Dad and Nan.
Epitaph
by Merrit Malloy
When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.
And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.
I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.
Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live on in your eyes
And not your mind.
You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.
Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.
As a final tribute to the only man I ever feared but loved with all my heart (yes a lot there to unpack for a therapist) here are some photos of post Army dad. I think we can all agree my beard is more impressive, and probably why subconsciously I started growing one.
Miss you Dad.
Mention the word vertigo and I instantly think of the Hitchcock classic.
However since Sunday morning I’ve been reminded it’s a medical thing too.
Being woken up by Dolly to go out at 6am on Sunday is not the ideal time to find out that all of a sudden the world has turned into a 1960s Batman set.
Returning to bed was a relief and I tried to sleep off the feeling of nausea I’d gotten from standing up too long.
Later in the morning I dumped the little monsters on mum. They needed letting out regularly and that was going to be an issue for me in my current state. In the end they stayed the night with mum.
But during the day and night I was lying as still as possible with my eyes closed. Often drifting in and out of sleep.
A risky trip to the doctors (mind you all trips to the doctors unwell are potentially risky for a single person) yesterday got me an exercise to do plus some tablets to stop the nausea.
Although all three missed me. Dolly apparently didn’t settle. So she has been back with me. Dolly needs less visits outside than the Nico and Loki.
The nausea has stopped thanks to the pills.
However the world is still spinning when I move my head, and I still walk like a drunk. So stating the obvious I’m not safe to drive. Let alone spend the day on my feet working.
So that’s where I am lying on my back, moving as little as possible, doing the exercise I have been given.
Yeah a really catchy click bait post title I know. But it’s accurate.
This post should have come out earlier. But old age I’ve been too tired to finish it off.
Mind MGMT: A really fun hidden movement with a “campaign”?! At the end of a game the losing side gets to open one of seven mysterious packages for their side that is meant to help balance things out for that side in the next game. It does give the game a campaign feel. At the end once all of these packages have been opened you can either mix and match the ones you use in a game, or reset and start the “campaign”. I managed to get my hands on the deluxe edition and the production is gorgeous. The closest we’ve come to catching the “recruiter” as the hunters was our very first learning game. The two games we’ve played as part of the “campaign” as hunters we’ve not gotten close. But it’s great fun.
Twilight Imperium 3: I’m not going to write much about this epic game. Mainly because it’s already been written about in a recent post.
Moon Colony Bloodbath: it looked an interesting concept in the reviews, an engine builder that has you destroying your engine! This game can be won on points. However it’s last man standing. I love the theme of building your moon colony and then this utopia turns into a nightmare as the robots malfunction and start killing your colonists. This really is a game of making hay while the sun shines (the engine building bit) but that doesn’t last long before things start going wrong and you are having to destroy buildings in your engine. It’s a blast.
Wroth: Marcin has the deluxe version of this area majority game. It’s fun, I was left unchallenged in a couple of areas allowing me rack up the points. By the time they decided to try and do something about it, it was too late. I triggered the end of the game and easily won. I’m not sure the game is worth the price folks would have paid for the deluxe version originally. It’s not a £100 plus game. I think Marcin paid the upper limit I think it’s worth. Which was considerably less than its original price.
A Place for All My Books: a non-gamer, casual worker placement game! It was fun, fairly light. Obviously a little competitive in our game with us all being gamers. It was an enjoyable experience.
And that’s it for the later half of August. There are some new arrivals I really would love to get to the table. Hopefully September will see them getting the attention they deserve.