The Road to UKGE 2024 #6

UKGE

Despite having hundreds of games for sale, plus a games library. I like many others will be taking games with them to the expo!

One of the games I plan to take is my latest arrival (as in it came this morning) For the Queen.

This storytelling card game has been a “grail game” of mine for a while. It’s been out of print for a while, and hard to get hold of.

Luckily Darrington Press (the publishing arming of the Critical Roll cult of Mercer) got their hands on it rights and have just published a second edition with updated art, and question text.

I have to say for a card game the production quality is phenomenal. I really love the art.

It really is a size where it can be kept in a bag all the time ready to be played at a moments notice.

So I’m hoping that whilst at the expo I can get it to the table.

The 3 by 3 below shows my current leanings of games to take along with me.

Obviously it doesn’t show my box of dice, deck of cards, to play games such as Ship, Captain, Crew or LCR. It should be a given that will be with me.

I’ve tried to go with games that are small, quick to teach and play, plus if possible support a group of players. Although there are a couple that are two player.

Whilst at the expo I will post about which games actually did make it.

The Road to UKGE 2024 #5

UKGE

With only approximately two weeks left until UKGE is upon us I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I pre-booked my tickets.

I don’t know why.

There is no benefit buying them in advance. No early bird discount. You still have to queue to get your ticket when you arrive.

Maybe it’s because I was feeling a bit low about the whole thing.

I knew Ben was no longer going due to reasons. Reasons that were totally understandable and relatable. I’ve been in that situation myself.

Then Jonathan who also seems to be not as enthusiastic as he once was (I don’t know how else to describe it) about gaming and the expo, has decided he will not be going. The expo was a father daughter thing for him. A shared experience they both enjoyed. This year would have been the first year that that would not be true, with his daughter still being at uni. I totally understand.

Strangely for me the show has been a social thing, over a gaming or purchasing thing. I rarely spend (or had the funds) to buy lots of games at the expo. My visits have always been on a very tight budget, and trying to get the maximum bang for my restricted budget.

I rarely do the open gaming. I still don’t get that side of the expo or even expos like Airecon, where gaming is the main focus. Why travel all that way, with the associated expense of tickets, accommodation, etc. to play games with your friends? And let’s face it the majority of folks there are playing games with the people they went there with. Why not save the money and time and just play games at home?

Last year I met Sarah of Board Games in a Minute. Sarah came all the way from the US to go to the expo. She’s a really cool and kind person. Hey anyone who feeds and provides shelter for “wild” cats is pretty cool in my book.

Sarah is returning to the expo this year, so I’m hoping that we can get a chance to play a game at the expo. Or at least catch up, talk about the expo and what games caught our attention.

Last year I didn’t get a chance to meet Luke Hector of Broken Meeple fame irl. So hopefully that can happen this year. I’d love to play a game or two with him as well.

Now I know Luke and Sarah are YouTube content creators and this all sounds very fanboy like etc. I rarely do this content creator cult of personality thing. There are some that are so head stuck up their own arse, clicky. Luke and Sarah are not like that. Which is probably why I like them as content creators and people.

Sadly it’s looking unlikely my friend, game creator, and all round really nice guy Byron will make the expo. Health problems are throwing a spanner in the works on that front. Which is a shame, but I do wish him a speedy recovery.

Although I’ve not gone specifically with anyone to the show. But with my friends there it feels that I have. We bump into each other, arrange to meet up, maybe try a game demo, etc.

So with two of my good friends not there. I’m not sure how the expo will be this year.

It does seem that the majority of Fenland Gamers and friends will be at the expo on the Sunday. So that day may feel more like the expo for me.

Yeah, yeah. How can the expo be a social thing for me? How can I talk fondly about meeting people and enjoying my time with them, and even missing them?

I know. I don’t see myself as a social person, or people person. But somehow it’s something I enjoy when it comes to gaming! I suppose in a future post we can explore this dichotomy. A look into the warped world view and mind of Darren. That’s a very scary thought.

For now you just have to accept that this sociopath both enjoys these social interactions and will miss those not going.

UPDATE: Ben is now attending the Friday. So it will be great to see him there and catch up. Life for both of us has conspired to get in the way of us playing games. It’s been too long.

Brief Life Update

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

It would appear that I’m on another long nine day shift pattern of just surviving with the pay off being three back to back days off.

Three days off that allow me to go to the next Fenland Gamers club night.

Once again I will try to maximise my gaming opportunities for those three days. Although I’m not holding my breath, that I will be successful.

So like things are already, my postings may be a bit more erratic with long pauses of silence between posts.

Oh and 21 days until UKGE.

Mech on Mech

Battletech, Battletech Alpha Strike, Game day

Saturday saw Diego and myself squeeze in a couple of learning games of BattleTech using the Alpha Strike ruleset.

Bank holiday traffic had made getting to Diego’s gaff a nightmare.

Our first game was the first scenario from the quick start rules, using the suggested mech teams from the Alpha Strike starter set.

This starting scenario is basically last man standing with the only scenery used being trees.

Which makes sense for a first game. Keep it simple whilst learning the rules.

Keeping to the spirit of keeping things simple we used the 3D printed woods templates printed for me by Duncan to represent woods on the tabletop. They looked pretty cool.

In this game I was the attacker with two mechs. Whilst Diego was the defender with four mechs.

I did take out two of Diego’s mechs before the numbers worked in his favour and I was defeated.

Game two used all the mechs in the starter set. It was Diego defending again with two lances against my attacking lance.

Instead of buildings we used the 3D hills I had bought to use with the game. Time was a consideration. We didn’t have long before I had to leave for work. So putting together the cardboard buildings would have eaten into that scare playtime.

Before I had to leave I had taken out two of Diego’s mechs to him eliminating one of mine. So a moral victory for me I think.

I liked how the two intro scenarios slowly introduced you to the rules of the game, but not all of them.

Plus as starter sets go there is a lot here to play with for beginners. I like it. Great value.

As for Alpha Strike itself. I liked it a lot. It has just about the right level of complexity for me. Especially on the combat side. Not sure I’d want to play with the optional rule on multiple dice rolls for damage.

Once you get used to the flow for calculating your target number it becomes very second nature.

Can’t wait to get to the table again and get my revenge on Diego.

Gaming forecast for May looking bleak

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

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.

Oh well let’s see if the prediction is accurate.

Back to the hills – not getting lost

#backtothehills, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors

It was my birthday Tuesday.

My aunt and uncle generously gave me an Amazon voucher as a present that was put towards getting a Silva Compass 5.

I’m a gadget geek. But when heading out into the amazingly beautiful British hills you can’t rely on those gadgets for navigation.

Yes technology has not stood still in the years since I was last out in the wilds.

Yet it should never be your only way to find your way around.

I did already have a Silva compass. It’s been in “hibernation” under the stairs.

But. And there is always a but. I really liked the look of this new model.

I liked the wider variety of romers on it, luminous markings, built-in adjuster for magnetic declination (including permanent local adjustment), a clinometer for measuring slope angle. Plus! its lanyard can act as a detachable scale that works like a ruler. And it comes with a slope card.

However it doesn’t matter how fancy your compass is, if you don’t know how to use it then it’s a fancy expensive paperweight.

So YouTube has been my refresher on the core skills. But they need to be practiced enough times they become second nature again.

I also got a British Army protractor!

I already had one of these too!

There is a reason I bought a second. I’ve had the first one all my life, or it’s been in the family all my life. Which currently is 56 years.

The first one was my dad’s. It’s the one he had while as a para.

I consider that one a family heirloom that is kept safe and not to be used.

But why buy this new one?

I want to be better at planning my routes and making notes before hand. Which includes adding bearings.

The drawback of this military compass is its in mills. When I want degrees. So a bit of maths is required to convert between the two. It’s not an easy bit of maths either. By that I mean multiplying or dividing by an easy number like the conversion between metres and feet. Something you can do quickly and roughly in your head. The conversion between mills and degrees is a small decimal number. A calculator is definitely needed.

Why don’t I just get a US Army protractor clone that uses degrees? It’s that dad thing. Dad used one. Even now 26 years after dad’s death doing something like this somehow feels like it’s keeping his memory alive.

Although I do seem to be quoting dad a lot lately at work! The quote being “size doesn’t matter when they are on the floor”. Nico and Loki prove this everyday playing mum up while she is lying down. And it’s in relation to them it’s mainly said.

I do like regaling folks with tales of how two little dogs play mum up.

Right time to close off this post. See you in the next one.

April is a wrap gaming wise!

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

Yeah I know the month hasn’t ended yet. But it’s looking very very unlikely that any more gaming is going to take place before the end of the month.

At the moment the Sunday gaming session will not go ahead as I’m the only person showing any interest in going.

Which means no birthday weekend gaming.

Have to say it’s a little disappointing. But this is not a post about feeling sorry for myself.

Let’s celebrate the games I have played this month instead.

That time I get to play is special. And I really should get round to finishing that post about what gaming means to me.

In the meantime while you patiently wait for that post here are the games I played in April.

My top 9 games played in April 2024

Looking at the stats for April they are inline with the new norm for my gaming.

The stats for April 2025

Man flu hits

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Man flu has struck!

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.

Wish me luck.

I played some games on my days off!

Fenland Gamers, Game day, Game Design, Sunday Afternoon Gaming

Last Friday was the start of three days off work after a nine day tour of duty.

Which just so happened to time nicely with the fortnightly Fenland Gamers club night.

So Friday was one of my now rare appearances at a club night.

I was on a table with Colin, Charlene, and Annabelle.

We started off playing Scooby Doo the board game from CMoN. Which Annabelle loved the Scooby and Scrappy minis.

It’s a co-op game Pandemic like where you are trying to stop the monster.

The game has great table top presence. Lovely painted minis.

It’s fun, and despite us only lasting three or four rounds before losing to the zombie.

We followed our defeat at Scooby Doo with a game of Splendor. I did crap at this. Scoring a single point! It’s a good job I enjoy the game.

After being totally humiliated at Splendor it was time to redeem myself with a glorious victory playing Spots. I don’t think it will be too long before I add this to my over crowded collection.

Next I introduced Colin to what is fastly becoming a filler game of choice Ship, Captain, Crew.

My final game of the evening was a new game I got LCR. Which is a nice quick filler too. Which also doesn’t have player elimination. Even when you run out of chips you are still in the game because you might gain some on a subsequent round.

I had a great evening game. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to game with Colin. So that must be the highlight of the evening for me.

Sunday saw Charlene and Annabelle join me in a pre-arranged game of Tapestry.

Sunday Afternoons Game of Tapestry

This was an all in game using all the expansions and the new balanced civilisations. So no need to take into account any adjustments.

We dealt each player three civs to choose from. There are so many when using the expansions. Just wanted to give everyone a greater chance of seeing something they liked.

This is how our starting civs, cities, and blueprints went.

  • Aliens/Forest blueprint- Windmill – me
  • Renegades/Tropical blueprint-Birdwatching Perch – Annabelle
  • Urban Planners/Mesa blueprint- Villa/Urban Farm – Charlene

Also when we had to draw a Tapestry card we drew two, chose one discarded the other.

Somehow in this game it ended up being my most aggressive game ever. Previously I’ve rarely gone conquering but this time I got to the middle first and conquered two territories to get that bonus also. Plus I got to the end of the military track to get the second place bonus for reaching the end of a track. So that was also a first for me getting all three bonuses.

I did take an early lead on the score and kept it all game. Although during the end scoring Charlene came from behind to give me a big scare that she might snatch victory. However my lead was big enough to absorb that late surge and hang in there for the win.

It was great to get Tapestry to the table again. And a great way to end the three days off.

Back to the Hills – My Coffee Plans

#backtothehills, outdoors

I think it’s fair to say I like my coffee.

I’m a big Aeropress fan. But I also love my Hario V60 coffee dripper. It’s so easy to get consistent good results with.

But neither of these two great coffee making options are ideal for taking out on the hill. I should say in my opinion (no way am I being humble about it). They might be fine for you dear reader or someone else. That’s totally fine. I respect that. I’m not having to carry or pack them. So why do I care? I don’t.

Previously back in the day I used a MSR MugMate™ Coffee/Tea Filter. I still have it. And you could make a better coffee than the instant stuff you can buy (if you like and drink instant coffee that’s fine, but why are you reading this?). However it doesn’t produce an end result that comes close to the V60 or Aeropress.

Enter the Mermoo Yilan Collapsible Pour Over Coffee Dripper Cone (that I got off Amazon). Which is a reusable silicone coffee filter holder that comes with a storage bag.

I should note the storage bag can easily hold some 02 size paper filters inside with the collapsed cone. I got some from Morrisons the other day, 40 in a box for ÂŁ1.50. I bought four boxes just in case that was a mistake.

With that yes you can use a 02 sized filter with this collapsible cone. Source yours from wherever.

Now if you are going the same route as me to get a bloody good mug of coffee whilst out on the hill, then you have a decision to make. Do you take grounds or beans with you?

Remember there is no wrong answer here.

For me I’m taking beans. Mainly because if the bag bursts, less mess. Plus you could still use them! And they won’t have messed up any kit.

So how am I going to grind the beans?

I got a Hario, Transparent Black Mini Mill Plus to use. Yes it’s extra weight. It’s probably not the lightest. But I think the fresh ground beans and the reason above for me justifies its inclusion.

A couple of weeks back I got given some Kopi Luwak aka cat poo coffee as I call it. This coffee is very expensive, and most definitely out of my price range. But it has been a coffee I’ve always wanted to try.

So when I was offered some I jumped at the chance to try it.

I love it. It’s not as bitter as other coffees. I’d almost say lighter. But that could be the roasting.

Definitely worth getting when/if I can afford it. Luckily I was given a 300g bag after the first one. So that will be my guilty pleasure for a week or two.

Right so that’s my coffee plans taken care of. Time to make a brew.