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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Looking at the stats for April they are inline with the new norm for my gaming.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 £1.50. 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.
It seems at the moment my only Dice Masters posts are “responses” to the excellent Dice Masters podcast A Double Double ‘n Dice, hosted by Kim and Jocelyn.
Ok we know by now the reason why I’m not getting Dice Masters or any other lcg/ccg to the table. But for those that have worse memories than myself I’ll remind you. The venue where we play games currently isn’t open on a Tuesday. I believe they will be once again as we get nearer to the Summer. However unless a new venue can be found we are unable to play at the moment.
But less of my gaming woes and back on to topic.
In the latest episode Kim and Jocelyn ask…
Before we get onto my thoughts on what was discussed, take this opportunity to hear Kim and Jocelyn discuss this subject first by playing the embedded YouTube video below.
Welcome back.
The discussion started off with mulling over the release schedule of product and what the “perfect” frequency of new sets would be each year.
Eventually Kim and Jocelyn hit on three sets a year. Which was the number I initially thought of when they started discussing the subject.
For me three sets a year, which is basically every four months, gives folks time to buy, collect, and play with the new set before starting all over again.
It also doesn’t flood the market, stretch store finances, or milk us players.
One thing WotC used to do. But they have stopped any pretence now and are just out to squeeze as much money as they can out of players. They release way too much product, you barely get chance to play with it before the next thing is out. And the end result is there are some really poor sets released that don’t sell. Which hurts the LGS who get left with product that isn’t selling.
And I want Wizkids to learn from the WotC mistakes.
The three sets a year should allow Wizkids enough development time to release a higher quality product that players will want to.
I would add along side three sets a year I’d love to see some supporting products like the original style two player starter sets, or a preconstructed team that would be competitive in a LGS game night. Something new players could buy and get a good start to playing the game with.
I’m going to skip over the competitive play of worlds and nationals. I’d never make it to worlds (would need a passport first). A UK/EU nationals held at UKGE each year would be cool. I’d go to that.
It’s the OP kit discussion that I went…
You can’t have exclusive cards with new abilities that can only be gotten by winning a tournament of some kind.
We all know that there are some unscrupulous store owners out there (mainly in the US I think) that would sell on the OP kit or the exclusive card on eBay for silly money.
But more importantly if the card turns out to be a Master Mould or Gobby level card only a very small handful of players will have it. They will have an unfair advantage.
If I buy a booster/draft pack I have as much chance as the next person in pulling something good.
This suggestion puts the card in the hands of a minority, and makes it accessibility or chances of getting it very restricted. What if your FLGS doesn’t run Dice Masters events? You’re screwed.
Wizkids could ban the card. But that then makes it worthless as a prize.
Easiest solution don’t do it in the first place. Make prizes stuff like playmats, or as also suggested alt art cards, or even mini booster packs of three cards, possibly with alt art of cards from the last three sets, for example.
Don’t give participation prizes to everybody!
Nooooooooo! I was going all Luke again.
You pay your event entry fee. You need something back apart from just playing the game. Stores can’t not charge. They have to pay for the OP kit, and any additional prize support. They need to cover the expense of the kit.
But at the same time not everyone is going to win a prize. So a participation prize is a necessity.
These store events are about building the game and its community.
Participation prizes are a key part of that.
Come to our event, take part and get a cool card for doing so. It’s a great selling point.
I think Wizkids could even learn from FFG and Star Wars Unlimited here and borrow their OP format. I like the encouragement of the casual side where even just turning up talking about the game, trading cards, building decks will get you a participation prize!
The rest of the discussion I totally agree with.
I did get another brief mention in the mail bag section of the show. And now know Kim will never read these posts of mine.
Still a great episode that as you can see obviously sparked some thoughts.
I’m in survival mode at moment.
Just trying to make it to the next day.
Drained. Tired.
Work gets like that sometimes.
Especially when you are given a shift pattern that is nine days without a break.
The upside is I get three days off at the end of it. Which will allow me to get along to a Friday club night.
What has made this time more difficult is getting the car repaired last Friday. Meaning an early start after a late finish. Plus squeezing in a prearranged gaming session the next day before work.
So you can see why I say I’m knackered and just surviving.
On the upside I got to play some games this month. I’ve just not written about them.
Diego and I are building up to play BattleTech Alpha Strike. Now with the full Alpha Strike rules in my possession we can use the full games hex maps on Diego’s table. This means for the other starter box sets they are even better value, as I can use more of the contents. We just need some hex maps now! Which Diego is ordering.
I’m going to leave it there for now. I’m tired.