It’s that time of month to once again summarise using the bgstat app what games I got to the table in October.
And now for the “raw” bgstats data!
Finally my challenge progress (if any).
October 2022 Gaming Stats
Flashback to October 2016
Hard to think it’s been a month since the last one of these jumps back in time to look at what I was playing six years ago.
Time sure flies when you are going from one challenging situation to another.
So let’s get right to it and look at what my top nine played games were back in October 2016.
Looking at the top nine, it looks like Netrunner was still a thing at my FLGS. FFG hadn’t started nerfing Anarchs or NBN at this point.
I was also getting some games in of Ashes. Although I was still using the pre-con decks, and hadn’t gotten into the deck building side.
If memory hasn’t failed me my games of Star Wars Imperial Assault were from one of the rare organised play events at my FLGS. Which means these were skirmish games not campaign games.
With Tiny Epic Western being played the Kickstarter for it must have just arrived. I know this didn’t sit with everyone who played it, but I did like the mix of worker placement and poker. Plus I loved the playmat they did for the game.
Karmaka is a great card game that deserves seeing the table again. I really liked the mechanic that attracted me to the Kickstarter where cards you play can be used by your opponent. The theme really does come through in this game.
Zombicide hit the table. I’m shocked that happened.
7 Wonders Duel, an instant two player classic. One I need to play again. Nathan loves this game too. That’s how good the game is.
Still enjoy playing Splendor, although no longer in my collection, I do have the Marvel version.
Star Wars Timelines. A lovely quick Star Wars game that does test your knowledge of the original trilogy.
Finally for this type of post here are the raw stats for the month.
D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #5
SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.
The planned session had to be cancelled with life getting in the way of the majority of the players. Life happens, it can’t be helped.
Which means I have a bit longer to prep for the next session.
More time is always welcome when it comes to pondering, and getting things straight in my mind.
The main thing I need to concentrate on is the magic items that the party might come across.
I need to get some balance in what is handed out so that the non-magic users of the group don’t feel left out.
I’m thinking single use items, or limited use with a number of charges, maybe even an item that can get charges back. For the non-magic users specifically an item that gives a stat bonus of some sort.
I’ll share what I come up with in another post.
What am I taking on my visit to Nathan?
Somehow I survived the week at work to make it to my weeks holiday.
It’s my first week off since the holiday reset in April. I still have four more weeks to take off before the end of March next year. The plan is over the following four months I have a weeks holiday each month.
But my focus is now on this week of R&R and visiting Nathan.
Naturally we will be spending time playing board games, watching the odd movie, and just having quality father son time.
But what games will I be taking for us to play?
Well I have to take one for sure as it was requested by Nathan, and that is Wingspan. Nathan like so many others, myself included, really likes Wingspan. Sadly Wingspan Asia won’t be out in time for this visit (next time) but we are going to have a blast anyway playing it.
One of the attractions of Marvel Champions for me was that I thought it is something Nathan and I can play together. I know Nathan will love the theme, but will he love this co-op lcg?
I can’t play Scythe with Nathan. Well I could if he had a big enough table. And that’s the issue and a major constraint on what we can play. So instead of playing my all time favourite board game I’ll introduce him to one or two similar mechanisms by taking the impressive Brazil Imperial. It’s modular board makes it ideal for a visit to Nathan’s.
Star Wars Outer Rim barely fits on Nathan’s table, but it’s a game he likes. Which means I don’t really need an excuse or reason to include it, but with the Unfinished Business expansion having come out since we played it I know he will be keen to get this to the table.
I think Nathan will enjoy Smash Up, once again I can go the Marvel route to start with to hook him in.
Nathan has enjoyed the roll/flip and writes he’s tried in the past. Sadly Twilight Inscription is too large for his table! Which means I’ll be taking Welcome to the Moon for him to try.
Nathan will love Smitten I’m sure of it, and I envisage us playing several games of this over my visit.
I’m going to try the campaign Gloom Chronicles or at least the parts I have the expansions for with Nathan. It’s going to be interesting to see if he gets into the storytelling side of the game.
The final game I’m throwing into the bag is Portal the board game. We are both fans of the video game, and I think he will like this game that captures the spirit of the video game nicely.
There is one other game I’m taking however it will be staying there. Nathan had his birthday earlier in the month and I bought him a board game for it.
It could be only one game, the one he nearly bought on his recent holiday in the US, Alien Fate of the Nostromo.
This game by Scott Rogers has been on my radar since it was announced. I just never got round to pulling the trigger on getting it until now.
I really can’t wait to play this with him.
D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #4
SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.
It’s been a morning of digging out stat cards for NPCs that the party could run into.
Ideally I’d be able to afford the Ptolus pdf and get the 5e stat blocks for the NPC cards I’m using.
But I don’t so the generic D&D stat blocks will have to suffice.
As the following description shows, the tower should be alive with magic users of all kinds.
“…archmage Savandra Thricecursed and her four mage apprentices administrate the tower, opening it up to sages, historians, wizards, sorcerers, and warlocks who seek knowledge of the world” City of Arches
Naturally the party if they do go to Kartan, Tower of the Arcane will meet at least one of the four mage apprentices, and most definitely Savandra.
Savandra will tell the party about the “Key of Choul” that is hidden deep in the towers vaults. The party will also learn that it’s also possible to “conduct sacrifices required to open the Gate of Choul”.
I think that the party will also find out that in The Endless Warrens is a “forgotten colossal undead cairn” that can be used to open a gateway to the realm of Choul if enough sacrifices are made.
Apart from the magic users, I want to populate the tower and the vaults and laboratories with appropriate creatures to encounter. I’m thinking rats (all sizes and numbers), various spiders, maybe the odd ooze.
Then I remembered that I have the Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. If I treat those vaults and laboratories as some sort of Frankenstein setting I can use the bestiary from that.
I like the idea when they enter that location with the hanging cages that contain skeletons that the threat actually comes from the boneless remains out side the cages. Or in the labs there are brains in a jar. Maybe some Gremishkas are running feral down there, or strigoi.
How cool would it be to have a swarm of zombie limbs come towards the party? These definitely make a change from the crawling claw. Which might make an appearance along with an animated sword.
A magic users lab is not a safe place.
Right time to get ready for work. Tomorrow it’s game day!
Take a rocket ride…
This is the first in a series of posts that will cover my first time playing through the campaign side of the flip and write Welcome to the Moon.
Although I’m sure if I play through the campaign on subsequent occasions I’ll blog about them also.
I’m going to try and theme the blog post titles with an appropriate inspired book/movie/song title/lyric that reflects the overall theme of that campaign game just played. Which may or not be harder than I think.
At the end of the campaign I’ll have a final post ranking the adventure sheets. Which is something I’ve seen one or two YouTube content creators do, so why shouldn’t I?
None of my coverage of this campaign will involve the Astra Solo mode that Welcome to the Moon has. As long suffering readers of this blog well know I don’t play solo. All the games will be two or more players.
Naturally these posts will all start the same with the all too familiar and totally necessary warning for those that have not played the campaign and want to remain pleasantly surprised as they play the campaign themselves. After all I don’t want to ruin anyones enjoyment of the game.
So here we go for the first time in these posts…
The following post may or may not contain spoilers for the Welcome to the Moon campaign. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one if you plan to play the campaign and want to experience it’s twists and turns as surprises for yourself. REMEMBER you have been warned.
Before playing Welcome to the Moon I’d never played any of the previous Welcome to… games. That’s despite claiming to be a roll/flip and write fan. So you could argue that there is a gap in my roll/flip and write education.
To aid playing the game I created a couple of player aids. One based on the faq for the game, and another based on pages 5 and 6 of the rulebook that summarises a game turn and actions that can be taken. I thought it’d be handy to have the later with multiple players. These were both laminated.
I also printed out a copy of the last page of the campaign book which is the dashboard used to record scores during the campaign. I’m going to do this for each campaign and keep them as some sort of record!
This was a four player play through of the campaign. The group was made up of a varied range of experience to roll/flip and writes, and the Welcome to… games. This range from never played a roll/flip and write, to some experience, to experienced fans of the genre. Only one of us (Charlene) had played a Welcome to… game before.
Now with that bit of business out of the way.
Welcome to my first play through of the Welcome to the Moon campaign. Starting with…
ADVENTURE #1: THE LAUNCH
Captain: Me
I’m old enough to have fond memories of watching “classic” sci-fi movies from the 50’s and 60’s such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, and When Worlds Collide as a kid at every chance I had when they appeared on the tv schedule during the 70’s and 80’s.
The later of those “classics” seems very apt for the theme of Welcome to the Moon. Imminent disaster awaiting the earth, mankind looking to the stars for its survival.
The art, and aesthetic of the game gives off that retro sci-fi vibe of those movies. I love it.
Before we even start playing we had to make a decision. Did we want to play the introductory campaign and it’s gentle introduction to the eight adventures and the story, or jump right in with the second campaign and a recap of the story so far? It should be noted the introductory campaign adds no special rules or additional content. Changes to the game based on choices made only start to happen from the second campaign onwards.
We decided to jump right in to the deep end and start off with the second campaign.
The drawback of doing this is a bit of exposition covering the events that would have taken place if we had played through the introductory campaign.
It was interesting plot wise that time travel was introduced to take us back to the start as if nothing had happened. The story did briefly touch on that time travel paradox of changing the future. But it was dismissed in a sentence.
However I did feel this was a lot to read out aloud. But that’s the drawback of story based campaigns.
I liked this introductory adventure, where the aim was to launch your rocket.
Our choices added an extra two floors to the rocket.
This was the perfect adventure for players new to the genre and the Welcome to… games to start with.
Mechanically this adventure was fairly simple. It did have a limited bit of player interaction when sabotage effects were activated forcing system errors onto the other players. There is a little combo action that can take place. But not to the level of Three Sisters.
Otherwise this adventure gets players used to the flow of a Welcome to… game. The action symbols govern where you write the numbers on your rocket, and have no other effect.
Charlene triggered the end of the game by launching her rocket.
Chapter path taken: 109, 147,12,7,62,148
Missions:
- Number the 3 Astronaut & Water floors completely.
- Number the Energy floor completely.
- Have 5 System Error boxes circled and not crossed off.
Winner: Charlene
ADVENTURE #2: THE JOURNEY
Captain: Charlene
The second adventure sees us having narrowly escaped Earth, flying our rocket ships to the moon.
The first adventure was very deceptive and lulled you into a false sense of security.
It did feel like a big jump in complexity. I think our noob to the genre felt that they were suddenly in the deep end of the pool and out of their depth.
All of a sudden being first to complete something on the board mattered (excluding missions). It gave you a better bonus or multiplier than the others.
This adventure saw an event card shuffled into one of the three starship decks. When drawn the event would trigger.
Sadly when the event did occur I mucked it up. Focussing on achieving a mission objective whilst screwing myself over and forcing a system error on my next turn.
System errors bought the game to an end, and Charlene won again.
Chapter path taken: 177,34,92
Missions:
- Circle a multiplier bonus for 3 different space stations with the robots.
- Using the energy, create on your trajectory 2 zones of 6 numbered spaces.
- Circle 6 water tanks.
Winner: Charlene
ADVENTURE #3: THE COLONY
Captain: Charlene
In this adventure we were building the first lunar colony on the moon.
Once again a decision added a modification to the player board. This time the lower quadrant of the board was replaced and the first person completing it getting a choice of ten victory points or an additional star.
There was definitely a soduku feel to the mechanisms of this adventure. Our noob player found this adventure much easier than the previous one.
In addition to the system errors giving you negative points at the end, using a planning action would also do the same.
I did feel playing this adventure I hadn’t done enough to get the resources to make effective use of the multipliers I had unlocked.
Once again a system error bought the game to a halt. However this time I was able to win the game, and get an extra star for having completed the quadrant first.
Chapter path taken: 111,15
Missions:
- Number all the buildings in 3 vertical columns.
- Using the robots, connect the tunnel network to the observatory in the top right corner of your sheet.
- Circle all the water tanks in 2 quarters.
Winner: Me
ADVENTURE #4: THE MINE
Captain: Me
The fourth adventure has our colony on the moon mining it for resources.
We found the rules for this adventure a little confusing initially. Which I think added a little to the feeling of it being more complex than the previous adventure.
Once again an event card was added to one of the three starship decks. But this one added an interesting twist.
When it triggered it cut down the number of starship decks from three to two. Still the same number of cards, just less choices each turn. You’d be surprised how big a difference that makes.
Like the previous two adventures system errors triggered the end game.
Like the previous adventure I won.
Chapter path taken: 139,80,82
Missions:
- In the mine, complete 5 extraction columns.
- Upgrade or activate a total of 6 factories, either main or secondary.
- Circle 5 waters in the mine, whether they are extracted or not.
Winner: Me
Some final thoughts…
My earlier expectations were we might get the first couple of adventures played, and then play something else.
It was a pleasant surprise that we played the first four adventures of the campaign.
I like that the campaign cards are a mix of dry erase cards, and cards you mix into the starship deck. The dry erase cards modify the player boards. Which adds a cool bit of variety.
However with four adventures left it feels like we have hardly scratched the surface of the cards used with the starship deck. I think we have used three cards so far!
I like how event cards trigger complications during an adventure.
It’s very cool each adventure can be explained in a couple of pages. However on at least one occasion I think there could have been a bit more clarity if more space had been used.
Although each adventure uses the same core mechanic, it’s amazing how they all feel different with just a couple of rule changes.
I’m looking forward to playing the remaining four adventures of the campaign.
One Shot Taster Session Planning #1
Yesterday my good mate Gavin expressed an interest in trying D&D.
Today along with Diego via messenger we arranged a date to hold a one shot taster session.
Naturally that means along side my regularly D&D planning I now have a second session to prep for (hence this and possibly other posts).
The first thing I have to decide is what to run for a session that ideally is going to run for about three hours.
The options I’m considering are the following:
- The Lost Tomb of the Delian Order (by Matt Colville)
- The Obsidian Skull (from the City of Arches)
- The Goblin Ambush (from Lost Mines of Phandelver)
- 1st Level Adventure Generator (from Sly Flourish’s Uncovered Secrets Volume 2)
The last option will involve a little bit more work for me, requiring me to roll against tables to come up with something.
The Goblin Ambush might be too short, unless it then runs into the Cragmaw Caves. Which would then be too long.
I will use pre-gen character sheets, most likely the official D&D ones. But which?
I could use the ones intended for Lost Mines of Phandelver, or the new ones intended for Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.
But I am tempted to try the pre-gen characters for Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Adventures, or (iirc) a pack of pre-gen character sheets I got off the DMsGuild that were recommended by Mike Shea in a video or blog post at one time or the other in the past.
These alternatives to the official pre-gens in many ways are better as they have more info on them such as spell details. Which cuts down on the need for a players handbook or having to constantly refer to it.
Along side which ever pre-gen sheets I go with I’ll be using the Wizkids 2D miniatures that just arrived. I should try and match up the character sheets to the minis in advance!
Well that’s my initial thoughts on this upcoming taster session. I’m sure there will be others over the coming days that I’ll feel compelled to share on here.
D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #3
SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.
One thing I’m bad it is remembering specific rules, especially when I’m not using them all the time.
One such area is that of magic items, identifying them, and attuning.
So I’ve created these “handy” rules reference cards to have on hand.
I’ve also been searching that amazing blog Dyson Logos for suitable maps to potentially use for Kartan, Tower of the Arcane. I’ve found a couple that I like the look of. Whilst there I found the perfect map for the Temple of Three Sisters.
I’m not sure how the next session will go or where!
Obviously I’m thinking they might visit the wizards. So most of the NPC’s the party will come into contact with will be magical leaning. They might even bump into the legendary wizard Dram!
I’m also preparing for some magic items to go missing or leant to the party. Hence the reference cards above.
I am having a hard time matching up the written description of Kartan, Tower of the Arcane, particularly the following bit:
“An ironbound glyphed door on the first floor stands in front of a stairwell leading deep into the ground below where numerous laboratories and vaults of the dark wizards remain largely untouched.”
With the the side view map (see extract of that below).
It’s the laboratories and vaults. Unless I treat the hanging cages and the area below it as the laboratories and vaults, then I don’t see where they are. I think I need to sleep on this a bit more.
I’m still waiting on updated character sheets to transfer across for my notes.
In the meantime I’ve got some magic items to create!
D&D Grp 2 Session 10 Planning #2
With session 10 scheduled to take place next Sunday just before I go and visit Nathan. It’s time to continue thinking and planning for the session.
Which means a little house keeping first with a new look!
SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.
Wizkids have started a range of 2D minis made from acrylic (or some kind of plastic) which are very reasonably priced. The D&D Idols of the Realms: Essentials 2D Miniatures – Player Character Pack just dropped through the letterbox.
Inside this thin packet (you should see the ridiculous oversized box it came in) you get the following 2D minis:
- Male Human Fighter
- Female Human Rogue
- Male Human Wizard (Archmage)
- Female Human Cleric
- Male Human Bard
- Male Dwarf Fighter
- Female Dwarf Wizard
- Female Dwarf Cleric
- Female Elf Fighter
- Male Elf Rogue
- Male Elf Wizard
- Male Elf Cleric
- Female Elf Bard
- Female Halfling Fighter
- Male Halfling Rogue
- Riding Horses
- Skeletal Horse
The plan is to use these for sessions (naturally). Initially as NPCs but also when/if I run starter sessions for the players to use.
There is a sidekick pack as well that would be great to use as either NPCs or representing characters also.
The nice thing about these 2D minis is the portability, cost per figure, make these very attractive. They also look cool on the table. Sadly the drawback is if you want multiple of a particular figure you are screwed if all that is included is a single figure or just two. So it could get expensive buying multiple packs to get the number required.
I’m particularly after the D&D Idols of the Realms: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle 2D set. Which naturally goes with the new D&D Starter set Dragons of Stormwreck Isle. Why Wizkids and WotC didn’t do a deal to include these in the Starter Set I don’t know. Instead I’m having to wait for this set to arrive in the UK months after the starter set has hit the shelves.
I’ve also decided I needed to have better player notes for prepping and during a session. So I’ve asked for up to date copies of the character sheets.
For recording the character stats to use during a session I’m using the Arcane Library character cards which I will print out and slip into a Mayday Premium card sleeve or laminate. Not fully decided which way I’m going on that front.
As you can see I’ve scribbled a little extra info on the card to do with hit die and hit points, and their background.
I had been using index cards initially for this but I think these will be more useful, and easier to refer to during a session.
I’m not going to move away from index cards completely. I think index cards will be ideal for recording the characters background, and referring to during session prep.
Right that’s enough for this post. I’m sure there will be another before we gather round the table for the next instalment.
Hulk Smash
It’s been a while since I’ve racked up some massive damage to defeat an opponent in Star Realms.
So when I finally achieved a big hit that won me the game.
Well it had to be shared with the world via social media.
This is not the time or place to debate the eternal Star Realms issue of whether it’s morally right to over kill an opponent. And let’s just enjoy the delivery of lots of damage.
Really peeved I missed out on gaming this week due to the cold I had on my days off.
But the good news is I’m nearly over it, and I didn’t pass it on to mum.
Videos are starting to appear on YouTube for the second Dune Imperium expansion Immortality.
It looks interesting. But I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.
Obviously I’m going to get it.
But will it be a must include when playing expansion? Which I think the previous one was.
I can see the playtime going up, especially the analysis paralysis side with players.
We’ll find out once I get my grubby mitts on the new expansion and get it to the table with some willing participants.
And that game (whenever it is) will be using the newly laminated leader mats. Yes they were probably the first thing I laminated with my new laminator.
I hated how flimsy those leader mats were. But Direwolf aren’t the only publishers guilty of scrimping in this area. Now the issue is “solved”.
But that’s enough of my ramblings I’ll see you in the next post.