At Last A Weekend of Gaming

Fenland Gamers, Game day, game night

A week into the new job and already I’m seeing a difference in what I can do in my spare time.

Finally I made a Friday Night gaming session in 2023. I know it’s only two that I missed but still that number would have gone up. In fact I don’t think I would have got any of this weekends gaming (apart from maybe todays) done if still in my old job.

My first game of the evening was Survive: Space Attack!

Somehow I managed to win the game. It wasn’t by design.

I don’t look at the values of the survivors at the start, or care which one gets placed where. During my turn if I get to place a monster/alien I combine the rules “shits and giggles” and “rule of cool” for placing it. I have no plan.

And yet I won this time. Don’t figure.

We followed up my victory with a game of Long Shot: the Dice Game.

I really do prefer this to Camel Up! for my racing, placing a bet, style game.

With four players the game has its backwards and forwards as everyone tries to manipulate the race. For a longtime I thought my two horses were going to take the top two spots, but in the end Colin and Jonathan managed to out manoeuvre me and get their horses into those spots instead, leaving me with a third place finish only.

Jonathan like his horse romped home with the win.

After nearly a two month hiatus our D&D group finally got back round the table on Saturday afternoon. But I’m not going to write about that in this post. You’ll get to read all about it in the post mortem.

This afternoon (Sunday) saw Julie and me meet up to play a game or two.

We started out with a learning game of Mariposas. Yeah the game by the Elizabeth Hargrave.

I think Mariposas was always going to suffer from what I can best describe as “second album syndrome” after having such a big hit with Wingspan.

What I like about Hargrave is her using less common themes for her games. Mariposas is about butterflies and their migration. I think her next game is based on some Russian experiment where they were breeding foxes to domesticate them. Themes that have a very broad appeal.

I have to say I was surprised how light Mariposas was. It felt very gateway like.

The game also played very quickly. It takes place over three seasons (aka rounds). You start off taking only four actions on the first round, five on the second, and finally six on the third and final one.

Add in end of round objectives, a bit of set collection, and you have a pleasant gaming experience.

At under £30 for a copy it’s not bad value.

Our next game was a first play of Motor City.

Once you get over the iconography this game feels very different to Three Sisters. Its definitely more puzzley and a lot less combotastic.

I liked the game a lot, and needs unpacking in-depth in another post after more games have been played.

We finished off the afternoons gaming with a game of the flip and write Silver and Gold.

It’s been a great weekend of gaming. Something I’ve not had in a long time.

“Hey, not too rough” #1

Doom, fps, nintendo, switch, video games

Welcome to the start of a long series of posts about the classic video game Doom.

Back in the early nineties I was living in Guildford and working in Byfleet for a credit card manufacturer as a programmer writing software to control desktop embossing machines.

I used to use my personal computer at the time for developing on as it was better than anything the company had. Bare in mind this was a 16Mhz 386sx (so not even a full blown 386) Amstrad clamshell laptop with a 20MB hard drive, and 4MB of RAM.

It was on this “beast” that I first played the shareware version of Wolfenstein, followed by its successor Doom.

Both games captured the imaginations of myself and my colleagues. We spent every free moment of our breaks playing the games in the office. There was definitely a competitive element between us that saw us competing to make more progress in the game than the others.

I did complete both games.

Doom did really stand out at the time as something special. The lighting, level design, hidden rooms, levels that were at different heights, jump out of your skin moments, and iconic monsters.

Since then over the decades I have played Doom on nearly every capable platform I’ve owned. Whether that was a windows powered pda, member of the GameBoy family, or full blown games console like the 360.

Now some thirty years later I’m once more returning to Mars to take on the forces of hell in a dramatic play through of Doom on the Nintendo Switch.

For the record this will not be the first time that I’ve played the Switch version of Doom. When I first purchased the Switch version I naturally played through a few of the levels. Memory fails me about whether I finished the game or not.

So what’s different about my playing the game this time around?

I think this time around it will be the total immersion of all things Doom between sessions. Such as rereading Masters of Doom, and DOOM:SCARYDARKFAST, plus a first time reading of “I’m too young to die“ by Bitmap Books.

And like my Portal posts (once I put the remaining two up) there will be a look at the table top versions of the game.

So it’s possible you won’t see another post in this series for a week or two as I finish the Portal posts, keep my #dungeon23 stuff going, and prep my lessons. Until then see you in the next post.

Yep still here…

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

Well it’s been a busy week at work. I’m definitely swimming in the deep end!

But it’s good to be back in the classroom.

Tomorrow sees me attending my first Fenland Gamers Friday evening gaming of 2023. Something I don’t think would be happening if I was still at my previous job.

I did get some gaming done last Sunday when I got to try Encyclopedia. Which Colin and Ben trolled me with by saying some online were calling it “the game Wingspan wanted to be”. Which is total b.s. and most likely click bait.

The games are completely different. Encyclopedia is a fine game, but it shares no mechanics with Wingspan. I’d have put it closer to Marco Polo with the dice placement mechanic. I definitely like Wingspan more.

This was a Kickstarter deluxe version of Encyclopedia we were playing with. I have to say I wasn’t a fan of the metal coins. They felt so light. No weight to them at all. A very disappointing tactile experience.

Whilst out gaming I was able to do a bit of business at the same time.

Marcin was selling his copy of Doom the Board Game 2004 edition.

I’d had this edition on my wish list for a while. Or more accurately my “it’d be nice to have a copy” list.

So I was more than happy to snap it up at the price he wanted.

But now I need to try and track down its expansion, and the 2016 updated edition. The later is easier to get hold of.

With this purchase the pressure really is on to finish off my Portal posts that are sitting in my draft folder. Then I can start this Doom project. Which will be the most epic thing I will have attempted on the blog. Whether I’m up to the challenge or capable of pulling it off is another thing!

#dungeon23 Week 5 Roundup

#dungeon23, D&D, megadungeon, RPG

It’s been my final week in my current job. Which has seen three early shifts at the start of the week, followed by my two final shifts being lates.

Then in my spare time I’ve been to my next “gig” getting things in place for my start on Monday.

Because of the above I’ve missed the odd day this week. Which meant towards the end of the week I had a catch up day to get me back on track.

I don’t see things getting any easier in the next week or two.

This week did see the start of level 2. So we are now deeper into the megadungeon.

Things are going to start getting tougher.

The creatures for level 2 are coming from The Tome of Beasts 2 by Kobold Press. I love the creatures in this and Creature Codex. They are so fresh and cool to run.

Onto week 6…

Expeditions – Scythe Sequel Announced

news, Scythe

Last night Stonemaier Games announced a new game that is a sequel to my favourite game of all time Scythe called Expeditions.

Being a sequel obviously it’s set in the Scythe 1920’s alternate history Europe. However the events in Expeditions take place after those told in Scythe.

Expeditions is described as “a competitive, card-driven, engine-building game of exploration. It is designed to evoke similar feelings to Scythe even though the mechanisms are different.”

Stonemaier did this cool summary image about the game. Which I’ve embedded below. There is no point me repeating the info it contains.

I’m pretty excited about this announcement. We all know how I feel about Scythe. So a chance to revisit the world of Scythe, and that amazing art of Jakub Rozalski. Who wouldn’t be excited?

Encounters Teaser Trailer

I think this is one of the very few times that I regret this blog is not more popular and that I don’t do reviews. But that’s the sacrifice I make to be able to just write what I feel like or am currently interested in.

You can preorder Expeditions now. It should be noted that this isn’t the usual Stonemaier preorder. The game won’t actually be shipped until July. Production has started on the game. But the number of copies being made in this initial print run is governed by preorders plus an additional amount for those that might want it in July.

There is the difficult decision about which version to go for. There are two versions. A retail with plastic mech minis, or an ironclad version with metal mech minis. Which is the main difference.

Along with Expeditions releasing in July there will be the now obligatory Rolling Realms promo pack (also available as a preorder).

In the Facebook livestream Jamey did also say we will see another three promo realms for Rolling Realms around May time. But obviously those details will be announced nearer the time.

Another preorder you can do is a red tinted 5 value metal coin. Plus the new Scythe/Expeditions metal coin pack which contains said coin.

Here is the Expeditions link to preorder or get more info.

There was a second announcement, which sees Tapestry getting some love with a third and final expansion, Fantasies & Futures.

This new expansion gives us “10 new civilizations, 6 advanced capital city mats, 38 new tapestry cards, and 12 new tech cards”, plus “a comprehensive rulebook that organizes all rules for Tapestry and the 3 expansions in one place (as well as a few replacement cards from previous expansions: 3 landmark cards, Oil Paint, and Migration).”

There is also a “new “charm” mechanism that provides one-time bonuses”.

Fantasies & Futures is coming in an envelope type package.

Along side this expansion is an folded space insert that uses the core game box to store the core game plus all expansions.

These will go on preorder on 1st March.

Yeah I’m getting these two. Get everything in one box, plus more content. No brainer for me as a fan of the game.

Here is the Fantasies & Futures link.

Wait I’ve just realised I’ve gone the whole post without saying…

How did that happen?

dungeon23 Week 4 Roundup

#dungeon23, D&D, megadungeon, RPG

It’s been another busy week at work, so it’s been another struggle to keep to the daily schedule.

One thing I am enjoying about this project is the time I spend inking the map. Not only does it transform the map. But I do find the whole inking and doing the cross hatching very therapeutic.

I’m really shocked by that revelation.

I’d never have thought that doing the cross hatching especially would be so calming and relaxing. But it is.

I am wondering have I managed to tell a story, or at least attempted to tell one with the rooms on this level? Does it come across with the room names and descriptions?

I’m trying to tell two stories at once. That of the dungeon itself and the fall of the dwarven kingdom that built it, and also the story of the current inhabitants.

We’ll see how this progresses.

Next week we go down to level 2!

It’s VDD Day!

D&D, life, the universe, and everything, news, RPG, still alive

Another week has passed where I’ve written and played little.

It’s been the regular weekly pattern of work and sleep.

Work has been ballistic. Lots and lots of customers and no staff!

On the plus side I only have a week or five shifts left before my return.

Which means last nights club night will be my last (hopefully) one that I miss. It’s not great that the first two club nights of the new year I’ve had to miss.

At least I’m managing to find folks to play a game or two with on Sundays.

Now onto some D&D news that broke yesterday.

It’s pretty big news.

Remember all that #DnDBegone, boycott WotC and D&D stuff that happened over the last few weeks over the OGL 1.0a?

Well yesterday WotC announced a complete surrender over the issue after the survey feedback (so far) for their draft OGL 1.2 was overwhelmingly negative.

Der! They already knew that. The massive loss of D&DBeyond subscribers, the single voice of descent from content creators, social media.

I suspect this draft and survey were a ruse to allow WotC to backdown without losing face. Or that was the plan.

Whatever their motivation, we got to the right result that community were after. The OGL1.0a is safe. Plus the SRD 5.1 (that’s the document covered by the OGL that allows creators use core rules, classes, races, spells, etc) has been put under a Creative Commons license.

It’s a big win for the community.

The only question remaining is has this been enough to stop the haemorrhaging of creators and players? Or is this too late the damage has been done?

Wait, am I the bad guy here?

Game day

Yesterday I had a bloody great afternoon playing boardgames with my friend Jeff.

It’s been a while since I’ve played with Jeff. So it was really great that we could meet up and play a game or two.

After what has become a Sunday gaming thing for me of having a hot carvery roll (this week pork and stuffing) before starting, and a brief catch up. We played some games.

Our first game of the afternoon was Undaunted: Normandy.

Now those with a long memory will remember I had played Undaunted once before with Jonathan back in 2019.

On paper Undaunted should be right up my alley. Deckbuilding, modular board, World War 2 theme, etc. It ticks so many things I like.

But after my original play Jonathan and I were both left feeling a little meh! about the game. That’s despite at the time and since the majority of players loving it.

Yesterday Jeff and I played scenario 2: Montmartin-en-graignes. I was the bad guys, the German Army. Whilst Jeff played the forces of good, the Allies.

I had an enjoyable time playing Undaunted. But I’m still on the fence over it. It doesn’t for some reason rock my world. Which I can’t put my finger on why. As I wrote earlier it should.

Don’t get me wrong I’d play it again. But it’s not a game I’d go out of my way to play it.

Oh the Allies won.

Our second game of the afternoon was a new game to me Claustrophobia with the De Profundis expansion (or parts of).

For this first play I was the humans, which means Jeff was the demon forces.

Jeff chose the Survivors scenario for us to play. Which meant I had to find the exit and get at least two humans to it to win.

I was getting some Sub Terra vibes with the exploring and revealing tiles. I think the scenario helped with that.

But I also felt a Space Hulk like vibe too. With the one vs one, a small team trying to achieve a goal whilst facing off against insurmountable odds.

I like the map tiles being revealed and the demon player choosing the orientation. They can really screw over the human player. Plus the tiles can have a negative, positive, or neutral effect on either players when revealed.

It’s also a game that has gaming moments. Such as Jeff needing a single hit to kill one of my team. Rolling four dice and not a single hit. Oh the banter afterwards.

Our game ended in a draw because I managed to get a human to the exit. Whilst Jeff murdered the remaining three of my team.

How much did I like Claustrophobia? Enough to look into getting it for myself. However even the 2019 reprint is out of print. Which is a shame. I wouldn’t mind a copy in the collection.

Our third and final game of the afternoon was one from my pile of shame, Alhambra the dice game.

I got Alhambra the dice game a few years back now from Jonathan. And it’s sat on my shelf of shame ever since. It nearly got played on my last visit to Nathan. However it never made it to the table. But I did read the rules whilst there. It intrigued me that you had the “core” game, plus a variant that used the tiles from the original game.

However we were playing the “core” game with its two player rules. Which basically adds a third player.

The initial round of the game I wasn’t feeling the game. But then wow!

I really like this version of Alhambra. You have the whole push your luck Yahtzee dice rolling, majority area control, power ups.

Plus on each turn you have a hard decision of which building you are going to aim for. You can’t go for them all. At most you can try and get the majority on five of the six building types. Or you can try and get the top two majorities on one building pushing any other players out of the end of round scoring positions.

You may decide not to even go for a building type because you are too far behind on the scoring track for that building.

Then after round one, three, and five, points are awarded for how far up the scoring track you are for each building.

These are two simple mechanics that combine really well to present some interesting choices as you play.

Jeff romped home with the victory.

I can’t wait to play again, and try the variant using the original game.

I had a great afternoon gaming with Jeff. Who is just as competitive, if not more so than me. So no punches were pulled. However we both had fun.

But this was a rare two player game session. Which meant games we normally don’t get to the table because of the player count got to the table.

I look forward to repeating it soon.

#dungeon23 Week 3 Roundup

#dungeon23, D&D, megadungeon, RPG

It’s back to work and the varying shifts, and yet some how I’ve managed to get to the end of week 3.

The moving shifts such as three lates, a midday, followed by a couple of early shifts does take a toll.

Add in I’ve had to do stuff to get ready for starting a new job (more on that in a life, the universe, and coffee post).

Suddenly squeezing in this has been a challenge.

I feel as I’m coming up with these rooms that they are encounter light.

However this first level is meant for tier 1 parties, and story wise in my head is “controlled” by religious fanatics (priests, clerics, cultists, etc) loyal to the rising evil.

As we get deeper and closer to the rising evil we’ll see things get weirder and more monstrous.

I also don’t like my map until I have finished the inking on day 7. It’s only then that it comes together for me. Until then it doesn’t seem like a real map worthy of sharing.

Currently there is a Humble Bundle called “RPG Worlds by Kobold Press and Friends” going on that has one or two useful books for this challenge.

The one that sold it to me was Endless Encounters: Dungeons.

“Endless Encounters: Dungeons is an encounter and adventure generator for characters level 1-10 using the 5th edition game system!”

I looked at the sample pdf and instantly thought I want this book. In fact this has jumped onto my “I want a physical copy” list.

The others in this great bundle that I think will be useful for the challenge are Kobold Presses Vault of Magic, plus some bestiary that will be useful in sticking the megadungeon.

Change is a coming…

life, the universe, and everything, still alive

I thought I better post one of these “hey, I’m still alive posts”.

It’s been a busy week back at work.

After nine days off there is always that adjustment back to the routine of shift work. So I feel I’ve been extra tired it feels.

Plus the shift patterns this week has had me going from lates (that’s closing at midnight) to a mid shift, to opening up (that’s a 5:30 start).

That shift pattern is especially tiring as you get no downtime. It’s basically going to work, get some sleep, go to work. There seems no time to chill. To unwind.

However things are a changing on the work front.

Over the time I had off I got another job!

I hadn’t specifically been looking for one. But an opportunity came up.

One of my deciding factors in going for it and accepting the job offer was those shift patterns I described above. They are hard on me. But even harder on mum. They aren’t good for her health.

I discussed things with her naturally. Mums old school. Just like the Black Knight in the Monty Python and The Holy Grail, “it’s merely a flesh wound”. She said she could handle them. But these types of shift were a lot harder on her.

Apparently dog sitting my two little attack chihuahuas in combination with her dog and cat make it hard for her to get the rest she needs at her age. That’s my observation not hers. Although she does complain they keep her up and stop her sleeping (you should hear her when I visit Nathan).

So that was my deciding factor. I love my job and the folks I work with. It wasn’t an easy decision. But in the end mums health trumps everything.

Once I accepted the offer, and the agency negotiated an hourly pay rate (yeah seems the wrong way round I know) I was more than pleasantly surprised, taken aback, even shocked at my new pay rate.

So Tuesday on my return to work I handed in my notice.

Which means in two weeks time I finish at my current employer, and then a day later I start the new job.

Oh what’s the new job? Yeah I seem to have missed that bit out.

I’m returning to education and teaching computing and game design again.

So that’s a pretty big change I think you will agree.

I’m pretty excited about returning, but also sad because I really like my current role and work mates.

But more as things progress.

But as you can tell very little gaming has gone on this week. And the #dungeon23 post will be going up tonight.

However my physical copies of Ruins of the Grendleroot, and Fantastic Locations arrived at the start of the week.

I love the print quality of the soft cover books done by DriveThruRPG.

Until a crowdfunding project is run for the final version of City of Arches, I currently have two more books to get physically to have the Sly Flourish set.

I’m looking forward to dropping these into the campaign in the future.

That’s it for now. The tl;dr is job changing, not much else gone on.