When you are knackered and working these later shifts time sure does fly. Can’t believe it’s been three days since I wrote about the culmination of our Rise of Fenris campaign and Jeff’s victory.
In real life the uncertain future at work is starting to take shape. I got a glimpse of it when I got my shifts for the next three weeks. To paraphrase The Animals song I’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place, and find something with the hours I need to make ends meet.
Gaming wise I’m able to do a mid week session with Gavin tomorrow. The plan is to have a two player game of Star Wars Outer Rim. Gavin wants to try the game as he owns it but never played it (I think I can relate to that – currently 56 games have that distinction in my collection). The experience will determine if he keeps it or not. So no pressure!
Then Friday sees me running the Paranoia RPG one shot [YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR THE TITLE OF THIS ADVENTURE]. Looking forward to this.
I did have to move the planned Tapestry session for a third time! Hopefully this will be the final time I have to do this. Having the shifts for the next three weeks has helped on at least finding a day when I won’t be working!
Remember the saga of the Vampire the Masquerade Rivals expansion Shadows and Shrouds preorder? Well the missing half finally turned up on Monday! What’s that 10 weeks!! I’ll be using this copy of the expansion as prize support.
I’m tempted to start a coding project to write a Vampire the Masquerade Rivals deck builder app. I know Renegade have one on their website. But I’m not a fan of it. It’s functional, but because it’s a web page just feels clunky, slow, and so Web 1.0! I want something more like the MtG Decked app for deck building. At the moment it’s just an idea with the start of some class diagrams defining attributes. There are many technical problems to overcome. Maybe I’ll discuss this in more detail in a future post if I go ahead with the project.
So for the last time (“thank feck for that” I hear you say) I’ll be saying the following.
SPOILER ALERT! The following post contains spoilers for the Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe. If you haven’t played the expansion and wish to avoid any spoilers you may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one.
I wasn’t expecting Ben for this final showdown. Having checked in with him afterwards he has been having a rough time health wise. I know I speak for all of us that know Ben and don’t, that we wish him a speedy recovery. He has been missed during our campaign, and we all look forward to when we can game with him again.
Now onto the bit everyone who has been following this has been waiting for.
Episode 8 – The Final Episode – TESLA’S MADNESS
So here we are episode 8, the final episode of the Rise of Fenris campaign. The only episode that counts in deciding the winner of the campaign.
With our failure to rescue (or is it recapture in the case of the Fenris faction?) Tesla in the previous episode, this episode had the title of Tesla’s Madness.
This meant that the Tesla mini started on the Factory space and would move around the board based on a die roll and a Mad Tesla tile, attacking anyone he moved into the same space as. Tesla would be the last to take a turn. So in our game between Shane (last) and Jeff(first). Jeff was given the duty of controlling Tesla.
I will say it was confusing in the rules when it referred to using the blue and orange dice with Tesla. The dice aren’t coloured that way. They were black and brown! Then it clicked with Jeff the rules were referring to the colour of the numerals on the dice! Why?
The rules allowed players to chose their player mats this episode. Naturally the combo restrictions for Rusviet and Crimea applied. The order of choice was based on total wealth at the start of this episode. Which meant Jeff chose first, then Shane, and finally myself. Here is our final faction and player mat setup.
Vesna & Voltan/Industrial (Cyan) – Jeff
Rusviet Union/Patriotic (Red) – Shane
Fenris/Militant (Orange) – Me
Once again we were given the option to use the Wind Gambit expansion, and the Backup Plan/Doomsday Clock resolution tiles. So naturally we were going to have in play the airships. However I went with this being the “classic” end of game condition. Besides we also had the defeat Tesla end game condition.
Airship rules and structure bonus for the game.
Jeff started off the game with a bit of shock and awe, using a factory card and an infrastructure mod he completed one of his objective cards and had a star out on the triumph track. Plus had an encounter!
The first actions of Shane and myself were not as impressive. Although I did thanks to my infrastructure mod have a mech out on turn one unlocking my leap ability.
I was definitely aiming to have Rasputin out and roaming the board putting out those influence tokens right from the start.
Tesla roaming around the board threatened to attack on several occasions. But I was the first to take Tesla on and win. I did have death ray at that point plus the mod that could add +2 to my attack.
I did take an early lead getting stars out but kinda ran out of gas towards the end for doing that. Jeff was getting close to ending the game, so I was hoping that either Tesla would get him off the factory tile or I could get to him and kick him off. However Tesla was unable to defeat him (twice) and I was unable to get there in time.
Our final Triumph Track
Although Shane got more stars out than me, and was threatening to end the game. I did feel he was not “aggressive” enough with my beloved faction. He did seem penned in to his home area for much of the game. He could have had a factory card and control of more tiles.
Jeff had chosen two Vesna mech abilities to do with lakes. The first allowed him to teleport between lakes. The second gave him +1 for each location he controlled that was a lake. Add in the fact he had control of the Factory at the end, the territory he controlled gave him the victory. He got 48 odd points from this. It basically accounts for the point difference between us.
Our final scores for episode 8
So congratulations to Jeff on his victory and on winning the campaign.
I hope Jeff enjoyed his chicken dinner. Obviously Shane and I didn’t get a one.
Thoughts on Rise of Fenris
We had a blast playing this campaign. Some great twists and turns.
The great thing is we can now use the expansion as modules to a regular game, as well as getting two more factions. Add in the modular board, the two unofficial variants (in the complete rulebook) and wow talk about variability and replay ability.
For example the triumph track now can be the “classic” no change, or you could use either the war or peace tracks, or have it totally random using the tiles from Tesla!
You can focus more on conflict or down grade it’s importance. Basically tailor the game to the style of play you enjoy the most, or feel like on the day.
And then there is the Desolation module that’s adds a co-op mode to the game.
Plus you can replay the campaign. Ok you won’t have the surprise element to the campaign as it unfolds. But that doesn’t matter. It might change how you approach each episode.
You don’t have to play the campaign to start with and can just use it as modules for the game. But why wouldn’t you play the campaign first?
This is an amazing expansion that offers fantastic value for money.
I might even say this may be my favourite and the best expansion for Scythe. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the other expansions. Especially the Wind Gambit and what it adds to the game. But Rise of Fenris just blows them away.
Our first post UKGE Friday night gaming session was well attended once again.
It really is nice seeing the club nights being so well attended, and also other gaming sessions taking place on other nights between members.
Obviously I was there early to get the tables set up, and welcome any new members who turned up.
We split into two initial groups last night of a four and five. Which saw the other group grow into eight at one point!
Our table started off with a game of the roll and write Dungeons, Dice & Danger.
Once again we played the novice Annoyed Animals map. It was the natural choice really with three new players.
This really is a nice roll and write. I’ve really enjoyed both my plays of this, and I’ve not even touched the other three maps yet.
I did get hit for a whopping minus sixteen points, and was one life away from the minus twenty and being out of the game. That cost me the win, and gave it to Ben.
Final scores for Dungeons, Dice & Danger
Our second game of the evening was the drafting and set collection game Sushi Go Party.
Which is basically Sushi Go with some extras to add variety. So all that drafting and set collecting action we all love about the game is still there but more so!
Sushi Go Party comes with a nice menu board that has a score tract and a meal reminder area. It’s obvious how the score tract is used. However using tiles provided you fill up the menu spaces so you have a reminder of the cards that make up the deck you are playing with. Which is really nice to have for all players to see.
And this is the main difference between the original and Party. Party has a lot more meal items to select from. You can use one of the suggested menus in the rulebook, or just choose at random.
I do like the suggested menus. They are pitched/themed at different players or type of game. So like last night I chose the menu aimed at those new to the game. However if I had wanted a more cut throat competitive game there was a menu for that. Plus there are menu suggestions for everything in between.
The only drawback of all this flexibility is the setup and putting away takes a bit longer than the original. It’s also a less portable game obviously using a much larger storage container.
Having said that still a great, fun game. Just now even more replayable.
Final scores for Sushi Go
The final game on our table was one of the latest hotness games First Rat.
Ok I won this game.
There’s a lot to like about this game. Some great decisions to make as your rats ascend towards boarding the rocket.
I like how there are a variety of tactics you can employ/focus on to score points.
The game looks stunning, and I love the cute first player marker.
At the end of the game it was revealed that the other side of the board you get to randomly setup the spaces and scoring. A more “gamer” oriented side. I like the sound of that and would love to try it.
Haven’t got much time to go any deeper into this game and what I liked. But it’s going on my wish list.
Final scores for First Rat
Another great evening of gaming. Looking forward to the next one.
Just knocked up a little “fun” video to get me in the mood for today and our final game, episode 8 of our Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe.
But first this…
SPOILER ALERT! The following video contains spoilers for the Rise of Fenris campaign for Scythe. If you haven’t played the expansion and wish to avoid any spoilers you may want to avoid this video.
Our intrepid adventures continued to explore the ground floor of the house. Only to discover an alternative route down to the basement to a wine cellar.
It was in the wine cellar they found an armour clad corpse. Which Dotty searched and was attacked by a swarm of rot grubs. Luckily some quick thinking by Babs and her burning hands saw off the nasty litter critters.
With Dotty all clad in her newly acquired battered plate armour the party returned to the ground floor to explore the rest of the house.
Which saw them disturb a couple of swarms of spiders in one of the rooms before heading upstairs.
Upstairs they found some dirty laundry in the first couple of rooms they searched.
And it is here that we leave our party on the first floor looting what they can.
Post Mortem
Look I know this next bit is repetitive and boring as I included it in these posts. But I have to say it. It’s not here for the majority of those that read my ramblings and incoherent thoughts. It’s for that handful of people that are crazy enough to play D&D with me as their DM.
SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following part of the post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign. You may want to avoid this part of the post and join me in a future one.
I’d found out the night before our planned session about a football tournament taking place at the sports and community centre whilst we were going to play D&D.
So I warned the players that parking might be an issue. Plans were put in place to cater for this.
On the day despite the warning we didn’t have any problems parking close to the community centre.
However we did have two adventurers that couldn’t make the session in the end. Leaving us we two actual people there to play D&D.
With some last minute heroic actions Shane had got copies of the missing players character sheets. Which meant Shane and Anthony could play two characters. Well control the other one.
This seemed to work ok.
I did reduce the inspiration tokens to just two though.
The unexpected benefit of the football tournament was that there were burger and ice cream stands there catering to the crowd of supporters/parents and players. Which meant when we took a mid session break we could and did grab a burger.
In this session the players did encounter the swarm of rot grubs. This did have the potential to be a deadly encounter. If memory doesn’t fail me in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh there is no forewarning of what they are. Which for an adventure aiming at low level adventurers seems harsh. I had the party find maggot like corpses in the kitchen, some of which were burnt. Plus the party could see a mixture dead and burnt ones around and coming out of the corpse. Which might seem heavy handed, even clumsy sign posting. But it worked the players picked up on the clues how to kill them.
My prep for the session was very minimal. I didn’t get round to producing the list of items that could be found. I’ve found that the temporary change to my work shift has left me feeling a bit more knackered than expected. Luckily I could reuse my previous session notes. They were still very valid.
I am liking the Ghosts of Saltmarsh haunted house map. I have used a mixture of the included monster encounters (rot grubs, spiders) and ones I’ve added to it (shadows, mummy). I think it’s working well.
Our next session isn’t going to be for 4 weeks. Work has me doing nights for a couple of weeks. Which starts the Saturday of our next scheduled session. There are changes afoot at work that mean making enough money each month to pay bills isn’t a given. As you can imagine it’s a worrying time not just for me but a lot of people at work. So I have to take what hours I can get to make sure I can earn enough to keep a roof over my head.
On that cheery note I’ll see you in the next post
UPDATE 17/6/22: Since writing this post mortem one or two things have been mulling around in my head. The first is that once the party hits level 3 the rogue of the group might want to take the Soulknife feature in particularly the Psychic blades from Tasha’s. Will this be over powering, or become too over powering? Do I allow it?
The second thought I’ve been mulling is a character now with the plate armour having an AC of 20. Granted their AC was already 18. How does this change the balance of encounters now?
I obviously still have some more mulling on these two things to do before our next session.
The end of last week saw some of The Dice Tower crew (Tom Vasel, Zee Garcia, and Mike DiLisio) do their Top 10 Boardgame apps.
You can watch the video below and get all the chit chat that goes with the list.
Or you can just look at the following screen grabs if you think life is too short.
The Dice Tower Top 10 Boardgame Apps
There was also a Top 10 viewer list at the end of the video as well. I won’t put that here and leave you to discover that at your own leisure if you are so inclined.
I did watch the video, and like so many who have done the same, thought “what about…?”
So here are my Top 9 iOS boardgame apps. It would have been 10 but that doesn’t fit conveniently into a 3×3 grid.
My Top 9 iOS Boardgame Apps
Here are three iOS boardgame apps that very nearly made the list.
My Top 3 Runners Up
The nice thing about this sort of video by the Dice Tower is it gets you thinking about the apps you already have, let’s you know about app versions you never knew were out. For instance I never knew Cartographers or Railroad Ink had app versions. You can bet they are now on my iPad waiting to be played. Particularly Railroad Ink is a cheap way to try the game before “investing” in the physical version.
What app versions of boardgames make your top ten/nine?
After the failed attempt to play The Thing the boardgame with Nathan during my recent visit. I was wondering when or even if I’d get it to the table.
But after creating an event on the Fenland Gamers discord server, and limiting the player count (because it would be a learning game) I had a date and time set to get it to the table.
Last night saw that plan to get The Thing the boardgame to the table come to fruition.
Luckily our player count for the game (four) was enough to learn the main game rules. For player counts less than four The Thing becomes a co-op boardgame.
Like Scythe and any other game I’ve organised a session for I’m there early to get things set up. We were using the neoprene playmat for the game, plus the plastic character and alien minis. No cardboard standees in this game.
Setup seems fiddly. But it’s not really. It’s just parts of it are dependent on knowing the player count. I initially setup for a four player count. Although it was potentially possible that we’d have six! It stayed at four.
Once everyone had arrived and selected the character they wanted we started playing.
Characters played
I was the starting leader.
After drawing an infection token to see what our secret role was. We got down to the task of surviving long enough to escape the alien. Or in my case remain undetected long enough to infect the others. Oh yes I was the alien.
There was a definite Battlestar Galactica/Dead of Winter vibe to The Thing! Which isn’t a surprise considering they are all hidden traitor games. The Thing is closer to BSG than DoW. DoW has a story element that the other two don’t.
Once you have had a couple of rounds the turn sequence becomes familiar. They aren’t actually overly complicated turns. We actually skipped the third turn the whole game because no alien was revealed until the very end.
Although we did have fun. I think the game like the other two needs the higher player counts.
In our game no testing of players took place because we didn’t get to the laboratory more than once, nor did we have both parts required to perform a flame test.
We spent our time trying to keep the boiler and generator repaired, finding keys and getting the odd weapon. Initially I did try repairing the radio, and take food from the pantry. But between the four of us we really didn’t have enough actions to do everything except try and keep on top of things and maybe escape via one of the bases broken vehicles.
With the higher player count more actions could be done around the base.
In the end it turned out everyone had been infected as an alien. Which under the rules meant the last human infected lost the game, and the aliens win! Although the aliens won twice as they were on the escape vehicle too! Which is when we discovered everyone was infected. Then it became a question of who was the last person to be infected.
We did enjoy The Thing enough that we want to play it again. Especially with a higher player count. A Saturday session for sure.
It started last Sunday when not one of a dozen eggs I was given survived the journey home.
That set the tone for the week.
I’ve changed shift patterns at work and also one of my days off to cover people being off on holiday or training. Which has meant I’ve had to move a planned game of Tapestry twice as my stint on the new shift got extended after changing the initial date.
Then I nearly lost a work pda. Which if I had done would have been embarrassing and also just the icing on the cake.
But last night after work Diego made my week.
I’ve not moaned about it on here. But getting my pre-order copy of the latest Vampire the Masquerade Rivals expansion Shadows and Shrouds with the promo alt art cards has been an epic tale that is still on going.
Way back when Renegade opened the pre-orders for it I ordered two copies. One for me and the other for Diego.
The idea is that we get these cool promo alt art cards of a couple of the new vampires, plus the expansion itself a week it so before it hits the shops.
It didn’t happen that way for this expansion.
Retailers had their copies and were selling them two weeks before the Renegade UK Warehouse were rush sending out the UK pre-orders. The rush was on so that apparently UK players would have their copies before the first ever Prince of the City event in the UK.
Some didn’t. I was one of them.
But let me say this before continuing that this expansion should never have been legal for the UK Prince of the City event. It put those that had pre-ordered their copy from Renegade at a disadvantage to those that got theirs from a retailer.
After two weeks my pre-order still hadn’t shown up, and Renegade marketing head honcho Matt Holland got involved and started chasing things up on my behalf.
The UK Warehouse then “resent” my order. Although I suspect it was never sent in the first place. I’d had no shipping notice. And they never provided a shipping number to trace it.
However what arrived was only half of the pre-order. A single copy of the expansion and promo cards.
Really?
Naturally this had to go to Diego. It was the right thing to do.
Matt chased it up. They were meant to have sent the missing expansion. But the tracking number they gave was for the one that had already arrived!
This was followed by a wall of silence from the UK Warehouse. Who I honestly don’t know how they are still employed. Their incompetence, not answering emails, etc would see them going through disciplinary processes and seeking new employment in most other places.
The whole saga is about to go into its eighth week. Allegedly the UK Warehouse has sent/will be sending the missing half of the pre-order any day now. Nada on the shipping notice front.
I suspect the UK Warehouse is once again blowing smoke up Matt’s bum (to use a colourful expression).
However Diego surprised me yesterday by giving me a copy of the new expansion.
I was gobsmacked by his generosity and kindness. My eyes nearly leaked.
It really did make my day, and end a week where if it could go wrong it would, on a high.
What will I do with my pre-order copy when it eventually comes?
Obviously I don’t need two copies. So I’ll use it as extra prize support for our organised play.
Our sponsor for this post insists that I issue the following warning.
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.
After having to cancel the last session due to unforeseen circumstances. This weekends up and coming planned meet up is on.
I still have the bit of prep to do for it that I discussed in that first planning post. The plan is to do that Friday on my next day off.
In the meantime there is a remote chance that the Lazy DM Companion and spiral bound Lazy DM Workbook might arrive by then. At the tail end of last week delivery addresses were locked. So the sending out of pledges should be any day now.
I was going to say I got nada at UKGE rpg related. But I did in fact get something. The Little Book of Battle Maps was being given away free by the publisher to attendees of the expo. Probably to the annoyance of one particular stand that was trying to sell it for £9.
I’m a fan of the Battle Map books. I have two already. The big dungeon themed one lives in my DM bag. My last two sessions have used it as a generic battle map.
I’ll write another update Friday once I’ve finished the prep.
