Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I'm getting better...

I'm not dead yet!

After all day Sunday in bed and most of Monday as well, I made it to work on Tuesday. A bit of a cough still and a few ugly hawked up luggies, (Eweeee!), but all in all still on the right side of life.

I did have a lot to catch up on in the reader. Highlight comes from Critical Hits again. A brief summary of the 4e player races. The Goliaths interest me because they might be a good fit for a 4e Iron Kingdom Ogrun. Also the Half Orc will be nice to see in action. Won't be long until we see Mark field either the Half Orc and/or the Shaper. :)

Since it was Tuesday I went to the Game Shoppe and got to play a few games of WARMACHINE. I got some new toys and wanted to try out the new Cygnar I've been working on. The list was... Points: 497, Model Count: 16, Victory Points: 19

Commander Coleman Stryker
> Squire
> Lancer
> Ol' Rowdy
Stormsmith
Stormsmith
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages [6]
> Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer [1]
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team [3]

Yes, I had more VP in a 500 point game then models. I call it the Cygnar Spec Ops Team. It was fun to play, but didn't do so well. Way to many points in not enough damage. :) The idea is to Snipe the Black 13 for 7" (Thanks Squire) and have the Long Shot across the table at unit leaders at 25" + 6" move. Then shoot the snot out of everthing else too. Then use Ol' Rowdy as counter charger. Mixed bag for results. ;-)

To fix the issue, I think I'll drop the Gun Mages and stick w/ the Black 13 only for 500 points. For the 117 odd points I should be able to get a full unit of 10 Sword Knights plus the UA. A little more flexibility.

It's late so I'm off to bed, well, I'm off to sleep as the Netbook has invaded the bedroom. The other half is none to pleased, but she is crashed hard as the crud has taken her now.

Looking forward to more Thunderspire on Saturday. Haven't heard how the FR game went.

jp
I don't want to go on the cart!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sick and Tierd

Ugh,

I lie here in bed typing this post. I feel like crud. If I hadn't been committed to the events yesterday, I would have spent yesterday in bed. I am positive I got at least six other folks sick yesterday by just being near them.

Ugh...

The events went well. At 10am we kicked off the Steamroller v4 500 point tournament. 12 players was a solid turn out with three folks from Lincoln making the trip. Even P3 showed and he brought/forced his new girl friend to play... What a gentlemen. Highlight was most likely Joshua from Lincoln playing Montenabra Cryx with DJ and Canker combo. He won three of his four games on turn two. Nasty combo. Would have one the fourth, but the small based shreadder blocked the charge lane. Nasty combo. Hooker won again, with Greg from Lincoln coming in second and Joshua coming in third. Good battles. Painting went to Phillip and best sport was tied between Adam and Whitney. Adam, as a true sporting gentlemen, let Whitney take the T-Shirt.

MonPoc also had 12 players, which is a pretty good turn out. We only needed three rounds as a we had one undefeated at that time. The prizes were the Mega Armodex (-5 for spelling) and shadow Exlopdiehawks. Greg from Lincoln one that event, with Scott from Lincoln taking second. Lots of fun, good play by all in attendance.

I'm back to bed. Feel like snot. ugh.

jp
ugh

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Ahoy!

Hey folks,

Just a short update for you too day with a few links of interest.

  • http://zoltanthereformed.blogspot.com/ -- My Wizard player is kicking it! You go Zoltan! :)
  • http://www.critical-hits.com/features/character-class-reference/ -- An interesting collection of classes from Wizards and 3rd Party vendors. Kind of stuff at a glance.
  • http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/ -- This is Wil Wheaton's blog. Kind of a Geek-u-topia type postings. If you got some time to spare and like geek culture, give it a read.
  • http://www.thenewfrontiersman.net/ -- If you have read Watchmen, you know about The New Frontiersman. Site is kind of cool!
Speaking of Watchmen...



:) :) :) :)

Lets just say I'll do my best to hit the midnight show... Maybe over in CB if it shows in the IMAX.

In gaming news a few small updates.

Busy times indeed!

jp
Watch'n the Watchmen

Sunday, January 18, 2009

A Full House and Slumdogs...

Salutations,

On Saturday the entire gang got together, with all in attendance. New faces included Kaz'nak the Dragonborn Paladin, on his quest to assist Zoltan the Reformed on his mission to save the, ah, slaves.

Having returned to the Seven Pillared Hall, the party too the opportunity to take a much needed extended rest after vanquishing the Bloodreavers. Before departing the Bloodreavers lair, Sliver found a gold coin with the symbol that looked like the one that was left when his family was killed. Upon regaining their abilities, amazing what a good six hours will do, the local enforcer, Brugg stated that the 'Wizard on Call' wanted to speak to them. Seems one of their own has gone missing and given the teams outstanding abilities was wondering if they could lend a hand!

With a new quest to add to the ever growing pile, the team heads out on the heels of the Duergar that had purchased the captured slaves the party headed out in search of the Duergar's lair. Following the Road of Shadows, the team decides to take the path lest traveled. A quick encounter with a pack of hungry hyenas was followed by the meeting of a Troglodyte party. This one didn't go so easy. The Trogs had brought an Angle of Torog that helped make some bloody attacks. Some of the 'younger' characters spent daily powers and were very low on surges, but resting in the open hall, was just not an answer. so the party continued to explore.

Back tracking they found a door down one corridor and beat in the door. A few Orcs and an Ogre are surprised and battle ensues, but once the players get the upper hand, the last Orc flees and gets the Duergar's boss and his posse. This battle, without a chance to reload the encounter powers, is a long and bloody ordeal, but the party does prevail.

I had to leave a bit early so I left them hanging, many in need for an extended rest to go up a level, let alone get their powers back. Be sure to check in later! :)

On Sunday, The Other Half and I went to go see Slumdog Millionaire. The film was wonderfully directed and acted. The children actors were outstanding in their performances. The older versions of the characters were very good as well. It is a drama/love story but still very entertaining. It is a great 'date night' movie, or one to see if you like good cinema. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 Illegal Taj Mahal Tours.

Next week is the WM/HD/MonPoc tournament extravaganza in The Game Shoppe. Be sure to swing by and say 'hey!'.

jp
Jai Ho Boggier

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Dayton in the reaview mirror...

Well, not exactly.

I'm sitting in the Airport in Dayton OH typing my blog on my new 'toy'. I'm not a big fan of business travel, namely because I am so big and I hate the tiny seats and crappy service from the air lines, this time provided by our friends at United. Oh the Joy!

The trip was a mixed bag. Nothing great for business outcomes, but I did develop a 13 plus encounter outline for the gang's next adventure series after we finish off the Thunder Spire. After all, you have to have priorities. :)

The Spire should take a few more sessions, plenty of things to explore and get in trouble. I estimate that the gang should be around the 6-7th level mark when we finish up, which, if I remember stats right will be about right for what I want to accomplish. I would tell you the gory details, but I think that the only people who actually read this blog are the ones that playing! After all loose lips sink ships :) Or is it a big deception to throw you off the scent? Only time will tell... Mahhahahahahhahaha!

Other then business travel, not much new to report. I didn't even turn the TV on at the hotel as I spent the time listening to Pandora on the Intertubes and playing, you guessed it, Spider Solitaire. Stupid game.

Crap! I gjustt got dive bombed by a black bird here in the Dayton Airport! Birth place to aviation my ass! What kind airport lets birds freely roam the inside of the airport. The eaves must be full of bird droppings... Ewwww... And I thought Omaha was backwards! :) I keed, I keed. :)

I am also proud to announce that I made it through an entire trip with out the evil fried potatoes. I even worked out once. If I hit the gym in the morning, then I'll be all even in the end. Soda. That's a different story.

Damn bird. I think it after by $1.50 sandwich that cost me $10 in Dayton Airport.

Here is to hoping that I can get out on Saturday. That is my plan. I think that a new Dragonborn Paladin should be entering the fray!

Holy Cow... They just did a giant 'Bing Bong the local time is 530.' I could here it better then the flight announcements. Shessh! This place is scary... I want to go home. No bird strikes, no bird strikes!

jp
Defeated by Birds and Dayton

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Spider Solitaire Ate My Brain!

Greetings one and all,

For the past two weeks, every time I sit down to do something on this damn computer, I open up Spider Solitaire and blow anywhere from 45-90 minutes. Seriously. I don't know what to do. I've got plenty of games that I can hook up to the new system that should run a lot better, I just can't get motivated. To boot, I'm at a pathetic 10% win rate on the medium level. Stupid Spiders!

On Saturday Rob ran his campaign. Good session with Rillic, Cleric of Tempus, leveling up to third level. No dramatic kills this time around for Rillic, but he did contribute to the skill challenges and a big battle with the entcaps once he figured out the whole healing thing. :) Looks like next week we pick up again in Thunderspire. Looking forward to running and hope to have a little better theme music too! :-)

Speaking of music, I know I am slow on the upkeep, but the Eldest told me about Pandora, and I finally got around to checking it out. Pretty cool site. The Other Half has even set up a few channels. I'm trying to set up an RPG station with theme music, but they don't have the Conan Soundtrack on the site.

On the resolutions, it is a mix bag. I made my goal for the gym, was good all week on soda until game night when I downed three or four. Still no fried taters. That alone is a blessing. I do travel next week for work, so the fast food calling might be to tight. We shall see.

I've been assembling new Cygnar stuff lately to and using the Dragon Forge Bases. I'll get some happy snaps up soon as I think they are looking pretty good so far!

Also, almost forgot, I picked up the Acer Aspire One Notebook. I needed something for business travel, just to keep connected, and I think it will fit the bill.

Until next time,

jp
Arachnids on the Mind

Sunday, January 4, 2009

An Update on the Rez

Greetings,

With the big chunk of the first week of January done, thought I would share an update on the old resolutions so far. It is a mixed bag, and in all honesty a bit early, but I thought I would do it any ways.

A bit of explanation on the graphic. This is the work side of me coming out. The color indicates the current status, green being relatively good, red bad, and yellow in limbo. The arrows indicate if the 'trend' is moving up/down or staying the same. No real empirical stats being tracked, mostly just my 'gut' feeling. So some highlights...
  • Blog: As evidence from this post, I'm green and in the frame of mind to continue posting. :) Lucky you!
  • 4e: Rob wanted to run his for a week or two, but everyone seems interested to get back to the Thunderspire. See below for a quick summary.
  • Board Games: I'm working on a devilish plan to get the regular guys to play. Mahhhh!
  • Gym: Heading in the morning. My first opportunity to be honest.
  • Fries: Zero Fries = good
  • Soda: Bad, bad, bad... Had three Diet Cokes for the game night tonight
  • Nice to Partner: She would say no. I would say it has been near imposable to be so. I'll call it a draw and go with it.
Sunday afternoon we had a 4e session. An odd time, but given the craptasitc ice storm on Saturday it was the safest thing we could have done. Rob was running his Forgotten Realms campaign where I'm running a Dwarf Cleric of Tempest. I usually don't get to set in as on my free nights I'm running, so my Dwarf 'magically' appears when I can play and hides in the corner when I'm gone. Since Rob has two or three of us like that it keeps the party a guessing game. Three encounters with the second being a bad ass vampire that nearly kicked our butts to the mythical TPK. It took every daily and encounter and a bit of luck to finally drag him down. Truly a beast!

Had a good time, just wish I was more involved for story consistency.

Off to bed as work in the morning is calling. Oh yea! I'm am so happy about that!

Night all!

jp
Killer of Vamps

Friday, January 2, 2009

Update, Dumpdate

Hello,

New Years went well for dinner at Sushi Japan Yakiniku Boy. We had 10 for the food frenzy with four couples and the Eldest and her new friend. Food was good as always, but some of the folks were not keen on the Sushi so much. The service was a little lacking. The waitress didn't come by the table for drink orders all that much, which surprised me, and she had a bit of an attitude which was a bit of downer. I didn't eat the most that night, I think that went to James with Brian a close second. Good times were had and that is what is important.

That evening we came home and The Other Half hit the sack. I had to stay up for a few hours so I played an old computer game called "Chris Sawyer's Locomotion". I know this game is ancient in game terms, being published 2004 and all, plus it shuns the 3D engine, instead using the 2D isometric graphics, but I can play that game for hours and hours. I guess I'm funny like that.

No real world gaming developments to speak of. The Eldest and I played a few rounds of RftG, I'm trying to bribe some of the single guys with dinner to come over and play with four or five players, but not much luck so far.

I also picked up the Wasteland II base set from Dragon Forge Design. I'm planning on getting a new Cygnar Army and re-basing some older models. The Plan is to theme it off of a more High Plains Drifter feel with dirty/dusty browns. Kraye and Striker (Alt) are the first to get the treatment, plus I will betting some new figs like Black 13, Strangeways, Ol'Rowdy... You get the idea.

I had today off, since the building was going to be empty. I spent the day doing Honey Do's and getting my new e-Bay batch up. Got to keep my gaming budget supplied don't ya know.

I'll post about Rob's game tomorrow night. I have no idea what is going on, so hopefully, I won't be a stick in the mud! :)

jp
Purveyor of Fine Games Since 1967