tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16220252506146140802024-03-13T04:29:00.391-05:00JP's Gaming BlogWhere I discuss the current games I may or may not be running and other of life's ramblings...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-22037930238291006892010-11-26T21:53:00.000-06:002010-11-26T21:53:21.379-06:00T-Day SpecialsThanksgiving Day was a good gaming day for the old boy. The Eldest and I started it out with a few learning games of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/59946/dungeons-dragons-castle-ravenloft-board-game">Castle Ravenloft Board Game</a>. It is basically 4e D&D streamed down to the bare essentials for an elemental board game. Despite me failing to catch one very significant rule, we came very close to winning once and got throttled the others. As with most role play experiences, it is a cooperative game that seems to do a fairly decent job of managing the 'bad guys' against the players. <br />
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Later that day we played a few hands of Dominion. We split the games 2 and 2. After six Eric made it over and we tried our hand at Ravenloft again, still having not won a game. When Paul showed we threw him into the mix and that is when we found that we should have been taking treasure cards on every monster kill... Oops! That made it a much more balanced game and we got our first win!<br />
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Afterwards The Eldest went to crash and the Eric, Paul, and I tried a go at <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/71721/space-hulk-death-angel-the-card-game">Space Hulk: Blood Angel</a> from Fantasy Flight Games. It was late and since I had been up since about 3am, I was a bit tired. The mechanics took a few rounds to figure out, and I would like to try again when I am more focused and we can try three or so games back to back in order to figure out the best way to conduct the cooperative aspects of the game.<br />
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On Friday when the Eldest got off work we tried Ravenloft again as a two player and were very close to winning the next adventure. Just one stinkin' gargoyle away from a win! Later we went to the theater and caught <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245526/">RED</a>. I have been wanting to see it as it looked alike a great action flick. It was perfect summer fare at the very tail end of fall. I give it 3 1/2 out of 4 ex-CIA operatives. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000518/">John Malkovich</a> was a hoot.<br />
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jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-38728790647202638132010-11-11T12:28:00.000-06:002010-11-11T12:28:04.688-06:00Gaming? What gaming?So I have a few minor updates on the gaming front, but not much since I've been traveling again for work and such.<br />
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I picked up Blood Bowl Legends and have started playing a campaign of that. Also picked up a discount bin casino game and have been doing a bit of Texas Hold'em and such to pass short periods of time.<br />
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The Eldest and I played three rounds of Dominion the other night. I went 3-0 and felt bad. She likes the game, but her strategies didn't pan out or took too long to develop.<br />
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Tonight headed to Steve's to do what I hope is the last play test before we clean up the rules and ship them out for the next review cycle.<br />
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jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-42481532071385129592010-11-01T10:43:00.002-05:002010-11-01T19:38:37.048-05:00FoW and The Walking Dead<div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Saturday I was able to go to the de</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">escalation</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">tournament. Paul ran a good show which had each player</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">s list shrink from 1750 to 1500 and finally 1250. </span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;"> I brought my Italian</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">Squadrone Esplorante</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> with lots of little tanks. First game was versus US Mech Infantry which I had a great start with, but when Morgan</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">s reserves all came in on the flank and rolled across the board killing all in</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">their</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> path. Second game was against Michele</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">from Des Moines and her Irish Recon force. Solid game, I didn</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">t really read the</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">scenario</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> correctly and failed</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">to grasp that her reserves came on right on the objective. She played a solid game and with the Sherman</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">s coming in I really wasn</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">t going to bounce her off with an L-6. Last game was vs. Kyle and a US Infantry team. </span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was a pretty good game and I</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">actually</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> killed an entire platoon or two and only had a marginal loss when time was called. Over all I was 0-3 with 5 points. Not too good, but I had three good games. </span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sunday was Halloween and we did a bit of decorating, but only got about a dozen kiddos. So I was able to bring in a big bag of left over candy, like everyone else to the office. At 9pm, the first episode of The Walking Dead</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">started. </span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;"> The show was outstanding. I never been a huge zombie guy, but I really liked how this episode wasn</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">t about them. It was about the</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">undead walking around. Don</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">t get me wrong, they were there, but the story is what is driving this story, not the</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">gratuitous violence</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. </span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lead character, Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Grimes</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, waking in a world that was not the one he remembers, having lost his family, and</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;">beginning</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> his quest to find them, still takes the time to find the crawler he encountered early in the show and provide the mercy that was needed.</span></span><span lang="en-us"> <span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Lots of promise is this one. I</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’</span></span><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ll keep tuning in.</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">jp</span></span></div><div dir="LTR"><span lang="en-us"></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-31131095952735421822010-10-19T21:14:00.001-05:002010-10-19T21:16:56.072-05:00Dominion PlayThe eldest and I got to play some <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion">Dominion </a>after dinner tonight.<br />
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We did three games with me taking two and her stomping me on the third. Just took her a while to get warmed up I guess!<br />
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I'm going to try and sign up for the <a href="http://www.flamesofwar.com/">FoW </a><a href="http://gameshoppe.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi?board=FlamesofWar&action=display&num=1283967768">tournament at the Game Shoppe</a> on the the 30th. I haven't played in about 6 months so it is about time to get stomped there too. I'll have to dust off the Italians.<br />
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Not much new going on. Hope to go see <a href="http://www.red-themovie.com/">RED</a> this weekend and looking forward to <a href="http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/">The Walking Dead</a> on Halloween.<br />
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jp<br />
What me game?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-51053885966357234272010-10-17T20:34:00.000-05:002010-10-17T20:34:40.373-05:00Vacation ReturnBack on the ground in the Big O! following a week in New Hampshire. The Other Half had been wanting to go for years and we were finally able to make it out.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E6RqkOzuc_4/TLp2R-bYpBI/AAAAAAAACgE/wBNSZJApNgw/s1600/100_0123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E6RqkOzuc_4/TLp2R-bYpBI/AAAAAAAACgE/wBNSZJApNgw/s400/100_0123.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look At The Colors!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E6RqkOzuc_4/TLp2T9pstbI/AAAAAAAACgo/0_kD-BCTmPw/s1600/100_0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E6RqkOzuc_4/TLp2T9pstbI/AAAAAAAACgo/0_kD-BCTmPw/s400/100_0133.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Other Half On The Lake</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E6RqkOzuc_4/TLpzOGU1qOI/AAAAAAAACWc/AY7BQdZmn34/s1600/Flume+032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E6RqkOzuc_4/TLpzOGU1qOI/AAAAAAAACWc/AY7BQdZmn34/s400/Flume+032.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.newhampshire.com/nh-attractions/flume-gorge.aspx">The Flume!</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.r.palumbo/NewHampshire#">More Pics can be found here!</a><br />
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Didn't get much gaming in, but The Eldest and I played a round of Pandemic and Settlers of Catan Card game when I got back. Hope to get in a board game night soon this week.<br />
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jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-19441556542173869252010-10-04T15:08:00.001-05:002010-10-04T15:08:46.511-05:00Movie: The Social Network<div class=WordSection1> <p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Since I don’t play games in more… Shessh!</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The other half and I went to see The Social Network on Sunday.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>In short, it was a good movie. Well written and acted. However it did not persuade me to go and join Facebook. I have my own grumblings on privacy (funny since I blog, well, sort of blog) plus the feeling of its use as a mechanism for malicious code insertion. But, back to the movie…. It is a Hollywood version of the founding and creation of Facebook told from the point of view of two law suits against the founder from people who were either ‘wronged’ or felt the idea was ‘stolen’ from them. I’m sure the facts were played with loosely, as is Hollywood’s right to make the boring entertaining, but it felt like a good story. I particularly liked Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal as it was just geeky enough and snarky enough to be entertaining. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>So even though I don’t “Facebook” I found the movie worth the price of admission. I get it 6 out of 8 friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>jp<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-86438537229869554652010-09-24T12:06:00.001-05:002010-09-24T21:56:30.643-05:00A game? Why yes!<!-- Converted from text/rtf format --> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">A few game to report since my wildly late last post.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">First up I picked up ‘Small World’ and gave it a try a few times. First game was a five player game at the Shoppe on the day I picked it up. Solid game, easy mechanics. The rules make it sound actually harder than it is. I then played the Eldest twice each of us taking one game and then as a</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">palate</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">cleanser</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> with Steve after some play testing. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri"> The game is pretty fun and I</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">m sure it will be on the rotation for a while as it is fast and fun.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Play testing</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">–</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> The conversion continues, just real slow. Between travel and work and kid stuff (don</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">t ask!) I</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">ve gotten less time</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">than</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> ever</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">, but Steve and I have had two solid sessions and we are looking at one more major change then ship out the next version for the grand editor to review.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> If folks are interested in a bit of play test, let me know and I</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">ll hook you up!</FONT></SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Songs of Blades and Heroes Campaign</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">–</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> I did get a game in this Thursday and won! Eric</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">s Orcs, that thrashed me last time, took a bit of a beating during a Break Through game. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">However his warboss still was able to kill Bobbie Jr. dead</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">…</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> Long live Bobbie the Third!</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> In the end I left Eric with a few archers as the remainder of Victor</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">s Boys exited the board scoring victory points for the win. Thanks for the Game Eric. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Civ V was released this week and I did down load it on</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">Wednesday</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">, but only played a bit of the tutorial. Since I have n</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">othing planned this weekend but helping the Elder move back in to the house</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> I</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">m hoping to get some evening hours to play a few dozen turns</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">…</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">jp</FONT></SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">--</FONT></SPAN></P> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">I blog, honest</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">…</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P> <BR> <P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-82272252617782912132010-09-07T20:06:00.000-05:002010-09-07T20:06:27.601-05:00Mud FestNot gaming related really, but... On Sunday I did another mud run. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNY-7S4tui0SobkPsoLrHu4cJxGsX0ap5KZUpg40fkC1V19zxC2bFoGKVyBo_2mX68V_UEsr1T1TPoe3xWnrsLqL-fa7MzJhLqHRJmGrraHa9EyGoEe2nZRssJ4uW0dnhOhQhJRwv0MDU/s1600/Picture+or+Video+207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNY-7S4tui0SobkPsoLrHu4cJxGsX0ap5KZUpg40fkC1V19zxC2bFoGKVyBo_2mX68V_UEsr1T1TPoe3xWnrsLqL-fa7MzJhLqHRJmGrraHa9EyGoEe2nZRssJ4uW0dnhOhQhJRwv0MDU/s320/Picture+or+Video+207.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More pics <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/EH_UDdjOdTpPA_qxDRi7WQ?feat=directlink">here</a>... I wasn't told about the group costume thingy on the last picture, but I was a last second add for the event so it was OK. As mud runs go, being an expert after only two, it was pretty fun. The Soaring Eagle Vineyard was nice and scenic with a nice view of the countryside. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tripping again for work and will be missing yet another SoBH night. Some rumblings of trying a Mech Warrior RPG/mini game campaign. I'm probably one of the only mini gamers that hasn't played the game so I am interested in delving in to it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">jp</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">muddy</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-78364372375344133102010-09-05T11:29:00.000-05:002010-09-05T11:29:21.150-05:00Saturday Board GamesSaturday Night I went to the Shoppe to play a few board games for a change of pace. We tried two games, Small World and Factory Manager.<br />
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First up was a learning game of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692/small-world">Small World</a>. We had a full five players with two of us being newbies. It is an interesting game with deceivingly easy mechanics. In fact, reading the rules made them harder then they needed to be. Some subtle game play techniques and strategies along with the variable race/special powers seemed to ensure a strong since or re-playability with will be nice. I think the regular guys would like it as it has a good military theme, if not a bit silly, but fun/quick play style. The two newbies ended up coming 1st and 2nd with only a 2 point separation.<br />
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Next, a bit late, we played a game of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/44163/power-grid-factory-manager">Factory Manager</a>. It had been a long time since Steve and I had played so I was re-learning from the get go. I made some huge mistakes early, combined with the misplaced board made for a bad results for me. The gang was good to play with, if a bit too serious at times, but still a fun time. :) I came in dead last... by a large margin! :)<br />
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Good times,<br />
<br />
jp<br />
Better warlord then middle managerAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-8780889248823954862010-08-25T13:54:00.001-05:002010-08-25T14:27:41.422-05:0024 days later...Wow,<br />
<br />
I suck as a game blogger... Heck, I suck as a gamer lately. Between work and the current vacation I haven't had much time for gaming. I did get in on the last round of Songs of Blade and Heroes with the guys before I left for vacation, but will miss this weeks effort. I went 0-2 for the last session making me 4-2... It sucks loosing! :)<br />
<br />
While on the road I did get a few games in. Taught a couple Ticket to Ride and Pandemic. They have played a lot of settlers, but hadn't tried these yet. We got a few games of each after the 8 kids went down. It was a hectic days. Last Saturday was the Warrior Dash, the race that a group of us went to attend. Here are some neat pics with a <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.r.palumbo/WarriorDash?feat=directlink">link to others.</a>..<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-a4TeLVzPMCt2NId8RsnVzGdOTdmuBYXLq9_fw_u4mzockHGkKgChaXsEnvzgD3pt8lH634FJWH8RpL7fC9r1WIeq5Xly0Jl99786XlFAiCcEMDrIZZlqszDQ7MHpdI32g6lZYCIjw7U/s1600/Warrior+Dash+180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-a4TeLVzPMCt2NId8RsnVzGdOTdmuBYXLq9_fw_u4mzockHGkKgChaXsEnvzgD3pt8lH634FJWH8RpL7fC9r1WIeq5Xly0Jl99786XlFAiCcEMDrIZZlqszDQ7MHpdI32g6lZYCIjw7U/s320/Warrior+Dash+180.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gang post run...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Should be back in September with more gaming action, at least I hope so...<br />
<br />
jp<br />
long lost gamerAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-59200998037837290602010-08-01T21:10:00.000-05:002010-08-01T21:10:29.027-05:00Warmachine Saturday NightsSince I've been doing all this 'oh so fun' business travel, I hadn't gotten much gaming in on a non-computer source. Played lots of good old Spider Solitaire as well as the electronic version of Race for the Galaxy. I'm getting better vs. the computer as I am up to winning 1 in 5 vice 1 in 20. <br />
<br />
Since I was back, Paul and Eric came over for a few games of Warmachine on Saturday night. <br />
<br />
Eric and I played a 35 point game with his Durgen Madhammer vs. my newly assembled Drake MacBain. I also put into to play Dannon Blythe and Bull, the Bounty Hunters which ended up being the stars of both games.<br />
Eric played a great game, keeping it very close. He used some primed Nyss hunters to keep a flank in check that I had a full unit of Sam and Devil Dogs w/ a Mule. Blythe and Bull marked Boomhowler and did a good job keeping them suppressed until they moved in to finish them up. It ended with Blythe and Bull swarming Durgen as the new mark and hacking away.<br />
<br />
Second game was Paul's High Executioner Reznik a few 'Jacks, a full Exemplar Errants w/ UA and the new Errant solo. I used the Steelheads with Countermeasures to keep the Errants from shooting while having Blythe and Bull pick them off to help secure the flank. It ended with a giant scrum in the middle with lots of dead Heavy Jacks... Four I think... It took the Bokur and MacBain to take down Rez, but it wasn't pretty. <div><br />
</div><div>Good games guys and thanks... Next time I won't make soup! :)</div><div><br />
</div><div>jp</div><div>Home... For now...<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-71100519574369072622010-07-25T19:44:00.000-05:002010-07-25T19:44:12.251-05:00Test Play ContinuesSo Steve and were able to continue our play test of the starship version of Song of Blades and Heroes. We doubled the number of ships on the table and found some balance issues which I think were resolved. We also spent some time brain storming some new concepts to add to the mix. The biggest issue is the 'shooty' nature of the game vs. hand to hand. It is a 'starship' game after all. :) <br />
<br />
I think we are on the right track, and the 'double the size' seemed about right. Steve and I broke out a list of other options we wanted to try, away from the 'preformated' ships that we hope to include. These include a escort Swarm vs. Max Cruisers and Carrier centric vs. Gun boats among others. <br />
<br />
I 'could' have posted this with Steve's re-post of the campaign, but man I've been to lazy and I needed to the count up!<br />
<br />
jp<br />
Travel is my middle name in July!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-89558736614067243762010-07-25T19:37:00.000-05:002010-07-25T19:37:08.127-05:00Song of Blades and HeroesI'll I can say is that work is conspiring against me. It feels like eons since I've played in the campaign, but luckily Steve is keeping it going. I missed the session a few weeks ago and now I'm in San Antonio for this weeks. Here is Steve's recap from the previous encounters...<br />
<br />
jp<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ii gt" id=":4x" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 20px;"><div>Something must have been in the air as five warbands became quite active last week. The nefarious gnome and his rat-men warband were out and about and got attacked by a new warband. Apparently some samurai from the Far East made their way to these lands and sought to make their mark with them. Meanwhile Grut decided to take the orcs on a shortcut back to their lair - through the lands held by the Normans. The Romans were also spotted but soon disappeared. What was Tribunus Maximus up to?</div><div><br />
</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div>Gnome & Rat Men vs Daimyo Ogata & Samurai - Ambush</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div><br />
</div><div>As the gnome and his crew were wandering the countryside dropping off barrels of ale in random locations, they fell into an ambush by samurai and ashigaru led by one calling himself Daimyo Ogata. The gnome and his rat men had faced many such challenges and moved forward boldly. Deciding to flank about the large hill where he thought the bulk of the enemy lay, he sent rats to probe about a stand of trees. There the ambush revealed itself and a samurai and ninja met the scouts head on. While this battle was joined, a new addition to the warband, a large rat ogre, moved to get around the fray in hopes of flanking the two Asian warriors and put them down. This is when the rest of the ambush revealed itself. Daimyo Ogata showed himself and started yelling orders to hidden ashigaru bowmen - something about oni and apparently orders to engage it. The bowmen quickly formed a battle line facing the rat ogre and let a devastating volley fly bringing the "oni" down. While this victory seemed to embolden the invaders, it only redoubled the resolve of the gome and his gang. Ratmen soon poured into the battle and threatened to overrun the lone samurai and ninja. The Ogata ended up throwing himself into the fray only to find himself overwhelmed as well. As the daimyo went down, so did the fighting spirit of the ashigaru. The ambushers fled the field, taking their wounded with them and leaving the gnome and his gang to bask in another victory.</div><div><br />
</div><div>On the way to their camp, they had to cross a dangerous ravine where Shin, one of the yari spearmen fell to his death. Back at camp the ninja recovered from her wounds but seemed a bit too fond of sake after that fight. Daimyo Ogata was a bit worse for wear and had to rely on an elixir to ease his wounds. While not a win, the loss could have been much worse.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The gnome and his gang sadly had to put down the rat ogre - his wounds too grievous to recover from. While this was a set back, they stumbled across a wishing well and were rewarded with a charm stone. </div><div><br />
</div><div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div>Grut & Orcs vs Normans - Break Through</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div><br />
</div><div>After successfully driving the gladiators away from their lands, Grut decided to take a shortcut back to the orc camp - straight through the middle of the Norman holdings. As much as Grut loves a good scrap, he thought that they should just push through any resistance that the Normans put up as they went home. The Normans had a bit of an objection to orcs wandering freely and engaged them vigorously. Seeing armed troops on the field was all Psycho needed to go off into a frenzy and charge into the Norman ranks. Grut however, was content to try and get his warband to break through intact and pressed on while the berserker practically held the enemy back single handedly. Psycho eventually fell to the weight of numbers against him and the Normans were able to run down a couple orc archers as well, but Grut managed to drag them away with the warband.</div><div><br />
</div><div>On the way to their camp, the orcs came across a tribe of lizardmen. The shaman was being too belligerent so Grut just cut him down and looted their village for 25 gold. After they made it home, the two archers made a full recovery while they recovered Psycho's body and got a priest to restore life to his corpse. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The Normans fared reasonably well as only their mounted knight required any serious care and an elixir tended to that nicely. As they mopped up and this incursion into their territory, one of the men found a keg of ale that apparently was randomly dropped off in the countryside. Who could have left it there?</div><div><br />
</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div>Grut & Orcs vs Daimyo Ogata & Samurai - Accidental Encounter</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div><br />
</div><div>The orcs were out and about the countryside foraging as they awaited Grut to make plans for their next raid. Meanwhile Ogata and his samurai were in that same area gathering wood and supplies and generally putting Shin's twin brother through his paces to make camp in this new land. Not knowing what to do about the other in this accidental encounter, fighting soon broke out. While the orcs were badly outnumbered, the samurai and ashigaru were scattered about which posed a problem for them as they were not accustomed to fighting autonomously. The orcs however were used to this style of combat and soon gained the other hand. The ashigaru bowmen Gisaku turned and traded arrows with Pin who while a more skilled bowmen, did not enjoy the benefit of the superior range the <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">daikyū gave. It was not long before Gisaku found his mark. Meanwhile Shin's twin brother Shin was staring down the gullet of an angry lizard and his orc rider. Needless to say, a yari wielding ashigaru was little match for for the orc and his mount who then turned for other prey. Yohei was not in any better shape as an orc rushed him before he could get a shot in with his </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">daikyū. While he fought surprisingly well for an ashigaru, he did succumb to the relentless assault of the orc swordsman. Slick rushed Ogata and while he fought well, the daimyo got the upper hand and cut him down. </span>Daimyo Ogata and Grut soon found each other on the field and were trading blow after blow but neither could get the upper hand. <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">Heihatchi seeing his Daimyo in trouble, moved to assist him but was shot down and the sashimono fell to the ground. Distressed, Ogata tried to protect it but before long an orc archer charged down from a nearby hill and grabbed it. Waving it in triumph, the fighting spirit soon left the samurai and they withdrew from the field.</span></div><div><br />
</div><div>As they made their way back to camp, Ogata came across a corpse by the road - a victim of the rampaging orcs no doubt. Oddly enough they had left his coin purse of 20 gold. Heihatchi and Yohei made full recoveries while Shin ended up a bit shaken from the experience but otherwise ok.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Grut and his warband celebrated their victory and teased Slick for having a case of nerves after his run in on the battlefield and drank to Pin's memory. Hearing all the commotion, a centaur champion came upon the orc camp but seeing as they were an evil lot, decided to move on.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div>Tribunus Maximus & Romans vs Normans - Dungeon Raid</div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div><br />
</div><div>Somehow the Normans caught wind of what the Romans were up to. They got word that the Romans were busy secreting their treasure into the dungeons beneath an old ruin in their territory. With great stealth, they managed to slip into the Roman lands undetected and sought to uncover the secrets and treasure Maximus had hidden below. Unfortunately between the secrecy of the Romans in hiding their wealth and the stealth by which the Normans sought to extract it, little is known about what went on down below. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Two legionaries were later spotted getting some medical attention but otherwise in good health. There are also reports that a patrol was sent out to try and retaliate against the Normans for defiling Roman ground but all that turned up was an empty cave.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The Normans were also spotted sometime after the incident honoring one of their dead. Another Norman warrior in attendance was seen with some bandaged wounds but appeared un-phased by his injuries. However they could have used a better day to honor their fallen as the cold, damp weather caused another soldier to catch a cold.</div></div><div>______________________________<wbr></wbr>__________</div><div><br />
</div><div>My apologies for any inaccuracies (but that's what a comment section is for right?) and for those whose names I left out (gnome, Norman leader, etc.) please drop in the comments so future reports are more complete.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Steve aka Daimyo Ogata</div><div><br />
</div></div><div class="hq gt" style="border-collapse: collapse; clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 5px;"></div><div class="hi" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fafafc; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px 6px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;"></div><div class="gA gt" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fafafc; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px 6px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: auto;"></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-10122491369699642082010-07-12T20:33:00.000-05:002010-07-12T20:33:39.367-05:00Test Play and IvanhoeOn Saturday night Steve and I gave our new development hobby a test go. It is a star ship combat version of Song of Blades and Heroes. It went pretty well for a first test and we found a 1/2 dozen positive changes. Afterwards Eric, Paul, Suzanne, Steve, and I played two rounds of <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/883/ivanhoe">Ivanhoe</a>. This is a great little deck building game set in a medevil tournament. As the players you have to win four of the five different tournaments; Jousting, Swords, Axe, Mace, Hand to Hand. You have special cards that mess with things as you try to build the largest point total during rounds. <br />
<br />
Paul had a great come from behind win in the first game and I took the second after four of us had one three tournaments.<br />
<br />
Big thanks to Eric for picking up the game!<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-5195575499405143332010-07-07T21:58:00.000-05:002010-07-07T21:58:27.936-05:00Again with the slow reporting!On Sunday Steve, Eric, and I got together for some holiday board games. We started with Race for the Galaxy with the new expansion. Solid game with I think Steve winning. Susanne came by while we finished so I taught her the game quickly while the guys scarfed on home made chili and hot dogs. <br />
<br />
The second game had Susanne getting some great cards and she played them well for her first game. In the end it was very close with me eking out a win at the last by one point. <br />
<br />
Susanne took off and the three of us played a new game that Eric picked up called <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=32">Cave Troll</a>, as in "They have a Cave Troll" fame. :) It was a fun little game. I know Eric was hoping for more PvP in the game, but it was still a good, quick played dungeon crawl type. I one our game with a solid lead thanks to Steve and Eric beating each other up.<br />
<br />
Rob came by just as we finished and he joined in a game of Agricola. I do enjoy this game, but I need to remember that it doesn't play as fast as I think it does. I had to pack up an bail at 5 and we were only on round 8 or so which was sad, but the guys pressed on with Steve taking the game after Eric gave him a solid run.<br />
<br />
On Monday Steve, Susanne and I took to the road and went to the <a href="http://www.starwarsinconcert.com/">Star Wars in Concert</a> event in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Moines,_Iowa">Des Monies</a>. The concert was pretty good and they had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Daniels">Anthony Daniels</a> as he narrator. We all enjoyed the show which lasted about 2 1/2 hours or so. The orchestra was very good as were the chosen visuals. Afterwards we met TJ and Casey for dinner at <a href="http://www.fongspizza.com/home.html">Fong's Pizza</a> which is one of the coolest themed pizza places I've been to. I had a slice of the Thai Pizza that was outstanding. It was good to see TJ and Casey, but they were off to the late version of the show and we all took off shortly after eating.<br />
<br />
This month looks to be a grind at work. Most likely traveling every week... Grrrr....<br />
<br />
Hope you all get some good gaming in!<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-47599079923499193042010-07-02T05:59:00.000-05:002010-07-02T05:59:29.492-05:00Thursday Night Song of Blades and HeroesI had to travel for work this league night and wasn't able to make it. It also look like life conspired against several others and only Steve and Eric made it out to play. Much sadness. :(<br />
<br />
Here is the report from Steve, hopefully Eric can describe his band of Orcs a bit.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John,</span><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ended up being just Eric and I for the league and so we only played one game.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Eric decided to retire his previous war band as they had gotten pretty banged up over the weeks and brought in a new one - Grut's Orcs led by Grut himself. I'm afraid you'll have to get in touch with Eric to get the details, but they were eight strong and scrapping for a fight.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It seems that this orc war band decided they wanted to take a walk through the escaped gladiator's lands - break through scenario to be precise. Well Hunk and his gladiators weren't about to let the orcs get a free pass and decided to intercept them. So four gladiators marched out and things started out slow for both sides - each approaching cautiously (i.e. only one activation on each side before turning over the turn) before the violence broke out. Hunk went charging in as is his way and soon ran into his orc equivalent. Unfortunately for him, Hunk's charge fell short and after butting heads with the orc berserker, Hunk was soon out of the fight and Celeris who was flanking Hunk broke off at speed. Maximus and Tyranus on the other flank engaged and brought down an orc beast rider. Flushed with his success, Max came around the hill to prep for the berserker's charge whom Celeris was leading right to him when orc archers fired from the woods in ambush. While he shrugged off most of the arrows, one did graze him, stunning him temporarily which was all the opening the orc leader needed. Charging down the hill, Grut ran Max through and Tyranus and Celeris opted to withdraw from the field.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">From some reports, the orc beast rider made a full recovery. Meanwhile, Hunk shrugged off his wounds, but Maximus did not recover and joined the ranks of the dead.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Both war bands made their way home through a haunted forest without event.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With that the gladiators opted to part ways as trying to hold their territory had become far too costly.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-------------------------</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While I was badly out numbered, my guys were pretty good quality by comparison, but Eric's dice warmed up where I never really got going. Eric taking out my two strongest models - particularly Hunk in the early part of the game - pretty well decided the scenario. My major mistake was letting Max get into short range of the archers Eric ran into the woods. He got 3 shots at me at a 4 v 5 combat and I was just asking to be knocked down with one of them. </div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With the gladiators now worth only 277 points and having lost their 2nd best guy, I think they're down and out. In the process of putting together a new band for next session. Could go either undead war band or maybe samurai/ninja. I'll be playing with options and looking at models so we'll see.</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</div><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Steve</div></blockquote> Thanks for the update Steve! Looking forward to some good Race and Agricola on Sunday!<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-33586657356043301812010-06-22T21:50:00.000-05:002010-06-22T21:50:46.409-05:00Father's Day RaceThe eldest and I went to dinner at Hooters and then went and played two games of Race for the Galaxy with the newest expansion.<br />
<br />
She spanked me on the first round 80's to 40's... The new Prestige tokens add a different flavor to the game. I need to check to see if we are doing the Prestige Leader thingy right.<br />
<br />
Second game I won 38 to 37. It went a lot quicker the first, but I think it was because we were trying to re-learn.<br />
<br />
Right now I'm getting my butt handed to me by the computer version. One win in a dozen odd games... Grrr...<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-54616391373516222262010-06-21T19:06:00.000-05:002010-06-21T19:06:46.441-05:00Race for the Galaxy Players Rejoice...Two items for <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28143/race-for-the-galaxy">Race for the Galaxy</a>...<br />
<br />
First the new expansion has been released, "<a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/66121/race-for-the-galaxy-the-brink-of-war">On the Brink</a>", has been released. I guess it came out a month or so ago and I wasn't paying attention. While I was waiting at the tournament yesterday I opened it up to start reading, so no unboxing as I ruined the shrink wrap, besides, it is a card game!<br />
<br />
This version adds Prestige that can be spent in the game for effects (based on the cards) but also counts as VP so spend wisely. Coolest card so far is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Star">Death Star</a> type card that allows you to blow up planets of your opponents. <br />
<br />
I haven't played yet, but the Eldest and I are going to try it out on Tuesday as my Father's Day present.<br />
<br />
The second bit of info is that someone has developed a pretty good <a href="http://keldon.net/rftg/">downloadable AI for RftG</a>. Keldon's done a few games, but this one seems pretty darn solid. So far I am 0-3 vs. the damn machine... I think it cheats! :)<br />
<br />
jp<br />
Race'nAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-64373652622177376282010-06-20T19:47:00.000-05:002010-06-20T19:47:49.991-05:00Warmachine Weekend InvitationalWe ran the Warmachine Weekend Invitational on Saturday and had 14 folks show. Big thanks to the Des Monies crowd for filling in the ranks.<br />
<br />
We ended up having four rounds, with Des Monies guys Chad and JD going in for the title and big prize. Chad's Troll's took the day for a victory. <br />
<br />
Other Interesting Sights:<br />
<br />
Adam fielded McBain after putting him together in a drunken stupper the night before! :)<br />
<br />
Alan from Lincoln, the sole Lincoln rep I might add, put together and played a 50 point Kraye list in under 24 hours... That is a lot of gluing my friend...<br />
<br />
Eric played in his first full WM tournament and did well. Lessons learned and force compositions noted for the next event...<br />
<br />
The Des Monies guys are good... They bar has been raised!<br />
<br />
Hooker needs to get more sleep before a match!<br />
<br />
Thanks to those that played, it was a good time!<br />
<br />
jp<br />
PRESSAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-58143830948062555962010-06-12T16:00:00.000-05:002010-06-12T16:00:36.329-05:00Saturday WarmachineHad a few hours this morning, so I got to try to play a few quick games.<br />
<br />
Eric and I played his Highborn vs. my Cygnar. It was going all Nemo's way, but, as usual, I left the caster just a bit to far forward, allowing Madhammer to drop several shots on his dead. Win Mercs.<br />
<br />
Second game was Dan's Highborn with Ashlynn vs. Nemo again. I got lucky on a chain lightening that hit Ashlynn for 9 points of damage, then got a sword knight to charge up, rolled a nine to hit and finished the job with solid damage. Was worried about all the solo's he had flooding the left flank, but I tried to rush the other side to stay alive.<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-5492533879424625472010-06-06T09:13:00.001-05:002010-06-06T09:14:26.316-05:00Song of Blades and Heroes Campaign Meet TwoThursday (Yes this is three days late) we had our second meet up for the Song of Blades and Heroes Campaign. We had five show up, Paul, Eric, Bill, and myself with Steve hosting. <br />
<br />
Since we had an odd number and I had the most wins, I took the option to sit out and watch the first round. One of the pairing was Eric's King Vinter vs. Bill's Wild Gnome with the battle being fought in the mountain lands using the Hold Out scenario. Eric had to deploy his force in split sections, but they showed up on the second turn which really didn't effect the game set up. The battle was met in the middle with the Gnome's rats moving up in blocks. The battle was fought hard, but the Gnome was victorious. Bill found an Eldritch graveyard with gold loosing one of his giant rats and a wererat. Vinter found a shrine that gave him a gold.<br />
<br />
The other game was Paul's new Maximus' Veteran's of the 1st Cohort vs. Steve's Slave revolt of Gladius Imperious lead by Hunk-ra. The battle was fought in a standard field with the Difficult Ground scenario. Paul took the victory after removing enough gladiators that Steve's small army was in peril of being wiped out. One of Paul's guys picked up an illness and Steve found a trap and was able to disable it for a gold.<br />
<br />
Second round had my Victor's Boys vs. the Gnome and his wererats. We fought on open land with the difficult ground scenario, which was odd. We did have a special terrain feature of a teleport field but neither one of us tried it out. Bill focused on taking out my weaker dogs to force a test on the warband, while I tried to keep closing the gap without setting up the charge for his rats. In the end it was the Gnome in the corner surrounded by some poisoned house guard. I took the win, but it wasn't very pretty. I found a cave that was empty and one of Bill's rat got ill.<br />
<br />
The other game was Eric's King Vinter vs. Paul's Romans. They played the Ambush with Eric hiding his forces with markers. Paul won and got eh Murder of Crows (?) while Paul was lucky enought to recover a forgotten treasure. <br />
<br />
Since it was my third game I was able to apply some advances. Everyone (except the dogs) went up in quality except Bobbie that I gave fearless.<br />
<br />
So Victor's Boys as the currently sit. I just bought Goosmire to the force:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Duke Victor</b> - Personality Quality 2+ Combat 3 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">"Special Rules: Hero; Leader; Noble <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jose D' Luk</b> - Personality Quality 3+ Combat 2 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Special Rules: Sheild-Mage; Shooter: Short<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Marco, Polo, & Marlo</b> Quality 3+ Combat 4 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Special Rules: Heavy Armor <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bobbie the Ogrun</b> Quality 3+ Combat 5 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Special Rules: Heavy Armor; Big; Savage; Fearless <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Goosemire the Troll Scout</b> Quality 3+ Combat 4 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Special Rules: Big; Dashing; Long Move; Outrider</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sneaky LeRoy</b> Quality 3+ Combat 3 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Special Rules: Stealth; Shooter: Long, Sharpshooter; Poison <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Argos</b> & <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Magnus</b> Quality 4+ Combat 3 <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Special Rules: Animal, Greedy; Savage</div><br />
<br />
Post if I missed something guys!<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-29861549521950156052010-05-31T13:23:00.000-05:002010-05-31T13:23:00.370-05:00Saturday GamesI got free Saturday night and went down to the shoppe for a few games of Song of Blades and Heroes. I had created a 'big' list with Butcher and Man O' Wars that was mixed bag.<br />
<br />
First game was versus Eric and his new Leaderless Orc band. It was breakthrough with Eric as the Attacker. He had to get his folks off the board and I had to kill them in the process. I got 1 point for every 20 points I killed, he got 1 point for every 15 off the board. He had a great start that forced a morale test do to the loss of a banner, which spread out my team, but the Berserker had already done a pretty good job of taking out two miniatures. With the one leader and having to split my forces, the Man O War had a hard time with the 'slow move' in getting to be a threat. It was a close game with me getting 11 points and Eric 8.<br />
<br />
Second game was a learning game with Adam. He played the Khador list since it had a lot of repeat miniatures and I played by Victor's Folly list. It wasn't a bad learning game, but Adam did get to feel the pain of the activation system a few too many times. :)<br />
<br />
This week will see the second run for the Campaign. I'm looking forward to that!<br />
<br />
jpAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-2891425829227675732010-05-23T09:41:00.000-05:002010-05-23T09:41:18.903-05:00Big Saturday of GamingAs The Other Half is wont to ask, "Isn't 12 hours of gaming enough"... It is a rhetorical question I am sure, because I think she knows the answer...<br />
<br />
It started out with a Warmachine tournament that Adam ran. 35 point steam roller with 8 players. First round I was matched up with Wayne playing Cryx and Montenabra in a Kill Box scenerio. Wayne played it very well, and I left an unseen charge lane to eButch for the Deathjack (Overun for the win) which left him dead. Quick and deadly, not how I expected the game.<br />
<br />
Round two was versus Tony and eFeorra. Tony went on a assassination run, letting it all hang out, but ended with three points shy. Lola to face for the win. Statistically, on average rolls Tony should have had the win on that one, but his dice crapped out on him<br />
<br />
Round three was versus Lincoln Alex and Aspy. A little more involved game, but I I kept missing a stupid Deathripper needing sixes and accidentally killed my own berserker. This left a free line for the slayer to combo strike eButch to shreads.<br />
<br />
I ended 1-2, but Adam ran a solid event and I had a good time, even if I was getting a bit brain dead doing basic math.<br />
<br />
Eric and I went to grab a bite to eat at a new Mexican place called <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=18348033060489015587&q=mexican+food&gl=us&cd=5&cad=src:ppiwlink&ei=ITv5S_v1LoqMygT9raXxDQ&dtab=2">Antojitos</a>. No website, but here are the two reviews posted. It was really pretty good food for a little hole in the wall. Recommend the trip for lunch or dinner. I'll be hitting more often for Tuesday night dinners before heading to the shoppe!<br />
<br />
After dinner Eric and Paul got their first campaign game in for Song of Blade and Heroes. They ran an Assassination game (again!) in the Hill Lands with Paul's Wolves of Orboros lead by Kiya and other druids hunting down Eric's Ex-King Vinter and his magical revenge tour. (Ok... I made that last bit up!) Vinter refused to be bullied by the dirty hippies and moved his forces out to confront the enemy that would dare to 'hunt' him down. That didn't work so well. Paul took Vinter out which ended the game. Eric had lost Vinter and two of his Halberdars. The halberdars will miss a game each, while Vinter picked up Hatred of Dirty Hippies (Wolves specifically), additionally he found a Trap while exploring and the Harlot did a stand up job of disarming it to find 5 gold. Kiya then found a 'Blessed Glade' and a Charmstone along with his win.<br />
<br />
We then broke out Formula D and did a 2 car team, 2 lap race on the Sebring track. That took a bit longer then normal given that we had to track two cars each, but it wasn't too bad. Paul had a large lead, but crashed his lead car leaving me in first place, with Eric pretty far behind in second. Eric crashed his rear car on a bad roll around a corner. I finished in first, with second place in debate. Paul's second car crashed coming out of the corner, in sight of the finish line while Eric and I battled the final corner, neither of us with break or tires to spare. I timed out the roll nicely allowing me to accelerate in 4th gear out of the corner and putting me just ahead. Fun game.<br />
<br />
It was a fun day of gaming.<br />
<br />
jp<br />
12 hours? Pish, give me 20!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-77528390462852284512010-05-21T21:38:00.000-05:002010-05-21T21:38:00.735-05:00Song of Blades and Heroes CampaignGreetings,<div><br />
</div><div>We had the first night of our Song of Heroes and Blades campaign on Thursday Night. We had six folks commit so far, with two being unavailable due to work and family.<br />
<br />
Attending Current Warbands:<br />
Me – Victor’s Folly – Disposed Noble, Victor, his loyal retinue, remaining house guard, and hounds<br />
Steve – Imperious Gladiator – Hunk-Ra and his savage Gladiators break free and fighting for their futures<br />
Bill – Thieves Guild – Gnome Sharpshooter leading Wererat and trained large rat thieves<br />
Bob – Sir Raymond’s Crusade – Mounted Sir Raymond with his knights and warriors<br />
<br />
First round<br />
<br />
Victor’s Folly vs. Sir Raymond’s Crusade fighting over Difficult Ground on a standard battle field. The game was going well, with first blood going to Sneaky LeRoy throwing one of his poison grenades and a walking knight. We got into a good scrum with him taking out my hounds and me taking out a mix of knights and warriors. As is often in SBH, when things start to fall apart they do so quickly. Bob hit the testing zone and soon found him taking multiple morale tests which saw his gang fall back which allowed me to get a few free hacks. Sir Raymond made a bad judgment and tried to turn the battle, only to come a bit short. The reminder of his warriors opted to leave the field. Post battle, Victor lost Magnus the Hound and found a cursed glade which his already hurting hound, Argus, suffered more indignity. Sir Raymond’s luck fared little better having lost his only mounted knight and a few minor injuries…<br />
<br />
Imperious Gladiator Vs. Thieves Guild with the Gladiator’s having to Break Through the border town held by the Thieves. I only caught the tail end of the game, but it appeared that lots of punishing mayhem with plenty of bad dice rolls. Bill lost several Wererats to gruesome kill melee checks as they ran off the near side of the board. The battle ended with the Gnome deciding that his pride and noble nature had been satisfied when the last of the large rats were dispatched by one of the two remaining Gladiators. Post battle, Hunk-ra needed emergency surgery that cost all the gold he just earned and had one of the speed gladiators loose his life for his brothers while his twin took a -2 to quality for a game. The Gnome rallied his troops, but lost a Wererat (I think), but was lucky enough to find a Watchtower that was abandoned in their swamp.<br />
<br />
Second round<br />
<br />
Imperious Gladiator vs. Victor’s Folly with Victor trying to secure the bounty on Hunk-ra (Assassination) in the forest lands. Steve was pretty depleted, despite the win and couldn’t replenish his force. He opted to hide in the woods to let Victor track him down. Victor’s house guards, backed up by Bobbie the Ogrun engaged Maximus, but failed to do any significant damage. Hunk-ra, then berserkered his way up to Bobbie and swinging twice only knocking himself down on the second blow. Bobbie and Marco, Master of the Guard, took turns hitting Hunk-ra to finally capture the bounty. Post battle, Victor found a wandering begger and gave him a gold coin to receive a ‘thank you’in return. Shessh. Hunk-ra survived the battle this time and found a watch tower.<br />
<br />
Thieves Guild vs. Sir Raymond’s Crusade fought an assassination as well in the scrub lands. Bill’s Gnome was hunting Sir Raymond, but couldn’t get a good activation. One glance I look over and Bill was down to three figs while Bob had most of his moving forward. Next thing I know the Gnome plugs Sir Raymond with a crossbow and game over. Post battle, the Gnome found an Alehouse while losing one of the Wererats (I think), meanwhile Sir Raymond found a ‘charm stone’ for a re-roll.<br />
<br />
Next official instalment is June 3rd, but with Paul an Eric missing out, I’m hoping that they can get a game in on Saturday, plus Mark has shown an interest and is going to work on a force. Hopefully I can get him a learning game in on Saturday night.<br />
<br />
jp<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1622025250614614080.post-5022055001297629462010-05-14T11:47:00.000-05:002010-05-14T11:47:12.092-05:00One Year Surgery-versay<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Next Tuesday is a double decker anniversary. It is mine and The Other Half's 10.2 anniversary... 10 years together followed by 2 years of marriage and it is my first year following <a href="http://jp-long-time-ago.blogspot.com/2009/05/t1.html">my surgery for Gastric By-Pass</a>. It has also been over a month at what the Gastric folks cal "Onederland"... That being your weight starts with a 1 vice a 2 or 3. In my case I've stabilized at about 196ish + or - 2 pounds any given moment. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The surgery, with out a doubt, was the single greatest contributor to the weight loss. For me, I don't think it could have happened any other way. But... Here is the tricky point. In October I was 214. In that time I have lost ~18 pounds, but my body fat level has gone from +30% to 16%. For that I give thanks to the <a href="http://jp-food-and-fit.blogspot.com/">6am morning workouts</a>. They are hard, constantly varying, and truly enjoyable in a sick and twisted sort of way. I think I can count on less then one hand the number of workout days that I've missed since October. Traveling, vacation, work, training... Doesn't matter, I'll get them in. Equipment or no, something can be worked out. Using the handy-dandy Air Force <a href="http://www.lifemeasurement.com/products/componentsBodpod">BodPod</a>, I know that although I have lost 18 pounds of weight, my non-fat weight has gone up almost 17 pounds, which means I've gained 17 pounds of muscle and lost 35 pounds of fat. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Happy snaps to follow:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEGFRZiJ_87ol40pPcwxM_3h5RZWFFZAYHjiUH3P-jlM3eLAHxwFy4XdQGwXZBi8yIqe10JRhTfg85Ee43aTqQcFIBrAM9QD65mNbIItLLZ6zztQmTO13XkvNsKMdnjcOyJCAWmXaEko/s1600/Combo+Side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEGFRZiJ_87ol40pPcwxM_3h5RZWFFZAYHjiUH3P-jlM3eLAHxwFy4XdQGwXZBi8yIqe10JRhTfg85Ee43aTqQcFIBrAM9QD65mNbIItLLZ6zztQmTO13XkvNsKMdnjcOyJCAWmXaEko/s320/Combo+Side.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qVGKoI64-ByUbUR0_rniAHI7tXdiH7_DKn_FL0j6xx_VOBmi4YkgxBpk7vYK4aQwsSF3LwXJ1iDT1gyz1sDcqE7YXqf-aTb-8tjg0OFCC3NGSE6qcyQ1vz79S3e6X9Se3rMSbytoCl0/s1600/Front+Combo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qVGKoI64-ByUbUR0_rniAHI7tXdiH7_DKn_FL0j6xx_VOBmi4YkgxBpk7vYK4aQwsSF3LwXJ1iDT1gyz1sDcqE7YXqf-aTb-8tjg0OFCC3NGSE6qcyQ1vz79S3e6X9Se3rMSbytoCl0/s320/Front+Combo.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Like I said, couldn't have done it without the surgery... I was just too addicted to all the foods I loved but didn't love me back, but the workouts are what helped re-shape the body afterwards. I won't be posting weight stuff here anymore... Over at the workout side as things progress. Surgeon thinks I have pretty much leveled off. He may be right, but I would like to drop another 10 pounds of total weight while gaining some more upper body strength. My next six month goal is to complete 'Linda' as proscribed. Better known as three bars of death, it is ten rounds of decreasing sets (10-9-8-7...) of 1.5 times body weight Deadlifts (That would be ~300, my one rep max is 280ish), body weight Bench Press (200, but have no idea on the Bench as we don't do it very often), and .75 power cleans (150 while I currently am working out around 95...) so lots of room for growth!<br />
<br />
Thanks to everyone that has been supported, it means a lot! <br />
<br />
We now return you to your normally schedule geeky stuff! :)<br />
<br />
jp<br />
Keep on truckin'<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03345812208896724393noreply@blogger.com6