A game? Why yes!

A few game to report since my wildly late last post.

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 palate cleanser with Steve after some play testing.   The game is pretty fun and I’m sure it will be on the rotation for a while as it is fast and fun.

Play testing – The conversion continues, just real slow.  Between travel and work and kid stuff (don’t ask!) I’ve gotten less time than ever, 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.  If folks are interested in a bit of play test, let me know and I’ll hook you up!

Songs of Blades and Heroes Campaign – I did get a game in this Thursday and won!  Eric’s Orcs, that thrashed me last time, took a bit of a beating during a Break Through game.  However his warboss still was able to kill Bobbie Jr. dead…  Long live Bobbie the Third!  In the end I left Eric with a few archers as the remainder of Victor’s Boys exited the board scoring victory points for the win.  Thanks for the Game Eric. 

Civ V was released this week and I did down load it on Wednesday, but only played a bit of the tutorial.  Since I have nothing planned this weekend but helping the Elder move back in to the house I’m hoping to get some evening hours to play a few dozen turns…

jp

--

I blog, honest…

24 days later...

Wow,

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! :)

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 link to others...

The gang post run...

Should be back in September with more gaming action, at least I hope so...

jp
long lost gamer

Song of Blades and Heroes

I'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...

jp

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?

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Gnome & Rat Men vs Daimyo Ogata & Samurai - Ambush

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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.

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.

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. 

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Grut & Orcs vs Normans - Break Through

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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.

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. 

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?

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Grut & Orcs vs Daimyo Ogata & Samurai - Accidental Encounter

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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 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 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.  Daimyo Ogata and Grut soon found each other on the field and were trading blow after blow but neither could get the upper hand.  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.

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.

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.

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Tribunus Maximus & Romans vs Normans - Dungeon Raid

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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.  

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.

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.

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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.

Steve aka Daimyo Ogata

Song of Blades and Heroes Campaign Meet Two

Thursday (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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So Victor's Boys as the currently sit.  I just bought Goosmire to the force:

Duke Victor - Personality           Quality 2+                            Combat 3            

"Special Rules: Hero; Leader; Noble

Jose D' Luk - Personality           Quality 3+                            Combat 2            

Special Rules: Sheild-Mage;  Shooter: Short

Marco, Polo, & Marlo      Quality 3+                            Combat 4            

Special Rules:  Heavy Armor

Bobbie the Ogrun                      Quality 3+                            Combat 5            

Special Rules: Heavy Armor; Big; Savage; Fearless

Goosemire the Troll Scout        Quality 3+                            Combat 4            

Special Rules:  Big; Dashing; Long Move; Outrider

Sneaky LeRoy                          Quality 3+                            Combat 3            

Special Rules:  Stealth; Shooter: Long, Sharpshooter; Poison

Argos & Magnus               Quality 4+                            Combat 3            

Special Rules: Animal, Greedy; Savage

Post if I missed something guys!

jp

Big Saturday of Gaming

As 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...

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.

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

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.

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.

Eric and I went to grab a bite to eat at a new Mexican place called Antojitos.  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!

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.

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.

It was a fun day of gaming.

jp
12 hours?  Pish, give me 20!

Song of Blades and Heroes Campaign

Greetings,

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.

Attending Current Warbands:
Me – Victor’s Folly – Disposed Noble, Victor, his loyal retinue, remaining house guard, and hounds
Steve – Imperious Gladiator – Hunk-Ra and his savage Gladiators break free and fighting for their futures
Bill – Thieves Guild – Gnome Sharpshooter leading Wererat and trained large rat thieves
Bob – Sir Raymond’s Crusade – Mounted Sir Raymond with his knights and warriors

First round

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…

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.

Second round

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.

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.

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.

jp

Thursday Night Song of Blades and Heroes

Hello!

Steve, Paul, Eric, and I got together and started our campaign for the Song of Blade and Heroes game (SBH).  Paul had an Elf list using his painted Harlequins, Eric ran Alexia the Necromancer with a few Risen undead and living support, Steve had his five Gladiator crew, and I ran a no shooting list with a solid leader, some heavy armor guys, an Ogre, a cheap shield mage, a dog, and a stealth dude.

Paul and I paired off since it was his first game - It went pretty good for me as I should have died a few times, but Paul and I kept tying on the combat rolls.  The Elves have a real high Quality stat that keeps them in there activations, but the lower Combat score hurt there ability to fight the big guy.

In the end, I whittled down the Elves only loosing my Shield Mage.  We talked about list building with the ideas, namely the author's dislike of shooting tactics and their higher cost value.

Eric and Steve's game was fought on the nice city terrain as the Gladiator's came out of the graveyard (?) to attack the Necromancer in the Inn (?)  -- Silly Scenarios! The Low Quality hurts the Undead plus Eric forgot their special rule of getting a +2 on Moral checks.  Opps!

I expect that Paul and Eric are going to revamp the lists for round two as they needed some tuning.

Tomorrow is Nuke Con Game Day.  If your board, feel free to come by for a game!

jp
Game On!