Saturday, August 10, 2019

Monthly summary for July, 2019

Another month past, another late update, and another month where I really didn't get as much done as I wanted.  My excuse this month?  Honestly, stress.  My dad and father-in-law had health scares, which actually saw me hit the gym more than usual, as I realized just how unhealthy I really was, haha.  Plus, my evening time is spent more working on practicing and relearning Java programming, as my employer wants me to coming more proficient in it.  Work is a bit more important, sadly.

Games Played
  • KeyForge - Three games against Frans.  I open up my new decks from the Age of Ascension set, and give them a go.  One of the decks just gets ANNIHILATED by Frans.  Seriously, I didn't stand a change.  The other one goes a bit better, and goes 1-1 against him.  So, overall, 1-2 on the month in KeyForge.
  • Lost Cities - Three games against Marina.  Scores were 114-57, 49-22, 36-54, giving a composite of 199-133.  That first game really carried me, as I managed to get enough cards to score the bonus points, which let me break triple digits.  Pretty pleased with myself.
  • Star Trek Customizable Card Game (Second Edition) - Two games against my brother, Matt, both using my newly constructed Klingon Battle deck.  Game 1, he takes his Hologram deck.  I flounder out of the gate, but he struggles to find a ship.  Once he does, I'm still not set up, and he steams right through his missions and wins.  Game 2, he takes a Romulan Deneb/Q Planet deck.  I get going pretty well this time, and manage to get him stuck in a few battles, killing quite a few personnel, and score some points (I am at 65 points with a completed space mission).  I decide to lay off to go and try to solve my final mission... but Matt uses the time to get what he needs, and gets through his missions, and wins.  I still have yet to win a game of this, haha.
    Matt onto his way to a win with his Romulan deck.
  • Star Trek Customizable Card Game (1st Edition) - Two games against Rob, both using the Coming of Age Romulan starter against him running the Coming of Age Federation starter.  I win both, although game two was very close.  We're getting the hang of this one.  Probably time to try some new decks :).
  • Cataclysm: A Second World War - Start of a new play with me as the Soviet player, Rob as the Axis player, Dan playing as the US/France player, and Mark as the UK player.  For me, there wasn't a whole lot to do, just trying to get my standing up to usefulness, and get my army built.  I have some options for the coming turns though, including an invasion in the south to my old nemesis, Turkey.  Action to continue soon.
    The view from the Soviet side.
  • Fallout: Wasteland Warfare - This is a game Dan and Rob have been playing and enjoying, so I asked to give it a try.  I played as the mutants, Rob took the survivors, and even though I had a minor setback early, I ended up winning comfortably.  Game seems okay- I actually think I'd enjoy the skill system if I played more.  The biggest hurdle for me is the setting, as Fallout isn't something I particularly care about.  We'll see, the core set goes on sale a lot.  Maybe I'll pick it up sometime.
  • Hordes - Played Rask Will Work for Food into a Reznik2 Creator's Might list that BK was running.  When we rolled for scenario, the scenario had two jack zones, and only a single infantry zone, which is probably the WWFF's best situation.  We set up, I ran up, feated, he came up, and then I came and cleared out the zones to win a very quick game.  Because only a minor change in his movement would've stopped what we did, we elected to pretend that movement had happened, and continued playing.  From there, he ended up assassinating me soon after.  I learned to respect (*cough*fear*cough*) the Judicator.  That things is pretty nasty.
  • Small World - Taught the game to Megan and Christian, and then proceeded to beat them, winning by about 18.  One funny moment came at the end of the game.  Megan, having gone into decline the previous turn, chose a new race/power combination... and then went right at Christian, even though I was likely in the lead (one can never be sure, as current score is hidden in Small World, but it was pretty likely even to her).  She knocked Christian out of contention, and let me win.  She just wanted to have some conflict with him, haha.
  • Temporal Odyssey - One game against myself just to try it out, as I bought it at a Kickstarter and wanted to see how I liked it.  It was okay.  Nothing that I think changes the gaming world at all, but I worry there may be actual problems with it, but I'd need to play against a real person to truly determine that.
  • Tribbles Customizable Card Game - Going for the Star Trek card game Trifecta, I gave this a try against myself to see if there's much potential to make some cards and play for real.  I definitely think there is, this game was a lot of fun!  Now to find some people to play with.
  • Warhammer 40K, Eighth Edition - Matt brought over some miniatures, and we threw it on the table and played it, with me eventually winning, 4-2.  It's been a long time since I've played 40K... but I could see myself doing so again in the future.  The ruleset seems to be really good, and the game was quick and action-packed.  Damn you Games Workshop!  Stop making fun games so I can keep hating you, please!
  • Xia: Legends of a Drift System - Played with Rob and Mark, starting with the ship that can recover Energy.  I hop to an early lead, and keep the pressure up, eventually winning.  This game was a lot of fun- I'd love to play again, trying a new ship, a new career path, and just a new everything.  Seems to be a lot to explore here!
New Arrivals
  • An early arrival from a Kickstarter without the full delivery- I received the R'lyeh Rising expansion for the Cthulhu: Death May Die game which I backed.  Of course, without the full game, it's kind of pointless.  But hey, it is dang impressive.
    Pretty big!
  • Some new purchases from Amarillo Design Bureau, replacing some of my old product that were in bad shape (module C4 and S1), and getting some new product to expand my collection (Romulan Armada and Captain's Log 53).
  • Lock n Load Tactical - Heroes Against the Red Star - this game is a tactical level game about a hypothetical 1985 invasion of Germany by the USSR.  I owned a game in the previous LNL system, and it was pretty good, so I was definitely interested in trying to get some games from the new system. 
  • X-Wing: Servants of Strife - A new faction, so I was definitely interested.  Now to grab the Old Republic one!
  • Tribbles card game.  Tried it out, as mentioned above, but I also received it last month.  TrekCCG supports it, so I was curious.
  • Last Hundred Yards - Bob and I played this once, and it seems like a game that might have a good amount of depth, and if so, I wanted to pick it up so that I could spend some time getting to know the system better.
Miniature Assembly/Painting
  • Did some repair work on my Cryx and Minion models for Warmachine and Hordes.  Also, I finally got new super glue, as mine was almost done.
Reading
  • Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War - Finished this!  Overall, it was a very good, very interesting read.  My main quibble is that Hastings spends what feels like an inordinate and inappropriate amount of time and space assuring the reader that Germany is to blame for the outbreak of WWI. Perhaps this is relevant to someone, but honestly- I'm reading a book about history. Apportioning blame and responsibility isn't really important to me. The book is good, don't get me wrong, but it definitely left me wanting more, even from the restricted time span covered.

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