Thursday, April 2, 2020

Monthly Summary for March, 2020

Well, I've been forced to spend some time at home due to COVID-19, so I actually managed to get parts of this written ahead of time!

Games Played
  • Marvel Champions - Four games, all solo.  First, after getting the new Thor pack, I ran it along with Justice Black Panther against Klaw/Running Interference.  The fight went back and forth, but I managed to see Thor at his best, and managed to win.  Then I played two games with Aggression Black Panther and Justice Ms. Marvel.  Game one, BP dies early into Risky Business/Under Attack... but Ms. Marvel hangs on, builds up, and eventually manages to win.  Game two, Ms. Marvel dies early into Mutagen Formula/Under Attack... but Black Panther just goes crazy, killing things easily, and wins.  I guess I need to figure out a way to make both of these a bit more survivable.  Finally, I took Protection She-Hulk and Leadership Thor against Mutagen Formula/A Mess of Things.  It... really didn't go well.  Honestly, the problem is that I can't figure out how to make She-Hulk work.  She feels SO limited, and everything I've tried just really isn't working.  I'll just keep trying her out, and hopefully I'll find something I can win with.  Some day!
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - Three plays with Joey.  We play through the quests in the Khazad-Dum box. I had Elrond, Spririt Glorfindel, and Eowyn. Joey ran Dain, Gimli, and Gloin.  Into the Pit- we actually breeze right through it, clearing each location in successive turns, killing the enemies, and winning. Final score: 146. The Seventh Level - Once again, no real issues. Kill, quest, win. Final score: 151.  Flight from Moria - We get the right quest early, and decide to just stick it out, and attempt to get the Tools we need. They were the second to last card in the deck. I lose two heroes from the Nameless Fear, but still, we manage to win. Final score: 331.  Overall, we did get through all of them, and mostly did it easily.  Pretty happy!
  • Keyforge - Two games with Frans.  Frans takes a deck he has seen online, a double horseman deck... and when he gets the pair of horsemen that returns the horsemen to play.. I concede.  Just no way to recover from that.  We play a second game, and I end up losing again, but it was a closer game, at least.
  • Gingerbread House - One play with Rob, Pete, and Marina.  I move kind of slow to start, but everything kicks into gear towards the middle, and I start doing well. I end up winning scoring 61 points, Rob ended with 51, Pete had 43, and Marina had 29.
  • Small World - One play with Marina, with her making great moves, and me dropping 5 VP to buy Berserk Elves. I end up wining 86-83.
  • Star Wars Armada - One play with Matt, with him taking the lowest cost Super Star Destroyer.  He destroys one small ship, but I'm too nervous about tangling with him, and so don't score any points, and he wins handily.
  • Star Wars Legion - One play with Matt.  I end up winning 3-1, with Luke eating Veers and a unit of Death Troopers in the middle of the board, which allowed me to get quite a number of points.  He spread out too much, and couldn't threaten the center when the time came. 
  • War Room - One play, as we finish our long game.  The Axis powers (Mark and I) finished clearing the biggest threats to us, but things weren't going great everywhere.  However, Asia was completely under Japanese control, the Middle East was temporarily embattled, and Africa was about to be under Allied control again.  However, most importantly, I launched a large army into the Atlantic, and pushed toward Moscow on this turn.  The next turn, I would have likely taken Britain, and had a 50/50 chance to win the Initiative bid which would let me take Moscow, which would have triggered the auto-win condition.  With this in place, the Allies (Rob, Dan, and Scott) surrendered.
  • Warmachine - Only one game with Joey.  75 points, Asphyxious1 Dark Host into his Kozlov Armored Korps. I move really aggressive, backing him off the scenario, and I score a point on his Turn 2. I clear out a bunch, but don't clear the last thing I need, and end my Turn 3 up 4-0. He fights back, contesting, and killing, and scores to bring it to 4-1. I clear a bunch more, and go up 5-1 on Top of 4. He can't contest my flag, and I win 6-1 bottom of T4.  My longest game in a while, and honestly, pretty close- I was running on fumes on my left, and my right was completely empty.  One more turn would've seen the game change badly.
  • Cat Lady - One game with Marina.  I end up winning pretty handily by going after all the catnip on the board, and scoring a bunch of low point cats.   Final score was about 68-58.
New Arrivals
  • Once again, I didn't really get all that much last month, as I've been saving some money.  I did get a few Lord of the Rings packs, two Star Wars RPG books, the Galactic Empire Conversion Kit, and Six Days War from Against the Odds as part of their annual.  This came with a game that covers the battle with the same name.  So yeah.. that's basically all I received in March.
Miniature Assembly/Painting
  • Steady work on Warmachine, Crisis Protocol, Star Wars Legion and Imperial Assault, and Blackstone Fortress.  As I mentioned last month, the plan is to start painting in April!
Reading
  • I finished the Player's Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.  I want to run the game, so I need to know the basic rules.  Now, I do!
  • Storming the Gap: First Strike. This was a book written to go along with the World at War 85 game.  Overall, I really liked it!  Really good read that gives you a feel for how the early part of a 1985 war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact could've gone.  Loved the structure, as it really made for a very fitting pacing.  A great book that I would very much recommend.
Kickstarter
  • Given the economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 situation, I didn't back anything, despite REALLY wanting to get in on the Warcaster Kickstarter.  Unfortunately, I need to make sure I have money for my bills and my family, so the Kickstarters couldn't be funded this month.  Sad, I know.
Resolution progress
  • Painting Points: Currently 0/10.  Behind schedule, but I expected that so far.
  • Number of Unplayed Games: I did not add any new games, and got one new one.  So down one :(
  • Warmachine/Hordes games: One this month, putting me at seven for the year.  Slightly behind schedule, and likely to get much worse due to the COVID lockdown in Maryland. 
  • Number of Books Read: Per Goodreads, I am at seven books read.  I must have missed putting them on here at some point.  Whatever.  No one reads this anyway, haha.  Anyway, seven books means I am on pace here.
  • Weight lost: Down 6 pounds on the year!  Still slowly moving in the right direction.

2 comments: