Monday, June 1, 2020

Monthly Summary for May, 2020

Another rough month for gaming, as even with the lockdown lifted, our options for gaming are still pretty limited.

Games Played
  • Cataclysm - Two plays of the same game, as we finished our multi-session game.  I was playing as Germany, Dan as Italy/Japan, Rob as the West, and Mark as the Soviet Union.  This month started with Germany in a rough situation, with the USSR right on my eastern border, having attacked into Germany with moderate losses.  I had managed to conquer France and knock it out of the war early, however, which meant I had some time before I dealt with my Western Front.  The game proceeded well, however, as I do cause the USSR some losses quickly, and push them back some, and Japan helped by attacking the USSR in the Eastern side of the map, causing them to lose victory points, and keep some units in Moscow to prepare to recapture their lost areas.  The UK re-invades France, and pushed me back into Germany.  Things were starting to look pretty bleak until I made a very bad attack back into France, rolling one dice (with a plus one modifier) against Rob's three dice.... but then I rolled a 6 (became a 7), he rolled triple ones, collapsed, and offered an armistice.  With no western threat, Japan, Italy, and Germany could all focus on the Soviet Union, already stretched thin, and they decided to call it with an Axis win.
  • Spycraft CCG - Two plays, as Rob taught me the game on Tabletop Simulator.  We just played with some starter decks, and I played two different decks, and won both games.  Overall, game seemed to be a lot of fun.  Maybe something I'll pick some cards up for.
New Arrivals
  • Issue 51 of Against the Odds Magazine, containing the game Almost a Miracle!, a game related to the earlier Tarleton's Quarter, and covers the American Revolutionary War in the north.
  • A bunch of new Warmachine/Hordes/Riot Quest/Monsterpocalypse miniatures.  An Infernal Gate, Captain Crawtooth, Ledfoot & Tredz, Assault Apes, and a Tormentor.
  • Forgotten War, the Korean War module for Advanced Squad Leader.
Miniature Assembly/Painting
  • I continued painting my Stalkers, doing the drybrushing on them.  I now just need to decide what my next steps will be.
  • More assembly of random items.
Reading
  • Finished reading the Dungeon Master's Guide.  Very interesting read, and actually, I feel like I have all the tools I need to start running a campaign!
  • Finished reading Against the Odds # 51, covering the American Revolutionary War campaign in the north.  Overall, a pretty good issue, although I think the main article was a bit underwhelming- it was too much 'this campaign happened.  Troops moved here and here.  Then this campaign happened.'  Maybe it would make for a good overview, but I think it could have been a bit more developed.
  • Continued making progress through Simulating War and Design Patterns.  In a non-fiction period at the moment, I suppose :)
Kickstarter
  • Completed the Pledge Manager for Marvel United, as I thought it would be a good game to play with younger gamers.
Resolution progress
  • Painting Points: Currently 0/10.  Hopefully June sees me complete my minis.
  • Number of Unplayed Games: Down another one- I can't play anything, really, and a few small things come in.  Really hard to move in this.
  • Warmachine/Hordes games: No games played this month, but really, this isn't my fault.
  • Number of Books Read: Eight books completed, with two more I think I can finish in June.
  • Weight lost: Down 16.5 pounds on the year.  Going VERY nicely :)