Last Week

Sorry I'm late, but I wanted to thank everyone for last Monday and Tuesday. It was great to get to meet you guys. There is a good chance that I will be traveling to SA on a regular basis. So, I will touch base time to time.

Thanks Again,

Roy

Capitalism Via Capstan

Yesterday, I arrived to find Brian, Dennis, Scott, and Chris playing a card game --the title of which was obscurred by hunger and fatigue. After a pit-stop at the kebob shop, I returned to find that Tiffany had arrived. We split into two groups with Dennis and Brian reenacting what I believe was the inter-continental tiff between Harry and Bill over a sordid, soggy strip of island. Chris, Tiffany, Scott, and I played a clearance table adoptee; El Capitan, the remake of Kramer's Tycoon.

After a little stumble through the rules; we were off, sailing and borrowing and building and borrowing. Chris began by spreading out, building his warehouses in several cities. Others soon followed this strategy and overall everyone seemed to maintain similar setups through the first scoring round. Scott appeared to be a little more conservitive with his loan management, opting for the small loans, while Tiffany was cool and collected as she extended her loans, incurring exorbitant interest rates.

The game seemed to open up after the second payout since we all seemed to have a little more money to play with. We set right out sending the old, established warehouse operations of our competition into the pools of dilapidation. Occasionaly a ship would race across the World, squeeze into a busy port, and erect a fortress while the gold florins were flowing. Towards the end, Chris seized a bonus for maintaining warehouses in all 9 cities, while Scott seemed a little provincial with his mere 7. However, with knives twisted, revenue collected, and bills paid, Scott pulled through with a victory. Oh sweet, sweet, Alexandria; a prosperous port and inaugerator of merchant kings. He was followed closely by Chris.

The game seemed solid once we mastered the order of operations; if ever it becons again we can incorporate the extra cities and set the wee pirate ship asail.

Here is a link to the java game of
Tycoon (I believe Taj Mahal is here as well).

I can't get the link to work so the address is: http://hilinski.net/games/online/

The Gate is Closed

I've gone waaaaay back into miniatures. Blame Steve. Lately I've been painting my second DBA army (Ayyubid Egyptians, because King Richard needs his Saladin) and rebasing my Warmaster figs for Hordes of the Things. So for my birthday last weekend, my wife put together a big tub of supplies for Crafting Day, in order to make HOTT-appropriate strongholds and terrain pieces.

Crafting Day has spilled into Crafting Weeks, but the first piece is finally done -- the Dwarf Gate shown here, guarded by two units of Blades. It's 7 inches long (those are 10mm = 6ft figs). The wall and gate are balsa wood, the faces are sculpted from modeling clay, and the rocks are painted plaster over wireframe. It looks darker and more ancient in person.

Anyway, more to come (working on an Undead crypt entrance now), but that gate is crying to be attacked!

Let the planning begin

So i will be there Monday.
With my new games in tow.

I will bring Amyitis and Metropolys again. Likely Agricola. I want to try and learn Hermagor and/or Hanging Gardens before Monday. And Fiji. The lovely Friedmann Friess game about shrunken head collecting.

So who all shall be joining the fantasticness that is Monday Night Gaming?

Hmm?



Darcy wants to know.

More smack

Our update on the NCAA bracket,

I picked Villanova and Dennis picked Pitt. Our order is entirely determined by that game. But Scott picked Louisville to lose to UNC, so if Louisville makes it there he wins (I think) assuming UNC shows up. Chris needs Pitt to win the championship (I believe). Ben wants Michigan state. So I think we're all still mathematically alive ...

We played games today!

What games did we play?

cquire! The game of hotel chains.









ge of Steam! The one with trains!









gricola! With sheeps and more!




ncients! The Commands & Colors War!





Yay! They all started with A!

Weekend gaming anyone?

I think by the weekend I will have recovered from this madness. So I would like to game.
If there is interest but no host, I can host.
If there is interest and a host, then I shall attend.
That is unless my migraine comes back -- again -- and I am plotting methods of self decapitation part 1938621368.
But either way, I would like to do/play something fun this weekend. And if I have to play BSG to make that happen, then well, I might be amenable.

Random Thoughts of the Week

So... BSG is over... kind of. I won't let spoilers fly here, as I know there are a few folks still wading through the DVDs. Overall I suppose I was satisfied with the ending as long as I don't think about it for more than 60 seconds at a time. Nice space battle scenes though. Somehow I don't see an expansion set for the board game forthcoming. I have an idea, but its too spoiler-laden to present here. Anyway.... on to Caprica and The Plan. I mean.... what else is there to watch?

April 1st is an official, all-day board game fest at work. I'm thinking Axis and Allies might be a good way to kill a workday, yet still familiar enough to lure the unsuspecting into my web. I may downgrade to Star Wars Risk or even Epic Duels, though I'm not sure I trust coworkers with the cards. I like this new post-Bush federal government.

So I'm officially BGG.con registrant number 1,200. I wonder what the registration cap will be. When I attended in 2007, it certainly didn't feel like 1,000 people there. I'm safely nestled in at the Red Roof across the street in at $47/night with two double beds non-smoking. If anyone in SABG is interested in splitting, I may be interested.

Fallout 3 DLC #2 is supposedly coming out this week. I thought the first one was pretty meh, so I'm taking a wait and see approach. I'd like to get the CoD: WaW map pack, but only if other XBL Friends are doing so as well. The new zombie map looks like a hoot.

Yep.... I'm deep in fourth place in the SABG tournament bracket. ND plays Kentucky tomorrow to potentially get in the NIT Final 4, though I'm sure everyone is already following the NIT closely. When does football start?

Gamestop is selling WoW CMG starter sets for $8 and boosters for $4. Pretty cheap stuff if you're at all interested.

Okay... I smell the vaporous fingers of hot pepperoni pizza beckoning me away to the kitchen. I'm out of here.

The supersecret gaming part 1

It looks like Roy and I are meeting at Dragon's Lair at 6:00-6:30 for bonus gaming. Come one, come all.

Monday with teh awesome

Let's see ... at various points we had Me, Chris, Sean, Scott, Tiffany, Jeff and Roy. Dennis was at his "I could totally blow this off and you couldn't do jack about it" dinner, which was probably for the best. No doubt the discovery of Jon will make gruesome national news eventually. But seven was a good turnout. Make do with what you've got.

At one point, we had six people, but I'll just leave that hanging in the air, so as not to annoy.

Among the other games played:

• Air Baron -- I like this, but having London (worth $40) drawn 4 times helps. I don't think I'd suggest this with less than four, though.
  
• Agricola -- Sean and Tiffany, with some help from the Greys.
  
• Masquerade -- Much better with 4 than 3. Hoping to play again, still.
  
• Pandemic -- I'm not sure who won, but I don't think humanity did.
  
• Race for the Galaxy -- I got a pimped out mining league, with racing stripes, which let me pull away from the Alien Tech Institute's lowrider.
  
• Ticket to Ride 1910 -- Sean and I used the 2nd tiebreak. (Did you know TTR has multiple tiebreakers?) Four players instantly started in the mid-atlantic/new england/canada corridor. Much cursing.
  

The discount table was at 75%, but at the beginning of the night there were still a few good games. At the end of the night I decided to use my upcoming plane ticket to arbitrage those bad boys. Rum and Pirates is still there, though, and some people like it. (Ditto California).

There's loose talk of super-secret bonus gaming Weds night at the Drury Hotel (near the airport) where Roy is staying. But it's super-secret.

Monday Planning Post

Just your weekly reminder that we game on Monday night. In this particular monday, we'll probably have a guest, so attendance is mandatory, or we shall make vague insinuations about your character to a fellow BGGer. I'll bring my new game. Discount table will be at 90% off (I think).

And we can discuss recent geek-related media. What's not to like?

In which I layeth the smack down

I just wanted to point out that I'm currently 18-2 (And leading the SABG bracket and 547th out of all the NYTimes people). I picked Texas, who lost, and I picked against LSU mainly just to annoy Michael if they lost. And for the haters out there, I picked W. Kentucky to beat Illonois (a 12 vs 5 upset), Michigan to beat Clemson (10 v 7), A&M (9 v 8), Maryland over Cali (10 v 7). My vastly scientific formula was to pick against schools that have traditionally sucked. (Maryland sucks, too, in the ACC grand hierarchy, but any ACC team must be odds on favorite to beat California). I think I spent 10 minutes on my bracket. I didn't even bother looking at the scoring rules. Dennis is 2nd (currently ranked 11,500-ish). (To be fair to Dennis, he picked more upsets than I did). Still, none of us went crazy ... (Although many of you picked BYU, since both A&M and BYU violate the "traditionally sucky" rule, that was basically a coin toss). Lots of people just getting the 8/9 or 10/7s wrong, and maybe missing the odd upset.

Still, I'm going to lord it over you while I can. I may even watch a game, starting next weekend.

And Obama, I'm destroying him.

Monday report

Scott, Chris and I opened with Neuroshima hex. Scott took the middle of the board, with Cowardly Chris and Cowardly I huddled in corners. Surprisingly, this didn't hurt Scott at all. He won. By that point we had added Mr. Hog-abuser and Sean, so played Bohnanza and Pizarro. After that we lost Scott and Chris, and played Pandemic. We were doing really well when humanity died out. Then people wandered off, leaving me to contemplate an evening where my best finish was a clear "not last" iin a single game. Not a victory in sight. So Sean and I talked about all things Disney.

The discount table is at 75%, so people got some things. I picked up Masquerade, which I'm ready to play. It's not complicated, but it's not simple. I've got a summary on my page, to ease the pain. I also got La Citta, mainly to trade or dump on the prize table. I think our group also picked up Manhattan, Manilla, The Primordial Soup expansion and a few others. Still a few minor gems left.

Week of the 23rd

Hi all.

Just to let everyone know that I will be in SA the week of the 23rd and should have my evenings free. I'll be staying right by the airport and I am pretty much up for any type of game. Feel free to contact me if you are up for anything. My user name on BGG is fryere.

Also, from my understanding some of you will be at the Dragon's Lair on Monday. I will probably swing by for a bit.


Thanks,
Roy

Weekend gaming?

So what are the chances that any gaming will come together this weekend? For the first time in a long time I should actually be available this weekend so personally my fingers are crossed.

BGG.Con

It has been announced.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/390321


So who is going?

Spontaneous Sunday gaming

I'm having people over today starting at noon. Ben and I are playing Memoir '44. Michael wants to get in some BSG as well. Sorry for the short notice, but if your original Sunday plans fall through, feel free to stop by, starting at noon, going to about 7pm.

What Fresh Hell is this?

...to go a week without games? I get back into town and not one word about Saturday gaming? For shame, SABG. For shame.

So I'll certainly be at the Lair on Monday, anxiously ready to end my (at that point) two week drought.

Actually, the big game of the week was Toy Story's Midway Madness, which is an impressively done kid-friendly target shooting game with 3D glasses. And a 60 minute wait for 3-4 minutes of game. [Insert shot of Twilight Imperium 3 Here]. Other than that and a few new rides (and a few missing old rides) DisneyWorld is pretty much as I remember it. Random thoughts and comments about all things mousical are at my blog.

Anyway, whose up for Gaming on Monday (or more Disney thoughts?)

We Are Not Alone

There's a fellow named Roy Frye (fryere on BGG) who has been corresponding with me about San Antonio, and who plans to move here in the next year or so. It looks like he'll be visiting the week of March 23rd, so we should try extra-special-hard to meet that week. I'll be back from California by then and can make any night but Tuesday.

But most importantly, if whoever moderates this blog nowadays could get him hooked up with posting privileges, that would be great.

Rock Band Merchandise

Nothing really to do with board games, but...

...did you know you can make pictures with your Rock Band character or entire band and turn them into wallpaper for your computer?

Or stickers? Or T-shirts?

Or 6" figurines? (Oh my god, that figure is ME! Too bad he still can't play guitar very well.) That's pretty neat. A total waste of time, but pretty neat.

I knew they can make figurines for World of Warcraft avatars and they appear to turn out pretty nice. I think they do it with 3D printing, which I remember being touted as having medical applications at one point (turning a CT scan of a brain with a lesion into a 3D model that can be handled before surgery, for example). Now it looks like they do it with Rock Band characters, which is just as important.

Time to go out and buy your aaaa T-shirt, Jon.

Edit: Fine--requisite board gaming blurb. I got my M'44 Campaign Book. It's GREAT. Two words--linked campaigns. And it matters whether you win or lose as to how the next one plays out. Extra cards, new rules--they really went above and beyond on this one.

I reinstalled Company of Heroes on my new computer (it's the game that literally fried my old motherboard due to its demanding graphics and sent my old desktop to an early grave--call me a glutton for punishment). I logged on to the online area to download patches--and I'm banned there, too. I'm a cyberspace outlaw, I guess.

Session Report or how Tiffany finally got to play some Euros

So despite the best intentions to get to DL early -- for me at least -- I arrive at about 6. And look at the clearance section, and acquire a new game from Ben, who was playing Neuroshima Hex with Chris.

Al, Scott and I end up playing Cheeky Monkey to pass the time (Knizia, you really need to re-think some of these game themes. Just saying). Then I realized that I was far far far hungrier than I thought I was, and ran away to get some food. Wingstop for the win. When I got back, Al, Scott, Sean, Travis and Chris were playing Jericho. And I ate my food. Nummy food.

They finished up, and we were trying to decide what would play six (for shame, no BSG???? (I really was OK with that one)) and jeff arrived. So we split. Chris headed off, Sean, Travis, Jeff and myself played Amyitis, and Al and Scott played something else. Memoir 44 maybe?

I am pleased with my new game. Though it took about 2.5 hours I guess, since we were all learning how to play. There is one rule that we were not playing correctly, but that does not change the fact that I like the mechanics of the game. There is a lot going on. Very much a resource management to score VP kind of game.

Then Jeff left, and Travis, Sean and I played a quick game of Wasabi. Which is another game I like. And need to play more often. So I will be brining that to table more, I hope, as well.

There was some discussion of week time gaming, some purchases from the table of clearance, and a game trade. All in all, it was a good night.

monday planning

I should be at DL monday 5:15/45-8:30; who might be coming out to join me?

baseball and/or diplomacy

Any interest in a fantasy or rotisserie baseball league (one of our (SABG) own or us all joining a free one to fill in any additional slots)? Any interest in a simulation baseball league (computer or table top (strat or other))? Any interest in another Diplomacy game?

Buy XBOX 360 stuff, get Free Watchmen Tickets

At Best Buy --
link

If you buy any qualifying XBOX Live product, get a "Watchmen Movie Pack" free - includes voucher for online purchase of two movie tickets, and exclusive Watchmen content for XBOX Live. Some have reported getting $20 Fandango bucks good for ANY movie purchase when redeeming their code.

1600 XBOX Live Points - $20.
1 month Gold subscription (if you don't have an XBOX and just want the deal) $9

Saturday Gaming?

I would like to propose gaming. For real this time. Should no one else jump forth and offer to host, I could host on Saturday starting at 12. I would even provide cake. Seriously. Delicious cake. Maybe some home made bread. I am in a baking mood.

Edit: It appears that no one is free for gaming, which is sad, but that just means Monday should be full of people gaming.

Family Growth: Even without space in your home.

We've been having babies and planting our veggies; no livestock yet, but we're considering a donkey (we can tell the baby its a pony when she gets older and we will no longer have to mow).

We have named our daughter Ezra Allison White (Persian girl's name or a Hebrew gender-bender) and she came in at 9lbs 3 oz, 22 inches long. She was born on Febuary 20th, I am just slow to post.

We were told repeatedly by the doctor, "Don't worry, she is an average sized baby." Therefore, mom is still recovering.

I will probably try to stop in on Monday, not sure if I'll stay and play but hopefully I'll see a few of you soon.