Albion, Covid, Silent Victory, and Whatnots

 It's not easy teaching an old dawg new tricks! It has been ages since I posted to the blog. Since all of us at the college got thrown into online teaching this semester, my time has been consumed with re-learning how to teach composition and literature classes as a "Remote Synchronous Online" professor. That means I was one of the few who got to teach live virtual classes using Zoom, Canvas, Nearpod, and who-knows-what-else.

Since August, I had been putting in 12 to 14 hour days every day learning how to become an online prof, so I could give my students a good online experience. I care about them, and they know it. I pray for them as a class, and some ask me to pray for them individually. I had students going though all sorts of problems at home. A number of them became seriously depressed and overloaded. Some got help, others just dropped out. I feel bad for our young adults and children. Anyway, this semester is over. Hopefully next semester will be better. I'll still be online, but I learned a lot the past several months.

Albion? Albion!

On my laptop I have a folder labeled working where I keep folders for all the Warmaster and Revolution army counter sets I'm still working on. When I finish I counter set, I move its folder over to the completed set of folders. Makes sense, right? Well, this evening I was looking through my Warmaster folders, looked in the working folder and got confused. Albion folder? Why is that folder still in the working section? I posted the Albion counter set way back in summer, didn't I? As my students say, "Oh snap!" I never posted it! Actually, I think it's complete, but I need to check the army list to make sure. Then I need to make the counter sets. Albion before Christmas is my goal!

As a request, I'm making a set of what I'm calling generic counters. They won't have any Warmaster unit labels on them. Each counter will have only one copy of that counter. They all come from my earlier sets. This way folks can print the sheets without wasting ink on stuff they don't need because they play a different game. I also realized that some of my counters sets are too dark, like the Celts-Brittons set. So I've begun lightening them. I'll re-post those sets asap. I want to make some other tweaks as well to sets. More on that later.

Silent Victory 

Earlier this year, I got GMT's board game named Silent Victory. It is a one (or two) player board game, where the player commands a single submarine in the Pacific during WWII. Think Run Silent, Run Deep. It is a very narrative game and fulfills my love of submarine warfare. I named my sub after a real one, the USS Plunger.  I love the play one words there! Go here to download all sub reports. I finished my first patrol of the campaign and have several more to go. (I even downloaded the reports from the Plunger. They are fascinating to read.) If you want more info on this game, you can check it's Boardgame Geek entry at this link. I highly recommend it!

BTW don't tell the spammers. I'm allowing comments again, but everything will be moderated. I miss comments!

Black Cross / Blue Sky Lost Squadrons Squadron Cards

The plane cards below are for the Lost Squadrons expansion to the Black Cross / Blue Sky WWII aerial wargame. You can find the base game's set at my previous post, Black Cross / Blue Sky Squadron Cards. Since in the previous post I explain how to use these cards with the game, I won't repeat myself here.

A special thanks goes out to zippyfusenet, Fatman, Dennis, and all the other fellows over at The Miniatures Page for their help providing stats and corrections for this and the base game set of plane cards. I hope you enjoy using them. Next on my list is to buy and paint some planes for the game!


 
Sample Pics of Some Squadron Cards

Links to Black Cross / Blue Sky -
"Lost Squadrons" Squadron Cards:
LS Card - British Fairey Battle
LS Card - British Fairey Fulmar Mk. II
LS Card - British Spitfire Mk. II
LS Card - British Gladiator
LS Card - British Swordfish
LS Card - British Wellington
LS Card - Dutch Fokker D.XXI
LS Card - Dutch Fokker T.V
LS Card - Dutch G.IA Faucher
LS Card - French Amiot 143M
LS Card - French Dewoitine D.520
LS Card - French H75 A-4
LS Card - French LeO 451b
LS Card - French MB.152
LS Card - French M.S. 406
LS Card - French Potez 631
LS Card - German Ju-52/3M
LS Card - Polish PZL P.11c

Black Cross / Blue Sky Squadron Cards

Black Cross/Blue Sky (click link to its Boardgamegeek entry) is a historical wargame covering the Battle of Britain. It's a hybrid board wargame and miniatures game, allowing players to field multiple squadrons of fighters and bombers without bogging down in too many details. After playing it a couple years ago at Rapier con in Jacksonville, I fell in love with the game. If you look in the blog's archives, you'll find some posts and photos of the game I played.

Last year I sold off much of my remaining unpainted miniatures collection that I realized would never see a paint brush. I used some of that money to purchase the base Battle of Britain game. I got in just in time. Sadly, the game has gone out of production and probably will not return any time soon.

Squadron Card Layout
Even though I love Black Cross/Blue Sky, I dislike keeping all the various damage counters on the individual planes. Inspired by the game I played with Jerry Boles at Rapier con, I made my own set of cards to record much of this information. Each card is designed for one British "Vee/Vic" or one German "Schwarm." To make life easier, I'll just call these squadrons. On the "front" side of the card, each squadron card has the game stats for that type of plane, using those from the Battle of Britain boxed game. It also has a large drawing of that plane and its nation's symbol, all against a blue sky background.

On the "back" side of the card are spaces to keep track of damage, critical hits, and ammunition for each plane in the squadron. (Only fighters can run out of ammo, so pure bombers don't have this info.) I also put some critical hit info on the cards. BTW any time you check off a red damage space, the plane is destroyed!

How To Use The Cards
Each squadron has its own PDF file below. Print a squadron's card and cut around its outer edges. Do not cut the card in half! Instead, fold the card along the center black line. Slide the card into a 4x6-inch rigid, clear plastic "toploader" card sleeve designed to hold large postcards or photos. I use the Ultra Pro series for these.

I keep track of each squadron using small, removable color-coding dots, which can be picked up in any office supply store. They usually come in packs of four colors--red, blue, yellow, and green. I've also seen other colors as well. Post-It, Avery, and others make them from .25" up to 1" in diameter.

I assign each squadron a color. I place a small .25" dot of that color on the stand of each plane in that squadron. I write the plane's number on the dot as well. On the back side of the corresponding squadron's card I place a larger dot of the same color. I also record each plane's number. I find color coding squadrons like this makes my life easier. BTW using the same color for the British and German players is no problem.

Of course, you can use them as you please.


 Why Toploaders?
The toploaders allow us to use washable markers to keep track of damage, ticking off one circle for each point of damage. When done, simply wipe off the markings and the toploaders are clean to use again. The removable dots also make life easier. Nice and neat, no need to print out a new card each time you play the game.

Enjoy!
If you have a chance to play Black Cross/Blue Sky, I hope you try out these cards and enjoy using them. Let me know.


Links to Black Cross / Blue Sky Squadron Cards:
BCBS Card - British Blenheim IF
BCBS Card - British Defiant
BCBS Card - British Hurricane Mk1
BCBS Card - British Spitfire Mk1
BCBS Card - German Bf-109E
BCBS Card - German Bf-110c
BCBS Card - German Do-17Z
BCBS Card - German He-111H
BCBS Card - German Ju-87B
BCBS Card - German Ju-88A

Dice Tower Con 2014: Days 1-3

Dice Tower Con 2014 began on Wednesday. This is the third year for the con, which for the second year was held at the Double Tree by Sea World here in Orlando. This year, 850 people have been attending, which is almost triple the size of the first con two years ago. The con ends Sunday morning, but our last day most likely will be Saturday.

We have been having a great time this year, unlike last year. We almost did not come this year because of last year's debacle, but we decided to give it another try. I have been praying for months that I would have a good time and meet some nice Christian gamers my age at the con. The Lord answered those prayers. Now if only he would hook me up with such a local fellow or two I would be thrilled!

Day 1. I set up Star Trek: Fleet Captains at the start of the con. It had been almost a year since I last played the game, so this was going to be a quick play with the kid to get the rules back in my head. He whooped me in three turns! The Federation has no honor!

We had to play lengthwise on the table. We would play again on Day 2 with a young couple who never played the game. I helped everyone while Jeremy played Klingons to their Federation. This time, they whooped him. Ah, payback! BTW I am officially tired of Fleet Captains for now!

Day 2: It was fantastic to hook up with our great pal Rick from Palm Beach Gardens. He was the main reason why we decided to attend the con this year. We've been friends since DTC 1. He is teaching us Lord of Waterdeep. Of course, Rick is dishing it back to Jeremy, who was doing some in-game trash talking. Rick introduced us to Jeff and his son, who is watching Rick. We've been having a great time with Jeff and son! A true blessing for us. Now they just need to move to Central FL!

Day 3: I got Jeremy the Manoeuver board game, and Jeff is teaching it to Jeremy. Noah, a great kid and gamer, is going to teach Jeremy how to play as well. They played two games of it yesterday. We'll be sad to see them go home to VA. :-(

Rapiercon & The Hotel From Heck

Last Friday and Saturday we went to Rapiercon in north Jacksonville, FL. This was our first time to the convention, and it was an "interesting" event to say the least. We arrived at the convention hotel just after lunch. It's no secret that the hotel is under construction, which is why we booked a room down the street at the Hilton Garden Inn.

We Arrive in Heck
While the Hilton was a pleasure to say at for only a few dollars more, complete with cooked-to-order breakfast buffet for the both of us, the convention hotel was an absolute disgrace of a building let alone a hotel. I'm surprised Double Tree (aka Hilton) is even trying to renovate it, though I was told they are dragging their feet on the project. Bottom line, this was the worst hotel I have ever seen outside a third world country. The folks on Tripadvisor are correct in their negative reviews.

After finding a parking space in the parking lot--which is way too small, badly designed, and cluttered with containers and construction equipment--we made our way through the hotel to the con's registration desk on the building's far side. It was an interesting trip to the desk, full of strange (possibly toxic) smells and interesting "under construction" sights of exposed ceilings and walls.

Thankfully, the folks at the con's registration desk were friendly. We picked up materials, paid for Jeremy's con t-shirt, and went into the miniature gaming hall. Since it was about 1pm on Friday, not many people were there yet. Dealers were still setting up. We had registered for a game at 1pm, a WWII bombing game, and saw it set up already.

A panoramic shot of the con on Saturday afternoon. My first attempt at trying out the feature. It came out pretty good for indoors and not knowing how to take the shot.

And It's as Hot as Heck
We walked around a bit, checked out the numerous door prizes, and then checked out the dealers booths. Within a few minutes I had worked up a sweat! I mentioned to a fellow that it seemed a bit warm in the room. He replied that the AC was barely working and that the hotel was "investigating" it (we all knew this was corporate speak for doing nothing). The temperature in the room wound up in the low-to-mid 80s, which was downright unacceptable and uncomfortable. From what I was told, it was the same way last year. As Jeremy commented, it felt better outside--and this is Florida in the summer! I should have known something was wrong when people were bringing electric fans!

Right before our game began, I stopped by a dealer booth. I picked up another copy of Warmaster for $1, 5th Ed Warhammer for $1, Warhammer Ancients for $1, some old codexes for $1, War of the Ring for $5, and a bunch of other free WHFB and 40K rulebooks, expansions, and catalogs. I also bought a boatload of old White Dwarfs for 5 for $1. I never expected to buy GW stuff!

Sweating to the Oldies
Since I literally was dripping with sweat and rushing to get to the game, I was having a hard time thinking through everything. If I had time to really look through the stacks of White Dwarfs, I would have bought even more. Still, I did get a ton of WDs from 1992 onward along with some of the brand new issues each for the price of a stick of gum. All said and done, I spent $23 at the booth. Later, Jeremy got to load the big box of WDs and rules into the car! I also got a bunch of Axis &Allies 15mm armor at 2 for $1 from Cool Stuff, a 3mm sample pack of Modern Early 80s Pico Armor, and the 15mm AP-Team pack from Odzial Osmy. (I'm mail ordering the rest of the line!)

Though I got to the game late, the fellow running the game didn't mind at all. He had been shopping as well, getting some good deals. It's all part of the fun. So let's get to the game!

A Hot Time Over the Arctic

The game was "Goering's Carrier" run by Jerry Boles using the Black Cross/Blue Sky rules. Jerry was a great guy with the right attitude for a convention game. He made it fun and simple for newbies like us, who just wanted to try out something new. We had a blast playing the game, even though the room kept getting hotter and hotter. Jerry just was a swell guy with a good sense of humor. It was the highlight of the con and turned into the only game we played that weekend, though we didn't plan it that way.

The premise was based on an historical battle: British convoy PQ 18, escorted by carrier Avenger, is heading towards Russia with much needed supplies. Taking note of the carrier, Herman Goering orders, "Ignore the convoy, get the carrier."

Jeremy and I played the Germans, while Jerry and another fellow named Bob played the Brits. We had a flight of  He-111 bombers. The Brits had Hawker Hurricanes and flak from their ships. So we had a Jeremy, a Jerry, and two Bob's playing the game--what are the odd of that!?

In the end, we fared worse than the actual Germans did in the real battle. For a while, it looked like we were winning, but a few lucky critical hits on our planes made sawdust out of our plans just as we were getting close to dropping our torpedoes. One bomber had no damage, took one hit, and blew up due to a fuel line hit! Rats!

Last year, I had seen Cool Stuff and Miniature Market blowing out the game on deep discount sales. I knew little about the game and feared it would sit on the shelf untouched like most of the games that I had been buying. Plus, I had Wings of War if I wanted a flying game, though that was sitting unused as well. I liked playing the game so much I checked into buying it online later that evening. Sadly, the only place selling it is the publisher, but it would cost $105 for the base game. That's a bit out of my price range at the moment.

I Got a New Toy!
Literally right before the con I had bought a new camera off of Amazon, finally ditching my 10 year old Lumix. This time I bought an Olympus Stylus SH-50 iHS along with the the fastest and newest SD card on the market, a Samsung Pro SDHC MB-SG16D/AM. The card writes blazing fast and the camera is da' bomb!

These are the very first photos I shot with the camera, so they were a learning experience. All I did was set it to Automatic and let the camera do all the work. I didn't even need macro. The flash never went off once. I was amazed, even considering how poor the lighting was in the con. The photos I took outside are fantastic. Plus full 1080p video was great--I shot some trains later in the evening when we did some train watching up in GA. I think this will take far better photos of miniatures than my old camera.

Ok, enough blathering! Here are the photos.

The British convoy and escort. That's not the USS St. Lo. It's really the Avenger. You just need to squint a bit to see it. :)

Our He-111 bombers heck-bent on the carrier.

"The kid" waiting for me to take my seat after taking the obligatory photo for Mommy.

Jerry did a great job on the planes and bases. We were impressed.

His homemade cards for the planes. He put them in 'hardbacks' so we could write on them using Vis-a-vis markers.

A close-up of some He-111's. We used to die to track how many hexes each plane had moved in a straight line.

The bomber's card.

Each card handles three or four planes. This is the back of the He-111.

Jerry helps Jeremy make a hard decision, while Bob watches as he contemplates which bomber he'll shoot down first. Hey wait a minute! The kid is getting "help" from the enemy!?! LoL.

Bandit! 3 o'clock!

Ah, the end game. As you can see by the graveyard on the left it has been a bloody game. We are each down to one plane a piece. My bomber on the left dropped its torpedoes but missed. Rats! Jeremy has switched ends to watch his bomber try to drop torpedoes. Unfortunately, the Hurricane ruins those plans, blowing the He-111 out of the sky. The escort carrier survived unscathed. Just as in real life, the mission was a total failure that would hurt Germany the rest of the war. Still, we had a great time. I really want this game! Thanks, Jerry, for putting on such a good show and being a gracious host!

Victory Point Game's Jena 20

Last night we began playing our first game of Jena 20 in Victory Point Game's Napoleonic 20 series of small, lighter wargames. Each game has about 20 counters. I bought four of them from a fellow on TMP, getting a fantastic deal. I then gave them to Jeremy for Christmas. He is a newbie when it comes to wargaming. With only several pages of rules, which are well-organized and clearly written for the most part, the game is a great introduction to the hobby.It plays smoothly and fast. We like the random event cards as well. If you want to check some good reviews of the game, see the Jena 20 section at Boardgame Geek.

The photo below is where we were at the end of the second turn. I'm playing Prussians, which always seem to be my go-to Napoleonic army. Jeremy is playing French. Right now, not much has happened. Jeremy decided to activate his Imperial Guard, moving them up to hold Jena. A bold move. Hey, why not commit the Guard right away? Of course, he took the Army Morale hit for doing so. But he felt he had enough morale he could burn the point. (He was right.)

Holding Jena with the Guard seemed like a good move, until a couple turns later when I surrounded the city with all my weakling Prussian units and a Reserve unit, and then took the city, pushing back the Guard. Ouch! Sadly, my focus on Jena has left me weaker to the North. We will finish the game later today, starting on the morning of Day 2, but now I wonder if I made a mistake. The French reinforcements are arriving. I will need a bit of luck and will have to recover some Army Morale to win. The player whose Army Morale reaches 0 loses.

Bottom line: If you have an interest in grand scale Napoleonic gaming but don't want to devote a lifetime to learning and playing a wargame, then Jena 20 fits the bill. Once you learn the rules for one Napoleonic 20 game, you learn the basics for all of them. If you're a hardcore wargamer, then it might be a bit too light for your tastes.

It's All About Story

While walking about the house today waiting for the NFL playoff games to begin, an idea suddenly struck me. Wow, I thought, that would make an interesting blog post. It's been a long time since I "thought out loud" on the blog about some aspect of gaming. Maybe some other fellows might find it interesting and be able to relate? So here goes nothing!

Whenever I play a game--whether it be a board game, card game, or miniature game--I ideally want the game to tell a story. I want to feel as if the game is part of a larger narrative that we, the players, are writing.

Close the Gates, You Fools, Lest We All Perish!
Arkham Horror is an excellent example of a board game where players feel like they are characters traveling about the streets of H.P. Lovecraft's fictional city, Arkham. Foul deeds are afoot. Strange creatures are attacking. We must close the "gates," shutting off their entry points to our world before the ancient evil lurking somewhere out there awakens.

I can't believe it! We won!

Arkham Horror's theme does a fantastic job creating the game's atmosphere, while the game's mechanics lend perfectly with story telling. After all, each player is a "character" in the game. In fact, we rarely use the character's names in the game. Usually, we say "I" or "you" instead of "Harriet." We will often shout at each other, saying things like "Jeremy, close the gate!" (Jeremy being my son). We try to coordinate our actions with each other, which helps the storytelling.

To make the game even more thematic instead of random happenings, we use scenarios based on the books. Sure, we have to remove some of those wicked monster chits and other cards from our game, but the remaining monsters and cards reflect the story. It all holds together better.


I Love a Good Skirmish Game in the Morning
Like Arkham Horror, a good miniatures game should also tell a story. I guess this goes without saying when playing small-level skirmish games that are close cousins to roleplaying games, where a player controls only one to a handful of characters at most. Perhaps the player represents a small band of outlaws in the Old West, trying to rob a bank or knockover a train carrying gold from the US mint. Or maybe the player represents a team of 1960's super-spies trying to stop the latest attempt of Otto Evile and his minions to conquer the world?

Charley, you take point!

In these "roleplaying" skirmish games I want to feel emotionally attached to my main characters on the table. If I am playing the Otto Evile character, I want to feel apart of Otto and laugh maniaclly whenever possible. If I have a pack or two of minions, I want to feel nothing for them as they die easily. After all, who cares about minions? That's why they are called minions and not "Jaque Phillipe, who is married with three kids and a sheep dog." Jaque getting mowed down by a machine gun would be tragic. Minion #4 getting mowed down is just another minion. We can replace Minion #4 in time for next week's show. We'd have to go to Jaque's funeral.

To accomplish all of this, a skirmish game must have good mechanics that help attach me to my characters but not overwhelm me with irrelevant details. I do not need rules creep, where I need to track everything from my character's skill at hitting a can at 100 yards to his current blood pressure and the stopping power of a rose bush. Who cares? Just get on with the game--I mean story! Give me some crunch in my rules, such as character attributes, but not too much crunch, such as too many special rules/traits. Just like a good breakfast cereal in milk--not too soggy but not too crunchy, just right.

A Vague Idea Does Not Equal a Scenario!
I think we can agree that well-designed scenarios are also important to telling the story. After all, that is what a scenario is--the seeds of a story. All we need to do is sprinkle some water on it, adding our characters and the ensuing action. Am I right? Good scenarios are important for skirmish games.

Good sir, you've been lying down for 20 turns. Are you dead?

Yet, I cannot tell you how many absolutely horrible skirmish games I have played, and I'm sure that many other gamers have played. The gamemaster, for lack of a better word, assured us that he created this really wonderful and exciting scenario for us. He begins with:

"Ok, you guys are the bank robbers coming to rob Steve's Bank. And you guys are the lawmen trying to stop them. You guys line up on this side of the town/table, and you guys line up on that side of the town/table. Now let's get it on and start the shooting!"

Sigh. Three hours later every figure is still in the middle of the street randomly shooting at each other. Of course, I have long since tuned out of the game, being too polite to get up and leave, and am thinking only about what I want for dinner, returning to the action for a few seconds when one of my character's activation cards is drawn. "Huh, ok, yeah. Tex here tries to get back up from being knocked down the past twenty turns. [I roll dice.] Nope, still knocked down." Yep, that there is an exciting game and set of rules. (BTW this was a recurring real life experience, not a made up one! I just wish that I had had a smart phone back then with which to entertain myself during such games. Sigh.)

Ticket to Ride. Seriously?
So what is the bottom line? My favorite games always tell a story. It's why I like playing them over and over again. Even something as simple as the Ticket to Ride board game, which is nothing more than collecting sets of colored cards in order to place sets of little colored trains on a map of railroad lines, winds up telling a story, though not always the most dramatic story as in Arkham Horror. A good wargame will tell the story of a battle or struggle. For me, it's all about the story.

Your Turn!
What are some of your favorite board, card, war, or miniature games that tell a good story? Let me and others know in the comments section below. As always, comments are Captcha-free.

Go Saints!

The Game Room is Looking Like a Card Shop

A bit of a quick odd post today, but we just got this in the mail, taking advantage of some cheap online holiday sales. (I love buying stuff cheap!) It looks as if we're getting ready to open a card game store. Wow, I am going to be giving away a lot of Marvel tins, that is for sure! I'm keeping the cards inside, of course.

But what about miniatures and board games? Well, I did get four of the Naploeonic 20 board games for my son for Christmas, so there are some new wargames to be played, along with the few still in shrink wrap we have not gotten to the past year.

I'm debating if I want to play WWII large skirmish games with my 15mm figures, buying more of the models and terrain I need for it, or jump up to 20mm, using AB figures. That is a major decision, since it would be like starting completely over. Pros and cons to each side. (BTW I got a 1:72 Panther G model kit for Christmas.) The 28mm WWII figs will be more for smaller games due to size.

Gaming With My Son While the Gaming is Still Good

I realize that I haven't been posting anything or reading other blogs for a while. I've been taking a bit of a miniature gaming break, buying and playing some collectable card games and other board games with my son before he graduates college next May and doesn't have as much free time as he used to. (Actually, his Spring semester is loaded because he got an internship and a fellowship plus his last classes.) We've also been going to Disney World quite a bit. You know, it will feel strange when he leaves because he has been my hobby buddy since he was a few years old--I was lucky that he has liked everything that I like, from trains to games to theme parks. So the past couple months I've been snapping some photos along the way to "remember the moments," and below is a bit of a photo dump of the games.

I also got in a test game of Black Powder using the paper counters from Napoleon's Battles and this past Sunday I set up my 15mm WWII for some playtesting of some homebrew rules I've been kicking about. So later this week, I hope to post my thoughts on an actual game of Black Powder, not just a read-through, and a quick tip on making easy barbed wire in 15mm.

Monkey Lab is just a plain fun game where you play a monkey running around a lab trying to gather the right items to open as many cages and free as many fellow monkeys as possible. We think everyone from kids to adults will enjoy it. Nothing deep, but there is some strategy and nail biting. The figures on the board come with the game. The gorilla in the background does not--it was just visiting for the evening. If you can pick up this game cheaply, do so.

Honor & Treachery is the latest Learn to Play 2-player set for Legend of the Five Rings, one of our favorite collectible card games. We've been collecting cards for this game for 14 years and have tons of them. Recently, I took advantage of some super cheap sales on the latest set of L5R. You can see some of the booster boxes I bought. They are on the table because I had no where else to put them! If you are interested in L5R, which is based on a fantasy Japanese Sengoku-period world of fighting armies, the Honor & Treachery set is the way to go. It goes for only $15 at Hill's Wholesale Gaming. BTW they had it for only $5 on Black Friday! I picked up an extra just for the cards. Then get the big Gempuku box of 10 starters, which also goes for cheap now. You will be set and need nothing else.

Jeremy picked up the old Tigris & Euphrates game in July at Dice Tower Con, buying it used off a buddy. (Thanks, Rick!) It sat on our shelves until last month. I like tile-laying games and had fun learning this game. I cleaned his clock! I'm still not sure how that happened....

World of Warcraft TCG. Oh my. Several weeks ago, I bought a couple large collections of this game dirt cheap, essentially paying the fellows for just the shipping. It was a bit of a lark for me, since I never played the game. We tried it and were hooked. Then I took advantage of some sales and then some Black Friday sales. Here you see just one of my hauls. Oy! Plus many more boxes and cards not pictured. I also picked up the WoW online game for $5 at Target. I've never played it and am looking forward to it. We also started playing the Vs System card game, which we picked up cheap online on Black Friday,.

Vintage Gaming Magazines in PDFAres, General, Dragon, and more

This evening while stumbling around the World Wide Web and thinking about one of my favorite gaming and fiction magazines from the early 1980s--Ares Magazine from SPI and later TSR--I discovered that Archive.org has posted PDF scans of all 19 issues of the magazine, complete with scans of each issue's games.

For me, this is a treasure trove bringing back fond memories. I had a nearly complete collection of the magazine but stupidly left them behind 16 years ago when we moved across the country. Ares was responsible for me buying SPI's Dragonquest and Universe roleplaying games, along with Delta Vee, War of the Ring (two copies mind you!), and many other games back in the day.

To me, Timothy Truman was Ares art!

I clearly remember spending countless evenings playing some of the mag's excellent solo games: Wreck of the BSM Pandora, Voyage of the BSM Pandora, Rescue From The Hive, Return of the Stainless Steel Rat, Damocles Mission, and Nightmare House.

While some of the 2-player games were dogs in my mind, others I also enjoyed. Albion, High Crusade, and Star Trader come to mind. Ironically, I had the same problem back then that I have today--finding someone to play against without having to twist their arms. So  back then, playing multiplayer games solo was the order of the day, outside of our weekly roleplaying games at least.

So have a walk down an old fellow's memory lane and check out what it was like in the halcyon days of gaming. Check out PDF versions of Ares Magazine!

More Gaming Magazines
Looks like Archive.org was busy the other month because they have also scanned the following other gaming and related magazines: The General. Dragon, Space Gamer, Omni, Starlog, and a lot of others. Wow! Check out the list at their magazine page.

League HQ Lounge

Not sure why I'm posting this pic, but here is part of the League HQ Lounge (aka game room / man room). This is about 1/4 of the room, where most of the "action" takes place and where many great minds have gathered to debate current and historical affairs of grave consequence. (Well, not really. But we usually have plenty of good snacks!)

Unless I need to set up some folding tables, we play our games on an old solid 3'x5' dining room table. I also do all my painting there. The junky office chair went in the trash several weeks ago. For some reason, I find the height and fit of the old rocking chair to be just right for painting, so I keep it on. I have more comfortable chairs out of camera shot.

My computer workstation sits off to the left, just out of the shot. The room is a converted bedroom with its own bathroom with shower and walk-in closet. To the back out of camera shot is an open space where we can set up a few folding tables. Plus I have my old Western-style sofa along the far wall--my wife hates it, but I love it. Over all, it's a clean, comfy place. I like it. Now I just need to clean out the closet!

Thrift Store Find: Star Fleet Battles

Yesterday was great weather here in Central FL. Jeremy and his mom went out shopping for the entire day to Mt. Dora, while I stayed home and worked on the outside of the house for several hours (windows and gardens).

In the early afternoon, I got an excited phone call from Jeremy. He said that he had found something at a thrift store, and that I would really like it--something from my past. Turns out it was the Star Fleet Battles box below.

And So It Began
Back in the late 1970's and early 1980's, we used to go to Virginia Beach for vacation. Aside from the beach and Busch Gardens, I used to go the tidewater area to photograph the Norfolk & Western and the Chessie System. When I got into RPG's, I began going to one of my all-time favorite game stores: Campaign Headquarters in Newport News. That is where I bought the deluxe edition boxed set of SFB, plus some expansions and Captain's Logs.

And so, like many others back then, my SFB obsession began! Like a true SFB player, I just had to buy everything SFB--and try to use it. Then, like every true SFB player, I burned out on the game. It became too bloated and complicated. Then college and girls entered my life. SFB went onto the shelf, never to be played again.

Gone...All Gone!
Sadly, when we moved 15 years ago from PA to FL, I left all my wargames, miniatures, and RPG's behind because I was no longer playing games and my wife worried they would be a 'bad influence' on Jeremy, who was 6 years old at the time. Of course, I came to regret that decision several years later! Every now and then, I get physically depressed thinking about all my gone games. Jeremy knows this. That's why he was so excited to find this set. We had a fun time last evening looking through it and telling some old tales.

Now I feel this urge to buy the newest version of the game. Someone, please tell me that would be a mistake! :-)

Look at that stack of ship sheets! I used to put them in plastic sheet holders and use grease pencils to mark off the boxes. Ahhhh...the endless nightmare of energy allocation and shields being sanded down. (I wrote a computer program to handle damage rolls. which sped up the game a bit.) And look at those teeny, primitive counters! Shortly after buying the game back then, I quickly ditched counters and went with the miniature ships.

Believe it or not, I've never looked at a Nexus magazine until yesterday. Wow, our hobby was so primitive back then, but loads of fun. On the bottom of the box, much to Jeremy's surprise, we found Nexus and some old adverts, which I loved looking through to see what I had owned and had wanted to buy but never did. Man, but I wanted a copy of Warsaw Pact back then! I did have the Traps and Citybook books, plus some other games, like The Barbarian. Good times. Good times. I loved 1982.

Arkham Horror: First Win!

Tonight, we finally won our first game of Arkham Horror by Fantasy Flight Games! It took a little over three hours to finish. This is one of our favorite games and one of the hardest to win, at least it seems that way for us. This game we went up against Yig and its minions. Yig's Doom Track got down to 8 and the game's Terror Track got down to 9. It really came down to the wire before Yig could wake up and smear us across the streets of Arkham.

Jeremy played with the character Bob Jenkins and I decided to try Ashcan Pete, the local drifter. Pete was ok for a little while, then pretty much became useless much of the game, hanging out at Arkham Asylum an awful lot. Ergh! Notice how few items he has, like only one? And $1 to his name? I think I will retire Pete before I go permanently insane! Anyway, Arkham is a fun game. For me, it ranks up there with Runebound and Ticket to Ride. Read more about Arkham Horror at it Boardgame Geek entry.

The board at the end of the game, the last gate closed

Jeremy's character and his stash. For a salesmen, Bob is a decent Other World fighter!

I love using these cups to store chits! Much easier than baggies or counter trays.