Apologies for the wall of text!
Games Played
- One game of Warmachine - I played a 75 point game against Joey, using my Maelok Blindwater Congregation list against his normal Ossrum Hammer Strike list. Big changes for me were that I swapped out my Bull Snapper and Totem Hunter for a Boneswarm and Boil Master and Spirit Cauldron, which worked out very well- my Bull Snapper frequently doesn't get a whole lot done other than the occasional use of its animus- this was a light beast which came out and swung like a heavy. I also included a Bone Shrine, but it was killed before it could do anything. I ended up winning by assassination, but I was winning the attrition battle as well, and could have eventually taken it through scenario, I think.
- Played a bunch of games at our yearly gaming retreat in Deep Creek Lake. This is where a bunch of us go out, drink some beers, and play a bunch of games. I got to play quite a few new things, which I'll list out here.
- One game of Cards Against Humanity- this was just a good relaxing time with a lot of crude humor. My team (Rob and I) tied for first, and lost the sudden death round :(.
- Two games of Warhammer Underworlds. I taught the game to my brother, Matt, and used the Stormsire Cursebreakers both times, first against my Steelheart Champions defensive warband, and then against a starter deck with the Thorns of the Briar Queen warband. I lost the first game, and won the second. Matt seemed to enjoy it- he went out and bought Magore's Fiends, and we'll find Nightvault on sale for him to buy. Success!
- Two games of X-Wing 2.0. I had played quite a bit of X-Wing 1.0, and loved it, but I was starting to see several problems as well. I was quite happy to have a new edition come out, and was overall pretty happy with how they went about getting that new edition to us. I played two games of this, both using a Boba Fett/Guri list (Guri was one of my favorite pilots in 1.0). I lost against Ben, who took a Rebel list of Wedge, Luke, and someone else. I struggled to get the separation I needed to maneuver, and he just took me apart. The second game, I played my brother and his Soontir/Darth Vader/Academy Pilot list. Here, I managed to get some good positioning, and took the victory. I think I'm definitely a fan of this game, although it still feels a bit clunky to me for the moment. I think that's just unfamiliarity with the changes, so I suspect it will fade in time.
- One game of Root. This was a fun game where each player is an alliance or empire of forest creatures fighting for supremacy. Each faction has different capabilities and a different path to victory. I played as the Woodland Alliance, who use guerilla tactics to make combat very costly for their opponents, and try to sway the Sympathy of areas to our cause. I started off pretty slow, but jumped to a lead near the end, almost winning. This caused everyone to target me, which set me back a bunch, but gave Dan an easy path to victory, which he took. Definitely a game I would play again.
- Two games of 40K: Kill Team. I was using my Rogue Trader kill team without the Rogue Trader herself (as we weren't playing with the Commander rules), which the internet has told me is a pretty underpowered set-up. They were right, it turns out. I played a game against my brother's Grey Knight kill team. I killed zero models, and got tabled. I then played a three player game with Dan's Deathwatch kill team and Rob's Genestealer Cult kill team. I got tabled (although I did kill a single model), and lost. Overall, I really really enjoyed the system. I just need to buy one of the real kill teams until we actually play with Commanders, haha.
- One game of Millennium Blades with Rob and Matt. This is a game I have owned for some time, but have never sat down to learn the rules enough to play. We finally did so at the gaming trip, and played a game! This is a CCG 'Simulator' board game. You buy cards which represent packs, sell them, build decks, and play in tournaments. It abstracts the booster pack to just the best card in the pack, but does a very good job of creating that CCG 'feel'. Took us quite a while to play, but I suspect more experience would make this a decently fast playing game. In the end, I was leading basically the entire game, and won two of the three tournaments. Unfortunately, Matt had saved his money most of the game, and bought the victory points he needed to snatch victory from me.
- One game of Discover: Land Unknown. This is one of FFG's Unique Games, where no two copies of the game will be exactly the same. Here, we are adventures on an island where we explore an attempt to accomplish certain objectives. We managed to accomplish the objectives, but misinterpreted some cards and continued to play after we had actually won, haha. Overall, the game was decent, and did a good job getting us engrossed in the exploration. I'd probably give it another go.
- One game of Salem 1692. A game of hidden witches, voting into player elimination, and baseless accusations. Honestly, not my favorite implementation of this, and we ended up having to get a moderator to handle the hidden action part, because it was so clunky. The Witches ended up winning because one of the human players, while a human, targeted and eliminated another human player. That makes the witch's job a lot easier, and when another player became a witch... well, that was good night.
- One game of Codenames: Deep Undercover. Four rounds, I think. This is the adult version of Codenames. Pretty fun around a bunch of guys who are drinking. Much immaturity and crudeness. Would do again.
- Two new packs for VS 2PCG (New Defenders, Sinster Syndicate). I wish I played this more. I have an opponent lined up, but the timing hasn't worked out yet.
- Eyes of the Nine and Echoes of Glory for Warhammer Underworlds. New cards, and a new warband! I'm really enjoying the magic system for the game. They've struck a good balance between its power, utility, and making it a mechanic that's different than just the regular attack/defense part of the game. Can't wait to make some decks!
- 1066, Tears to Many Mothers. This is a recent Kickstarter delivery- a card game about the Battle of Hastings. No deckbuilding, I believe, just two decks that are meant to be played against one another. Yet another inclusion to my unplayed pile :).
- November issue of White Dwarf. Because yes, I read it now, apparently.
- Completed my Rogue Trader kill team. Got about halfway through the Gellerpox Infected kill team.
- Started Mutants and Masterminds Deluxe Handbook, 3rd Edition. About halfway through.
- Started and finished Middle Earth Strategy Battle game rulebook. This has always been one of my favorite miniature games. The new edition has me so excited, I just couldn't wait to get it and get working on my armies again. Once again, I just need to find opponents. And time.