Games Played
- July
- Marvel Champions - three games, two with Rob, and one by myself. My solo game was using the Black Widow and Doctor Strange pre-constructed decks, that I hadn't tried yet. Because they both were new, and Doctor Strange has a different mechanic than usual, I decided to go with my old testing Villain - Rhino with Bomb Scare. This combination made this game... very very easy. But hey, at least I learned how these two heroes play. The two games with Rob were to help him learn the game, so the first game was also against Rhino/Bomb Scare, since it's an easy one to learn with. I took the Black Widow/Justice pre-con, he took the Thor/Aggression pre-con, and we easily won. We then switched to a harder scenario, Mutagen Formula/Goblin Gimmicks, and he switches to the Dr. Strange/Protection pre-con. We do fine, but after making it to the second stage, we get swamped, and lose the following turn.
- Marvel: Crisis Protocol - one game against Matt, using a Cabal roster against Matt's Avenger focused team. I don't have any good notes about this game, other than I managed to win 16-15, a VERY close game.
- Reichbusters - one game with Bob. This is a co-operative game, where we (generally) start out in a stealth mode, try to get as far into a mission as possible, and then usually must shoot our way out. We played the first scenario, and only triggered the alarm at the very end, so a very easy win in our first experience with this game.
- Star Wars: X-Wing - one game against Matt. I took my old Resistance Rey/Poe list, against a Scum list Matt was running. I make a lot of dumb decisions early, and take tremendous amounts of damage for it, eventually losing Poe. With only one ship left, I start flying much better, and somehow stay out of arcs with Rey, while gradually killing Matt's ships, eventually winning the game with Rey at three remaining damage.
- August
- Marvel Champions - four games. The first was a solo play, using the recently released Hulk pre-con along with Justice Iron Man to play Klaw/Doomsday Chair. Things go south very quickly, as Klaw blows through his schemes, and I never manage to threaten before losing. The final three games were with Rob, first using Justice Iron Man with Rob taking the Hulk/Aggression deck against that Klaw/Doomsday Chair combo. We get MODOK against us four separate times, but manage to kill him each time, and slowly eat through Klaw, eventually winning. Then, we took the same decks against the Wrecking Crew. We each have a GREAT early setup, but then Piledriver triggers, clearing both of our board states, and we just can't recover, and get killed. Finally, I switched to a Leadership/Dr. Strange deck, with Rob sticking with the Hulk, and took on Wrecking Crew again. We go to battle, and quickly drop two of the villains, before Hulk is killed. Things are looking grim, but Dr. Strange hangs on long enough to get us the win!
- Reichbusters - four games with Bob. I am going to admit, I didn't take as great notes as I should have (I'll do better next time we play this). First, we played the second scenario, and do accidentally trigger the alarm, but we are so close to the end of the game that it proves to be irrelevant, and we win. We played scenario three over two sessions and switched in Brick for Red Hawk. This scenario starts in combat mode, so we start off swamped with enemies. Most of our characters are slammed near the entrance, but somehow we get Sarge with the Scientist behind all of the enemies, and even though Brick takes a beating (and several permanent wounds), we are able to complete the mission with Sarge basically sneaking out the back. We then play scenario four... where I didn't take any notes, but I know we switched Red Hawk back in, and I know we won. I think we each have two skills at this point, too. So far, the game has proven to be pretty fun!
- Cat Lady - two games with Rachael and Marina. The first game, we play only with the base set, and I teach the game to Rachael. My strategy is to grab every toy on the table, which I do, and end up winning very handily. The second game, we include the expansion, and I think I'm doing quite well, but Rachael ends up beating me by like 10, and I end a single point ahead of Marina. I must admit, for three players, the expansion doesn't really add all that much- a lot of the cards are only usable in 4+ player games, and I mostly play 2-3.
- Star Wars: X-Wing - two games with Matt. I take a Scum list in my first game, running a bunch of decent Initiative pilots, and once again, I lose a bunch of ships early, and have to play comeback against Matt's Empire list. I do, and eventually win. We play a second game soon after, and I take a double Defender Empire list, and get off to a great shot, kill one of Matt's Separatist drones on the first turn with a long-range shot. From there, though, it just goes downhill, as I just can't handle all the ships I'm facing. He wears me down and beats me.
- Cthulhu: Death May Die - one game with Rob on TTS. We play the very first scenario as we learn the game. He takes Rasputin, I take whichever person has the Connected ability. Our Elder One was Cthulhu. Game goes fine, and we have fun, but we NARROWLY win, as in we win on the last roll of our turn, with certain defeat the result if we fail. Can't ask for a closer finish than that! This is a game I'd love to play more, too- lots going on, and lots to do, all of it fun.
- September
- Marvel Champions - four games. The first three games were Rob and I tackling the Rise of Red Skull campaign, both with us taking the decks included in the box- Leadership Hawkeye, and Justice/Aggression Spider-Woman. We don't actually run into any problems. Campaign wise, Rob uses his once per campaign ability against Taskmaster, and at this point has two campaign allies in his deck. I haven't used my once per campaign ability, and only have one ally. Later in the month, I play a solo game using Protection Black Widow and Aggression/Justice Spider-Woman against a Masters of Evil/Power Drain/Running Interference Crossbones deck. Several Masters of Evil come out early, engaging the heroines, but I stun them as they come out, gradually kill them, and after a few turns, I'm taking big chunks out of Crossbones every turn. I manage to win before he even gets to his second stage.
- Space Hulk - four games against Bob. We play the first two scenarios twice apiece, switching sides. Scenario one ends with a Genestealer win for both of us, although I admit Bob actually was quite a bit closer to the target room than I was. In scenario two, I take the Space Marines first, and focus heavily on the part of the map with the long corridor, eventually sealing it off. Unfortunately, this gives Bob a lot of time to get all over the corridors on the other side of the board, and I lose some Marines clearing them out. Overall, I'm doing fine, and end up with my Assault Cannon guy (4 ammo left) against two Genestealers. I walk up to take a shot on one of them, which would almost certainly seal my victory.... then roll triple ones, blowing up, and ending the game. *sigh. We switch sides, and Bob is better about keeping pressure on both sides of the map. I take a lot more risks, and manage to get some Genestealers behind his lines, but I make too many stupid choices (for instance, I waste like 7 Genestealers trying to kill his Sergeant with Storm Shield and Thunder Hammer). He clears the board, but declares it a loss for him, because he accidentally overspent on CPs one turn. Personally, I consider that a win for him, but I guess the official record will show otherwise...
- Marvel: Crisis Protocol - three games against Matt. First game was Avengers against Matt's Asgardians. We trade shots back and forth, score a bunch of points, and things get close... I end up winning 16-13 as I manage to narrowly hold a middle objective that gives me the final points I need. Second game, I play Cabal against his Black Order. This may have been the most one-sided game I've ever played- I just destroyed everything he sent forward. Dazed multiple characters in one activation, scored a ton of points... just a really punishing game for him. The third game was a Cabal roster of MODOK, Red Skull, Zemo, and Iron Man against Defenders with Black Widow, Dr. Strange, Wong, Shuri, and Valkyrie. Gamma Shelters and Skrulls Invade were the scenarios. Matt manages to get the Skrull with Black Widow... then moves her into the center of the board, where I move her with MODOK, kill her, take the Skrull, park in the back, and just contest him in the middle enough to get the win (16-12, I think).
- Nemesis - one game with Bob. We each take two characters. I move around the ship, accomplish my objects just fine for both of my characters. Bob focuses on finding the Comms room and ends up getting swamped with Invaders. We end up calling it as things started getting worse and worse.
New Arrivals
I know there's a lot here, but please remember that this is over three months.
- Devastator Deck for the Transformers TCG. Wanted to try the game, and wanted to make sure I had two decks to play with.
- Riot Quest Miniatures - Flugwug, Malvin and Mayhem, and Weird Wendell. I'm up to 19 total figures, almost enough to have two full teams!
- Warmachine/Hordes miniatures - Eilish2, Cephalyx Overlords, a Shrieker, a Tormentor, a Khador Heavy jack, two Crucible Guard heavy jack kits, Omadamos, the Minicreate for Lord Carver and Issyria.
- Monsterpocalypse miniatures - Smashville campaign box, and a Downtown Highrise.
- Trois Batailles en Allemagne from Legion Wargames.
- Issue 12 of Counterfact magazine, containing the game The Mannerheim Line Campaign. Magazine was quite interesting, but it sounds like it might have run its course, which is unfortunate.
- Rebels and Patriots - a ruleset for miniature battles in Revolutionary North America.
- Warcaster: Neo-Mechanika - the first wave from the Kickstarter arrived!
- Warhammer 40K (Ninth Edition) - received the Indomitus box. Looks like I'm playing 40K again.
- Everdell base game. My wife was interested in this, so I picked it up. Still unplayed, haha.
- Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition). Looked interesting, so I grabbed it, even though I know Rob owns it.
- Against the Odds issue 52. This contains the game Operation Ichi-Go, covering the 1944 Japanese offensive in China. It also contained a bonus mini-game Imua!: The Unification of Hawaii. The magazine was excellent- if you've not read Against the Odds, I would recommend them.
- Battles Magazine issue 14, with the game Storm Over Madrid 1936. Battles is a FANTASTIC magazine, another one I would recommend to anyone who is interested in conflict simulation games.
- 1565 St. Elmo's Pay, a card wargame about the Siege of Malta. I have the first game in this series, on the Battle of Hastings, which I also haven't played.
- Bloody Mohawk: The French and Indian War. This is my first game on the French and Indian War, and I received this from Lock 'n Load Publishing for subscribing to War Diary magazine. Looks like a very great intro wargame.
- A bunch of expansions for various card games, such as the Investigator starters for Arkham Horror, a bunch of Nightmare decks for Lord of the Rings, the X-Files set for VS2CG, and so on.
- I've done a lot of assembly, but I didn't keep track of exactly what, so I'll just skip that, and talk about the more interesting piece...
- I have been painting! I've been working on my Stalkers, and have actually made great progress!
- I finished the Dragonlance Chronicles series, and mostly enjoyed it. I think it got a bit worse as it went on, and honestly, the ending book felt... weak. But it was still worth the read.
- Broken Legions and Rebels and Patriots - two rules systems from Osprey Games. I don't have miniatures for either of these currently, but the rule systems look to have some potential. Maybe someday!
- The new Warhammer 40K rulebook. This was part of the Indomitus box set gifted to me by a friend (thanks BK!). I have read it, and I gotta say... it looks like a blast!
- I am going to skip this for this period, because I totally didn't keep track of this for the last few months.
- Painting Points: Currently 0/10. By the time I've written this, I've actually completed some models, but that is for next month!
- Number of Unplayed Games: We aren't going to talk about this one :(
- Warmachine/Hordes games: Still no games played. Still want to try Wartable.
- Number of Books Read: I am at 20 books right now. Doing well!
- Weight lost: I gained some of my weight back, sadly. So only down 8 on the year, but I've been starting to be more active daily, so I still will try to turn this around.