New Years Revolutions/Evolutions

It's an Evolution not a Revolution....

I have been encouraged to post my New Year's Resolutions, so here they are in not particular order.

Going to the Gym
I resolve that I will continue to lose weight this year.  I have lost 37 lbs so far since September.  My primary goal is to get to 185 lbs by April.
Building Some Muscle
I resolve to make my arms bigger, legs more solid, and chest and shoulders more defined.
Playing Lord of the Rings
 I resolve to badger Steve until we do this!!!  I am really jazzed about playing through the campaigns for the Fellowship of the Ring.  I have wondered if this is a good system, and I liked what I read.  Steve and I are going to make some terrain and try out each of the battles.  That's one plan, anyway!
Monsterpocalypse
Resolved... I will continue to learn from my mistakes and work towards being as competitive and knowledgeable as I can.
Wargames
I resolve to read the rules to at least one war-game a month and to try to play them.  Prezcon will be a great start, but I want to get back to my first gaming experiences which were war-games.
Building Confidence
I resolve to continue to work on my attitude, especially about how I see myself.
Dungeons and Dragons
I resolve to run the best D and D campaign I can.  I will look for ways to make it exciting and interesting while allowing players the freedom to make choices.  I resolve that their actions will affect the world they are in.
Terrain
I resolve to make more terrain for gaming.  I will hone my skills at card-stock terrain making.  
My Friends
I resolve that I will be a better friend.  I will look for ways to build others up and help them see the difference they make.  I will learn how to whine less and be thankful more.
Organize
I resolve to organize my games and purge those games that I won't play any more.  I am especially keen to go through all the ccg cards I have and do something with them.

Another Win

Played Monpoc last Monday with Stewart at the Family Games Store.  He chose Cyber Khan and I chose Gorgahadratron.  Both are Ubercorp monsters.  It started off with a bang.  On my first or second monster activation, I ran across the board and smashed him into oblivion.  From there it was a quick journey to destruction.
I still have a lot to learn about unit play.  I am not nearly as effective with my units as I should be.  Maybe I will take an older monster next time, so I can focus on my units.  It would help if I knew all the abilities of the pieces by sight.  There are like a million of them.  :)
I am seriously considering changing my blog name, now that I am on a winning streak.
More to come....
Rob

Your Training Is Almost Complete

OK.  I have got to be the most transparent, obvious, predictable person I know.  Once again, we start our Monpoc game by choosing monsters from the same faction.  Or to be more accurate, Steve chooses the one monster that is the perfect foil to my monster.  He does it all the time.  I thought and thought all day about how to be unpredictable, take a chance, try a monster I lost with, etc.  So I bring Muscustos to the table and he brings Mantacon.  Well, to be sure this would be a quick and painful ending for me.  So he graciously decides to change his monster to Drillcon-Vorionnic.  Let the games begin!

At first, I thought I would have a decent chance to hold my own.  I took a chance on a few risky moves that didn't pay out at all.  My only saving grace was that Steve didn't have much of an opportunity to exploit my weakness.  He did take out my Alpha form quite quickly, but I did not get discouraged.  I pressed on!

At one point, there was an opening to smash him across the board and deal some pretty hefty damage.  I did so.  From that point on, I just had to keep my distance and mucus-tize him.  Ultra-Muscustos is a very effective shooter.  So the victory was mine!

What's worse than a beat up subterranean?  A mucus covered beat up subterranean!

  I keep learning a lot from watching Steve beat me up every game.   He is one of the best miniatures gamers I know.  It was a very close game.  The best I have played so far.  I think I am becoming a better challenge.  That is a lot more satisfying for me than winning!  But winning is cool too.
Rob

The Showdown

Drillcon-Vorionnik

                VS

Mucustos

Dungeons and Dragons Terrain

I have always loved dioramas.  In the Smithsonian, I could stare for hours at all the little vignettes that showed life in the past.  When I began planning for a D and D campaign, I knew I wanted to have 3D terrain.  There are many companies that sell them, but they are all so expensive, so I decided to use paper based terrain and I discovered a new hobby.
I love making the battle scenes we will fight over.  Thinking of how to use the land to favor the monster's tactical decisions.  I find that I am pretty good at making it, too.  That's a bonus!  So the progress bar, (thanks Steve) is for keeping track of the terrain for the latest dungeon crawl I am preparing for our D and D gaming group.

Rob

Too Good To Last

OK.  I got beat.  To be fair, I got my a** whooped.  Steve used Mogroth and I used Grindix-Birvikaan.  I was totally unprepared for the cheese whiz that came out to decimate my monster and units.  You can't even target Mogroth with units as long as he has a unit next to him.  Grinidix has some real strengths, just not with the units I brought to play.  Oh well, next time......

Update

OK!  It has been a long time since I have updated this blog.  I have been "ahem" encouraged to update it.  More like shamed into it.  If I am gonna make a blog about being a loser, then I will be damned if I will let the likes of Boisterous Enthusiasm run away with that blog while mine languishes into obscurity.  Right now I am on vacation, so it seems a good time to try to catch up with all the things that have been going on in my gaming world.  I also want to post some D and D musings because I am really excited about the new system after trying it out with a few friends.  So over the next day or so, I will be posting several new topics.

Here is to a new start!

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mon(poc)

I have been thinking about what to post this week on the blog.  Steve and I are playing another Monsterpoc. game on Sunday.  I've been looking over my new monsters and thinking about my strategies.  The monster I have in mind should provide a nice surprise for him.  I love strategic games.  I love war games.  I wish I had the brain that could hold all of that stuff together.  I am a big picture person.  I see patterns, and nuances.  I can read people and motivations.  That is my strength.  I am not so good at remembering lots of details.  The best thing about playing this particular game is that it makes me stretch my brain in ways that are not comfortable... that is also why I get so bummed when I lose.  It feels like one step forward and then the big hairy foot/claw/web in the ass.  :)   Either way, I have a strategy and I am sticking to it!  I will update with the results tomorrow.

Get Your Stinkin Paws Off Me You Damn Dirty Ape

Steve and I had a Monpoc throwdown on Friday.  We were going to do a 1:1 with the Now monsters or possibly using one from the first block.  We ended up choosing the exact same monster, so we decided to run a 2:2 monster mayhem beatdown.  Little did I know, I was the monkey in the middle.
     It all started out good, I had a plan on how to use my apes, but I was not prepared for the machinations of a morpher.  That bastard took a morpher against me.  I was pwned.  Steve just ran circles around my monster and I took it, like the tool that I am.  He made a monkey out of me.
     I like the 2:2 monster  rules, and I enjoy having 2 monsters to make decisions with.  I over-emphasized a few of my buildings, but I did learn how to conserve my dice better.  All in all, it was a good game.  The good news is that it doesn't count as one of our "official" game.  I am through monkeyin around.  It's on like Donkey Kong!

The SMACKDOWN

It was Incinerus vs. Gorghadratron.  I know, I know, I was sweating from the get go.  All I could think about was the fact that he was immune to fire and there were tons of fire buildings around.  I did set a little trap in the form of an electrical company, but during setup I neglected to put any of my banks in play...  DOH!
My main strategy was to command movement on the board.  I put a newspaper building up next to a high rise with underground on it.  My guys could move without spending a die to any place there was another underground which was pretty much the whole map.  My Shinobi type C's carried the day for me, but Robo Gorgo put the cap in the ass.  With so much mobility, and my Ultra form with Cloak, it became very difficult for Steve to do any damage to me, while I was doing damage to him every turn.
BEST MOMENT
Steve moved Incinerus right next to the electrical plant.... KAPOW!!! shocking discovery and minus one health.
BEST MOMENT 2
Shooting Incinerus and then destroying two units thanks to multi shot.
PRICELESS
"I think you got this man, I don't think I can do anything to hurt you."

OMG!!!!!  Did I just win...................again????  I may have to change the name of my blog.
Can't get too cocky, I am only down by like 15 games.  We may end up playing tomorrow, and I will need to bring my A game if I am to remain victorious.  Besides, us old guys need to find the joy where we can.  The rest of life is pure suckage. Especially when you get mistaken for some monkey's dad.   :) 

The Match

Incinerus

VS

Gorghadratron

It's Like Christmas... almost

So our Monpoc stuff looks like it is coming possibly tomorrow.  I feel like a kid at Christmas.  I just loves me some new toys!!!  Well, really, these are like action figures, more than toys.  Ok, does that sound as geeky to you as it does to me?  Who cares.  All I know is I just love opening those stupid boxes.  It's like crack to me.  Monster-crack-olypse.  That's my new name for it.  Gotta get me some.

They're Coming......

So the new Monsterpocalypse series, Monsterpocalypse Now has hit stores.  I went in on a case of boosters and a case of Monsters with Steve, my arch nemesis in this game.  I am hoping that by mixing it up with some new powers and new units, I can create the force that can once and for all prove my dominance with the game.  No longer will I be thwarted by his cackles of intimidation.  I have trained.  I am focused.  I am.... probably going to lose, but I will keep on trying.  I will update as soon as the boxes come and we open them.

My Sonnet to Monpoc

Ode to Xaxor

What rush of wing and sulfurous smell,
Or patter of feet outflank to stalk
Combined unleashing infernal hell,
Tis Destructomite and Explodohawk.

The planet eater shoots and scores,
The building, his tempest can not survive,
Sweat is oozing from my pores,
Will my monster last, and stay alive?

He chomps, he devours, he satiates his desire,
Many shinobis died under his feet,
In his wake is left the burning desire,
To avenge those who've fallen in the streets.

But today is not his day,
Zor Magna has driven him away.

The Match- WTF did I actually win?

                    Zor Magna                                      Xaxor



We had our match tonight.  Zor Magna vs. Xaxor.  To be perfectly honest, I was nervous from the get go.  My opponent, hereafter referred to as Steve,  has an uncanny knack for knowing my every move and thought.  He could tell what I was going to do before even I knew it.  Either I am very transparent or I have no variation on my style.  I would guess the latter. 
The game started off well, with both of us jockeying for position on the board.  About half way through, we discovered a rule that I know I was not playing correctly, namely that between a push (a type of move) or a regular movement, the monster must end in a legitimate space.  OK so now I was even more nervous.  I was very happy with my unit play, as that was what I was mostly trying to figure out.  It was a long but well thought out game.  The clinch came when Steve let me take back a move that allowed me to put the hurt on his monster.  I don't call it a victory when my opponent is severely affected by my do over.  I am the only person I know who feels guilty when he wins because of a takeback.  Besides, what would I have to blog about if I actually won a game on my own merits of play?  I remain..... the one who loses.

What Do I lose at?

Improper English aside, I lose at a variety of games.  My current favorite is Monsterpocalypse.  It is an excellent game by Privateer Press.  One of the reasons I love this game so much is because as a yoot, I spent hours watching Johnny Sokko, Ultraman, reruns of Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, etc.  I love the whole monster thing.  On Saturdays, my dad would take me to see Godzilla movies at the local theater.

In the game, each side has a monster that can be buffed to an ultra form.  Like Hyata turning into Ultraman.  There are also support units that come with each faction.  My total attraction to the game comes from the fact that no matter how hard I try, I can not beat my buddy.  He and I have played more games than I care to discuss, and I have won a total of 3 against him.  And none of them in the past year.  This situation sucks because his overconfident ass dominates me every time.  It may be because I can't keep all the powers of the monsters and units in my head or it may be that I lack the tactical sense of the game.  I DON"T CARE why.  All I care about is losing every game.  Just once I would love to see his smirking face drop in surprise as I lay on a killing blow.
Another thing that honks me off is that he even lets me choose which monster has the enjoyment of beating me.  I can't even pick correctly.  I know I am getting better, but will this week be the week that I begin to turn the tide?  I don't want to get too confident, I will just disappoint myself later.

  OK that's off my chest.  I love the game because it totally recreates so many battles my friends and I had when we were little.  It is very cool.  My goal is to play my best and watch as my friend beats me with every monster in the game.  I know my life won't be complete until I face total domination.  It's ok.  Someone's gotta lose.

My First Post/My First Blog

In life there is a balance to everything.  This is that kind of blog.  Some like to boast about their awesome skills, their personal victories, their conquests of excellence; but I like to offer the viewpoint of the one who has challenges, the one who rolls and craps out.  Yep, that would be me.
This is a blog about gaming, TV, movies, books,etc.  But most of all, it is a blog about the balance there is to life.  It might be a bit touchy feely.. deal.  It might be a bit sappy... deal.  It will definitely be geeky... deal.  But it will never be preachy.  Here's to the start of my losing streak.